I can’t believe it.
I really can’t.
This trip, which started over a year ago with a training camp held somewhere in deliverance, Georgia (I kid!), followed by a launch and flight to Panama in September is now ending in the most glorious of places—Cape Town, South Africa. We’ve been to 3 continents. We’ve ridden on planes, trains, buses, tuk-tuks, combi’s, bicycles and pick-up trucks. We’ve hitchhiked. We’ve been on safari’s, seen wonder’s of the world, and jumped off cliffs. We’ve been really, really dirty. We’ve showered out of sinks. We’ve sweat more than should be humanly possible. We’ve smelled our clothes, gagged, and then been forced to put them on anyway.
We’ve met the most amazing people, only to be forced to say goodbye too soon, hoping to see them before we see them all in heaven. We’ve prayed (a lot), and cried (maybe also a lot) over the brokenness of this world, and the glorious ways in which God has chosen to redeem it. I’ve seen more smiles—genuine, eye-crinkling smiles—this year than ever before in my life, and that is what has meant the most. The people I’ve met. Not only the beautiful people on our squad, but the people we partner with each month for ministry and everyone else we meet in between—the woman we saw everyday selling Thai tea, the man who ran our hostel, the cook in the kitchen, the owner of our favorite Indian restaurant, the woman who sat by herself at church, the two guys who worked by your house everyday doing construction… Those are the people that’ve changed my life. Those are the people I set out to love, but those are the people who ended up loving me instead.
The world race is just a year. It’s a year of my life, and I can’t possibly describe it one blog, one conversation…even one day. It’s been a year, but it’s not over yet. Sure, we have final debrief, but the race keeps going once we get home. We’re wrapping up month 11, and heading into month 12. And I bet they’ll be more buses, more planes and more trains. More sweat, more prayer and more tears. More smiles.
More God.
More life.
So thank you to everyone who supported me on this journey, for everyone who walked alongside me and for every beautiful person we’ve met along the way. I’m so full of love and joy and expectation for what’s to come.
So here’s to month 12.
Let’s do this!#weOUT
Bree
