**Although I posted the blog “Kyrgyzstan” first, I wrote this a few weeks ago and this blog takes place before that one**
Sometimes it is hard to think of something to blog about. We arrived in Kyrgyzstan on July 6th, and a week later I struggled to think of a blog topic, because “nothing happened.”
Obviously, that isn’t true. After travelling for so long, sometimes really exciting things don’t feel noteworthy anymore. Often the structure (or lack thereof) of the Expedition route makes natural planners and doers feel a little purposeless.* But the days go by nonetheless, and each one is interesting in its own right. Here is a blog of my week where “nothing happened.” Most of it came straight from my journal. This week (the week of July 23rd) we have an organized ministry teaching English and a lot of us are rejoicing. But I never want to discount the simple days, spent with my team, growing in faith, travelling the world.
July 6th– This was a long, draining travel day, with lots of different taxis and checkpoints, where we often had to get out of the car with our bags, in the rain, to go through Chinese security measures. We walked across the border of China and Kyrgyzstan. We thought we were going to have to walk 2 kilometers with our bags, but the kind border agent arranged a ride for us with a tour bus that was there for another group of people. I’ve never been so happy in my life. Once we go to our city, the hostel we booked did not exist (well, it did, but an hour away), so we found another place to stay, which was actually very nice.
July 7th– It was Sabbath, a day of rest. We are intentional about keeping that on the Race, which was hard sometimes at first, but as time has gone on we have come to appreciate it more and more. Sabbath means alone time, the freedom to do what you want with your day, and time set aside to spend with God.
July 8th– We ate cereal for dinner and my teammate Mo shared her testimony. That’s all I wrote in my journal for the day. We have taken turns sharing our testimonies with eachother. We also have “team time” every day except for Sabbath. Each person takes a day and gets to choose the activity. Mo chose cereal for dinner (excellent choice 😉 )
July 9th– It was Anna’s day and we did a prayer walk and “treasure hunting” (asking God to give us a word or picture to look for and then seeking that out. Often this leads to conversations about God!) We also did a bit of exploring around the city, and another team, Team Summit, arrived at our hostel, so we got to spend some time with them.
July 10th– We had worship together as the two teams. In the evening we went roller skating with a Kyrgyzstani girl we met at a café we had been to a few times. It was SO much fun. I felt like I was 12 years old again.
July 11th– We went on a food tour. Not only was the food delicious, but we got to learn a bit about the history and culture of the city/country. We also got to talk with our guide, who was a Muslim, about our religions, what they have in common and what makes them distinct. Also, on the tour, we ate something very similar to pierogis, and I learned that only the teammates from the Northeast US knew what those are! I love learning things about America too, even when I am in a different country. I will never forget when I learned that water ice was not a nationwide thing. And my teammates “love” hearing me rave about Rita’s 😉
July 12th– Happy birthday Leah! We celebrated by going to the world’s coldest swimming pool. But it was nice because Osh was SO hot we literally dreamed of swimming every day. Maybe not in an icebox, but that’s okay. We also finished playing superlatives, which we had started back in China. I won some pretty honoring titles such as “most likely to lose her child at Target,” “most likely to commit manslaughter,” and “most likely to get peed on.” Yeah, I know I’m a catch.
***
Another week has passed since then too, and I could share similar stories from those days too. More time spent hanging out with locals and getting to have faith-based conversations. More travel days (like the one where our car broke down, our bags flew out of the van onto the highway, in the rain, and we got pulled over by the cops a five minutes’ drive from reaching our hostel all in one day.)
I am excited to finally have organized ministry in the upcoming weeks (though I have also learned the terms “organized” and “ministry” are VERY subjective terms.) If all goes according to plan, we will be teaching helping with a children’s day camp and teaching English to college students. But when I look back, I don’t just want to remember those days, I want to remember the days where “nothing happened” too. Simple days, spent with my team, eating food, sharing laughs, and oh yeah, being in Kyrgyzstan.
*I just want to say I feel confident God called me to the Expedition Route, despite these last two blogs where I shared some of my frustration at times 🙂 Expedition is great for people who are natural evangelists or prefer relational ministry to service. Maybe God is trying to grow me in these areas!
