It has been three months since I’ve been home from the World Race!
To be completely honest with you guys, it still doesn’t feel like I’ve gotten off of it quite yet. The Lord has picked me up and planted me in seven different states since I’ve been “home” and now I’m sitting in a hostel in Jakarta, ready to spend these next two months World Race style : with a $5 budget for food and lodging, alongside my former squad-mates, Alex and Kate, and with the refugees who grew my heart three sizes on my 8th month of the Race and are the reason why I’m writing this over 10,000 miles from home right now.
Since I’ve last updated you all, there has been a lot of changes and movement in my life. Though the World Race is over, this life of ministry is not, and I’d love to take the time to let you in on what I’ve been up to and what life looks like for me right now.
Life After the Race
Thailand: God Shook Things Up
For the past few years, I feel like my life has been nonstop. The Lord has sent me to 24 countries and I have barely spent time in my own. As most of you know, when I was last in Indonesia- the Lord told me and another squad-mate of mine to return in March of this year. I was ready to go back out onto the field, but I was looking forward to the few months that I would have in Ohio with my loved ones before going back out again.
That’s when God asked me to give my definition of home away to Him. When I was at our debrief in Thailand The Lord began to change all of the plans that I had for home. In the same week, my mom told me that she was moving to Arizona and my best friend, whom I lived with before the Race, was called to dance with Eddie Jame’s Ministry and travel for a year.. More and more friends were moving out of state and huge changes were occurring in my family. I looked back at my life in Ohio and realized that a good chunk of my community was gone.
I’d be lying if I said I felt like I had it all together. I didn’t understand why everything had to be happening all at once, right before I was booking my plane ticket home. I didn’t understand why I couldn’t ever have stability or what seemed like a “normal” life that involved family and community. I knew my squad-mates would be coming home to their families and friends and that they had a place of belonging. I wanted that and I wanted a “home” to go to. I knew God was doing something great and it was really bittersweet.
And God Said, “Let there be Texas..”
Every time I would pray into what my time in the States looked like, God would just say, “Go to Texas.”
What?
At that point, I had never been to Texas and to be frank- I never wanted to go. I had some friends and family there, but it just wasn’t in my agenda. When I thought of Texas, I imagined tumbleweeds flying everywhere, cowboy hats blocking the hot sun, and horses filling the streets. (okay, before you come kicking me with the spurs on the back of your boots, im JOKING).
The Lord was giving me a very specific date to go to Texas and when my team was praying over me one day, a girl on my team said that she didn’t know why, but the Lord was telling her to tell me to go to the Dallas/Fort Worth area and stay with our squad coaches. She had no idea He was already telling me to do the same exact thing, but all I wanted was to be back in Ohio.
I pushed off the thought of going to Texas for months and finally, the day we were leaving for our last month in The Philippines, a dear friend of mine told me that she was getting married in Dallas during the SAME time that The Lord was telling me to go to Texas! I caved in after that confirmation. After two months of hesitation, I quickly called my mom and told her I was going to Texas. God’s hilarious, sometimes.
And just like that.. The Race was over.
Our last travel day was a blur. I remember getting on a plane in Manila, having a lay-over in the coolest little airport in Taiwan, falling asleep on the plane, and waking up in San Francisco. Foggy and tired, the people that I had traveled the world with for a year were picking up their packs, quickly saying their goodbyes, and hopping onto their flights home. I couldn’t grab an early flight to Phoenix, so I spent five hours alone in the San Francisco airport after everyone left. Soon enough, it was 6am and I was jumping on a plane to see my mom and grandparents for the first time in a year.
Then my plans for Indonesia started to shift.
When I got to Arizona, the Lord told me that I wouldn’t be in Indonesia for as long as I was expecting. I didn’t understand why and I immediately pushed the thoughts aside.. I thought that that voice couldn’t have been from God! He wouldn’t ask me to make a commitment to the school to live there for at least a year, then call me to break it. That’s not His character to break promises. I started to pray for clarity.
God was preparing my heart for this for a month by that point. He asked Alex and I to stop fundraising in the Philippines after we had raised enough money to buy a one-way ticket to Indonesia. So we stopped fundraising and trusted that God would provide the rest. That week, someone donated 100 computers to the school and the kids started taking online classes- taking away the need for English teachers at the school. What were we going to do? Within days, we found out that two of the families that played a huge role in us returning to the school were moving to Jakarta. We couldn’t figure out visas and were told that we would either have to leave the country every month, risking problems with immigration, or attend a school for a student visa that was over two hours away from the school for refugees. I didn’t understand why, but I had an incredible amount of peace about everything that was happening.
When we got back to the States, the Lord separately gave us the date March 2nd and we purchased our one-way ticket to Indonesia. When I contacted the principal to let him know, I found out that the Indonesian government came to visit the school the week before and said they would not allow long-term foreign volunteers at HLC. We gave the situation to the Lord and after much prayer, knew that the best way to honor the refugees at HLC would be to go for a month, help in whatever ways that we can, and return to the states unless the Lord says for us to do otherwise.
And here’s my own little World Race America.
Ohio: After Arizona, I flew to Ohio and surprised my best friend who was home for a week and thought it’d be years before we saw each other again! Most of my community came home that week as well and I couldn’t have asked for a better time. The Lord knew that all I wanted was to see my friends and family, especially the ones from out-of-state, and He worked it out to where we all could be in one place at the same time. Pretty sure my heart actually swelled!
Texas: Okay, Texas quickly became one of my favorite places ever. The Lord gave me the date of Dec. 29th to fly in, which was my squad coaches daughter’s birthday. It was perfect! The Birds made me feel so at home and I had such a great time doing life with them. I got to witness my friend’s beautiful wedding and live 15mins meet away from Grace, who was my teammate for most of the Race.
Georgia + Tennessee Off to Project Searchlight we went! This is an event at Adventures in Missions where you process the Race, gather with your squadmates one last time, and join in incredible sessions and focus on intimacy with the Lord. Christazia flew in from LA to road trip with Grace and I to PSL and I had such a blast with them. We stopped in Memphis on the way there and back to stay with Grace’s family and meet her church community, as well!
Texas: I was supposed to fly from Georgia to Missouri to stay with Alex’s family for two months, but the Lord told me to return to The Bird’s home and photograph their daughter’s wedding at the end of the month. I celebrated my birthday there and met so many people that I built deep connections with, fast. It was so beautiful how quickly community and family grew from my time in Texas.
Missouri: I stayed with Alex’s family in Missouri for a month before we left for Indonesia! My time there was spent getting to know Alex’s community, picking up small jobs, and preparing for our time in Asia. I’ve loved having the opportunity to spend so much time with my World Race community and their families! The Lord has been showing me a lot about what intentionality looks like at home and putting myself forward in a culture that does not. I’ve made a lot of sweet friendships in Missouri just from stepping out of my comfort zone and letting people know that they are seen.
I’m in Indonesia! So what do these next couple of months look like?
We arrived in Jakarta last night and are currently staying in a cute little hostel for the next few days to lay low, adjust back into traveling, and spend time with the Lord while seeking out what He wants our time here to look like.
We’re planning on doing everything “World Race” style, where we prayed into every move we made, lived off of a $5 a day budget for food and lodging, and relied on His provision in every area of our lives.
In a few days, we will be moving to a different part of Jakarta to stay with our refugee friends and their families. We’re pretty sure we’ll be there for 1-2 weeks before heading to HLC again to teach at the school for a couple of weeks and live amongst the larger refugee community until the beginning of April. While we’re here in Jakarta, we will also be living close to our other refugee friend and spending time with him and seeing other Indonesian friends along the way that we met last year. Jakarta is a huge city and it works out perfectly that these two refugee families live so close to one another and we are able to spend time with the both of them.
Because our visa only allows us to stay for a month, we will be going to Singapore for four days in the beginning of April to stay with a family that hosted Alex and her team on the Race. This was one of Haley’s contacts from home, so I’m really excited to get to meet them!
When we return to Indonesia, we will be going to a different city where the new “Unscripted” World Race squad will be having their debrief and we’ll have the opportunity to spend time with them for a few days. Kate, our squadmate from South Africa, is squad-leading for that squad and Kylee, our former SQL is now the mentor for that squad and they will be there. We are so excited to see them again!! There, we will also be seeing our host from Indonesia last year and a different missionary family from Ohio!
After a couple of weeks, we will be flying out and extending our layover in China for a few days before coming home!
Though so many of our plans for Indonesia has changed, we are even more excited for our time here because we know that God has purpose in it all and He’s about to do something BIG. I am overwhelmed by how good He is! He already has given us testimonies of friends coming to know Him from the seeds He used our squad to sew, and I am certain He is going to do so much more. We know that He has called us to be here in this time and that HIS plans never go to waste. I’m sure this won’t be my last time in Indonesia visiting these sweet friends and flight across the world just to tell them that they are loved and they are worth it.
Here’s are some ways that you can pray
- Overall safety as we travel
- Further provision in finances
- New testimonies & friendships
- For the people that we are with to come to know Him and His love for them
- That the refugees find home. For a shift in their circumstances and God’s provision over their lives. That they no longer have to worry about feeding their families or affording a place to stay, but that they can work and provide for them.
- That the refugees know how deeply they are loved & that depression no longer has a grip in their lives.
- That as we follow the Lord’s heart, we build deeper intimacy with Him
And that’s a wrap.
I’m going to be posting more updates over the next two months, but on a separate blog that isn’t specific to the World Race! If you’d like updates, comment your email address below and I will add you to the mailing list! This blog will include Indonesia updates & testimonies but I will not be posting it on social media due to privacy purposes. 🙂 love you guys!!
