“What man among you, if he has a hundred sheep and has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open pasture and go after the one which is lost until he finds it? When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders rejoicing.” ~ Luke 15:4,5
Going on the Race, I set multiple goals, but one that stuck out to me was “the go after the one” mentality. Technically, we’re all the one that Jesus went after, and I’m not saying choose favorites. But I knew specifically to try and form a deep connection with one person each month. 11 countries. 11 people. Of course, there were orphanage months like Bolivia, Cambodia, or Malawi that was hard not to bond with everybody, but I still seemed to find “one” almost every month.
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Sarahi: I met Sarahi in Quito, Ecuador. Our first month, we worked at Camp Hope, a special needs orphanage, and taught English at a local church. I met Sarahi at Camp Hope. She’s about nine years old, can’t see, hear, feed or move herself. I think my heart used to never be able to see the human inside people like this, but was restricted to only seeing all the things they couldn’t do. I would spend hours every day with Sarahi simply holding her and rubbing her hands and feet over different textures and surprisingly was tickled by the love that God has not just for her, but me as well. Sarahi is Spanish for Sarah, which means princess. Looking at this picture, I see how much God is taking care of her, bringing so many people to come and love her though her family has abandoned her. I see how much God has accepted her not only into His family, but into His royalty. And she really is His princess Sarah. |
Julissa: I met Julissa in Trujillo, Peru. Our second month, we had multiple ministries through Savage ministries, where we worked with construction, teen ministry, VBS and English classes, as well as night prayer services. Our area in Trujillo was a red light district where children were murdered and had their organs sold on the black market. With such abuse and heart ache, I don’t know how children like Julissa was able to approach me with such an open heart and smile. I was slowly learning Spanish by this point and could barely communicate with her, but most kids just want to be played with and held. So that’s what we did. This little girl taught me so much about the childlike, vulnerable, open-arms, relentless love of Jesus. We had so few words shared between us, but she is one of the people I miss the most.
Evelyn: I met Evelyn in Caranavi, Bolivia. Our third month, I taught English at the town school, worked at the soup kitchen at lunch time, and then worked at a daycare in the jungle. And that’s where I met this beautiful woman. In the jungle. This woman is probably one of the most influential people in my life and one of my favorites on the Race. She’s a super mom to her three younger boys, that quickly became my younger brothers. She’s also an amazing mom to the children that come to her daycare. These kids came from poor homes where their parents couldn’t afford to take care of them, so she volunteered her house. She cared for all of them and even made them a birthday cake. She taught me so much Spanish, as she refused to speak English to me at all. Whenever anything I said in English happened to slip out, she’d just smack me and say, “ in Espanol!” And on top of that she loved me so well and made me a part of her family. And I loved her. I cried my eyes out the day I had to say goodbye to her. She gave me a special charm to remember her by.
Team Fierce: This was my first and favorite team on the Race. Two, that left the Race our month in India, aren’t pictured here. We ran a café in a small tourist town in India and witnessed to and made coffee for the European tourists. At first, I had a hard time seeing our ministry site as a ministry field. But there wasn’t a single person who walked into that café that didn’t hear about Jesus. Some stayed until after midnight asking us questions about the Bible and one Australian even asked for a Bible to read. When he came back to return it, we found that he actually read it. Because people were coming in and out of our café almost every day, it was difficult to form actual relationships with them. Though many of them come to mind when I think about India, the people I really think of are these ladies. My team. This was our last month together.
Amit: I met Amit in Kathmandu, Nepal. Our fifth month on the Race had a much different rhythm then the rest of the Race. And I guess looking back now, those days were harder than I thought they were at the time, but they never seemed that way. We witnessed to the people that had just been through the earthquake and passed out supplies. After the second earthquake took place shortly after we arrived, our ministry seemed to quickly change to ATL (“Ask the Lord” ministry). We’d divide into groups, pray, and ask God what to do or who to talk to. And that’s how I met Amit. What started as sitting in someone’s yard to play worship music, quickly turned into Amit coming to sing Aerosmith with us, which turned into him and his sister inviting us in for tea, which turned into a deep conversation between Amit and I, that even through his broken English we found out that we had similar hurts, experiences, and addictions. I shared the Gospel with him and ended up leaving my Bible with him. He told me before we left that he had a vision from God that if he read this Bible and prayed to this God, he would know God and have true peace.
Uncle Bob: I met Uncle Bob in Sungai Petani, Malaysia. Our sixth month on the Race we worked at a special needs orphanage, taught VBS and English classes, and preaching at late night prayer services. . .until 3 in the morning. I met Uncle Bob at the special needs orphanage. His real name is actually Chit-Sin. . .I’m not exactly sure how I came up with Uncle Bob, but somehow it just stuck and everyone followed. Whatever he was doing, drawing, break dancing, or reading palms, he always made us laugh. I think laughing is one of my love languages so we got along great.
Mok: I met Mok in Pattaya, Thailand. Our seventh month on the Race, we had several ministries: talking to the prostitutes in the bars, passing out Bibles to the Chinese on the pier, and we worked at a children’s preschool called “Agape House” located right in Pattaya, the sex capital of the world. The children’s parents were usually involved in the sex industry in one form or another and the purpose of the school was to give the children love in hopes that they wouldn’t join the industry as well. I saw Mok Monday, Wednesday, and Friday and referenced her in my blog as “the little girl who never smiled.” She just stuck out in my mind and I made every effort to pursue her for that short time. She never ended up smiling while I was there, but I enjoyed her all the same.
Srey Pov: I met Srey Pov in a small town just outside the city of Kampot in Cambodia. Our eighth month on the Race, we were in a small orphanage out in the beautiful rice fields of Cambodia. Most of the orphans only spoke Khmer and we only spoke English, yet we loved and felt so loved by these kids. This month also included one of my favorite days on the Race. We had been praying for rain and then one day it down poured. We played soccer in the rain with the orphan boys…which quickly turned into a mud fight. Other days, we did VBS, taught English, did a talent show, movie nights, bike rides through the rice fields, girl’s night, card games, sunrises, and one pretty epic cake fight. This month was one of my favorites on the Race and it was hard to narrow it down to just Srey Pov. I felt like she picked me from the beginning. We went on a truck ride for a hike by the mountains and she kept looking for me to hold my hand. All she could say in English was, “I love you Jenn.” “I miss you Jenn.” “God bless you Jenn.” And she would say it to me every day. The day I left, I gave her my ring and she said those same words. That day we cried. Something hurts differently about opening your heart up to a child, knowing you’ll leave one day and not knowing if you’ll see each other again.
Vietnam: Month seven on the Race, our team took a hard hit as we had been together for five months and were starting to just be “done” with…everything. But accompanied by my frustrations, failures, and mistakes was God’s presence and grace. Funny how He always tends to show up in my weaknesses. Or maybe I just don’t notice Him until I’m weak sometimes. Our ministry this month was working 2 to 10 at an English teaching café. Since we were meeting roughly 20+ new students a day, it was difficult to “go after the one” especially while it seemed my emotional and spiritual life were falling apart. The biggest “one” that stuck out about Vietnam was Jesus. I think I (just like everyone) was “the one” that He went after and I experienced that full force that month as I was baptized (FOR THE VERY FIRST TIME) in the South China Sea. Yeah, I’ve been washed by the water, ya’ll…no big deal.
Samia: I met Samia in Lilongwe, Malawi. We lived in a quiet orphanage where we taught English and then took a bus into town…to teach more English! (The World Race is pretty much just 11 months of teaching English and VBS). One little surprise I got was to teach 5th grade Math, my favorite subject. The other surprise was sweet sweet Samia. She lived at our orphanage in the girls house so I got to see her all the time. I never got tired of her knocking on our door, her amazing hugs, and beautiful smile. Here we are cooking sima (a traditional African food). I would attempt to help her in the kitchen and in exchange she taught me their language, “Chichewa.” We even wrote a song together in Chichewa. She taught me so much about the joy of the Lord and Gosh! I just love her face off!
Numba: I met Numba in Lusaka, Zambia. We taught at a school that month and actually weren’t allowed to post pictures of the kids (which is actually a plus, cause I don’t have any, ha!). He was a sweet boy, but Zambia was the only month, I didn’t experience any super close connection to the people. It was different in so many ways. No matter what ministry we did, it was hard not to think about one thing: home. We were going home after 11 months of no couches, good hygiene, or starbucks. We were saying goodbye not only to different cultures, but to our squad that we had lived with, worked with, slept with, and cried with. I think we all thought we were ready, but it was hard. Since Zambia was such a weird month, I decided to post a picture of my girls from Malawi that I got close to. From left to right: Joyce, Tadala, Jesse, Samia, and Lois.
What’s next???
I am currently back in Kansas City. I’m back teaching at the preschool and trying to have an open schedule to process the Race still. I am also starting to volunteer at the Justice Project. A non-profit organization that helps women in Kansas City get off the streets and keeps them from being trafficked. I am still testing the waters in this ministry, so prayers for continuing in that would be great!
Thanks again, friends, for going on this journey with me.
He has called me higher,
Jenn
