“What no eye has seen, nor ear heard,
nor the heart of man imagined,
what God has prepared for those who love him” 1 Corinthians 2:9
As I approach the end of month 6 of the World Race, I thought it would be nice to reflect back over the adventures and experiences of the year. So take a peek and enjoy this mid point review of this crazy, wild journey Jesus and I have had in 2013 🙂
Month 1- near Santa Rosa, Costa Rica
We spent our first month on the race serving with Fundacion Resplandecer headed up by Tony and his wife Rosa. Tony and Rosa were some of the sweetest, most godly people I ever met. Their ministry focuses on taking in troubled youth and discipling them to live more like Christ and giving them hope and a chance for a better life. These boys were out on school holiday during our month there, so our time was spent digging on a mountain to lay the foundation for a sanctuary that will serve the area for generations to come.
My original team- Spice of Life, having one of many delicious dinners with Tony and Rosa.
Month 2- Pelacaquina, Nicaragua
Our entire squad was together this month in the Mayberry of Central America. I have never met such friendly and welcoming people as the people of Pelacaquina. I still miss that place! We went with different pastors and did manual labor projects to help their churches. For my team, a large part of our ministry was Unsung Heroes. Unsung Heroes is a project of the WR to seek out those kingdom workers striving to advance God's kingdom but get little recognition or support. We shine light on their ministry, offer prayer and encouragement, and ultimately pray about a partnership where a future world race team could work alongside these heroes and help their ministry.
Shot of an Unsung Hero- Michael Folsom of Isaiah Ministries embracing one of the children he has helped get off the streets
Alejandro- our pastor and host for the month and a great example of a man of faith. His testimony will knock your socks off!
Unsung Heroes in a remote village, bringing wells and safe drinking water to the nation.
Month 3- Tegucigalpa, Honduras
Honduras was a very special month for our whole squad. Personally this was my favorite month thus far and the Lord has already told me I will be back there one day. We stayed with 3 other teams at Zion's Gate ministry, a home for street kids. We had the opportunity to work with several ministries around the city though, including teaching at a school, helping to build a Tilapia farm intended to feed orphans, and working at a refuge for young girls who were victims of rape/incest.
This guy right here absolutely stole my heart! Little Alejandro brought me such joy and opened my heart up in brand new ways. He was abandoned by his mother at Heart of Christ ministry, the refuge for pregnant girls. I still think of this guy often and can't wait until I can get back there to check in on him 🙂
These boys were also orphaned at Heart of Christ ministry. Mosies, on the right, was left for dead by his family because he had a tumor bigger than him when he was just an infant. Now he runs around healthy as can be and you would never even know he had been sick. God is still in the miracle working business! Little Diego is on the left, one of the sweetest boys you'll ever meet. Man how these dudes touched my heart! Miss my boys!
While there we also got to throw Fernando, a boy taken in off the streets at Zion's Gate, his very first birthday party. The big 13! We had food, dancing, the works! It was so much fun!
Month 4- Chaingmai, Thailand
Our ministry in Chaingmai focused on anti human trafficking efforts. Thailand is the sex trafficking industry capital of the world. We went into bars at night to make friends with the prostitutes and shine the light of Jesus into their lives. A lot of time was also spent in prayer and intercession over this dark nation. But God is moving and we saw people's hearts yearning for truth.
Songkran Water Festival is the Thai New Year Celebration. And it is as crazy as the picture depicts- a giant nation wide, 4 day long water fight! It was ridiculously fun and we made it into ministry by passing out tracts with candy to people we meet along the way.
We had the opportunity to do a flash mob dance about Jesus right in the middle of the night market in Chaingmai. We definitely turned some heads! We ended it by passing out tracts to all the onlookers.
We did slum ministry in Chaingmai also and showed some love to the kids in the nearby slum district.
TEAM CHANGE- At the end of month 4 as we prepared to head into Malaysia, our squad underwent team changes. This is to make sure everyone stays in an environment where you have room for optimal growth with the Lord. So I made the transition from Spice of Life to Ambassadors, as pictured above.
Month 5- Changlun, Malaysia
?Pictured above is Pastor Thomas and his dear, sweet family. They are some of my most favorite contacts! They prayed over us and poured into us and sincerely cared about our growth with the Lord. It was a blessing to get the chance to work with them. My team Ambassadors was partnered with the new team PAWS for this month of ministry.
Our serving was centered around the Fresh Start Kindergarten ran by our contacts. It is the only school in the community that has kids of all ethnicities and religious backgrounds. Through the children they hope to change their nation.
Such precious kids, we had a great month!
NEW SQUAD LEADERS RAISE UP, ALUMNI SQUAD LEADERS HEAD HOME-
At the end of month 5 debrief our amazing squad leaders- Vanessa O'Neal as pictured above, Stacy Povian, and Joel Dutton said adios and headed home to leave us to finish this journey on our own. They left us well equipped, as they had imparted so much wisdom into us over those 5 months. I will be forever grateful for the way they sacrificially poured everything they had into us. It was a hard day to say goodbye, but a joyous day as well celebrating all they had done for us and knowing we were ready to take on the race by ourselves. The Lord raised up awesome new squad leaders from among our squad and we traveled on for month 6.
Month 6 – Phnom Penh, Cambodia
This month we are working with the Cambodia Hope Association Children's Home. They house about 30 kids ranging from 1.5 years old to college aged. Some children have been taken in as orphans, while others have been brought in from impoverished villages to have the chance to have education. At the children's home they have the opportunity to go to school, learn English, learn instruments, and most importantly, they are taught about the gospel of Jesus Christ and church services are held on the grounds regularly.
My class in which we taught English and bible classes. Left to right is Map (Mop), Top, Shrem, Kea (Kia), Cheat, Ponluk (Pon-lock), and Virek (V-wreck).
The Lord threw in a bonus for us this month- these little cuties live just down the street and loving on the neighbor kids has become a big highlight of our day and a great way to minister to the community.
We learned all about the fruits of the Spirit in bible class. They are very smart kids!
The Lord has greatly blessed us these 6 months. I will always be in awe of Him and the things these eyes have seen! Thank you to all of you who are following me on this journey and covering us in prayer. We certainly could not do this without you! Stay tuned for Part II when we look back over the fun adventures afforded by the last 6 months.
