“Racer Life” is one of the most exciting, scary, intense, joyful, challenging, and crazy things I’ve ever done! Before coming on the Race, I had no idea how this year would work, and I still have no idea what life looks like on any given day. People have so many questions about what life looks like on the Race, and some people have asked me about different aspects of Racer Life. Here’s a Q&A-style peak into my Race experience!
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Matt M: What’s the strangest question, or assumption, someone has brought up about where you’re from? I think that the strangest assumption would be that every single person in the Southern part of America is a cowboy, or that every woman who has a tattoo somewhere on her body also has a lower back tattoo. Both were topics of discussion in the conversation rooms in Vietnam.
Megan M: Have you learned any new languages? I can say please and thank you in most languages, and have learned some short phrases in each country, but I can’t remember most of them off the top of my head. I want to be better about writing down these words so that I can say them at home!
Brianna L: What worries about the race turned out to be completely unnecessary? I was worried that we wouldn’t have access to a washing machine and that I would end up wrecking my clothes doing laundry in a river. It turns out that we’ve had a washing machine or an easy way to do laundry every month so far!
Jessica A: What kind of kids have you taught? I taught elementary and middle school girls in an after-school program in India, taught preschool and middle school ESL (English as a Second Language) in Cambodia, and taught 4th, 5th, and 6th grade ESL in Thailand. It’s been awesome to use my training in ESL in so many different countries and learn from so many talented teachers around the globe!
Cheryl R: What has been your favorite Race memory thus far? Oh man, that’s a hard one. My favorite memory would have to be the weekend that my team and I went to Ko Chang, Thailand. We got to swim with baby elephants in the ocean, hike out to a waterfall and swim around (and try to dodge the hundreds of fish trying to eat our toes), and we ended the night with pizza and a fire show on the beach. It was a joyful, wonderful day! But the last day of the Cambodian Khmer New Year when our team went riding in our host cousins’ truck and got water balloons and baby powder thrown as us is a close runner up.
Jessica W: What have been some of your worship experiences in different churches/gatherings? Worship on the Race is awesome because it looks different all the time. When we’re gathered as an entire squad, worship can look like guitars and ukuleles and a trash can for a drum. People in India love fast-paced songs, so there were no instruments but lots of clapping (usually to no particular beat)… and sometimes a tambourine! In Vietnam, we attended a church with a pianist and guitar player, so we sang some well-known American songs and a handful of Vietnamese songs. Cambodia was mostly Khmer hymns with a guitar player and drummer. Our team led worship in Thailand most of the time, so we prepped songs we could sing with a guitar and a keyboard. Worship has been transforming from something you do to simply offering God what you have at any given moment, and I’m so excited for all the worship to come!
Lisa L: What has been your favorite country so far and why? I have loved Vietnam and Cambodia. I loved Vietnam because of the different avenues to build relationships through our ministry, as well as the way the church operates around community and discipleship instead of big churches and public access. I loved Cambodia because of our host family and the time that we got to spend pouring into them, and because they invited us into their family during a month when I was especially missing my own family.
Maren M: Which place is the most scenic? Angkor Wat (one of the seven man-made wonders of the world) is gorgeous, especially at sunrise! I’m a sucker for the countryside, though, and the Nepali and Cambodian countrysides are incredible. You go on an hour-long drive and you see people working out in rice fields, you see palm trees (in Cambodia, at least), you see buffalo herders walking with their herd, and you see marshes full of lotus flowers. God is so creative, and His creation is mind-blowing!
Shelby M: What’s the weirdest thing you’ve eaten? On my last night in Vietnam, our roommate bought octopus for all of us to try. It actually tasted like bar-be-que, which is the thing that made it so weird. Or the day in Cambodia when our lunch was a big fried fish (and I mean all of it, eyes and fins and lips and all). I also ate some tarantula in Cambodia, which was NOT enjoyable and also kind of creepy.
Lindsey M: What do you ensure that you’re getting spiritually “fed” when the church services that you do attend are in other languages? I’ve been really thankful for the podcasts that I subscribed to before I left home. I try to listen to and take notes on about 2 or 3 a week, and most of them come from The Village Church, The Porch, or Jon Eldredge. I’ve been reading through the New Testament with a special emphasis on Acts, reading Love Does (Goff) and Kingdom Journeys (Barnes).
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Thank you so much to everyone who submitted questions for these blogs! It’s been so fun to share memories, stories, and thoughts with you all. Subscribe to my blog to receive e-mail updates, and stay tuned to see what else happens throughout this year of Racer Life!
