Tired eyes have the potential to blur the beauty out of any moment, even those that captivate us entirely. Thankfully however, God granted me enough strength to make it through 17 hours of travel. Unfortunately, I do not have the ability to relax and take a nap on airplanes like so many others do. I flew to Los Angeles from Atlanta with tears in my eyes and a suffocating heaviness in my throat. It seemed like no matter how hard I tried to embrace the fact that an exciting adventure awaited, I still grieved the end of the best summer of my life and the many painful goodbyes.
To all of you, who have supported me along the way, thank you. I sincerely appreciate you and all that you bring to my life. There is no question that I will be thinking and praying for you throughout the next 11 months. If it weren’t for you and the grace of God, who knows where I’d be.
Once in Los Angeles around 8:30pm the October 2010 World Racers (S-Squad) all reunited near the Taca airline check-in. We then waited until about 1:00am to board our flight to San Salvador, El Salvador where we had a brief layover and then continued on to Guatemala City. By 9:30am we were unloading our bags in Antigua, Guatemala at the Mochileros Hostel. Por fin (at last) – we were settled.
Not long after our arrival, all 62 racers congregated in front of a church in the city for a quick debrief. We also found out that some of our teams were going to change. With the way I was moved from team to team during training camp, I assumed that my team would be the one that would change. My thoughts were correct. Since we lost a team member, we gained two from a team that had to be divided. It was undeniably God-ordained. Our new team members, Cody McCullah and Amber Hoey have added such vibrancy to our team. Since so many changes occurred, we also decided to change our team name…more on that later.Our time in Antigua was a blessing. We had the opportunity to be poured into by our squad leaders, spiritual parents, and fellow racers. The worship was incredible as always and that sense of “Wow” continued to fill our hearts. We heard from WR alumni who prophesied over us, proclaiming that we are a squad that is different than those who have gone before us- one that would make other squads’ “ceilings” become our “floors”. This is something they also said at training camp when we had already gone through 4 days of teachings in just 2. Our excitement peaked when we had the chance to hike a volcano in a nearby city. The 4 mile hike at a much higher elevation than we are all used to, took its toll on us but it was worth it in the end! Once the internet gets better I hope to upload some of the pics.
The night before we left for our individual ministries, the squad leaders, Mama C, and Pappy all prayed over us, commissioning us out unto the nations. One of our squad leaders, Tim, prayed over us and confirmed many of our thoughts about our newly reformed team. He said that God placed in his mind the word “power” for our team. He said that though we bring such different backgrounds and personalities, our myriad of “colors” are just what God intended for our race; only to create a striking masterpiece along the way. Beautiful.
This is my team’s video project from our October launch. We answered the question: What does it look like…?
However, the World Race is not known for sticking around in one place for too long. After 3 and ½ days of debriefing, we headed to our first ministry assignment, Vida Ilimitada, in Chimaltenango, Guatemala. Since last Tuesday we have been spending all our time with 36 orphans and the most amazing staff a WR team could ask for. We have warm beds, hot showers (sometimes), hearty meals (rice and beans anyone?), thoughtful company and beautiful views. Though our American comforts have not been entirely voided, we are humbled by the lifestyle here. Most of the small girls have lice that we have been shampooing and nit-picking diligently. Recently I cut and thinned the hair of two girls, Lupita and Reina, and also trimmed the house mother’s. ¡La Peluquería de Cristina está abierta! (Christina’s hair salon is open!)
Our typical day begins at 5:30am and ends around 8:30pm after our beloved feedback time. During the day we are all separated by houses. Danielle and Amber are with the babies and toddlers. Aimee, Janee’ and I are with the young girls. Scotty and Cody are discipling all the older boys. Each of these children come from the streets and has a shocking story to tell. The government gets them off the street or out of abusive homes and after mountains of paperwork, to Vida Ilimitada. Once here, the process of regeneration occurs where they have to adapt out of their unsafe lifestyles. Even though their stories make my heart burn with grief, they are still as joyful as any children. The boys came around much more slowly but now they can’t help but receive our love.
Thank the Lord for my years of Spanish because they are being used ALL THE TIME here. I am the translator for my team and while it can be a bit frustrating at times, I would never give up the chance to hear the words of these people.
To be continued…
