A large part of my race has been deciding to choose joy and learn to be content no matter WHERE I am. Sometimes I really want to be anywhere that's not where I currently am. I typically love travel days but there have been a few moments where I've looked out the window during a bumpy, stinky, squished 10 hour long bus ride with tears in my eyes and longed to see America and not more rice fields, trash, "corner stores" and men with their shirts up or peeing on the side of the road. To see street signs I can read. To see a star on the top of a mountain in Roanoke or an LU monogram on the side of a mountain in Lynchburg to let me know I'm "home" in Virgina. There's also a wonder that comes from gazing out the window during a travel day but, that's another blog. 🙂
Every month we anxiously await to hear what our team's location will be the next month. Are we the village or the city team? Will we ever get the coveted Cape Town/Beach or El Shaddai/gorgeous mountain top location? We arrive at our new ministry sites and quickly assess our comfort level for the month without even realizing it. Are there beds? Fans? Real toilets? Showers? Good food? Do we have to battle ants getting into our food/computers/beds? Internet? Coffee-access?
We don't get to choose our location, we can only choose how we respond to where we're at.
Mozambique: Our whole squad stayed at the Iris campus in Dondo and I slept in a very small room with 4 other girls on bunk beds. We had real toilets and bucket showers, bread for breakfast [every.single.day] and an awesome area to hang our hammocks. My ministry was working in a nearby village helping cut grass and build a kitchen for an orphanage.
Then we went to a bomb hostel for debrief which had a pool.
Swaziland: Three teams (20+ people depending on squad leaders) stayed in the AIM guest house in Manzini and I slept in a decent size bedroom with the girls from my team. I loved being in a house with a kitchen and front porch. My ministry was teaching at a nearby preschool and doing sports ministry at carepoints.
Then we tented for squad retreat.
South Africa: My team and one other stayed in a community hall at popup, our ministry location. We slept on the floor and cleaned up our stuff every morning by 7am because they had life skills class in that room. My ministry was working at their daycare and helping with the life skills class.
Then we tented at a campground outside of Cape Town for debrief.
India: My team and the girl's from another team stayed in one room on the 3rd floor of a ministry building. We slept on the floor, shared one bathroom (more bucket showers!) and ate street food for every meal. My ministry was loving on some great children with special needs.
Then all the other girl's from the squad joined us in that one small room for squad retreat.
Nepal: My team slept on the floor in a small school room in an awesome village. We had squatty potties, no fans, and food cooked for us at every meal. We loved our contact and living with his family. My ministry was doing outreach in the surrounding villages or helping around the property where we lived.
Then we stayed at an awesome hostel in Kathmandu with wifi and great restaurants nearby.
Thailand: We stayed in a dorm style building with 20+ girls above a coffeeshop with wifi, smoothies, and shopping malls/Starbucks nearby. Then we went to a village and slept on pads on the floor under mosquito nets for a week. My ministry was ask the Lord, bar ministry or interceding for those doing bar ministry, prayer walking, sex-traffic preventing, and helping build a roof on a house.
Then we stayed at a great hostel with more wifi, comfy beds, and AIR CONDITIONING.
Cambodia: This month my team has had an Ask The Lord month and we've traveled working on Unsung Heroes. We've stayed at a school/church/dorm with beds, a kitchen, and a huge pool in Phnom Penh. We stayed at hostel in Siem Reap where our room smelled like cigarette smoke but, we were within walking distance of everything we needed. We stayed at a hostel that was being renovated in Sihanoukville with a 2 minute walk to the beach.
And now we're back in Phnom Penh and will move to a hotel this weekend for another squad retreat.
Month 7's ending and I've learned to adjust my attitude. I'm learning to be content, yet intentional with how I view each month's opportunities. Location doesn't matter as much as I thought a few months ago. What matters is how you treat what you're given. How you love the people you live with. How you learn about the culture you're in. That you appreciate where you are.
I'd choose a quiet scenic village over a bustling noisy city any day. I'd choose to sit in a coffee shop instead of my bedroom any day. I'll have to choose joy no matter where I live or what I do for the rest of my life and I'm thankful the race is teaching me how to do that.
