Dear Friends and Family,
What a year it has been! As I look back on the past year, I am in awe of all God has done, and I am so grateful to all of the people who have supported me on my journey, through prayer, encouragement, and financially. I truly would not have been able to impact the world as I have if it weren’t for you.
I wanted to send a recap on my World Race year and some personal encouragement for you. I honestly do not know specific numbers of how many people accepted Jesus to have a relationship with God, or how many people were healed, fed, helped, and encouraged. It was a significant amount though!! I am so proud of my squad. We were very intentional with showing God’s love and obedient to what God asked us to do.
Prior to the race, I was learning to overcome my fear of the unknown, stepping out of my comfort zone, and was grieving unmet expectations.
My first month on World Race, October 2018, I lived at Children’s Garden in the Philippines with my coed team called Tercules. It is a boys home for young boys who were previously homeless. Sharon and Billy are the directors and great people!! Through Children’s Garden, God is equipping and healing young men to be leaders in their community. My team and I did various services that month of prison, juvenile, and children’s ministry. During that month God taught me not to take myself too seriously, and obedience to God leads to freedom, peace, joy, and life more abundant.
In Thailand, I stayed at Zion Hostel in Chiang Mai with my whole squad. Most of my squad worked at a construction site that is going to be a school, and two days a week we did ATL (Ask The Lord), which typically consisted of outreach evangelism. Personally, God taught me a lot of patience, was teaching me not to compare myself to others, and was asking me if I was available to do His will. I was learning to have courage to speak, encourage, and cast vision to a group of people.
Malaysia was ATL (Ask The Lord) month for my team, and my team was paired with another team. We moved around Malaysia every 3-5 days. This was really a stretching month for me. I am a task-oriented person, and I had to learn let go and be more relational. Evangelism has always been a bit daunting for me, and I love discipleship and pouring into people I am close to. That month I learned to view evangelism as mini-discipleship and to try to make the most of every encounter I had with someone.
I saved up my adventure days during Malaysia month and went to Singapore for Christmas. Crazy to think this time last year I had just left Singapore and was traveling to South Africa.
In Lesotho, my team stayed in the mountains with 2 other teams. There were 70 plus salvations that month. I found that I really enjoyed speaking to groups of people telling them about God’s great love for them.
Swaziland was an all squad month. Forty plus people staying on a small piece of property. Many people tented. I had a bed inside a small house. Which was better, to be inside or outside was questionable. Being inside was often more hot and humid. I was thankful for a bed inside though. There were team changes that month, and I ended up on another coed team, which was called 7th Heaven. I worked in an office doing administrative work. That month I learned to allow myself to receive love from others. When I pray for people to allow myself to feel God’s heart for them and not have an agenda. I learned that month to just go ahead and have difficult conversations with people, that it is more productive and better in the long run to just go ahead and talk about the elephant in the room.
Ahh next, South Africa!! I loved South Africa. My ministry host, next door neighbors, and the community was so great to us. It felt like home, like we belonged and were so loved. I got really sick at the beginning of the month and was so cared for. I learned contentment, to focus on controlling my thoughts, that it really is a great day to have a great day and only I can decide that for myself and make that a reality. Psalm 23 was on my heart and mind a lot, and I was pondering what it really looks like to thrive no matter what environment I’m in.
In Nicaragua I stayed at CICRIN orphanage on Ometepe island and at REAP ministry in Grenada. I worked in a plantain farm and did other various construction work as well as teaching children English, prayer walks, and feeding people at the dump. Parent Vision Trip was that month, and I got to spend time with my parents and do ministry with them. It was very refreshing. That month I became much better at being okay with the unknown and just enjoying the moment. I was learning and still am learning to lean into the Holy Spirit daily.
Oh Costa Rica! Costa Rica is a beautiful country, truly. I had a rough experience in Costa Rica. One of my ribs went out, and I was in a lot of physical pain and was really homesick. There were team changes, and my team became an all girls team called, Level Up. My team had several ministry sites and moved a lot that month. My team worked at YWAM in Puerto Viejo, Transforma in San Jose, and a Christian camp in San Romana. God taught me believing the lie that I am powerless causes negative thoughts and emotions. I learned to present my heart with all of my uncomfortable emotions to God and to not be afraid of my uncomfortable emotions.
In Panama my team stayed in a hostel in Panama City and worked with CRU Panama on multiple college campuses. Praise the Lord we were able to host a successful outreach event. There were a lot of salvations this month! That month I was learning to overcome my own selfishness and negativity and understanding what it really looks like to be Christ-like.
Then there was Columbia. My squad had a debrief in Medellin, which is such a cool city!! It’s super outdoorsy but still has a hip city vibe. I traveled around Columbia a bit doing ATL. Then my team was in Filandia with Eyson and Karson Meneses as our ministry hosts. They were and are great!! We worked at local schools teaching English. God continued to prune negative thinking in me. I learned better emotional intelligence, that frustration leads to negative thoughts; I came to realize how much I really value good leadership.
Ecuador was a phenomenal month ministry wise!! So great!! God SHOWED up. I had to surrender my will to travel all over Ecuador and stay in Quito at a hostel to plan a free medical clinic with my new team to serve Venezuelan refugees. Over 2000 people came to our event. That month solidified what God has been teaching me for awhile that I do not have to strive to force and make things happen. Being in surrender to Him, giving my best effort, and trusting Him with the results leads to life more abundant and living in a state of rest and flow.
That is an overall recap synopsis of my race and the highlights of what I learned.
Many people have asked me which country was my favorite. Since each country was such a different experience depending on our ministry and what city we were it, it is difficult to have one favorite. So I have a top 3: Malaysia, South Africa, and Columbia.
I just want to encourage you that no matter what season of life you are in, it is in fact that, just a season. Seasons change. This season will change. I want to encourage you to make the most of this season, learn what you can learn, change what you can change, trust God with this season of life, and make the most of it. It will not last forever. This too shall pass. Enjoy now for what it is. It really is a great day to have a great day. You are powerful; powerful to change your life, and the lives of others. I heard if you want to change the world, change the way you treat the person in front of you. Also, to overcome the evil in the world, you first have to overcome it within yourself first.
World Race is one of the hardest things I have ever done. Thank you so much for supporting me. I am so grateful for you.
With Love,
Amanda
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Here are some of the websites of the ministries I was at this past year if you want more information or if you want a ministry to support, these are great ministries to support!
http://childrensgarden.ph/?fbclid=IwAR1ajxa0dhn-vxUC602-2wisFs-a_uXCRrzwMsYaPv7ZBgudN7c9KoWz01Q
https://www.eswatinirising.com/
http://reapgranada.com/?fbclid=IwAR0l-4LIjZ5lrCHF3_uAinz0vsIVb5LH9KP0F9zNNcw4Ldb2ZFc4_fC3mc0
https://worldoutreach.org/cc/donations.html?fCode=428
