Okay, so now that we're officially halfway through the Race, I thought I'd go ahead and answer some questions that you might be wondering about but that may not usually be included in a blog. Some are weird. Some might be gross. But all of them are just pretty dang awesome. This is a long one, but I promise it's worth the read. I LOVE my life and here's why:
11. What are some of your most outrageous numbers and facts about your travel "day"s?
These are tentative, but here it goes. I've flown around 30,000 miles during 53.5 hours in the air and have been in 10 airports-Johannesburg (South Africa), Nairobi (Kenya), Bangkok (Thailand), Hong Kong, Beijing (China), Seoul (South Korea), Manila (Philippines), Cagayan de Oro (Mindanao, Philippines), Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia), Hyderabad (India).
I've spent 86 hours on buses and in vans (adding 8 more to this tonight) and 93.5 hours on trains.
I've slept in bus stations, in airport terminals, sitting up on trains, outside in my tent, inside in my tent, at a YWAM base, in compounds, in hostels, in a super sketchy Chinese hotel, in a room with 45-ish other people, and on the floor of an under construction office building.
We spent 5 hours at the border on our way into Zimbabwe and Pang, my pillow pet, got mistaken for a child.
In Manila, Philippines on the way to the island of Mindanao, we had to re-arrange our checked bags to weigh 10 kg each (about 22 lbs) with unlimited bags and our carry-ons to weigh 7 kg (just over 15 lbs), but didn't find out until we were trying to check in. Pure chaos.
Then when leaving the Philippines, we didn't have our visas for India and our passports until an hour before our flight.
10. What's been your favorite country? Favorite ministry? Hardest country?
I've really enjoyed all the countries and all the ministries we've done, but for all different reasons! My favorite country and ministry, though, were both South Africa–month 2–when we worked at the school in Cape Town for children with FAS from the farming families and squatter camps and did outreaches in their communities. I'd be willing to return to anywhere we've been, but this ministry is still SO heavy on my heart and I know that the Lord will lead me back there one day.
China was the hardest country personal stuff-wise because I really, reallyyyy disliked the weather and I just had a lot of emotional struggles that month; and this month in India has been the hardest living situation for me, despite the fact we have Internet where we stay.
9. What is the weirdest thing you've eaten?
We ate a lot of questionable substances in China, but I suppose that doesn't count since I can't actually name what any of them were. Two days ago, I ate a kidney that I believe belonged to a chicken. I could be wrong. It wasn't too bad; it mostly tasted like the sauce that was on it but I wasn't a fan of the texture. I was really afraid of the kind of stuff I'd have to eat coming on the Race, but for the most part the sanitation of food has been way scarier than the actual food itself. We pray in the name of Jesus over every meal that anything that will hurt us would be killed.
8. What are some really awesome or crazy things you've done not related to ministry?
Since launch I've watched the sunrise on the Brooklyn Bridge, seen penguins and gone shark cage diving in Cape Town, gone on an African safari, attended Passion world conference in Pretoria, romped around in Hong Kong for 3 days, gone to the Great Wall of China and the Pearl Market, helped weed a garden that will provide planters with the means to live (okay, I guess that one is ministry-related), gone to beaches in the Philippines and in India, put my feet in the Bohol Sea and the Indian ocean, crammed more people into many modes of transportation than should ever have been in them, including 13 people in the bed of a pick-up truck and 19 people in a 12-person van, lived in a rain forest, star-gazed and watched lightening storms in the distance on a metal connex, gotten a tattoo, taught 4 South Africans how to "Cotton Eye Joe" in the Philippines, learned songs about Jesus in 5 languages, climbed mountains in almost every country we've been in, built a cross and put it on a mountain in Swazi, put a cross made of chopsticks on the Great Wall, peed in places I won't even talk about, spent Valentine's Day at a carnival in India riding rides and dancing to BSB, and met people from all over the world who have sacrificed everything for the sake of the Gospel! Oh, and within the next 10 days or so, Taj Mahal and Dracula's Castle will be added to this list. Make no mistake, the Race is really hard a lot of the time. But my life is so, SO blessed.
7. When were you most uncomfortable?
Not only is the following the most uncomfortable memory of my Race, but it very well might be the most uncomfortable memory of my entire LIFE. So, we're leaving from some Chinese city (I don't know the name, just that it was 2 hours away from where we served) to head for Beijing and somehow Liz and I ended up with tickets one car over from the rest of the team. Okay, no big deal, right? WRONG. First of all, we can barely even get on the car because we are carrying all of our stuff so we're about 3x our normal size. After we finally make it on, we realize that we're on the complete opposite end of where our seats are and everywhere is full. Logic tells us we should just walk down the aisle and find our numbers; too bad that we're too wide for the aisles to begin with, not to mention the masses of people standing in them. How the heck were we gonna get there? By pushing our way through. After what seemed like eternity of pushing through and pushing over people, and after having hit someone in the face with the Keens swinging from my pack, we finally make it to our seats, dripping sweat and still with nowhere to stow our things for the trip. Low and behold, there are people in our seats. A family. Including children. So, we decide to sit in the aisle on our packs. Unfortunately, we were right in front of the doors that adjoined two cars, meaning we were right next to the squatties and people were constantly walking through us. THANK THE LORD that after only a few minutes of this, Isaac came to the rescue, finding room for our packs and finding someone who worked on the train who could ask the occupants of our seats to move. Possibly the worst 20 minutes of my life. But, hey, we laugh about it now 🙂
6. When were you really happy? Really sad?
One of my favorite things that happened on the Race and that made me so, SO happy, was in Swazi the day I got to hear about Joseph's (read about him here) family. It was actually a sad story, but I loved that he wanted to tell me so much about his life. I was also really happy when everything for the Christmas parties (read about them here) came together in China and I could see how much the kids were enjoying themselves. And I was also pretty darn happy the day that Jesus healed my eyes!
I was really sad when we left Tafara (read about it here) for the last time in month 1. As we were pulling out, we were waving good-bye and Nasha, one of the girls I spent a lot of time with, yells, "Bye! See you tomorrow!" Gut wrenching. I also was really sad our last day at the school in month 2 and when our teams got changed in Hong Kong before we began month four. I actually was pretty torn up about that one for a couple days because my good friend, Johnny, got risen up as a squad leader so he was no longer on my team. That was a tough pill to swallow.
5. What are some things you're really glad you brought? Some things you wish you didn't bring? Something you wish you did bring?
I'm SO glad I brought lots of underwear!! I know that is so silly, but for real. Bucket washing clothes is such a pain, but it can be postponed as long as I still have clean undies. I've also been really thankful for my freestanding travel-sized mirror (and all the girls on my team love it too!) and for my year's supply of the deodorant that I like. Stick deo is nearly impossible to find overseas.
I wish I hadn't brought my favorite pair of capris because they've gotten so stained and tattered over the months that I'm dropping them before we go to Romania. I also wish I hadn't brought so much medicine and First-Aid stuff because everyone brings it and I've hardly used any. I've been dropping and giving away bits and pieces pretty much since we left.
I wish that I had had a suitable laptop to bring. My laptop wouldn't have survived the trek, so I left it at home, but a lot of times I do wish I had a laptop to write blogs and post pictures. I had a keyboard for my iPad from the Hong Kong market for a couple months that made writing stuff much easier, but it broke about a week ago. So now I'm back to square one.
4. What is your advice thus far for future World Racers?
They'll tell you this at training camp, but I'll tell you anyway: drop ALL the expectations you have. Right now. Just get rid of them. Even if it's something obvious like "um, I'm expecting to see 11 countries in 11 months" throw it out the window. A lot of contacts for our first month, when we were supposed to be split between Zimbabwe and Botswana, fell through at the last minute so 4 teams ended up in South Africa that month, then the second month we were all in SA as scheduled; so it turns out that some people are going to have a 10 country Race instead of eleven. Seriously, all expectations gone NOW, even the ones you think make sense.
Start praying for your teams, contacts, and people you'll meet along the way now. Prayers are so powerful and seeing things come into fruition after you've been praying about it for months is really incredible.
Have at least one person back home that you can call (FaceTime or Skype, I suppose) when you feel like you can't finish this thing out or when you miss home so badly that it hurts, because it probably will happen (although you shouldn't expect it :P), who will speak good, Biblical truth into you and will encourage you in the way that Jesus would. Yes, it's good to go to your team with feelings like this, but sometimes you just need an outward opinion and a familiar voice to lift you up. I've been so thankful knowing that my best friend, Anna Jo, will always be prepared for this call, should it ever happen. Thus far, I've been really homesick a few times, but, thankfully, not to the point where I thought I couldn't finish. If I ever get there, though, I know she'll be ready to speak truth and life over me in the way I'll need to hear 🙂
3. How is the Lord using this experience to change you?
How is He NOT changing me? I think would be the better question! Shoot. Well, my compassion for the world has grown immensely; my heart was broken for the world before, but then it was all numbers and statistics, but no names, faces, or relationships. Now it's the other way around. Hearing that there are 200,000 orphans in Swazi, 20% of the population, is different than it was before because I've loved on the orphans and met the people who take care of them. Hearing that 80% of Indians are Hindu and most have never heard the name of Jesus will register names and faces of people I've interacted with and been able to show Jesus to. Hearing that 50% of the world lives on less than $2.50 a day and 80% lives on less than $10USD a day takes a whole new meaning because I've done it for a season and have built relationships with people who do it for a lifetime.
I'm becoming much more familiar with the Holy Spirit and confident in the fact that He speaks to me and also confident in relaying to others what He's saying. I'm doubting my ability to hear from the Spirit and His desire to speak through me less and less every day.
The Lord is really molding my life into a life of thanksgiving, for what I have now and for what I have back home. I don't mean this arrogantly, but I've never been so stinkin' thankful to be an American. Never again will I take for granted A/C, dishwashers, real showers with temperature control, western toilets, clean drinking water from a sink, my bed, variety and choice, freedom, access to cars, or any of the other comforts and luxuries we are blessed with in the US. We have it pretty darn great there. But these things aren't the basis for a life of thanksgiving; it revolves around thanking and praising God for who He is and what He's done, regardless of any circumstance you've been given. The A/C and comfy beds are just a major plus!
2. What are some of the biggest lessons God has taught you?
Compassion. patience. community. truly dying to yourself. GRACE. unselfishly serving. the importance of time in the Word, in prayer, and in worship every day. what it means to be "all things to all people" and why it's so important. when to rest and when to fight. how vast God is and how He's not constrained by the circumstances of this world. how freeing it is to give up my own plans or own ideas of what ministry should be and just letting the Lord have control. how to connect and experience God even in a church service where I don't understand a word. grieving deeply so I can laugh and love deeper. what it looks like to live out the book of Acts.
1. What are some of the coolest ways you've seen the Lord at work?
I get to live out the Lord's instructions to "care for the orphans and widows (Isaiah 1:17) every day and it's just mind blowing that He would choose someone like me to live out such a command. I've seen Him irreversibly changing people on my squad and showing them their life's calling. I've seen Him turn 60 strangers into family in just a few short months. I've seen Him multiply food. I've seen Him use a child to speak the name of Jesus boldly in a place where evangelists are persecuted. I've seen Him free people from their past and equip them for their future, within and outside of my squad. I've seen Him open doors out of nowhere to pray for people or share the Gospel. I've seen Him provide health care where otherwise none would be possible. I've seen Him speak words of encouragement to me and my teammates for people we don't know, and when we delivered it was exactly what they needed to hear. I've seen Him raise up 400 new pastors to be sent out into coastal Andhra-Pradesh to plant churches. I've seen the Holy Spirit give words to people when they were asked to speak at church on a dime. I've seen Him move an entire Hindu family to cast out their idols and turn to Jesus. This isn't everything, of course, but you get the idea. He's moving around the world and He's moving BIG.
If you have any more questions, feel free to e-mail me at [email protected] or to leave them as a comment. I'd love to answer anything else you wanna know. It's been one crazy ride, that's for sure. And all of this is only in the first 6 months! I'm SO excited to see what else He has in store for my team and I in the last five!
