How can one describe the movement of God in mere
words? Will you really grasp all of the hurt and pain we see every day as we
walk to and from ministry “sites” or get even a glimpse of the change
in our hearts after praying for men and women who have neglected their own
families in order to get drunk? Maybe. I’m not completely convinced you will
really get it without being here, holding the hand of a broken heart or seeing
the shame in a man’s eyes when you tell him he is great. But I must try.
This was written by a boy last October in a village just
outside of Manila, Philippines. And as much as that
boy had not yet experienced the things God had in store for him in the ten
months to follow this blog, there is truth in his words. I wrote these things
at the beginning of my eleven-month trip not knowing what to expect, and I hope
that through all of the internet troubles, my lack of pictures, and being busy
on the trip didn’t keep YOU, the reader (and supporter), from experiencing some
of this trip with me.
I am finally back in the United States! We spent the last
two months of our trip in Central America, in San Pedro,
Guatemala, and Diriamba, Nicaragua.
Then to close things out we had our Final Debrief in San Jose, Costa Rica, all
fifty of us on the squad, as well as Jake (logistics), Allison (squad leader),
and Mike and Kathy Hindes (squad coaches, WR Directors). While we were sitting
around San Jose
with not much of a schedule to follow, I was certain I was ready for the trip
to end. The sitting around seemed to drone on and on and on. But I’m realizing
it was just my lack of knowing how to truly say goodbye to family.
We sat around joking about all of the things we had seen and
heard and experienced throughout the year. We pulled out all the inside jokes
you could think of, and we had plenty of conversations about our bowels, which
is surely the #2 topic of discussion on The World Race, following, of course,
God. We talked about what we wanted to eat when we got home (hot pockets, pop
tarts, Mom’s chicken and dumplings), and we all desperately looked forward to
getting a nice, hot, steady shower, and wearing completely clean, new clothes.
After several flights (chaos and confusion taking their
places along the way) and tears and Burger King, we all finally said “goodbye”
to our new families, and “hello” to our original families. But for me, I made
the move slowly by going to NYC to see my younger sister, Kara, for a week. And
from a past blog, you may know that I got a $50 ticket for spitting on the
ground while in the city, so I was really feeling welcomed when I got back to
the ol’ Red, White, and Blue.
I was able to see my friends Matt and Erin Lamb, who
happened to get married while I was on The World Race, and after getting to my
parents’ house finally, I saw my grandparents from West Virginia, my cousin
(originally) from Texas, and it’s a pleasure to see my older sister Kim and her
amazing 3-year old son, Noah. To top it all off, I was blessed enough to be
able to see my best friend Yamil perform with his band the other night, as I
have been looking forward to seeing a show for a long time.
But as I try to integrate back into “society” and back into
the “normal” life, I know it’s going to be hard to hold onto a lot of the
things I saw and experienced while on The World Race. Part of me feels like I
am still in the hills of Moldova,
or the corn fields of Uganda.
But the other part of me feels like I never left in the first place, like it
was all a dream or some movie I saw growing up. I know that there are things
The Father has shown me and taught me in the past year, and I am excited to
tell others about them. However, it’s hard to process all of those things just
two weeks after returning “home” so please stay tuned for when God gives me the
words to express all of the things He’s taught me.
I want to say THANK YOU to all of you who took even just a
minute in the past year to pray for me and my teammates. THANK YOU to all of
you who tossed even a dollar into my support account to help me get where I
have gone. THANK YOU to all of the families who took care of me while I was
preparing to go on this trip. THANK YOU to all of you who will continue to give
of yourselves in order to pour Love, Life, and Truth into people like me. THANK
YOU.
As far as my future is concerned, stay tuned for a blog to
come soon, telling you how you can keep supporting me through prayer and
finances.
Thanks for reading.
