It all started one rainy Tuesday morning in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
We had just wrapped up two days of squad time saying goodbye to our alumni
squad leaders who have poured into us for four months and are now headed back
to the states to enter into new and exciting seasons of life. We had the honor
of meeting a couple teams from P-Squad who was starting their last month of
ministry. It was great to get to share stories and talk with a group of people
who “get it” and who have been where we are. We had a great, that word doesn’t
quite do it but yeah great, night of worship together and it is one of my favorite
nights on the Race so far. After a late night of prayer, worship, and partying::
celebrating the BIRTHDAY of the INCREDIBLE woman of God, Brittani Dunlap:: we
loaded up our packs (it never fails to amaze me how heavy my pack is despite my
perception of how “little” I have.), said goodbye to our new friends at the
PODs Hostel, and walked to the
bus station where now, 41 U-Squad world changers:: nation shakers:: life
givers, stepped on a bus and started their journey for New Delhi, India.
We had just wrapped up two days of squad time saying goodbye to our alumni
squad leaders who have poured into us for four months and are now headed back
to the states to enter into new and exciting seasons of life. We had the honor
of meeting a couple teams from P-Squad who was starting their last month of
ministry. It was great to get to share stories and talk with a group of people
who “get it” and who have been where we are. We had a great, that word doesn’t
quite do it but yeah great, night of worship together and it is one of my favorite
nights on the Race so far. After a late night of prayer, worship, and partying::
celebrating the BIRTHDAY of the INCREDIBLE woman of God, Brittani Dunlap:: we
loaded up our packs (it never fails to amaze me how heavy my pack is despite my
perception of how “little” I have.), said goodbye to our new friends at the
PODs Hostel, and walked to the
bus station where now, 41 U-Squad world changers:: nation shakers:: life
givers, stepped on a bus and started their journey for New Delhi, India.
It was like any other travel day until, we boarded our
Malaysian Airlines flight. BEST. FLIGHT. EVER. The airplane food was delicious
(and considering we’ve been flying JetStar our last few flights any food or
beverage on a flight is foreign to us. We were just praying for water.), the
flight crew was friendly and they were putting drinks in my hand before I even
had to ask.
We walked off the plane and went to meet our contact. The
squad was staying together for a night and our logistics guys were headed to
the train station to get tickets in the morning. So, as is always the travel
day question…how are we going to move 41 people and all their luggage to our
destination. We all pile on this beauty, [pic] and head off on our Indian
adventure. Well…almost, it took some tinkering with the engine and a lot of
prayer but we were finally on our way, slowly.
squad was staying together for a night and our logistics guys were headed to
the train station to get tickets in the morning. So, as is always the travel
day question…how are we going to move 41 people and all their luggage to our
destination. We all pile on this beauty, [pic] and head off on our Indian
adventure. Well…almost, it took some tinkering with the engine and a lot of
prayer but we were finally on our way, slowly.
(Our sweet ride)
We finally arrived at ASHA orphanage around midnight Tuesday
night. We unloaded all our bags and sorted them into three piles, we were being
split up to sleep. After dropping a few teams at the first stop we load the
remaining packs and head to our next stop. After 5 or 10 minutes the bus stops
and the remaining 4 teams unload. The bus can’t fit back to where we are
staying so we walk. So, I now find myself following a man I met moments before
down narrow streets in New Delhi, India at 1 o’clock in the morning. Yeah.
Welcome to the real World Race. Up to this point overall we have had it good.
Really good. The majority of my last two months have been spent in air
conditioning and I’ve had an actual bed half of the time, I’ve even been able
to go for a run, walk to the store, or just be alone for a minute. But I left
those privileges in Malaysia. This month is going to stretch me in new ways,
giving up my independence and self-reliance and looking to Jake and the other
men on our squad for protection and submitting to cultural standards of dress
that won’t always be the most comfortable during the 100+ degree weather. But
something I’ve said from the beginning of this race is that I want to be
stretched and changed and uncomfortable. Well, I’ve been given grace for four months
and now it’s time to get real. Anyhow, back to the orphanage, we finally get
settled on the floor in the entry hall about 2 am and get to sleep. Breakfast
with the squad at 9:30 in the morning so we all had visions of sleeping in and
getting a decent 7 hours sleep. HA! Expectations…bahaha!
night. We unloaded all our bags and sorted them into three piles, we were being
split up to sleep. After dropping a few teams at the first stop we load the
remaining packs and head to our next stop. After 5 or 10 minutes the bus stops
and the remaining 4 teams unload. The bus can’t fit back to where we are
staying so we walk. So, I now find myself following a man I met moments before
down narrow streets in New Delhi, India at 1 o’clock in the morning. Yeah.
Welcome to the real World Race. Up to this point overall we have had it good.
Really good. The majority of my last two months have been spent in air
conditioning and I’ve had an actual bed half of the time, I’ve even been able
to go for a run, walk to the store, or just be alone for a minute. But I left
those privileges in Malaysia. This month is going to stretch me in new ways,
giving up my independence and self-reliance and looking to Jake and the other
men on our squad for protection and submitting to cultural standards of dress
that won’t always be the most comfortable during the 100+ degree weather. But
something I’ve said from the beginning of this race is that I want to be
stretched and changed and uncomfortable. Well, I’ve been given grace for four months
and now it’s time to get real. Anyhow, back to the orphanage, we finally get
settled on the floor in the entry hall about 2 am and get to sleep. Breakfast
with the squad at 9:30 in the morning so we all had visions of sleeping in and
getting a decent 7 hours sleep. HA! Expectations…bahaha!
(Our “room” for the night, no roof, thank goodness for no rain either.)
The kids woke up at 5am and started moving our packs (yeah four ten-year-old boys
were hoisting our packs into the side room…impressive) so I got up to help them
haul the packs, after moving the packs the kids filed by us shaking our hands
and welcoming us to their home. So, after 3 hours of sleep we were all awake. We
may not have been well rested but we were all safe in Delhi, we received much
favor from God and were able to get all the teams tickets on the train and 2
days later all the teams were headed to their ministry sites. This was
Courtney, Jake, and I’s first official travel day as Squeader and I have to say
it went well. I can’t speak for Jake or Court, but I never had moments of
actual stress, or freak out. SUCCESS!
were hoisting our packs into the side room…impressive) so I got up to help them
haul the packs, after moving the packs the kids filed by us shaking our hands
and welcoming us to their home. So, after 3 hours of sleep we were all awake. We
may not have been well rested but we were all safe in Delhi, we received much
favor from God and were able to get all the teams tickets on the train and 2
days later all the teams were headed to their ministry sites. This was
Courtney, Jake, and I’s first official travel day as Squeader and I have to say
it went well. I can’t speak for Jake or Court, but I never had moments of
actual stress, or freak out. SUCCESS!
