Wow! It has been such a crazy week so far! Although today was officially day one on the World Race at our first location, we had a crazy few days at launch in Atlanta, GA then five whole days of traveling to Tacloban, Philippines. I cannot believe we are finally here!!! Saying all of my goodbyes back home was really tough and honestly I’m not sure it’s hit me yet that I just said goodbye for the next 11 months. I’m sure it will hit me eventually. But I am so pumped to finally begin this crazy journey with the Father!
Let’s talk about the insanity of travel days!!! So we left for the ATL airport at 6:30am on Saturday, January 10th. Just for fun, my team and I got on the wrong shuttle to the wrong airport and didn’t think to call anyone for maybe an hour after we realized there were no other World Racers in sight. No worries, we had some time to kill and we made it back to the right airport in plenty of time! Our first flight was at 11:15am to LAX airport where we had a nine hour layover. Then our second flight was a 16 hour flight to the airport in Guangzhou, China, where we had another 9 hour layover before we flew out on our third flight to Manila, Philippines which was only 2 hours. So far we have been traveling for a solid 50+ hours, and a 13 hour time difference, it is now 5:00pm on Monday. At this point I may have slept a total of 5 hours on the plane to China. We’re all super stoked for our World Race journey to begin but we’re also exhausted! Some of my squad mates got sick during travel, needless to say, we all needed comfort an rest from the Father to continue our travel days with a joyful heart because travel days are far from over right now.
As soon as we get to Manila we go through customs and collect our bags. Then we wait… After 2 hours we are finally greeted by our K.I.M. (Kids International Ministry) host. We say goodbye to half of our squad then K.I.M. transports my team, Team Ransom, and two other N Squad teams for 2 more hours where we then reach the K.I.M. house in Manila. We were all zombies at this point, looking for any flat surface to lay our sleepy heads. Twenty-one of us unloaded our mass of 100 lb bags and trucked them all up to the fourth floor where we all shared a room for the night. Best sleep of my life, might I add.
Just a few hours later 4:30am, Team Ransom wakes up and we pack our bags to depart at 5:30am, still on a mission to get to our K.I.M. host’s in Tacloban. We arrive at the bus station around 7:00am, our bus leaves at 8:30am, so they say… Waiting around at the bus station was very interesting. There were about 3,000 people flowing in and out of the place with their luggage. None of us were really sure if we were waiting at the right spot and we weren’t sure really who we should ask. After 8:30am had come and gone we began to get a little worried that maybe we missed our bus! We found someone that worked for the bus company and we were able to ask him. But even after that we still weren’t sure. That conversation went a little something like this:
Erika: “Excuse me, sir. We are trying to get to Tacloban on bus #7. Have we missed our bus?”
Bus guy: “Oh, yes.”
Me: “So we missed it?!”
Bus guy: “Yes.” (smiles from ear to ear)
Me: “The bus going to Tacloban has already come and gone???”
Bus guy: “Oh, yes.” (still smiling)
Me: “So we have missed our bus to Tacloban?”
Bus guy: “Oh, no. Just wait for bus.”
Erika: “So the bus is still coming?”
Bus guy: “Yes, bus is going to Tacloban.”
Me: “Is the bus late?”
Bus guy: “Oh, yes. Bus is late. Soon bus will come.”
Me: “Ohhh good! Thank you!!!”
Erika: “Praise Jesus, hallelujah!”
So you can see how we are still a little unsure of the whereabouts of our bus. We relay this info back to our team and we continue to wait. Literally our bus did not get there until 10:00am! In America if you have a ticket anywhere for 8:30am, you are leaving at 8:29am. If we were in the states and it was already 10:00am, our bus would have been longgggg gone! But here in the Philippines, time is valued a little different. It was better finding that out earlier than later. But in all reality, we were all a tiny bit freaking out about missing our bus. But the Father was in control the entire time and by His grace, that #7 bus showed up and we were finally in route to Tacloban.
The bus was so nice! We had air-conditioning, free wifi, a movie playing up front, and cushioned seats! We were having a grand old time on that bus, for the first 10 hours… Then being the Americans that we are… we were uncomfortable, bored, hungry, and tired. We tried to sleep on the bus but it was near impossible. I’m pretty positive that our bus driver used to race for NASCAR. Driving here is crazy, so say the very least! When you hear a honk you better move it pretty darn quick because either way, the driver is comin’ through, full speed ahead! But the drivers do it so well! After 20 hours of riding in the bus we arrived at the ferry dock we waited for 6 hours to board the ferry. After boarding the ferry we only had a 1 hour ferry ride across the water then we loaded back up in the bus for 5 more hours. After 5 days of travel, we finally arrived in Tacloban, Philippines around 2:00pm Wednesday January 14th! Hooray!!! Thank you Jesus for bringing us all here safely!
All of that just to say, TRAVEL DAYS ARE INSANE!!! Although we were all tired and worn down from all of our travels, the Father worked in and through our team giving us patience and bonding us closer together through it all. What struck me the most on our 32 hour bus ride through the Philippines was God’s incredible beauty in this country. Not only did I see His beauty in the nature but also in the Filipino people! Just by observing everything and everyone from my window on the bus and making new friends on the bus I noticed how the people here in the Philippines are extremely hard workers and they are very family/community oriented. I cannot wait to grow and learn more about our Father by loving on His people here in the Philippines. Even though we had so much back ache, cankle, and very little sleep I am so grateful that our team had this opportunity to to see and experience so much of the Philippines and God’s glory in our extra 32 hours of travel on that bus.
Upon arriving at our host’s house here in Tacloban, we were welcomed with open and loving arms! We are so blessed this month! we have real beds, real towels, real showers, and real fans! God is ALWAYS so good to us! I know that I speak for all of us when I say that I am so thankful that He did not throw us to the wolves in month one! He’s starting us off easy! Thank you Lord! You’re such a good Father!
