Here it is! The final blog from my time on the race. I want to thank you all for following me these past 11 months and for providing ample support for me before I left and on the race as well. I hope you enjoy this little recap of what your prayers and support went towards, and thank you all SO much!!!!
Month 1- Philippines
The Philippines was our first stop in our 11 country journey that we set out on this past September. While there, we worked with Kids International Ministries or KIM. Because KIM is such a large ministry we were able to work in a number of different areas. My team and I worked as tutors in an elementary school, assisted in feedings (as pictured), worked in construction, and also was able to help in exploring a new ministry for sex trafficking in a city about 3 hours from Manila. Our first month our was spent together as a squad so there was about 40 of us working with KIM but doing different things each day. Although by the end of the month I was ready for a smaller group, I was grateful for our time together and the lessons that it taught me. One of the biggest ones was redefining my race and what it would look like. It wasn’t supposed to be about me or my expectations, there is more going on in the world and we are just one small part of a bigger plan.
Month 2- Malaysia
Up next was Malaysia. My team and one other team off our squad were placed in a small town near the boarder of Thailand. We were working with a native Malaysian who was running a kindergarten as well as ministering to the Indian population in Malaysia (it was illegal to minister to the Malay people themselves because of the strong Muslim presence there). Most of us worked as teachers for the month, but we had about 5 too many people for the available positions. The remaining 5 (myself included) did various odd jobs and light maintenance to help our contact catch up in several areas. During our stay there our contact was a great inspiration and great example of what it meant to truly persevere and remain faithful to God even when His plan is unclear or difficult to follow. The places God has lead him and his family and the provision that has always follow his obedience was a huge challenge for me to take a leap, trust the Lord, and know without doubt that He will always protect you.
Month 3- Vietnam
Vietnam was by far my favorite month in Asia. We were working in Ho Chi Minh City at a coffee shop that offers speaking rooms for the Vietnamese to come and practice their English with native English speakers. We all took shifts speaking for 4-5 hours at a time and were highly encouraged to spend time outside of our shifts exploring the city and building relationships with the people who attended the speaking rooms. Since Vietnam is a communist closed country we were not able to openly minister to people. We had to wait for them to ask us and if they did still present it as our own thoughts or opinions. The ministry we worked with was an excellent testimony to what we lovingly call “planting seeds”. Although we did not see any dramatic change while there, our contacts had story after story of teams that had come in the past and because of certain conversations that were had, maybe six months or a year later, Vietnamese people were coming to know the Lord and the Christian community around the coffee shop was growing. I am trusting that someday soon one of those stories will include the conversations I had with my Vietnamese friends, and I pray for them often.
Month 4- Cambodia
During our month in Cambodia we were working in Takhmao City, which is near Phnom Penh the capital. We partnered with a small local church that had about 30 members all under the age of 30! Including the pastor himself… Who ever said age was a factor in life? The pastor’s visions for the church was to disciple and train the young people of his community to go out and share the gospel with the Cambodian people while Cambodia is still an open country for Christians. He also was working to evangelize and build relationships with 3 villages varying from 20 minutes to 2 hours away from Takhmao. We were able to come along side him and assist in teaching English to the members of the church and hosting bible studies and a VBS for the people in the villages. Having the opportunity to work with such a small unknown ministry offered a lot of encouragement in that God is working anywhere and everywhere in the world. A large well-known ministry, while a good thing, does not mean success or failure. I learned that the Lord works in small subtle ways and it’s ok if we do too. I pray that the Lord constantly reminds me that success is not measured by the amount of work that you’ve accomplished, the number of people you’ve won over, or the size of your ministry but rather by the way that you live your life, listening to God’s voice, having the faith and confidence to do what He calls you to, and growing closer each and every day to Him.
Month 5- Thailand
Thailand was our final stop in Southeast Asia. We started the month with a new team and no idea what was in store for us. This was the first time I had the opportunity to do what’s called Unsung Heroes. This consisted of finding new contacts and ministries for the World Race to work with in the future. While this offered us a lot of freedom and a multitude of opportunities to meet wonderful and inspiring people, it was also very nerve wrecking to have no set ministry and never know where you might end up sleeping at night. Even so this month was an incredible testimony to God’s faithfulness, yet again. My team and I met several different ministries who, at the time were not receiving teams, but in the hope that God would send teams and in preparation for that they had already constructed places for future teams to stay. Not only did this clearly show that God goes before you in all things but also that we need to remain faithful even when it doesn’t make sense to us.
Month 6- South Africa
This was month 6 of our race and we were staying in a small town called Friemershiem. We did some work with the Preschool and Primary school in Friemersheim but also worked in the neighboring towns of George at the prison and Great Brak at their high school. We were the first World Race team to ever work in these places and our contact was still establishing his ministry there, so most of what we did was getting our name out and building relationships with the community so they knew we were reliable. My favorite ministry was the prison closely followed by our work at the high school. South Africa was by far one of the most difficult months for me. Through various things that happened in the months previous the Lord brought them all together and worked to solidify my identity in Him. In all honesty this was a very painful process and I often considered how much easier it would be to give up and go home. I felt that what I was experiencing truly could not be worth it in the end. Obviously, since I finished, I was very wrong. God places us in the valley because that’s what we need to be able to grow closer to him. But He also promises that he is our strength and that he will not to give us more than we can bear. And, as always, he was faithful in those promises to his children.
Month 7- Swaziland
Month 7 of this journey was one of the greatest for me. My team and I were working in Manzini, Swaziland with another team. We all divided up to do different jobs, my job was doing various administration things/random other jobs. While I loved getting to experience the behind the scenes side of missions and thoroughly enjoyed the people I worked with, what made this month truly special was my team. This month the men and women were divided separately so that the men would have an opportunity to experience the race on an all male team together. I couldn’t have asked for a better group of girls to call my teammates that month. Again, God is faithful in providing exactly what we need when we need it, even if it’s not in our exact timing. As a team we bonded well, spoke life and truth into each other, and loved well. I was very sad to leave my team at the end of the month, and half wished to be with them for the rest of the time on the race. While the month before was a sort of testing and questioning of who I was as a person and who I was in my faith, this month was a month of rejuvenation, truth, and new identity for me.
Month 8- Northern Ireland
For this month we were all together as a squad again and two shocking things happened. The first, everyone realized the race actually does end (and that end was quickly approaching) and the second, Ireland is stinking cold in April (it’s pretty safe to say, and mostly accurate, that half of us actually died the first week we were there). We were partnering with a Vineyard church in Coleraine. Since the whole squad was there we all had different ministries throughout the month, for my team that consisted of transcribing sermons, various cleaning jobs, working in their clothing warehouse, helping to host a banquet, and also a few opportunities to join the teams they have from their church in evangelizing and healing on the streets. This month my mom also had the opportunity to come for about 5 days to visit me and work/live similar to what I had been for the past several months before. Overall this month was possibly the most impactful for me. Ireland was the month God began to solidify and give clear definition to my already changing view of what it really means to be a Christian, what church really is, and our responsibility in that.
Month 9- Moldova
In Moldova we worked with a missionary family from the UK. It was a laid back month, which we all appreciated because the month before was very hectic. The church we were staying at had a daily kids program that we mostly helped, but also we worked in a nearby town to build a relationship between its members and the missionaries we worked with. One of the things I enjoyed most about this month was the morning bible study our contacts did with us through the book of Acts. It always means a lot when a contact is willing to not only serve with you but also wants to help you grow during your time with them. The couple we worked with was an amazing example of what it really means to trust the Lord and stay faithful in the hard times. Although people from their church in the UK didn’t agree with their choice to move to Moldova they knew it was what God was calling them to and continues on that path anyway. Just another valuable lesson to take home, that the ultimate judge you should be looking to for direction is not others, or even yourself, but always God.
Month 10- Romania
Romania was our second to last stop on the race. We were working in Draganesti with a local church. Once again we were all together as a squad but because the church had so many ministries each team had its own contact within the church. For my team that consisted of running after school kids club, street evangelism, and some house visits. We also as a squad assisted in some construction. One of the greatest things that I took from this month was the power of persistent prayer. Every morning we would go for 2 hour of prayer over specific circumstances within the community, country, and world. The emphasis the church put on prayer and the faith they had that their prayers would be answered was a great example for me, as prayer was an area that I was lacking in.
Month 11- Albania
Albania was our final country on the race, and in my opinion and excellent place to end. This month my team and I (almost pictured above, one was sick that day) were again on Unsung Heroes duty. I am so incredible grateful we had the opportunity to do UH this month. Because of it we were able to meet so many amazing local Christians and come along side to help them for a few days in their various ministries. My team and I were very humbled by and grateful for the generosity of the local churches in Albania in connecting us with more people to contact, giving places to stay, and welcoming us as part of their congregation. The unity we experienced between most of the denominations and churches very inspiring as a goal that we should be striving for here in America between churches.
Over the past year I have met so many incredible people, and experienced God, missions and Christianity in ways I never could have imagined for myself. I am so grateful that I had the opportunity to go on this journey and that each and every one of you was willing to come along side and help me in it financially, prayerfully, and through volunteering to help with fundraising. Although I do not know God’s plan for me in the in future, I do know that this journey has played an intricate part in God developing me into who he needs me to be for the future. I am confident that the lessons God taught me through this trip will continue to multiply as time goes on.
Thank you so so much for all of your generous help this year! I know I’ve said it before, but I truly could not have done this without each and every one of you behind me. Thank you!
