FRIENDS! It’s been a minute!
So sorry I haven’t updated you all through this blog in awhile. Lately, a lot of my time has been spent balancing The Race, things back at home, and preparing for Indonesia.
You already know I’ve missed a few countries. Let’s talk about them!
SERBIA:
Serbia was honestly one of my favorite countries on our Race. Serbia introduced us to a new understanding of the spiritual needs in Eastern Europe and in the country, itself. Serbia is an Orthodox Christian country and is very proud of that, especially because it differentiates them from the other countries that were formerly Yugoslavia and they fought against in the war for independence. However, many don’t believe in having a true relationship with Jesus Christ. It’s very “taboo” to them and some have gone to say that it’s a satanic cult. Nis is one of the larger cities in Serbia and there are only two churches there, one of which we were staying at.
In case you haven’t had the chance to read my blog post on our journey from France to Serbia (Check it out here), the Lord told us to make a stop in Budapest, Hungary on the way to Serbia. It was very out of budget and we were kind of worried about it, but we knew that there was purpose in Him telling us to go. We were going to Serbia with no contacts and no idea of where to stay because every hostel within budget was booked, but He provided all that we needed when we took this step of faith and stayed in Budapest for four days. We stayed at a YWAM base and only really connected with one person, who was the missionary living at the base. BUT GUYS.. He was a Christian from Serbia! What are the chances of that? He talked with us about how rare it was for us to meet a Christian Serbian because having a relationship with Jesus in Serbia usually results in your family disowning you, which was exactly what had happened to him. But God did it. We were praying for a connection in Serbia and for the Lord to provide our accommodations, and He definitely showed up. Our YWAM host offered to connect us with his church in Nis, where they had rooms for us to stay in and opportunities for us to work with them. I love having a Father that pieces everything together for us.
In Serbia, the Lord reminded me of how far He will pursue “The One”. Before we got to Nis, we were sitting at a cafe in Novi Sad asking the Lord what our time there would look like. He gave us the words “The One” and gave us a specific description of the person. We ended up befriending someone that we are certain was the one that the Lord spoke to us about and spent most of our time with that person. I fully believe that God did so much behind the scenes through the friendship that we had.
A lot of our time there was spent with the friends that we had made at an event at a cafe where people come to practice different languages, the people who worked at the church (a lot of British people!), working with the “Roma”, and doing prayer walks in the city. We had such an incredible time there and I hope to return one day.
MONTENEGRO:
We had our midpoint debrief in Tivat and spent some time in Podgorica. This was where Team Torch began and it was such a fun month getting to know my other squadmates. It was also a pretty bittersweet month having to say goodbye to a squadmate and our squadleaders. The couple weeks that we spent there were focused on reflecting on our first half of the Race and looking forward to the six months that remained. I was really excited about this country for a lot of personal reasons. Before the Race, I had a dream about being in Montenegro on the Race. This was the day that I was told to apply for the Race by a staff member at AIM, though I wasn’t necessarily old enough to do so.This was also before I had looked into the routes. In my dream, I was at an outdoor marketplace and I was surrounded by a group of people. I didn’t know where I was and I approached a girl to ask. She said, “Jordan! You’re on the World Race!” and showed me a map of Montenegro. I then went out and started doing ministry. The amazing thing was, when I had the dream, I had no idea that Montenegro was a country. It’s only 12 years old and my knowledge about Eastern Europe was very limited. The Lord speaks to me a lot through dreams and this was a beautiful confirmation that this was what I was supposed to do. That day, I got a call from someone from AIM telling me to apply for the Race and as I looked at routes, I saw Montenegro, looked up what it was on a map, and freaked out because I had a dream about it just a few hours beforehand. If it weren’t for Montenegro, I probably would have been on a different route and wouldn’t have been pushed out of my comfort zone in spending a year of completely trusting the Lord’s voice in what direction to go, daily.
MACEDONIA:
Macedonia wasn’t on our given route, but the Lord told us to go and we definitely saw from day one that He had so much purpose in leading us there.
On our first full day, we were meeting with a missionary from Poland by the docks when a man with a boat asked us if we wanted to take a ride for half an hour. We took the opportunity and talked with him for about an hour after we were finished. While I was talking with Zoran, he talked with me a lot about his culture and values then afterwards he hugged me and said, “You’ve captured my heart!” As we were talking with him, a family approached us and Zoran introduced them as his “other American friends”. They were heading to a local pizzeria and we soon found out that they were missionaries from Texas and they were investing in a waitress that had worked there and they would go to see her every day for a year and a half. She was like family to them and had asked to receive Jesus as her Lord and Savior after learning about their faith.
This family served as a huge encouragement to our team and we had the privilege of spending the rest of our time in Skopje with them. The couple had five younger children and they were so fun! One in particular had really stolen my heart, their oldest girl named Piper. She was pretty shy at first but by the end of our time there, she was attached at my hip. She had a fire like no other and she was so wise for her age. On our last day together, she was really sad about us leaving, but happily exclaimed, “Jordan, I can’t wait to go to Heaven. We’re going to be FOREVER sisters there!” She had such an eternal mindset. As we were saying our goodbyes, Piper’s mom approached me with tears in her eyes as she told me that Piper didn’t open up to people at all and our relationship was something that she was praying for Piper to have. She said Piper only opened up to herself and the local woman at the pizzeria. She was absolutely amazed at how much Piper had opened up to me and she knew that the Lord brought us to their family for a reason. It’s no coincidence that they came strolling by when they did. I’m so thankful for divine appointment.
BULGARIA AND TURKEY:
Bulgaria was on our original route and Turkey came into play when our squad mentors and coaches felt led to send us to Indonesia. We spent less than a week in Bulgaria and Turkey, but these were the countries that the Lord definitely emphasized the importance of prayer in my life and though my teammates and I were able to build small friendships, we mainly spent time in prayer for Sofia and Istanbul. This was also when the Lord really started to prepare my heart for the refugees without knowing that I was about to spend a month in Indonesia with them and would feel called to work with them after the Race. In hindsight, this was a really sweet time for me because it was the beginning of this new personal journey with the refugees.
MALAYSIA:
We spent most of our time in Malaysia in the Cameron Highlands and Penang. In the Cameron Highlands, we focused on building relationships with a family from India that ran our hostel, with the backpackers that came in and with the people that we met in parks and nearby restaurants. When we got to Penang, Malaysia, we decided to get plugged in with local ministries such as a homeless shelter, PenHOP, and school for refugees.
I was stoked when given the opportunity to teach English and Math to Rohignya refugees. I walked into the school and was immediately placed into a classroom with three girls without given any direction on what to teach. The Rohignya refugees are one of the most persecuted people groups in the world and it was a challenge building trust with most of the students, which is only natural after the things they’ve walked through, but this led to a rather difficult teaching experience. I remember getting back to our Airbnb feeling a lot of self-doubt. I wanted to be a good teacher but most importantly, I wanted those girls to see their worth. The next day, class seemed to only become more hectic. One of the girls was running around the room and when I asked her why she wasn’t working on the math problems I gave her, she responded that she couldn’t do it because it was too hard. She had no idea that she was a 9-year-old genius. She always finished the problems first and always got them right. After she said this, I told her how intelligent I thought she was and she sat down and worked with a new confidence in her abilities.
On our last day, I taught a group of younger students and then when class was finished, all of the students in the school thanked us and handed us gifts and cards that they had made. When we were saying goodbye to the students, they had us give a few words to the school and God just kept whispering, “Tell them that they can do anything they put their mind to.” The same words that my mentor in Costa Rica gave me that changed my life. When I told them, their faces immediately began to light up and huge smiles covered each one. They started clapping and I knew that they believed what I was telling them. That was the moment I knew that my purpose in being there wasn’t just to teach them multiplication or grammar, but to empower them and just let them know that they are enough in a world that says differently. We all live out different lives but we all are human. And the God of the universe says that we are enough.
THAILAND:
In Thailand, we had our second to last debrief. It was a challenging month because we had lost three of our squadmates within three weeks, leaving our squad down to 9 people. But our debrief was really sweet because our squad coaches were able to bring their entire family to Thailand, a couple of our squadmates parents were able to join us that month, and our squad mentor and former squad leader came, as well. It was wonderful catching up, building closer relationships within our squad coaches’ family, and meeting the parents of two people that I’ve gotten to spend almost every day this entire year with!
In Thailand, we were able to build some pretty great friendships with the people that were in our hostels and we spent a lot of time focusing on those. We also worked with a safehouse and one of the girls I had befriended from Serbia was able to come and help us put together shelves. One day, went to a “monk talk” at a temple where we talked with the monks and helped them practice English. When we were there, we were invited by one of the monks to teach English at the school he worked at. We helped lead classes for novices for a few days and it was such a special and fun experience getting to converse with the kids and learn more about their lives, their dreams, and their culture. This was easily one of the coolest things I had ever experienced and I’m so thankful that God is one who makes a way for us to do things that I thought I could only have dreamt about. He’s too good!
CAMBODIA:
We’re in Cambodia now. We ehad our Leadership Development Weekend at AIM’s base in Siem Reap and afterwards, we spent a week in Sihanoukville and met the sweetest family across the street from our hostel! A lot of our time there was spent with them and we were able to help give back to them by cleaning up trash from Vietnam off of the beach behind their restaurant. We’re in Phnom Penh now and we’re really excited to learn more about what God’s doing in this city and how we are able to partner with Him. Please keep my team and I in your prayers as many of us have been experiencing a lot of fatigue and sickness. We are ending the Race in five short weeks and we really want to finish this race strong. 🙂
NEXT:
These are just some brief summaries of each country and if I were to explain everything that God did in each of these places, this blog would be forever long. Haha. I go back to The States in just five weeks! I can hardly believe that I’m already nearing the end of The World Race and I’m not sure how to really feel about it. But a huge part of me is ECSTATIC because, as you may know, I’m moving to Indonesia in February! This is a dream that I’ve carried from such a young age and I can hardly believe that it’s coming true at just 21 years old. Though it’s not conventional, I am beyond happy and am absolutely certain that this is what I’m meant to be doing. I am so thankful for God leading me to Indonesia and for those of you who have supported me in this!!
Also, the Lord is doing so much in providing People of Peace in Indonesia to help Alex and I with this transition. I’m so thankful for people from all different countries and backgrounds that are coming together to make this possible for us. We’re getting visas soon and it’s so surreal!
I have five weeks left to raise $4,400 to get to Indonesia by February and I fully believe that He’s going to provide for all of my needs by the end of the Race. If you’d like to partner with me in a fun way, I’m doing an “Adopt-a-Week” fundraiser and each week is $208! When you “adopt-a-week”, on that week, I will be personally sending you:
– Photos from that week
– Videos that I’ve taken
– Testimonies
– Funny stories
– Prayer requests
If you would like to adopt a week, just let me know which one you’d like and donate at: https://www.gofundme.com/a-race-for-the-refugees
Thank you guys so much for your support this year and for being my people! I am overwhelmed with gratitude and you are the reason for it! 🙂
