The first three months, continent, language are all coming to an end! So it is time for a Q and A blog, which I am planning on doing at the end of every continent. Jumping right in…
where do you sleep? when are you coming home?. (From little miss Mina, one of the kiddos I babysat for)
for the first two months I slept in my tent, rain or shine. This month we have had beds, usually bunk beds, sometimes shared beds, and it has been so hot so I have been very happy to not be in my tent this month! I will back in about 8 months, before Christmas!
friends and family asked…
What has been your biggest challenge so far?
my biggest challenge so far has been pushing myself out of my comfort zone. whether that means using the out house while there are bats down in the hole, or sharing the deep dark secrets in my heart with my team.
What is the most surprising thing you have learned?
the stories of what the kids we meet always surprises me and breaks my heart. from the outside when we get there they are smiley and giving hugs and beautiful. every time i learn a story my heart breaks and i cant believe what they have been through.
What is the weirdest thing you have experienced?
heidi and i tried to go get pedicure on an off day…we tried to walk into a salon, it was locked from the inside. then we started to ask for pedicures and the lady sat us right in the front of this sweaty hot store and pulled up a prop for us to put a leg on. this place was kinda sketchy and pretty dirty. im not expecting the states, but the whole time all i could think was “wow, im gonna get a foot fungus from trying to get a pedicure” we promptly made excuses and left.
What has surprised you most about traveling and doing mission work?
hmm id say for traveling that it is possible in a backpack. there is so much i brought that i dont need. this past month for about two weeks we lived out of our little day packs and traveled around. so i had a school sized backpack and it was great. i almost liked living out of my little backpack better. for mission work i had little to no experiences or expectations before i left. it has surprised me, and now i love it for, how diverse it is. mission work can be playing with kids, teaching english, doing yard work, cleaning, praying, making room for people to talk, cooking, folding gauze…the list is endless.
Are there any parts of traveling or doing mission work that you dont like?
i like traveling, but i dislike packing. cleaning is usually not my favorite form of mission work…i have to turn off my brain and stop wondering how dirty and gross things are and why it is acceptable for people to live with it like it was before it was cleaned.
How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?
im pretty sure the animal i picture when i hear this is actually a beaver, reguardless, i have no idea and i have seen no such creatures to observe.
What are you really noticing in terms of your prayer life and/or scripture that’s standing out to you?
today i dont feel like there is any certain scripture sticking out to me, but daily i get so much out of Jesus Calling. im trying to think of the words to describe my prayer life. before the race at home i prayed a lot. usually just a casual conversation kind of prayer. on the race more frequently than not i have woken up and in my head as i wake i am singing a worship song…best way to wake up…and i am trying to not only keep up my conversational prayers with Jesus, but i am also trying to line my prayers with the Lords Prayer. remembering to pray first praising Him, asking for His will to be done, and then asking for my daily needs.
How do you think life will be different when you get back?
i may struggle to remember to throw the toilet paper in the toilet…kidding, not kidding, down here it goes in a garbage can. but seriously when i get home, as of right now, i assume life in the states will be relatively easy. there are so many things we are accustomed to back home that this year i am learning to live without. clean water you can drink out of a tap, A/C, a car, more than $4 a day for food.
What is your favorite memory?
In honduras we stayed with a wonderful family. they have 13 children. the little one, gabi, struggles with anger/temper tantrums. one night when we were praying we asked the kids if there was anything they wanted prayer for. gabi asked God that He would help her not be so angry. she didnt want to yell or get mad and she needed Him to stop. my heart was so full in that moment. it was such a sweet prayer, so honest and so beautiful to watch gabi reach out to God and know that He can help her with anything.
What has been the hardest part?
im not sure exactly. there have been hard things…Feb 17, knowing dad was having surgery and i couldnt be there…but i know i have not hit my personal hardest part yet.
What is the water situation there?
everywhere we have been we have had to purchase water to drink. most places have had running water and i have seen local people drink it. i have not yet been in an area where it was hard to get clean drinking water, it is one of AIMs requirements at it always be there for us, but even if i was traveling on my own, the places i have stayed have had access to clean water. this will be interesting to see in other countries.
How has this experience, so far, changed your prospective and possible career path? Passion?
right from the get go i loved working on speaking and understand spanish. i took plenty of it in high school and a bunch of it came back to me, but i would love to become fluent. i have also found myself using sign language, even though no one else really understands. i am also so excited to hear other languages, i dont know how much i will remember and take away from these other languages but i am excited to hear them and see how they work a little.
also month one there was a drum set in the corner. it caught my eye and i got excited. i had not played in probably about 8 years, but even just seeing it made me happy in a way i had forgotten about. i ended up playing for a few songs for a retreat weekend and loved it. i had gone so long without it and forgot how much i enjoyed it.
Why do you think God has you on the WR?
i think there are so many reasons God has me here and i am just beginning to scratch the surface or understanding. some days i know He has me here to learn things in ways that i couldnt back home. other days He has me here so i have to trust Him with the things back home. He has me here to show me so much and grow my heart while doing so.
questions from my lovely squadmates…
how fast were jason and daniel running when they knocked your feet out from under you during the WR olympics?
and the same question just rephrased : )
on a scale of 1-10 how mad were you that The Dream Team rammed you with their Korean bobsled??
this question needs a little background for you back home…
to celebrate the olympics we had our own version of the games. we made commercials, had trivia games, opening ceremonies and all. one of the events was a relay. two players from your team run together with a cardboard box around them across a field, hop out, two others hop in and run back. seem simple enough? now add that it is totally dark out and every is taking these games very seriously. tara and jayce run down the field hop out of the box and jason and daniel hop in. we are winning! all you can really see are the lights from peoples head lamps bouncing around, mind you i dont know why but mine is off. everyone is cheering and excited and i notice that heidi and tony are standing off to the side. i think i probably should too, but now the runners are close and i think if i move ill get in peoples way. we are for sure going to win and now daniel and jason are almost to me, im kind of in the way but i know they will go around. they do go around, each side of me, and the box they are in together acts as a reverse red rover strategy and i go flying backward. seriously at least 10 feet away from where i was originally standing. it was hilarious. everyone rushed over thinking there was no way i was ok after being launched backward, but i hopped right up and seriously only had a small scratch on my elbow. daniel says he thought i hit my head, jason says he was running and saw nothing and then me about .2 seconds before the collision.
so to answer the questions they were trucking it. these are two in shape boys running as fast as they possibly could, they were going fast.
and not mad at all. it made a funny memory and a good lesson, you know to keep your headlamp on and not to stand on the finish line.
