Q & A Post Race

 

 

 

No, I didn’t, but I saw very little of India besides the inside of churches; we weren’t allowed to go anywhere.

 

There are three places that stand out to me: sitting around a bonfire in Romania with a new ministry contact, hammock nation in Cambodia, and sitting on our porch in the Philippines overlooking the valleys and mountains. I could explain all of them in more detail, but I won’t make everyone read all that. 

 

The first thing I notice they all have in common is being outside. The race has definitely given me a greater love for the outdoors. Laying in my hammock is one of my favorite things to do now. They are places where I felt connected to God without even trying to be. Romania was the first time I felt at home on the race; I felt a sense of belonging, though I only knew those woman for a few hours. In Cambodia, hammock nation was my place to get away from everything and rest; it was peaceful back there. And in the Philippines, I worshipped God for His creation every time I stepped outside. They were all places where I felt I was free to be myself.

 

Pretty much all of Nepal I felt useless. Our ministry was a one hour devotion each night and it just felt pointless the whole month. 

 

In Swaziland I shared my testimony with the young adult group at our church and invited anyone who wanted to talk more to see me after class was over. As Jamie and I walked home, a girl approached me. She confessed she struggled with the same thing I did and she wanted to know how to stop. 

Walking through abuse to pornography was used in this instance to help someone else walk out of sexual sin. God used me and the crap that has happened to me and what I’ve done myself to be a tool that broke someone else’s chains. She had never told anyone about this struggle before. I was incredibly overwhelmed at God’s goodness and humbled at directing someone else how to break this addiction.

 

This has been a year of immense growth, a year where God has put deeper roots into the lessons I’ve learned in the past three years. Giving myself grace has always been a struggle and continued to be so at the beginning of the race. I tried and tried not to care when I screwed up, but I always did. Finally, at the beginning of Nepal grace began to make sense. I realized that I could acknowledge my flaws and sin patterns without destroying myself for it. I was finally at a place where I could choose grace instead of self-condemnation. Actually, I learned a lot about making choices throughout the race. I learned to choose joy despite my feelings when I was depressed in Cambodia. I learned to worship in the midst of uncertainty when our things were stolen in Swaziland. I learned to choose courage over cowering when a guest pastor verbally attacked us. None of those were easy and none came naturally; I don’t choose them every time, but I’m learning to. 

 

I’m not really an adventurous eater, but I tried ostrich meat in the grocery store last week; it was delicious. I didn’t eat cockroaches, maggots, spiders, or duck fetuses in Cambodia like many people did.

 

I see the faces of my closest friends and some of the incredible ministry contacts we had.

I see the mountains in Nepal, the valleys in the Philippines, and the sea in South Africa.

I see Settlers of Catan and Spades which I played endlessly.

I see baby Nikolas from Romania who I only knew for a few hours.

I see the girls at Zion Cafe in Thailand who were the hardest goodbye.

I see the families all over the world who took us in and loved us like their own children.

I see the starry nights in Cambodia and Swaziland that overwhelmed me every night.

 

On the World Race there are co-ed and all girl teams. One of my biggest spiritual blessings came from being on a co-ed team for the whole year. I have a few guy friends at home but nothing compared to the friends I made this year. I was surrounded by some of the greatest men I know; men who constantly died to themselves in order to serve the women. I saw a great example of Christian marriage when I was on a team with a married couple. The girls were pampered on Valentine’s Day by my last team. My first team leader listened to me for months as I struggled to grasp grace for myself. Another teammate pursued our friendship and we spent hours talking all over the world. Our safety was always the first concern and I always felt safe when I was with the men. One of them never failed to pay when we went out, regardless of if you refused or not. God was able to care for me in ways I’ve never experienced through the six men I served with this year and I’m so thankful for them.

 

This whole year was a test of faith. Before I left, I never thought I’d be fully funded, but as each deadline passed, I had to continue to trust God was going to provide so I could stay. There were times throughout the year when I didn’t know why I was here; I didn’t understand the purpose of going through all of these hard times. I wasn’t making any kind of difference but again I had to keep trusting God had a plan.

 

The biggest test of faith was when we were robbed in Swaziland. I lost almost everything electronic I had brought on the race. I lost all of my pictures and videos from this year. I lost all the research I had done on grad schools and jobs. I lost someone’s computer that I was just borrowing for the year. I didn’t understand then and I still don’t understand now, but God allowed that to happen for a purpose. I had been praying in the Philippines to see God’s awesome power in Africa and for protection. Satan was heavily attacking us as we brought light to the village. We were robbed three times there, but God was present and at work in our ministry.

 

As I answered previously, I didn’t find my happy place. There are quite a lot of good memories I could share, but there’s one from Nepal that I can paint well.

The sky was blue and the mountains were towering around us. The raft is filled with my teammates and two others. We have neon helmets on and life jackets. Our paddles are positioned down, ready to strike when our guide tells us to. We are soaking wet from the first few hits of water. I am sitting near the front and I see a massive hole in the river just a hundred feet in front of us. We are instructed to row and just as we hit the hole, we are told to get down. I hop into the middle of the boat, hitting the person across from me, as the boat is squeezed in half. The freezing water hits me and the boat returns to its normal shape. I was laughing uncontrollably. White water rafting was one of the funnest things I did on the race. See picture above.

 

Something that comes to mind is the disturbing amount of cultures who practice more than one religion. I came across this in many places where people would take things from Christianity and Buddhism or ancestral worship. They say they are Christians, but they aren’t; they claim everything.

 

I actually have hot showers this month, but I overly enjoy it every time, particularly because it’s winter here. Now, drinking water from a cool water fountain, absolutely! 

 

 

The days were slow, but the months flew by. I never felt like things were fast pace on the race; on the contrary, life on the race is quite simple. Going to so many countries was amazing; there wasn’t a lot of culture shock because we stayed in Asia for so long but coming to Africa was definitely a bit of an adjustment. I never experienced jet lag and I’m hoping I don’t on the way back to America. (I didn’t) I think it has to do with the super long travel which results in exhaustion, so you just sleep like crazy when you get to a new place. Also, our lives revolve around change and adaptation, so I think my body knows to adjust each month.