The Nitty Gritty Details Of My Trip
My route: India, Nepal, Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand, South Africa, Swaziland, Botswana, Haiti, Jamaica, & Dominican Republic.
The World Race has a 10 day training camp stationed in Atlanta, Georgia starting May 21st. This will be the FIRST TIME I finally get to meet my fellow teammates and all the leaders who’ve helped get me this far!!
After training camp I come home and begin the count down..We leave June 27th. (So I’ll have about 30 days till launch.)
I will be with a group of 50 Americans between the ages of 21-35. Although 50 of us will travel to each of the 11 countries together, we will soon divide into teams of 8-10 while we serve for the next 5 months together. After the 5 months, our 3 squad leaders (the people leading our team of 10) will take off (to America) and leave us in the hands of each other and God. This is when I will be put with a NEW group of 10 (for the remaining 6 months) from my original team of 50. The ones I will meet at training camp!! WOOO.
So far there are five men and about 45 women on my team. I’ve been told this is a very normal ratio.
WHAT WE DO: This is the most frequently asked question! Here’s my best answer.
EACH DAY WILL LOOK DIFFERENT. As will each month. For example, Nepal JUST had a deadly earthquake hit. I was supposed to go there this August and now I have no clue if we will be allowed to enter their country or not. If we make it there, there’s a good chance we will be doing disaster relief. aka-Labor. Every. Single. Day.
Some days we will PLAY, LOVE and ATTEND to orphans. Tell them about the love of Jesus. Teach them about the power of prayer. Dance and sing with them. Let them teach us the games they love to play! ..This may also become more intimate and heart-wrenching as we visit the disabled orphans who stay indoors and cannot communicate and play as they must so deeply desire.
Other days- MANUAL LABOR! EX- Restoring a widows home because she has been forgotten and needs our help for something she cannot do on her own. OR, “Dumpster ministry” This is where we pair with say a local church in Haiti (who will be hosting our visit) and help them do their daily job. Dig through the land fields of garbage to find anything useful. Ropes, plates, tarps, clothes, etc. I’ve even been told children find candy from time to time! Hurray! But I’ve also been informed.. this is where babies are left. Real babies who never had the chance to grow up and thrive in the world. ..This leaves me with little to say about this matter.
And BEACH MINISTRY! Literally going to the beaches of Jamaica or South Africa to tell about WHO we’re all so fortunate to know. Simply spending our time sharing intimate stories and inspirational experiences. This is huge. This is where we have a chance to communicate with real people about real life hardship that spreads all over the world and more importantly THE REAL HOPE that sets us all free. Here we can hopefully change their perspective of the “snooty American” – Thanks to sites like You-tube and Facebook, plenty of people around the world have this idea that Americans have never experienced trauma, loss, poverty, hate, hunger, homelessness, etc. Although we do live in paradise (by comparison).. there is sadly a substantial amount of poverty and hate in the U.S.
Sleeping / Showering
My awesome tent will be my shelter. My sweeeeet hammock or sleeping system (meaning sleeping bag, sleeping pad and pillow) will be my bed. Every day- for 11 months. Pretty cool huh?
Each country we visit will have a local church awaiting our arrival. This is were we will set up camp and stay. It might be next to a city or- a small forgotten village behind the mountains 2 hours away from any civilization. Wowzaa.
I will have access to a shower each day. Some months, depending on the level of poverty, we will wash using buckets of water. I’ve been told this will only happen 1 – 3 months out of the 11. SO I FEEL LUCKY. This goes for washing clothes as well. Some places I will have a washing machine and other places I will learn to wash them by hand. 🙂
SAFETY!
Sure, a huge part of it is trust. But also submitting to the system. The “rules” that keep the risk as low as possible. Don’t go out at night, stay away from specific areas, respect the culture, and NEVER EVER EVER do ANYTHING alone. EVER.
11 months is a long time..
A great way to think about committing to this missions opportunity is considering it a job. We will work about 8 hours a day, 6 days a week.
Plenty of down time! Plenty of time to explore and ride yaks! Plenty of Bible-reading, soul-searching, bug-eating, hammock-laying, cherry-picking down time!!
In turn, this is also the time I have been warned about. It’s time to feel lonely and miss my mom and dad. It’s also a time to lack of privacy (due to the strict buddy system).
And it’s a time when the devil will creep in my thoughts telling me it’s all too much. Too worthless, too expensive, too unfulfilling. It’s a time to dwell on what I don’t have: My parents. A good nights rest. Food I actually LIKE. & Heffe. Yeah, I’m going to miss having the option of a cold Heffe with dinner.
But what I’ll be filled with can’t be found in the bottom of any cooler.
I literally cannot wait. I’m soooo stoked.
This. Is. It.
This is my unwritten story. Slowly unfolding.
And you’re apart of it.
