Praise the Lord, I’m home in Colorado safe and sound! The Race ended July 24, but the Lord had some adventuring and resting planned for the past two months and I have finally been able to process and put together some highlights and answers to commonly asked questions about my year on the World Race.
What was your favorite country or ministry?
Pick ONE?! No way, Jose. I have many favorite months for many different reasons. The ones at the top of the list include: Serbia (month 1) for the people, Greece (month 2) for the opportunity and exposure to a crisis, Zimbabwe (month 5) for the cultural immersion, Lesotho (month 6) for my spiritual growth and the immediate ministry fruit, Thailand (month 9) for its beauty and adventures…
Ultimately, Greece (month 2) and Zimbabwe (month 5) were two of my favorite months. You can click the links below to read my blogs about my time there!
Greece blog HERE & Zimbabwe blog HERE
What was your hardest month?
I see the hand and grace of God in every one of my difficult months. (And I would consider at least half of them “difficult.” Let’s be honest here, lots of tears were shed this year.)
Ultimately, Thailand (month 9) and Cambodia (month 10) were my “hardest months.” In Thailand, I was really getting into the thick of leadership and learning how to be a better leader. In Cambodia, my team was facing spiritual warfare in the form of sickness, night terrors, and more, and we were exhausted. The Lord grew me through it all and only confirmed that He is sufficient. I can go without running water, and I can deal with spiders the size of tennis balls in my shower, but I cannot go a day without His grace and strength to lead and uphold me.
What weird things did you eat?
Fortunately, I’m not a picky eater. I ate whatever I had in front of me to keep me filled.
Europe’s cuisine was hearty, sometimes bland, and semi-similar to American foods. In Serbia, we feasted on fresh chocolate croissants! Greece meant gyros on gyros…with french fries inside.
In Africa, it was sadza (thick corn meal – think thick mashed potatoes you eat with your hands but no flavor) and greens, adding fish or chicken if we were lucky.
I found my new favorite fruit in Asia: a mangosteen! In Asia, we ate rice and soup galore with spicy condiments and plenty of foreign fruits. At a night market in Melaka, Malaysia, my teammate Cassidy and I went around and bought everything we had never seen before. That night I ate duck tongue, chicken feet, and a baby octopus. After that and a grasshopper in Cambodia, I was done experimenting.
I missed Chick-fil-A, Chipotle, and cheese quesadillas. One thing you can find ANYWHERE: Coca-Cola. Coke fans, you’re good to go.
How many teams did you have?
I had 3 teams over the course of the 11 months of the Race. Every 3-4 months our squad of about 40 came together for 4-5 days for a debrief. Our coach and mentor couple flew out to see us and we processed, worshiped, had some teaching sessions, and the monumental “team changes.” I was on all-girls teams every time, but each team was very different. After six months, between our month 3 and month 7 debrief, I was asked to step up and become the leader of my current team. That timing was unconventional, but the Lord took care of everything and I went on to team lead for the final 5 months of the Race.
Team 1: Ichthys — Team 2: Jump! — Team 3: RTB Wolfpack (aka Raising the Bar)
What did you learn on the Race?
So, so much. Here are a few standout lessons I walked through this year:
–> “Pursue love, and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts.” – 1 Corinthians 14:1
In Lesotho, the Lord truly impressed upon my heart that LOVE is the foundation. The Lord does miracles, sometimes dramatically and “supernaturally,” and sometimes in moments we glance over. Abiding in His Love (John 15) is the foundation of all of His miraculous work. For a perspective on miracles I resonate with, feel free to read my squadmate Kristen Turvin’s blog HERE.
The month I was struggling with not seeing “miracles,” I shared the word of God and 14 men accepted Christ! Read that story HERE.
–> “Therefore, since we have been declared righteous by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in the hope of God’s glory.” – Romans 5:1-2
His GRACE covers ALL. There is no formula for spiritual growth and virtue is not a skill that can be attained like good handwriting. I cannot add an inch to my spiritual stature. I was “thrashing about trying to fix myself while hiding my pettiness and wallowing in guilt, nauseating God and flatly denying His gospel of grace” (thank you Brennan Manning, for all of that eloquence). I come to Him by His grace, and I am changed through His grace. That is the whole picture. And a lesson I am continually learning.
–> “For FREEDOM Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.” – Galatians 5:1
My chains are literally, not just figuratively, GONE. Christ has set me FREE!
(That full story HERE)
Tell me a funny story!
Zimbabwe: Two of my teammates locked themselves in the bathroom on two separate occasions with two different hosts. One situation ended in the door being kicked down, the other ended up climbing out the window.
Thailand: I was warned about the monkeys at the park. I was not warned there were no trash cans for my lunch trash and that the monkeys could smell it a mile away. They followed me into the bathroom and mid-drawers-drop I look up to see three monkeys above me, screeching for my food. I threw the food out of the stall, shaking and swearing. Even though then I thought I was about to get rabies, its funny now.
Vietnam: Two of my teammates were visiting the friend of one of their Vietnamese English class students who owns a wedding gown store. They hoped to get to try on a few dresses. What they got was a full-day glamour photo shoot. Pictures and the story HERE.
Did you have running water? What were your living conditions like?
Our living conditions varied greatly. In Greece, I got to stay in a hotel room with a hot shower, kitchen, and comfy bed. In Zimbabwe, I was sleeping on the floor of a mud hut, hauling water from the village well, and going to the bathroom in a hole in the ground.
I had electricity every month, even if it was just from the hours of 8-11pm every night from a generator.
I had running water most of the time. It was undrinkable ALL the time, at least that’s how I learned to treat it. Going out of your way to boil or find bottled drinking water was way better than a day on the toilet. It took me a couple of weeks to be comfortable drinking water out of the tap again here in the States!
Africa’s water was the least accessible, no surprise there. In Lesotho, it stopped raining for a week or so and our reserves were getting low, so we had to start rationing our showers. That’s a lot of sweaty, stinky people waiting for their bucket shower.
I was without a bed 5 of the 11 months, used my tent as a house for 2, hand-washed my laundry for 5, and was without on-site wifi for 7.
The worst part about roughing it was finding animals galore in the bathroom (chickens, bats, you name it), and not having any personal space to call my own (or having the 6:30am African heat chase you out of your personal tent).
The best part of the simple life was taking away all the superfluous things to give me the mental attentiveness to what God was doing RIGHT in front of me.
What’s the coolest thing you did on an adventure day?
The fabulous thing about getting to do ministry in so many corners of the world are the adventures just down the road! Some of my favorite adventures include bungee jumping off the Victoria Falls Bridge in Zimbabwe and riding an elephant in Thailand!
How are you different from when you left?
– I can pretty much maneuver myself around the entirety of mainland Southeast Asia by land transportation.
– I can say “Hello” and “Thank you” in at least 9 different languages.
– I’m better at saying the hard things and communicating directly.
– I understand what “quality time” and “words of affirmation” mean to me (read: putting your phone down, looking me in the eye and asking how I’m doing or what the Lord is teaching me will fill me up and make my day).
– I am usually fully comfortable standing in front of any crowd and sharing my testimony.
– I’ve walked a couple hundred miles in a variety of people’s shoes, and know this to be true: God loves the rich and poor, prideful and screw-ups, the Serbians and the Vietnamese. His Grace is the same, His character is the same, His love is the same, and His transforming work of Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection and the Holy Spirit’s power saves and redeems souls in every corner of the world. If possible, I am even further convinced that I have no option of turning back: my life belongs to Jesus.
Now that you’re home…
What do you miss about the Race?
–> Spiritually fertile community, right at my feet. Not every relationship on the Race is a deep, instant friendship. However, I had brothers and sisters around me, living and serving with me day in and day out, to encourage and walk with me as I pressed into what the Lord was doing in and through me (and I for them).
–> Having foreign and exciting things all around me. There was something new to discover everywhere, especially when I changed countries every month!
–> Waking up with purpose in ministry every day. Whether I was clothing refugees, sharing the Gospel in Filipino schools, or knocking down cement walls for a goat pen, I woke up with a task in front of me from the Lord and my ministry host to grow or support His Kingdom.
What DON’T you miss about the Race?
–> Community, right at my feet. I am an introvert. As much as I love my Race sisters, sometimes waking up with their face right next to mine without a place to get away was wearisome.
–> Constant adaptation. Every month, my brain adapted: new currency, new city, new language, new people, new ministry. Once I got the hang of how to get my groceries, we were off somewhere new. It’ll be nice to be in one place for a while.
–> Minimal control. Want to call friends or family to talk? Sorry, not today. Want to choose how you spend your days or what you do for your job? That’s been assigned to you as well. Complete surrender was the name of the game this year and the Lord worked wonders through it, but it’s nice to do things like take a bike ride to the park or make a fresh pot of coffee “just because I can” now.
What’s next? Is more mission work in your future?
I am taking full advantage of these transition weeks to rest, rejuvenate, process my year, and share all God has done with family, friends, and supporters!
My next steps include walking with the Lord in all I have learned this year, staying in the States for the immediate future. I desire to continue to work in the field of psychology with children. However, I’m very open to long-term international mission work in the future. We will see where the Lord leads!
And now, to you:
THANK YOU!
Thank you for reading this, following my journey, praying for me, donating money or time to help me make this year a reality, and encouraging me along the way. Thank you friends, family, and strangers for walking this journey with me and allowing the Lord to do greater things than I could ask, imagine, or even see on this side of eternity. I am indescribably grateful for the Lord’s blessing of this year and for each of you He put alongside me to experience this with.
Praise Him, for this is only the beginning!
In His Hands,
Anna
