As the end of 2010 is quickly approaching, I can’t help but get a little nostalgic over all the things I experienced throughout this past year. Maybe a lot of you that are reading this now have experienced the race with me through the stories I have shared. Some for better. Some for worse.
There are many stories that I didn’t write about though. The embarrassing moments. The moments that are only funny in hindsight. Moments when I wish I had a remote control to rewind time.
And so, here are some of those special moments that gave my race experience… character.
Okay, so month one took us to Guatemala. I spent it in Puerto Barrios with my team [Rhema] and team Logos. About the third week in, our contacts took us through the Guatemalan jungle, literally the jungle, so that we could go play in a spring nestled way back deep in the heart of creation. As we were climbing up muddy hills, dodging mounds of fire ant piles, and pushing past all the lush greenery, a teammate of mine (whom will remain anonymous) turned to exclaim she had a not so little rumbly in her tummy. Now, if you’re not familiar with missions lingo, rumbly in your tummy = parasites = diarrhea = cannot control when you gotta go! We yelled to the others that we would catch up with them so that my teammate could get rid of this not so convenient problem. As we searched high and low, she found that perfect spot that would soon become her new and improved white porcelain bowl. With sarong in hand, I had become her four walls. Needless to say, my teammate and I got just a little bit closer on this day. As I was attempting to shield her from sight, standing guard for suspecting onlookers, I realized, in that moment, what the true meaning of community living is really all about!
My second experience also took place in Guatemala, but this time I was the suspecting victim. So we had just got out of a church service and were waiting for our ride. Our ride happened to be a panel van that was somehow stuck on heat, all the time. Words cannot describe how hot this van really was in temperatures already reaching over 100 degrees, with 14 adults crammed in the back, with no windows for ventilation! The van actually has nothing to do with this story because on this particular night the van couldn’t get down the street. When it rains in Guatemala, it pours. This night was no exception and a torrential downpour was in place. The road conditions are not exactly the smoothest, needless to say the van wouldn’t have made it out alive. A very nice man from the church offered to drive us to our next location… in his truck. We had no other choice but to pile in the bed of the truck in the pouring down rain. Yeehaw. We got to the restaurant where we were going to have dinner, and stood up one by one to pile out. Saul, a pastor who speaks on the radio show we were partnering with (Shofar FM) stood at the edge of the truck to help all the ladies out. Well, as he grabbed my hand, the unthinkable happened. Soaking wet and freezing, I realized I was stuck. My skirt somehow got tangled to the hinge, and I found myself humbly standing in mid air as a teammate was trying to unhook this piece of clothing, all the while having my derriere displayed for all to see. Yep, I had not only put on a show for bystanders, but I had also flashed my pastor! Maybe this is why so many women who do missions like to wear leggings under their skirts…?!
So before I came on the World Race I wasn’t exactly the kind of person that really embraced physical touch. I think God was trying to rid me of this seeing as I had Bethany Holland as my teammate for seven months! She is probably the most affectionate person I have ever met. And I hated it. She would pull on the piece of skin in between my thumb and index finger, squeeze my neck and shake it violently, and grab my weenis (elbow flab) like it was nobodies business. Well, in December I spent the month in Phuket, Thailand. For Christmas the squad reunited in Bangkok so we could celebrate together. Now, Phuket to Bangkok isn’t exactly the shortest journey. It’s about a 10 hour bus ride, and sitting quarters are probably not even two feet long and the size of the chair is fit for someone under the age of 10. On the way back to Bangkok I really felt like God told me to ask for the last ticket. The last ticket was a window seat, which meant someone that wasn’t a racer had the aisle seat. For about 15 minutes nobody showed up and I thought I would have the row all to myself. As I was just beginning to place my stuff on the seat next to me, a stylish Asian boy about 20 years old, and all about five feet tall, sat down next to me. I was just thankful he wasn’t a creeper, and didn’t smell! It was an overnight bus, so of course sleep was hopefully in order. However, with the modest space, it is not the easiest place to get to the REM stage. Just as my eyelids were getting heavy, I felt a weight on my right shoulder. Yep. Mr. Asian dude fell asleep using my shoulder as his pillow! In those 10 hours he woke up –once-, realized he was sleeping on me, apologized, and then proceeded to pass out once again, using my joint as his head rest! Call it fate, or just my luck, but after this night the infamous bubble had been popped, and I haven’t been the same since!While on the race I got my fair share of what it’s like to have celebrity status.
Being white in the third world is like being Angelina. Some days it was funny. Some days I wanted to wear a big floppy hat and really dark shades. My teammates and I constantly joked that we felt like the monkeys at the zoo. So in January we spent the month in the villages of Cambodia. In the villages that not too many white people frequent. We would wake up to kids peering through the barred windows. We would spend the day playing with these kids, which mostly consisted of them screaming and running away from us. And then we would go to sleep, as these same kids watched to see how white people went night night. And then on our last day in the village our feelings were validated… one of the little boys tried to feed us by sticking a cucumber through the barred window! Roar?!
And finally,
Right before our eighth month of ministry teams changed. I went to Nigeria with 5 new teammates that I didn’t know very well, but we were all learning how to live together and get in the groove of what our individual role looked like. Nigeria was probably one of the most intense months on the race, on all levels. We traveled about every five days to attend different crusades around the area that typically lasted three days. It was definitely an exhausting month! During the wrap up of one the many crusades, we had to wait for all the men to tear down the equipment. All we wanted to do was go home and go to bed! Finally, around 1 AM, we were able to leave. Instead of staying in that town, and driving back in the morning, our Pastor decided he wanted to go back that night, about an hour away. We were tired. We were hungry. We were delirious. And we were cranky. So we’re driving back, down a long, dark, dirt road, in the wee hours of the night, in the middle of Africa, when all of a sudden a shadow flashed past the window outside. Seriously, insert scary movie music in now. Before I could even blink, I realized the shadow flew in through the front window! The figure was a bat and now this bat was on the floor of the van, right next to Maryanne. Well, Mr. Nigerian man in the passenger front seat thought it would be a good idea, without even asking, to grab Maryanne’s foot to kill the little flying rodent! Maryanne gracefully declined, by screaming. Mr. Nigerian man got the hint and found a water bottle, in place of Maryanne’s foot, and began to smash the bat to pieces. He then picked up the poor bat and threw it back out the window into the open wild, all the while being completely unphased by the unfortunate turn of events!
I really could go on. There are thousands of memories that shaped my World Race experience. Whether it was good, bad, or just plain ugly, every moment was worth it! I am so blessed to have had this experience, and the memories are ingrained on my heart and in my mind.
Thank you for walking in this journey with me. I could not do this without the love, support, and encouragement of my friends and family.
With a new season, and the next chapter in my life, I have decided to transition blogsites. Starting 1.1.11 I will no longer be using this site to write. If you’d like to continue reading my blogs, you can visit my new site here:
Peace
and
Love
