Hey guys!
We made it to Romania after 2 weeks of travel. Travel was awesome! We got to meet a lot of different people along the way and the Lord blessed us with some amazing sights! We started our travels from Kyrgyzstan through Kazakhstan.
In Kazakhstan we got to stay in Almaty, Astana and Aktau. In Almaty we were able to meet up with a local mission family there and attend a young adult church service. These kids were on fire. They basically ran there own church service and were mighty worshippers. Was a blessing that we got to join them.
On the way to Astana I was able to meet this girl in the picture on the train we rode. She was a student studying Japanese and world religions and was going to get her Japanese visa. I was able to just hang out with her and have good conversations about different questions she had about the Bible and God. Loved getting to know her.
In Astana I was able to go to the world Expo for Future Energy solutions. On the way I met a kid who helped me get there which was awesome! I had no idea which bus to take. There I only had an hour, but got to see how so many counties are coming together to figure out renewable energy solutions. Definitely has been hitting my heart more about the importance of stuard the world the Lord has given us.
We then took a 40 hr train to Aktau which is a city on the coast of the Caspian Sea. I got to meet this awesome lady from Russia and her son. We got to play cards together and talk about different things. I also got to learn some more about Russia. I had bought food for the trip, but wouldn’t have needed to. She and another lady shared there food with me and it would have been plenty for the trip. It’s awesome how the Lord provides.
We spent two days waiting for the ferry in Aktau to head to Azerbaijan across the Caspian Sea . Luckily the ferry didn’t leave when it was suppose to because if it had I would have missed it. My visa hadn’t been approved for Azerbaijan and everyone else’s had been. They were getting ready to leave for the ferry and I was still waiting for my visa (I would have had to fly later once I got my visa). Then they were told the ferry was caught in a storm and that we’d have to wait another day. My visa came in an hour later and I was able to catch the ferry with them the next day.
Our time on the ferry was awesome! We got to hangout with 5 other backpackers from Germany, France, the Nederland’s, and Scotland. They were all full of so many stories about there lives and experiences and were all on a journey to find something. Our time on the ship was full of talking about life and testimonies, jamming out with guitars, riding a skateboard on deck, an awesome view of the Milky Way, meteor showers and glowing plankton. This trip could have been not so fun, but the Lord defiantly brought some pritty cool things on the ship and we just got to see his overwhelming provision and love towards us and those on the ship with us.
We then landed in Baku, Azerbaijan it was 1 AM at a port.There were only two taxies and we were 15 people with no other taxies in sight. Luckily the taxi driver had a friend he could call to pick up the rest of us. When we got to Baku it was 3:30 in the morning and we were not able to find any hostels with space for us. So many of my squad ended up sleeping on the street until we were able to get hostels the following morning. It was kool though 🙂 There was a security guard there and a police officer that could have gotten mad at us for sleeping on the streets, but instead they let us and just hung out around the area. A few of us who chose not to sleep found a coffee shop that was open near by at 4 am and enjoyed tea and lamb. The guy working there also helped us find a hostel.
The day before we left Azerbaijan I was ordering a drink at Starbucks and heard some other people speaking English. I struck up a conversation with them and found out they had been missionary’s there for the last 14 year and worked with many different groups there. They offered to give me there contact info and were interested in potentially being hosts in the future for other world race teams coming through Azerbaijan. We don’t have many contacts in Azerbaijan so it was awesome that the Lord brought this lady to Starbucks that day. She had said she was gonna go to another Starbucks but that for some reason they decided to come to this one instead. She said “I guess you were the reason!”. God is so good!
We then headed to Tbilisi, Georgia where we were able to hang with our backpacking friends for a bit longer and get some rest. Georgia was beautiful and defiantly wish we had more time to stay there.
Now we are in Romania waiting for our parents to get here this week to do ministry with us. We will get to work with gypsies, hand out eye glasses and tell people about the hope of Christ. It will also be an amazing time with our parents to pour into them and walk though some healing. If you could be praying for all of us racers and our parent this week that’d be awesome! Writing this made me reflect on all the cool ways the Lord provided that I didn’t even recognize in the moment. I’d encourage you to reflect of your last week and see how he’s been with you and has provided. I’m sure you’ll see his provision and be stoked! I’m stoked right now after looking back and seeing all his goodness and provision over the last two weeks!
Love y’all!
