Immediately stepping off the plane in the Philippines, I could feel myself catch a fresh breath of air. Not from the actual air for which it is insanely polluted, but from the absence of stress, anxiety and fear that came along with the next leg of our journey. For those of you who don’t know, Nicaragua wasn’t exactly rainbows and butterflies. I can remember more low times than happy times. Details aren’t exactly necessary, but trust me, I was in a low state of mind most of month three. Because of all these building incidents that my team and I went through, I was convinced that my time on the race should be cut short. See we had a layover in LAX, and with that came an out. An out to go home without spending thousands of dollars on a plane ticket. All it would take was a cheap plane ride home to the good ole Midwest and I could be done. Done with no air conditioning, spotty internet, living out of a suitcase, and instead have all the comforts of home. I could say bye to all the pain and sadness that came along with leaving friends, family, and a boyfriend for 11 months. I could say bye to all the heartbreak that comes along with leaving a piece of your heart every time you say bye to another country. The hours I spent at the LAX airport were some of the hardest hours on the race so far. I said bye to an amazing teammate, I saw squad mates be reunited with parents and loved ones for the few hours we had of layover time, and I had to keep telling myself it was going to get better. That it HAD to get better.
Then I received my one and only package on the race.
I took the box with a handful of friends and we went to an airport restaurant to order a much needed glass of wine. When I finally sat down after a crazy day of tears and travel, I finally got to open my package. I wasn’t expecting much other than the list of Target demands that I had sent my mother. But to my dismay, inside was something much better than new sports bras and power bars. Inside was a big envelope containing dozens of encouraging and inspiring letters. I took each one out and tears came to my eyes. I got so overwhelmed that I couldn’t handle reading any of them, but eventually I picked a few out that I knew I needed to read. One of those letters was from my brother, Nolan. See, our family isn’t a very sentimental family. We hardly manage to even get the words “I love you” out on birthdays and holidays. But I knew that when I saw his handwriting, that it was something worth reading. What did it say? Well that is our little secret. But what it did was make me cry, drink a big gulp of wine, and it put the biggest smile on my face. And it did one last thing: it made me realize that this race isn’t just for me. The race is much bigger than just one person. Each racer has the means of affecting so many people, both on the race and at home. Whether its to inspire someone to look at their life a little differently, push them into seeking more out of their faith, or simply reminding them of the big and vast world out there.
So with my package under my arm, and a Philippines ticket in my hand, I boarded the plane and never looked back.
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This month we are partnering with Kids International Ministries (K.I.M.) in Manila. The site is absolutely gorgeous and the community that we live in is everything that I have longed for on the race. We have a pool, our meals cooked for us, comfy beds, fans, and a salon that offers cheap massages, pedicures and haircuts (the ministry calls it suffering for Jesus because when you buy a massage, you are in turn buying a family food for a day). We also have this amazing glass prayer room on the top floor that overlooks the Manila skyline, which is also the only room that has air conditioning. In short, we have it good this month.
As for ministry, well I am practically in love with everything I do here. K.I.M. has a bunch of ministries including a wonderful children’s home, an all girls home for sexually abused and neglected teenage girls, a birthing clinic for women, a dentist office, a school, and a community feeding program. With all these amazing ministries, they also have social workers that work in the schools and communities. As some of you know, social work is something I am insanely interested in and as you can imagine, I was extremely excited to have the opportunity to work alongside them this month.
After completing almost two weeks of ministry, I have to say that it’s almost humorous that I wanted to go home such a short time ago. God has given me everything I have wanted and needed from the race to keep me going. This month has given me amazing relationships with the kids and teens we work with, it has shown me firsthand what a social worker’s day looks like on the field and it has shown me a whole new part of the world that I have never seen before. Out team’s theme for this month is reigniting our passions. And I have seen myself come alive this month in ways I never thought possible. I guess all it took to get me here was a little push from a not so little brother.
Favorite moments and memories of the month thus far: (because lets be honest, I could go on for days)
- Spending our first night over at the girls home and befriending Shaira, an amazing teenager that made me miss my sister but also gave me a wonderful night filled with iPhone selfies, and Filipino TV teen dramas. The 35 girls live in this amazingly huge house that is run by Josie, the daughter of the director of KIM. The house is perfectly wonderful for these girls. The rooms are dorm style living, they overlook a huge backyard, and they have cable and internet just like what we are all used to at home. The walls are all covered with pictures of the girls and bible verses and overall it is a beautiful home. They at times, they seem to be more American than me with their better use of Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. Overall, the nights spent there are amazing nights.
- Working in the nursery is both the most chaotic yet fun ministry. The toddlers are crazy and will leave you exhausted, but the amount of joy that those kids give off makes it all worth it. Excited to give them swimming lessons next week.
- Our first day on the job with one of the social workers Dess, was filled with adventure. We got to go to a radio station to broadcast missing children, the facility to get birth certificates, and visited the inter-country adoption board. It all ended with an amazing Filipino desert called, halo-halo.
- One day, my squad mate Megan and I (who is also from MN) spent the day in the prayer room overlooking the huge city. We drank tea and had one of the best conversations I have had on the race so far. It ended with us getting couples massages down in the spa. Not too shabby for an off day.
- K.I.M. has feedings twice a day in different communities, which involves bringing two big tubs of food and handing it out to community members. These feedings are absolutely wonderful and eye opening. One of the communities that they go to is called Tent City because it is a community that was placed there after their homes were destroyed from floods. They now live in small tin houses that were donated by the Red Cross but are still struggling to get by. K.I.M. goes there a few times a week and as the van pulls up, kids will run up with bowls and cups to try and be first in line. The kids that I have come in contact with during these feedings are faces I’ll never forget
- My teammates Jordyn, Cheyenne, and I went to a waterfall last weekend and even the means of getting there was an adventure. I finally began to feel like this was a place where I was living, not just visiting. In past months, we were not allowed to leave site a lot or without our contacts because of safety. Here, we have a little more freedom and we have taken full advantage of this. The falls were gorgeous and it was quite a relaxing day.
- One day at the children’s home, Cheyenne and I got our make-up done by one of the girls. She decided that green was my color. Green is definitely not my color.
- One of the first days, Cheyenne and I took two girls to the dentist to each get a tooth pulled. It was hard to see them both in such pain, but we had a blast spending the day together. We decided to treat them to root beer floats before sending them back to school. It’s fun to now see the girls around site every once and awhile.
- One day my teammate Jordyn and I went with a social worker to pick up two children from a neglectful parent. They lived in a place called the evacuation center, a huge barn sized space that houses hundreds of families for 6 months at a time during the flooding seasons. These families have a space the size of my bathroom on site and are separated by sheets. They are forced out of their homes for 6 months out of the year and are confined by small spaces and harsh living conditions. We ended up spending almost 4 hours there waiting for the kids to arrive and so Jordyn and I ended up playing with the local children for most of that time. They were all desperate for love and attention and it was great to give them that even if it were for just a few short hours. Although we left covered from head to toe in dirt, the trip was well worth it.
(for pictures from all these crazy adventures, visit my facebook page!)
Crazy to think I have only two weeks left! Excited to see what the rest of the month has in store for me. It feels good to have passion and a sense adventure again. Maybe a little change of scenery was all I needed.
