As I start my re-entry process and reflect on the amazing year that God has lead me through I couldn’t help but consider some of the wonderful things I’ve seen and been a part of. Sometimes I look at my photos and videos and it’s hard to accept the fact that I was there not too long ago. That I viewed these things through my own eyes before lifting up my camera.
My hope is to never forget what I’ve seen, what I’ve felt, and the depths at which the Father has taken me. If you are curious about my trip or just want to know specifics PLEASE feel free to call/email/text me anytime. I enjoy talking about it and its good for me to share what I’ve learned. Also, my next blog will be an update one what’s next for me so look out for that! Without further ado, here we go….
- India-This was from one of my favorite days in Sielmat India. We played a huge soccer match between us(racers and seminary students) and the seminary teachers. The field received a week full of hard rain so it was a MUD pit. No grass was in sight. We lost in final PK’s but we had a blast sliding around trying to make contact with the ball. My socks were never the same.
- Nepal-This is the view from our home the entire month in Nepal. That little building at the bottom was where we lived and worked. We would open our bedroom door and have that mountain range (Annapurna Mt Range) staring right back at us. I found God in the mountains that month.
- Vietnam-This is a shot from our tour of Ha Long Bay in northern Vietnam. It was the most magical/beautiful natural formation that I ever saw. It was hard for me to believe that places like this even exists and after that visit, my perspective of what I though the world looked like exploded!
- Cambodia-Hmm Cambodia, my favorite month. That month meant a lot to me and these girls had a huge part of the impact. They were among the 13 girls that lived at the base we worked with and all had been at high risk of being sold into sex slavery. Even at that age. We fought hard that month to build these girls a sustainable farm and it was from them that I learned the true meaning of Love, Grace, and Redemption. Left to right: Kimseyan, Sakleum, Nisa.
- Botswana-Sorry I had to pick two for this month. First was of the very close and personal shot I got of an elephant that charged our vehicle. I couldn’t zoom out far enough to get all of him haha. God showed me how creative and powerful the world he created is and where to find the beauty in something wild. Also from this month I connected with the Moeti family. Nearly every day me and Sherese would go to their house and talk about everything from American politics to the Gospel. He is a dear friend that I hope to see again someday.
- South Africa-This is a shot of a camping trip we did in Heidelberg, our home that month. This was my first ever star photography attempt and easily one of the most beautiful skies that I laid my eyes on.
- Swaziland-In southern Africa I went on way too many safaris so I can’t remember where this was exactly. But being within spitting distance of a pride of lions gets your blood pumping and I’ll never forget staring this guy in the eyes as he looked right back at me.
- Argentina-One of my favorite days was when me and my team only had one day to see Buenos Aires before we needed to catch as bus. So, we packed a lot into one day and this shot was from a moment when Zack noticed a shop vendor had a guitar and pulled his out to make a connection. This wasn’t the first nor the last time Zack did this and his ability to connect with people using his skill on the guitar still astounds me.
- Chile-This shot was from a brief tour of the city of Valparaiso. Again, we fit a lot of stuff into a short amount of time but we slowed down at the end of the day to witness the best sunset I had seen in South America. Can’t believe the amount of color that filled the sky that evening.
- Bolivia-Probably my most shared photo from the race. This is after our 2 day, 32 mile hike through the Amazon to find our village we were going to serve at that month. I was dirty, smelly, tired, and completely clueless on what was ahead of us but man was it fun. The Amazon rainforest is the real deal y’all.
- Ecuador-Lastly, a photo of a not so unusual sight for me on the race. Not the beautiful waterfall, but the backs of my teammates as we adventure into something unknown. This year I saw a lot of beauty and experienced a lot of new things but I was never far from my teammates. We shared an adventurous spirit that never got hung up on whether things were safe or having enough details of what to do. We just lived in the moment, experiencing Gods year he had for us, and always took moments to stand back and say “God you are amazing!”
