After a long travel day to Panama City for our final debrief I am finally able to post this blog. It’s still August 22nd here so alas here is my last installment of 5 blogs in my final 25 days away from home. I have been posting 5 blogs designed to answer questions a lot of you probably have about this 11 month journey and the soon transition home.
Blog Schedule:
25 days left: Where are the highlight videos for months 7, 8 and 9?
20 days left: Answering 20 Questions about my world race experience.
15 days left: The 15 things I’m looking forward to the most about being home
10 days left: 10 Words to describe the 10 Countries I’ve been to
Today 5 days left: My 5 favorite things about the World Race
In no particular order my 5 favorite things are…
1.Growth
The personal growth I’ve experienced on the race has been life changing. With having read the whole Bible through and seen God move all around the world, my faith has matured to a greater level than before. As a result my desire to share about my faith and my relationship with Christ with those who don’t have one has increased. I’ve also come to grow in my public speaking where when I give a testimony/sermon I don’t feel any nerves. God has instilled in me new passions and confirmed old ones. In doing this I come home with an excitement to continue to be a missionary in my home town.
2.Community
My favorite part about working at Kenbrook Bible Camp for three summers was the staff community. For 10 weeks in each of those 3 summers I knew I had about 30 people who I could trust and count on through thick and thin. In signing up for the world race I was hoping for the same thing but instead of being together for 10 weeks, growing close over 11 months. That community I was hoping for is exactly what I got and more. It will undoubtedly be the hardest part about the world race coming to an end. Though it may be hard to all stay as close as we are while we are at our homes all across the US, I am sure that whenever we do have the opportunities to come back together it will be as if we were never apart.
3.Ministry Partnerships
Throughout our journey we had the privilege of partnering with 10 awesome ministry organizations in 10 countries. Then within those organizations often times there were multiple types of ministry that we served through. Ministry types included, children’s ministry, youth outreach, college campus outreach, sports ministry, evangelism, discipleship, preaching to church congregations and school christian clubs, physical labor, and prison ministry. Being a part of so many different ministries that served communities around the world, has really got me excited to step into ministry opportunities back home.
4.Adventure
“God saw all that he had made, and it was very good…”
Genesis 1:31 NIV
Between the nature we saw, the man made structures we witnessed and the love we received from people in every nation we visited, the world is a beautiful place. Some of the highlights include…
Month 1: Serbia: Visiting Budapest, Hungary
Month 2: Romania: Seeing the Black Sea
Month 3: Malawi: Living on Lake Malawi
Month 4: Zimbabwe: Seeing Victoria Falls and White Water Rafting on the Zambezi River
Month 5: Botswana: Taking a road trip to South Africa to go on a safari
Month 6: Cambodia: Visiting Angkor Watt
Month 7: Thailand: Experiencing their annual water festival Songkran
Month 8: Malaysia: Being in the country for a historical election where the corrupt government was finally removed from power.
Month 9: Panama: Hiking to see the hidden waterfalls in Boquete.
Month 10&11: Costa Rica: Surfing on one of the most beautiful beaches in the country.
5.Family
The biggest reason why I’m excited to go home is also one of my favorite things about the world race. This whole journey, from my acceptance into the world race to now has brought my family even closer together than before. Just one example is how I used to call my parents maybe once a semester while at college and throughout this trip it’s been more like once a week. With extended family it’s been more challenging to stay in touch but I have cherished every opportunity we have had to talk. Distance has been hard but it has truly brought my whole family closer.
