Here are two housekeeping-type things you might like to know:
1. If you plan to send in any donations to me or other World Racers via check in the mail, please note that Adventures in Missions’ address has changed. Send all checks (made out to AIM, with my name in the memo line) to Adventures in Missions, PO Box 742570, Atlanta, GA 30374-2570.
2. If you are saddened by the lack of pictures on this blog, I invite you to go to my Facebook page and check out some of the images I’ve posted there. For some reason, it’s much easier to upload them on Facebook than this page. Click here to check them out. If you’re not my friend on Facebook yet, feel free to add me!
Okay. Here are some more things you might like to know.
As I’ve mentioned, February was all-squad month, which meant that all 41 of us were together, living, eating, and ministering. Together. All month. It was a blast, and I’m bummed that it’s over so quickly. It was also a lot of people to be around and it was hard to find sufficient time away to write blogs. So I’m going to share some random moments from our month here:
1. I don’t mean to brag, but my Valentine’s Day was probably better than yours. All the women on C Squad were treated like royalty all day by our men. They did all our chores, cooked us homemade granola for breakfast, and gave us valentines with pictures of people like Hitler on them, with sentiments like “Be Mein” and “You’re the Kim Jong Ill-est.” Mine said, “Leon Trotsky thinks you’re hotsky.”
And that was just the beginning! That evening, we were instructed to get dressed up for a fancy dinner and stay out of the kitchen. When it was time to eat, the men escorted us into our eating area, which they’d decorated with streamers, flowers, and (gasp!) real silverware and plates! We were each given a rose and bowls of M&Ms, and were fed a magnificent dinner, which I will now describe in detail. It’s a World Race thing: traveling around eating such weird things makes you even more captivated by what you eat.
We were given fresh, hot bread and olive oil and balsamic vinegar and herbs to dip it in (it’s one of my favorite foods and I didn’t know when I’d eat it again!). Then we had salads with a homemade vinaigrette, oh, and did I mention the soda? The guys were constantly refilling our cups with Coke and Sprite. I mean, I took a sip and a refill appeared. The main course was chicken alfredo, loaded with vegetables, and after a variety/talent show featuring dancing, music, and magic tricks, we were treated to gooey, hot, chocolatey brownies.
Oh, one of those magic tricks went like this: Tony was wearing a turban made from someone’s sarong, and said, “Who likes pink animals?” Obviously, I raised my hand, and before I knew it, a tiny pink chick had been pulled from the turban and we had a pet for a few days. Princess Sophia didn’t live long with us, but she will live forever in my heart as the weirdest Valentine’s Day present I’ve ever received.
The evening was really meaningful to all of us, and we all agreed that our husbands will have some big shoes to fill.
2. A lot of people got sick this month. Viruses, parasites, you name it, it happened. Please be praying for my team, especially Kelly. She’s been sick for a while and we’re just tired of it.
3. I used a machete for the first time this week, and it was a blast. Not just any machete: it was a machete we found in the woods, with no handle. Just a rusty blunt machete-shaped blade.
4. When I used that machete, we spent hours in the middle of nowhere a couple days, building a road and clearing out bushes to prepare the site for a retreat center that a local pastor wants to build. It was a beautiful time with people and with God. I’ve been reading through Genesis lately (I started with one of those read-the-Bible-in-a-year plans [So I can finally say I’ve read the whole thing, Jess! I’m looking at you!] but I can’t read 3 chapters a day because I can spend an hour on a couple sentences), and have been fascinated with the life of Jacob/Israel. I’ve especially been studying the story of Jacob wrestling with that man/God that he meets right before confronting his brother Esau, whose life he basically ruined years ago, for the first time since he fled. Read the whole story in Genesis 32 and 33, please, and spend some time chewing on the wonderful strangeness of it all!
But here’s what stuck out to me: Jacob names the place where he wrestled all night Peniel, which means “Face of God,” because there he saw the face of God in that mysterious figure that struggled with him all night before dislocating his hip. And then, the next day, Jacob and Esau finally meet again. And Jacob is shocked that his brother receives him with love and a bear hug, and tells him, “To see your face is like seeing the face of God.” This is coming from someone who has literally just seen the face of God!
Anyway, all this and more has been swirling around in my head lately for some reason, so I’m wrestling with it (“israel”-ing, if you will, since Israel means “wrestles with God”) and thinking about the idea of God having a face… and that day when we were cutting up bushes in the woods, the pastor came to meet us, and I left these thoughts to say hello to him. I asked what the name of this retreat center would be and he said… can you guess?
Peniel. Face of God.
Or, in Spanish, Rostra De Dios, or something like that.
Our host in Quiche, Sally, also prayed for us to be seeing Christ’s many faces as we continue moving and serving.
5. Yesterday as we drove to Antigua, I was in the very back of the bus. Passing through some city, the back emergency exit door opened and a man tried to climb in! I was so confused and none of us in the back of the bus knew enough Spanish to tell him to get off, so we just all said, “No gracias, no gracias.” My mandolin, which had been propped against the door, fell out of the bus and the man caught it with his leg. I snatched it as he finally jumped off. We were informed that sometimes, people board moving buses to sell fruits and vegetables. Hmm.
6. I really miss playing the piano. It’s been about 2 months since I played. I haven’t gone that long without the piano since I started playing at the age of 6. I’m always keeping my eye out for a piano, maybe hiding in a restaurant or church. It will be a happy day, the day I get a chance to play a little. Though I must say, I’ve been playing the mandolin a lot and have really improved. I even led worship with it this month, alone. I wouldn’t have done that if I’d had a piano with me!
7. My squad is in Antigua, Guatemala again! I didn’t blog about this, but this is the place we had our debrief last month, and it was wonderful. Our coaches flew out to see us, we had time to go over our month in Honduras as a team, and most importantly, we got to rest and explore this beautiful city. I knew I wanted to come back to Antigua someday, but I didn’t think it would be so soon! I’m grateful to be back here, and I’m writing this in our hostel, which is covered in plants and weird winding white staircases. This afternoon, our team is going to ask God what he wants us to do in the afternoon, and then we’re going to go do it. World Racers do that a lot. We call it ATL: Ask the Lord. That will be good, I know.
But right now, my priority is to go eat some of the food I splurged on: fresh bread, fruit, and pecorino cheese. You should have seen my face yesterday, when I saw that pecorino cheese.
