If I ever needed any evidence that God answers prayers this final month was it. First, I think a little bit of background is in order. For most of the Race my team (or I guess I should say teams, shoutout to my men and women on Team Mashach and Team D.O.F.) and I have been fortunate enough to have some very good accommodations. While they haven't always been first world quality they've been fairly descent with beds and the occasional running water and in-home wifi. Then Cambodia came and we were in a small village off of one of the main highways, sleeping on the floor of a house that was essentially four walls and a roof (We did have power but it had to be run from our contact's house several hundred feet away). While this was a little more third world than what we were used to compared to our previous accommodations this was a backwoods. Over the course of the month we got used to our living situation, even coming to appreciate and enjoy it. We would go for bike rides through the rice fields and swimming in the irrigation ditches. It was truly meaningful to experience this type of lifestyle fro real. When we got to Uganda our accommodations were, once again, very modern and very much like the first world. Over the course of that month some of my team members, myself included, began to yearn for the simple life that we had in Cambodia. We even began to ask God for one more experience like that before we came home. Not only did we want to be out in the wilderness but we wanted it to be way out in the boonies, much more so than we had been before and, boy, did we ever get it. The small village of Butere, Kenya is located, what some might call, off the beaten path. I'm talking 1925, East Tennessee, Appalachian Mountains off the beaten path. Coincidentally my final memories of The World Race involve no running water, no electricity, eating dinner by the light of a kerosene lantern and loving every single blessed minute of it. I recognize that this type of simple living is not for everyone but it did wonders for me. For the first time since Cambodia I was able to really get away from everything, mainly because there was nothing to get away from because I was already away from everything (I hope that made sense), and have some consistent time with the Father and prepare myself for the difficult task of leaving Kenya (Our contact Reverend John and his family all lived on the property where we were staying, which truly gave us a sense of community. We became, not visitors, but part of the family.) and The World Race and re-entering America. I am grateful that God answered this prayer because it gave me a living example that possesions truly aren't everything. I learned that the "wealth of nations" that Isaiah talks about is so much more than food. Even though this family didn't have much materially and temporally they had everything spiritually and eternally and they graciously shared it with us. They had a joy and a peace about their lives that was humbling to see put in to action.
