Well the race has come to an end and trying to reflect on the last 11 months is not an easy task! There are so many memories that I sometimes have a hard time remembering which memory belongs to which country! What a great problem to have…right!!!!
So I have been walking down memory lane andI have come up with 2 of my most favorite memories of each country that I would LOVE to share with you!
I hope you enjoy!
Dominican Republic
- PLAYING WITH THE NEIGHBORHOOD KIDS!
We were magnets for kids month one!(Actually we were magnets for kids the entire race!)The family we lived with was our contact and they had 3 amazing children.And those 3 kiddos had a neighborhood of friends that we got to see every day!We didn’t speak the same language but that didn’t really matter!One day in particular, we gathered about 20 kids and spent the afternoon playing games outside in a torn down house!
- SHOE SHINE BOYS
Aging from 6 to 18…these young boys carry around a wooden box looking for any and all job opportunity.Their goal is to make shoes shine and look brand new and hopefully put food on the table for their family with the little money they get!One of our last days in the Dominican, our pastor gathered all these boys and we spent the afternoon honoring them.We painted their boxes, filled up their oils and replaced their brushes.For one afternoon they didn’t have to be ‘adults’ but simply silly boys!
Haiti
- OUR LIVING ARRANGEMENT
As most of you know, Haiti was not the fondest time of my trip!A lot happened like being robbed, getting my first set of stitches and a lot of sickness!I really don’t have any desire to go back…unless God ask me to!But what got me through month 2 had a lot to do with our house and the people I lived with! We were all trying to figure out what we had really signed up for and now we were having a lot of things being thrown at us.Instead of turning against each other, we turned toward each other!There was a lot of laughter, playing Nertz , other crazy games played, movies watched, great conversations,and a LOT of chocolate consumed!Friendships were formed and created that I will always treasure
- PRAISING JESUS ON THE STREET
After the robbery, there were a lot of emotions going on!We were scared, worried, angry, confused and felt really unsafe!None of us knew what to do, I went to the police station with one of my squad mates to make a police report but after that it was just a waiting game!BUT we realized that we weren’t going to let the Haitians thieve or Satan win so that night after the sun went down we filled the street in front of our house and Praised Jesus at the top of our lungs!We cried and screamed and laughed and thanked Jesus for keeping us safe!Satan had no place there!
Thailand
- RIDING ON ELEPHANTS
Who hasn’t seen this amazing giant and not desire to ride an elephant!Well my dream came true in Thailand!Our contact set up a day of adventure for us before we started ministry.We got to visit some Buddest temples, see an amazing waterfall, go bamboo rafting and ride on an elephant!I will never forget this day or how gentle the elephant was with us!
- HARVESTING RICE
We lived in a major city in Thailand but for a weekend we got to visit the village where our contact grew up in.It is a small village about 4ish hours away and their way of living is mostly growing rice! The weekend we came to visit was the exact weekend the rice was ready to harvest!So we woke up, got completely covered with clothing, put on huge boots, and big hats….we were given these knives that looked like something that came out of a slasher movie and headed toward the fields with the entire village!Let me tell you…I will NEVER look at another piece of rice the same way again!This is one of the hardest, time consuming jobs that takes a village to complete!But I loved every minute of it!
Malaysia
- SINGAPORE
While living in the jungle this month we got to escape and take a sleeper train to Singapore for a long weekend!We had so much fun in this tiny little country!For entrainment we found ever possible free thing you could do, spent hours in a souvenir store, walking through China town and Little India and got to enjoy some Christmas decorations!It was a great weekend for my team!
- CHRISTMAS EVE POTLUCK
Our main ministry for this month was to plan and put on an American Christmas Eve Potluck for the church we were working with!That meant making decorations, food and the entertainment!We spend hours cutting paper to make snowflakes and paper chains.We made some yummy ‘American’ food.And we sang holiday songs with a few twist like Take me out to the Ball Game and Home on the Range!We had a great turn out and a lot of food!It will be a Christmas Eve I will never forget!
Cambodia
- TEACHING IN A VILLAGE
One of the ministries I got to be involved in was teaching English in a nearby village to children from the ages of 5 to 12.Usually the class has 1 teacher and about 50 kids but while we were there we spilt up the kids in half and had 2 Americans and one translator in each class to teach English for about 2 hours every day!I was in the class that had the kids that weren’t so far advanced in English.Which means me and my wonderful co-teacher couldn’t understand a word that these kids were saying and they didn’t understand what we said!A situation that seemed impossible and stressful was probably one of my favorite ministries on the Race!These kids were amazing and were so happy all the time!We joked around and they actually learned a lot!
- POSSIBLE CAFÉ
Cambodia was a very special month for me!I loved the country, the people and the ministry!And this is the place that God revealed His plan for me for the rest of my life!Possible Café came to life here and that was only the start!God spoke to me in so many ways and He gave me His heart for the lost and the hurting!I won’t share the whole story (if you do want to know what happen…just ask or read my blog called Possible Café) but Cambodia will always be dear to me!
Tanzania
- SCHOOL VISITS
In the school in Tanzania, it is open for Christians to come in the schools and preach the Gospel! So one of the things we got to be involved with was visit almost every school in our city and join in their midday service that the students put on.They come together in fellowship, sing, hear a sermon and collect an offering!There really isn’t any word s that could help describe these services!But try to picture about 50 teenagers in a small room with no AC and only little windows on a HOT AFRICAN day with no breeze!They praise Jesus on the top of their lungs and they listen to ever word that is being said!These kids are going to be Kingdom Changers!
2. MASAI VILLAGE
What would visiting Africa be if you didn’t get to go and live in a Masai Village for a week!? Our pastor is friends with a Masai village that is Christian and they invited us to live with them for a few days! These are the people that you see on National Geographic! When I first heard we were going I was terrified but as soon as I got there I felt so much at home! We slept in our tents underneath the African stars, we had no running water or electricity, our bathroom was the trees and we drank fresh cow milk that we watched them milk. We had church service every night in the pitch dark with the only light coming from the billions of stars in the sky! We got to wear their clothing and meet so many amazing people! This was a once in a life time experience!
Malawi
- OUR CONTACT
Malawi was our paradise in the desert!We got to live in the most beautiful place I have ever seen that was right off Lake Malawi.But what made it so amazing was our contact for the month!Our lodge we lived in was run by an amazing woman from England who wanted to give people the opportunity to serve the community!She has two gorgeous little girls and my team became super close to her right away!We got to have great conversations with her, laugh with her, swim with her and simply live life with her!She loved us like sisters and at the end of the month it was the hardest thing to say Goodbye!She trusted us with her own ministries and with her heart!
- THE PEOPLE
The people of Malawi have the hugest hearts!I have never felt so much love and acceptance from people who didn’t know me!There were 2 groups that I grew to love!One of them was the young boys that came to our youth club ever afternoon!Verbal conversations were very very limited but again that didn’t matter! These boys truly listened to ever story we shared, learned every song we taught them and was so proud of the crafts they made!When we had to say goodbye, they were just as heartbroken as we were!The other group that I miss so much is the vendors of Malawi!Around every corner, you will see people (usually men) selling their craft!They have paintings, wood carvings, jewelry, clothing and anything they can make! This month God put in on my team’s heart to befriend these people and learn about their lives!These guys stepped away from making money to spend hours talk to us, playing the local games and teaching us their craft
Swaziland
- CAREPOINTS
Swaziland was the month of ministries.We had up to 15 ministries a day that we were involved with!One of my favorite ones was working at the Carepoints!This is a Kindergarten in morning and then a safe place for kids to come after school and hang out!This is the place that most of the kids get their one and only meal of the day!When entering one of these carepoints you are greeted by 20 beautiful children wanted to hug on, play with your hair and to play games with you!For a couple days a few of us got to go to the rural carepoints and help get shoe sizes for the kids to get new school shoes for the upcoming school year!Who knew I wouldn’t mind touching hundreds of kids feet all afternoon!!!
- OUR HOME
My team lived with 2 other teams (that makes 18 people all together) this month in an amazing house!As soon as you entered our door, you felt like you were visiting home after being away from college!There was a sense of comfort and love at all times!There was always something to do and people coming in and out of our house! At one point we had 24 people sleeping in our home!But it was never hectic or crazy!I have never been with that many people and not have one argument or fight!We were one big happy family and lived as a family!Every night we had family dinners were one person from each team cooked the meal, we eat together and then we all had a family meeting every night where we decided who was doing what ministry the next day!We had a prayer wall that people put their prayer request up and everyone took time to pray for them.We also had an encouragement wall where everyone had their own paper and people would pray and ask God what He wanted to say to each person!At the end of the month, everyone walked away from a page full of prophesy and encouragement!That month, relationship grew and strengthen that I am so thankful for!I LOVE that home!!
Romania
- FREEDOM BOUND 3:17
This was a huge month for my team.We had hit a point where we needed to put aside our own agendas and start loving each other like sisters!And God gave us a month to accomplish this!This was a month of ATL (ask the lord) and He provided a lot of time for us to be together!We started off in Brasov then headed to Bucharest and then ended back in Brasov.When we came back to Brasov at the end of the month, we were a different team!We changed our name and we truly became sisters!
- FREE PRAYERS
Ask the Lord ministry is where you wake up every day and ask God what He wants you to do and who does He want you to meet!Every day was different!One day we as a team felt we needed to go stand in the square in Brasov and hold up a sign that said FREE PRAYERS!It was one of the scariest things I have done but it was also the most rewarding!I got to meet a boy who was 11 years old…the only English words he knew was ‘yes ‘ and ‘no!’But I got to pray over him and then he sat with me for the next hour as I held my sign!We tried to make conversations but it usually ended with us staring at each other and laughing!
Moldova/Transnsitria
- TEA TIME
The first half of the month we lived at a construction site that was also a rehabilitation center for men!These men became our dads for the month!Just imagine having 12 very protective and loving dads around you all day long…it was great!One day we got to have tea time with them and they shared through a translator their stories of how God saved them from their old lives!The things they shared were not nice or lighthearted.A lot of them had been in prison, living on the streets and all of them suffered from drugs and alcohol.But God had bigger plans for them and they trusted us with that part of their lives!
- THE LOGO GAME
The second part of our month we organized and ran an overnight week long English camp. (that is another story in itself) The kids didn’t speak English and so we had the youth group from the church come and help us translate! We formed a crazy friendship with thes young men and women.During camp we were on 24/7 so whenever we had a break, we took advantage!One of the things that kept us entertained was a little game called the logo game that I downloaded on my kindle!This game has different stages and on each stage it has 3 pages of logos that you have to guess what they are.You would think that it is just for American logos but you would be wrong!It is a very international game and so we would pass around the kindle and everyone would try to guess logos.Half the time I didn’t even know where my Kindle was.
Ireland
- VINTAGE THRIFT STORE
In Ireland we worked with a church that “takes care of the lost and has God take care of the church!’ This church has so many amazing outreaches and we got to help in almost all of them. One of the outreaches is having a Vintage Thrift Store. This is also a place where people can come and use their creativity to worship Jesus! One of my amazing squad mates and I got to clean and organize the shop! The owner is this adorable woman who has a heart for people to express themselves creatively but had no idea how to stay organize. So when you take the 2 most OCD people of the squad, you will soon have a system that will help you out! It took about a week but when all was said and done, they now have 4 rooms that are cleaned and have a purpose!
2. J SQUAD
Our last month of the race, J squad got to live together and do ministry as a huge group! That is 55 people in one place!!!! I am so thankful that we got to do this. Not only did I get to live with my amazing team but I got to live with people who I have made really close friendships with. There was a lot of ministries and not a lot of down time. It was crazy and messy but for the last month of the race I wouldn’t want it any other way! I got to have great conversations with people, I laughed a lot, we worshiped as a squad, we prayed together as a squad and we got to freak out that the race was ending as a squad! I really did live and travel with the most amazing people ever!!!! And i will always love and adore everyone of them!!
