Oh, we’ve got to hold on, ready or not
You live for the fight when it’s all that you’ve got
Woah, we’re half way there
Woah, livin’ on a prayer
Take my hand, we’ll make it I swear
Woah, livin’ on a prayer
It seems just like yesterday when I was sitting in Metro airport after having just said goodbye to my parents for a year waiting to board my flight to Atlanta to for launch to begin my World Race journey.
Now: 4,986 miles that is how far away from home I am now at this stage of my World Race journey, which also happens to be the halfway mark of my 11 months mission trip.
Crazy.
I remember at this time last year, I was only dreaming about being in Albania, and scraping by at work as we were still in that time of year where our hours were cut back, and that was also the time when God was working in my heart to shift my focus from my job to preparing me for this journey as in 5 months I would be meeting the 30 plus others who were going to become my family for the year.
I was scared, I was nervous, and I was beginning to have my doubts about what I had gotten myself into to begin with.
Now, I wouldn’t trade these last 6 months in for anything in the world for I feel like without this time for this journey as it has brought something out of me that I never knew was inside of me, or that I had barely only begun to realize my full potential as a daughter of our awesome God. I expected to grow while on the race, but I didn’t expect to see a transformation in me. I never knew just how awesome living in community was, and just how much I would come to know and love my squadmates as even living and being around them has changed me, and changed my view about myself. Not to mention learning how to live out of a backpack for a year, and the skill that is involved in that alone.
These past 6 months have also been some of my best times of my life as not only am I in the process of fulfilling the promise I made to God at 17, but I have been able to cross so many things off of my bucket list:
Visiting Mayan Ruins & snorkeling in the Caribbean
Hiking an active volcano
Going to Vietnam in general
Visiting the “Hanoi Hilton” prison & Kayaking in Vietnam
Visiting Angkor Wat & the “Killing Fields”
I have also been blessed with getting to serve God in so many awesome ways:
Belize: First Nazerene Church of Independence
Honduras: Adults with Special Needs home
El Salvador: Mi Casa Kids
Vietnam: ATL/Unsung Heroes month
Cambodia: Overflow Guesthouse
Albania: Christ For The Nations Bible College
The past 6 months have also brought out some of my worst times as well as no one said that the World Race was gonna be easy, and that is a fact that I have learned all too well. There were times that I had doubts about if the work that I was doing was even making an impact, there were times that I hated living in community, there were times that I even doubted myself, and if this journey was even worth it, I had doubts about fundraising and meeting my goals, and yeah there were even times that I felt like quitting.
In the end all of those negetive experiences & feelings have made a stronger person as well as have made me grateful for the things I do have at home, and overall gives me something to look forward to when I go home after this journey, but with a new perspective.
All I know is that by the end of this journey, I will not be the same person I was when I boarded that plane back in October.
Not to mention that I now have 30 sisters and 3 brothers in Christ who I love and adore as well as have learned so much from each one of them, and am so happy that God put all of them in my life.
Here’s to the last 5 months of this awesome journey, and all that lies ahead for me, and the rest of P squad.
Til Next Time your fellow Sister in Christ,
Bonnie
Team SC
P Squad
Psalms 18:2
YOLO
