Where in the World am I Going?

 Hey!  I chose Route 5!  What does that mean?  It means that when I leave on September 1st, 2020, I will be headed to Romania, India and Costa Rica.  I will be gone for nine months, so I will spend roughly three months in each country.  Nine months abroad will put my return to the U.S. around May 31st, 2021.  It feels weird to even type that date because I know that so much will happen between now and returning from the World Race, and because 2019 isn’t even over yet.  

    So am I traveling alone?  Everyone wants this question answered.  My squad and I will travel together.  All the other Worldracers who chose to go on Route 5 are all on a squad with myself.  My squad will travel to the countries together before breaking down further into teams of 4-7 individuals.  Each team may go to a different location within the country and will be partnering will a local church or existing missions organization to increase our ministry’s impact.  The World Race will cap a squad at 45 people. So far my squad has 35 people on it! Pray for us as we continue to prepare to leave over the next nine months. 

    In September I will travel to Romania.  The Romanian language is 1,700 years old.  Being situated in Eastern Europe Romania was under communist rule until 1989.  After the fall of the Iron Curtain the Romanian Revolution took place in 1989 and overthrew communism. Now Romania has a semi-presidential system that operates as a parliamentary republic.  Romania’s capital city is Bucharest.  The Parliamentary palace is located in Bucharest and is the second largest building in the world, second only to the pentagon.  Romania also boasts the tallest wooden church.  Still standing today and called the “Wooden Cathedral”, it was built in 1718.  As far as geography, Romania has a mixture of of flatland, rolling hills, and mountains contained in the Carpathian range in the middle of the country.  An example of what ministry may look like for some members of my squad is in a place called Draganesti-Olt, about two hours southwest of Bucharest. There we may be involved in ministry with a local church called Hope Church, distributing Bibles or doing evangelism and community outreach.

    In December of 2020, my squad and I will move to India after living and serving in Romania for three months.  India has a history of British rule which ended in 1947 after a 200-year reign.  Though quite some time has passed since 1947, the influence of the British can still be seen all around India.  The official languages of India are English and Hindi.  India is the second largest English speaking country in the world, second only to the United States.  India’s capital city is New Delhi.  India’s government is a parliamentary democratic republic.  In India the President is the head of state and the Prime Minister runs the federal government.  India is vast and the climate changes based on where in India you are. However, one village in India, Mawsynram, is the wettest inhabitable place on earth because it has the highest recorded average rainfall each year.  Among India’s other “firsts” are being the first country to mine diamonds and consume sugar.  Our board game of “Chutes and Ladders” was first invented in India and was called “Snakes and Ladders”.  As far as India’s major geography goes, it is one of five countries to claim a part of the Himalaya mountain range within its boarders.  India’s three major religions are Islam, Buddhism and Hinduism while only 2% of the country’s population calls themselves Christians.  An example of what ministry may look like for some of my squad is in a place called Manipur about a 48-hour drive northwest of India’s capital city, New Delhi. There we may be involved in ministry with a organization called Bibles for the World distributing Bibles, doing evangelism and church planting.

    In March of 2021, my squad will journey from India to the third and final country of our World Race, Costa Rica.  Costa Rica shares the continent of North America with my home state, Maine.  I also grew up frequently visiting Latin American countries and am looking forward to Costa Rica as a sort of home coming before I return to Maine.  Costa Rica’s official language is Spanish. The capital city is San Jose.  The government in Costa Rica is unitary presidential constitutional republic.  Costa Rica’s close proximity to the Equator means that the sun rises and sets at the same time 365 days a year or 366 days if it is a leap year.  Costa Rica is the second largest exporter of bananas in the world, second only to Ecuador.  Wild sloths call Costa Rica home, I want to hug a sloth while I am there. (I’m not sure hugging a sloth is a thing but I’d settle for seeing one.)  There are more than 50 species of hummingbirds that also call Costa Rica home.  Costa Rica isn’t just a place of animals and birds, though; there are about 750,000 species of insects living there.  Costa Rica is also very mountainous, its tallest being Cerro Chirripo.  An example for what ministry may look like in Costa Rica is in San Jose, the capital city. There we may be involved in ministry with the Adventures in Missions base doing sports ministry, community outreach, kids ministry, or manual labor.