12 days left on the Race!
I am continuing to reflect on the past 10.5 months, the beautiful people God has allowed me to meet, the things He has allowed me to see and the experiences I have had. This is the third blog entry in a series of end of the year blogs highlighting memories from each ministry, adventure days, and my teams. I hope you continue to enjoy my trip down memory lane. This blog highlights some of my favorite team memories! On the World Race we have a squad of 43 people that we travel to the 11 countries with, but we are broken off into teams to live life with and do ministry with. I had the privilege of being on two amazing teams. I hope you enjoy this blog and again thank you to my prayer warriors and financial supporters. None of this would have been possible without your beautiful partnership.
Month 1- Albania (Radiant Rubies)
Caitlin, Sisay, Britt, Me, and Emily
Another team that was located in our city hosted an American Culture Night for the people they were ministering to. They invited us and we got to go and help with them host this night. Besides getting to partner with another team we also got to hang out with the teens they have built relationships with over the course of the month and we got to eat some great american food. This picture perfectly describes the personalities of my first team!
Month 2- Romania (Radiant Rubies)
The picture above is a family our team met at the church we were working with. This sweet lady is a strong believer that invited us into her home for a wonderful lunch and to meet and talk with her grandson, who was struggling with his faith. We shared the gospel with him and had a great conversation with him. He still keeps up with our journey and I will continue to pray for his salvation.
The picture below is a bridge our ministry host took us to. We worked as a team to get everyone across. Fear won’t stop the Rubies!
Month 3- Greece (Radiant Rubies)
In Greece our off days were spent relaxing and having quality time together. Our ministry was great, but very tiring, both physically and emotionally. Our team spent a lot of time pouring into each other. This day we dressed up and went out to dinner. Our amazing photographer Payden (a guy on our squad) was an honorary “rudy” (Male radiant ruby) for the day!
Month 4- Malaysia (Radiant Rubies)
This picture was taken on Thanksgiving. This amazing family knew that it was hard for us to be away from our families on thanksgiving and invited us into their home for their family Thanksgiving. They loved us so well and we are forever friends! One of the best things about this journey is all the beautiful people you meet along the way.
Month 5- Thailand (Radiant Rubies)
We went up into the mountains and picked coffee beans on a farm owned by Em’s biological family (the adopted daughter of our host family). We got to camp out, minister to the locals and pick coffee beans!
Month 6- Myanmar (Dior, aka “GOATS”)
Talya, Britt, Julie, Alexis, Me, Caitlin, Patricia, and Jenn
Our host was very excited to take us to KFC! A family blessed us with this delicious meal and little comfort of home. We also got to meet the couple that is pictured across from me. They are pastors that were full of encouragement, challenged us, and prayed for our journey.
Month 7- Lesotho (Dior, aka “GOATS”)
This is a family we met while ministering in a village in Lesotho. We encouraged them and prayed for Camile’s ankle. She went from not being able to walk to us not being able to find her the next day because she had walked a few miles to town to get groceries. She invited us over to make fatcakes, a popular snack and shared her story with us.
Month 8- South Africa (Dior, aka “GOATS)
Our host took us to Hillsong Church in Pretoria, South Africa.
Month 9- Zimbabwe (Dior, aka “GOATS”)
We got to worship our Lord and Savior on Easter at an African Church Service. We dressed up in our “Easter World Race Best”. Later that night we invited our ministry hosts over for a fancy dinner complete with decorations and candlelight. (candlelight partially for ambiance, partly because there was no light in that room :))
Month 10- Haiti
One of our last team times was a worship session on the beach! We worshiped and laughed together. Such a fun night!
Month 11- Dominican Republic
Derek, Me, Bethany, Patricia, Lynna, Liz, and Sarah
Month 11 we technically do not have teams. These are the amazing people I have chosen to live with and build a community with. We have chosen to do a lot of ministry together, cook meals together, and live together. We went out to eat at a local restaurant and it was quite the adventure with our lack of Spanish!
