Halfway Done

 

So this last week marked the halfway journey for me and the World Race. I can’t believe how time has flown. How much I’ve seen and done, how much God has shown me, how many opportunities I’ve had, and how many people I’ve gotten to meet.

I thought that since we’ve reached the halfway point, that I would make a list of some of the things I’ve said, done, heard, seen, etc..some of these maybe repeats from other blogs, but some of these will be new too. I hope you enjoy.

 

Sometimes Ministry looks like…

• Sitting in front of a fan on a concrete floor for two weeks straight just to put together a year one Bible level class curriculum.

• Playing Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes, over and over to teach body parts in English to non-english speakers. Same goes with Simon Says.

• Preaching in front of a church with a last minute translator, because your translator had to leave in-between services to go to another church.

• Walking down the street holding local children’s hands and singing , “You Are My Sunshine” over and over again even though you know you’re leaving town next week.

• Speaking at local prison, and having 5 men accept Christ because of something you said.

• Cutting grass by slashing it with machete type tools in order to  build a play park for the local kids.

• Stopping on your free day to pray for a man with a bad eye in an African Market.

• Showing up to a wedding that you’re invited to last minute, on the day you arrived to the ministry , to show your support for the people of the country you’re in.

• Getting up in front of a church to sing and dance, even if you’re not the most coordinated person on earth.

• Running a youth camp, and sitting in silence as the group talks because you don’t understand a thing, but you know your presence matters to them.

• Sitting in a drug and alcohol rehab center and telling your life story to girls who need to know that there is another way, and that even if you’ve made mistakes in your life, God can still love you and use you.

• Means getting up in front of a mic at a Night market in Thailand and sharing your testimony, even though you’re not sure anyone will understand.

• Letting women from a prison pray over you after you’ve prayed over them.

• Just smiling at a child, a person, man or woman, as you walk down the street.

• Hanging out a night market on your last night in Thailand and deciding to pray for the old blind woman even though she doesn’t understand, instead of going “home” to bed instead.

• Taking care of your sick team members. Praying for your team and squad.

• Digging a ditch for your ministry host to use as a sewage system.

• And so much more….

The Things People Say…

• Anyone got toilet paper…or money for the bathroom? – Any Travel Day

• “Be Free…”- Kent

• Just be you or Just Do You

• “Practice makes Progress.”- Brittany

• I often find myself saying, Well I may not feel totally clean but at least I’m World Race clean….or well these clothes don’t smell fantastic but at least they smell World Race clean

• You get out of the race what you put into it…–Any one connected with the World Race

• Is that in World Race Budget?

Eaten?

• Well, I’ve had a Coke in every country; and Mountain Dew in Most.

• I’ve had a pizza in almost every country….(don’t know if I’m gonna get one here in Cambodia or not)

• Crocodile

• Goat Meat

• Cricket

• Strawberry Smoothies in almost every country

Done or seen?

• Victoria Falls

• Lost 50ish-lbs

• Ridden on the back of a bike taxi in Malawi

• Danced in the rain

• Written an unpreached sermon

• Communion in Malawi and in Zambia

• Easter in Zambia

• Mother’s Day in Thailand

• Father’s day about to happen in Cambodia

• Swam in the Indian Ocean

• Swam in the South China Sea

• Tattoo in Philippians

• Went to a wedding in the Philippians that I was invited to last minute

• Have read 15 books of the Bible (my goal is to read the entire thing by the end of December).

• Small Game Safari in Africa

• Night markets in Thailand

• Train ride in Thailand

• Filled 1 full journal, #2 will be filled before we leave Cambodia, # 3 needs to be bought soon

• Written over 40 blogs

• Taken over 1500 pictures

• Made almost 40 new friends and family, between my squad, ASQL’S, squad mentor and coaches, etc…

• Dropped clothes on the free table, only to pick up some new ones

• Wondered why I had so much stuff in my pack

• Gone from an ESFP to an INFP on the Myers-Briggs Personality Test

• Caught up on the latest seasons of The Fosters, Chicago Fire, and Hawaii Five-0 during my off days.

• Rented a hostel room in Cambodia for two days just to introvert.

• Realized I really do love my introverted time.

• Got electrocuted in Cambodia

• Chased by a giraffe in Zambia

• Used squatty potties

• Had diarrhea…and used a squatty potty

• Had bronchitis

• Walked 7+miles in one day

• Seen and visited temples and museums in Thailand

• Been in countless coffee shops around the world

• Slept in my first (but definitely not my last) hostel ever in South Africa

• Swam in Lake Malawi

• Snorkeled in the Philippines

• And so much more…

 

God…

• 1st John 4:18- Has perfect love

• Never ceases to amaze me

• God is a GOOD GOOD Father

• Cannot be put into a box, try it, and he just blows it wide open

• God provides….weather it’s financially or a place for your team when they need a new place to live last minute.

• God Protects…if he didn’t I might be attending a funeral right now instead of writing this blog.

• Trust…he trusts us to share his word, and who he is to his people, both those who already know him, and those who have never heard of him before. And he’s someone to be trusted.

• Someone who is always fighting for you

 

What you never see…the WR isn’t just about the photos, and it isn’t just about the adventures, it’s about so much more…it’s about the stuff you don’t see as well, the stuff that we Racers may not be able to put into words verbally for you, or into written words into blogs.

• The sleepless nights as we wonder if our friend who was in a car accident is okay.

• The nameless people we walk by everyday, who break our hearts because we don’t know how to help them. So we say a little prayer. Or at least I do.

• You don’t see our hearts break as we reach out, share the word of God, to be flat out rejected.

• You don’t see the hungry, the poor, the homeless…you think you know it from living in the states, but not really. Even our poorest and hungriest and homeless often have more than many I’ve seen and met on the race.

• You don’t see the gut-wrenching reality check most of us have in almost every country we’re in.

• You don’t see the team times, both the good laughter and light hearted ones or the tough, heavy feedback, hard conversation’s.

• You don’t see the endless hours of sweat, tears, and laughter

• You don’t see the nights where sometimes we just want to give up and go home

• You don’t get to see us fall in love with a country

• You don’t see us struggling with how to explain our lives to you, the people back home that love and care for us

• You don’t see the daily struggle that comes with the growth and change.

• You do see that change at the end of the year, just not the tears, stress, sweat, feedback sessions or long hours of journal entries and quiet time with God.

• You don’t see how tired we are on travel day, or the day before travel day when we spend time trying to figure out to get all of our stuff back into our packs wondering how we did it the month before.

 

There is so much I wish I could so you that you’ll never get to see, because you aren’t here, and living it. I hope one day, as I come home, or your racer comes home that we can explain it to you. That we can share so much with you, but give us time, we may just not have the words for it. I know I don’t, and we’re only a little over halfway done.

 

Squad-D left in January, and  we are not the same people we were when we left. We have five more months on the field (South America here we come 🙂 ) and when we get back to the states in November we won’t be the same people we are now leaving Cambodia in a week. Growth happens, change happens, and a large part of that has to do with the the things we’ve seen, done, heard, and the the things you don’t get to see. So that’s what this blog is for, it’s a little bit of insight into the last six months. I hope you enjoy. It’s been a roller coaster ride so far, and I wouldn’t change any of it, and I can’t wait to see where the next five months take me

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us…” (Hebrews 12:1 ESV) 

 

Above: SheBrews (Erin B., Catherine, Jillian, Vanessa, Me, and Brittany) first time together since the accident. Day before Jillian was able to make a a Jailbreak from the hospital. 🙂 PhotoCredit: THE NURSE who took it Britt’s phone