I’m not sure how it happened so fast, but month one of the World Race is already done. It doesn’t feel like I’ve been away from home a month. Saying goodbye in Guatemala was tough, it’s hard to leave when I’ve made connections. I was able to see Naomi one last time before leaving, and I was telling her that I was finding it hard to leave Guatemala. She said, “You have to go. God told you to.” Such a simple truth! So, hard or not, I’m headed to Honduras carrying a lot of joy with me from the last month. In month one I’ve learned:
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How to lose at checkers, Uno, and soccer. Over and over again
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How to make friends with nice old men so that they’ll help me NOT lose at checkers
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Secret handshakes
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How to fit the whole team plus 30 Guatemalans on a tiny chicken bus with the least possible amount of awkwardness
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A few new dance moves, courtesy of the Super24 street group
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How to wash dirty feet with a genuine smile on my face
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How to wash ticklish feet
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How to use an electric shower without being electrocuted
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That hugs speak louder than words (and they don’t require translation)
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That street people are funny, talented, and worth having as friends
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Not to sit too close to the street dogs unless you want fleas
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That the street people brought God to me just as much as I brought God to them
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That just because the bus is supposed to pick you up at midnight, doesn’t mean you won’t sit outside waiting for over an hour before it shows up
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When you’re on the World Race, the best option is always to laugh at the crazy things that happen
Friends, this month was fun. I’m so grateful to have started in Guatemala with the Street Revolution. We laughed a lot, made some awkward mistakes, and absorbed a lot of solvent fumes, but the overall result was such a huge growing experience for me. Please continue to pray for David, Juli, Diana, and everyone else involved with the Street Revolution.
And now we’re onto the next. We’re learning early about the adventures of travel days – I started this blog at 3 a.m. on the bus to Honduras. We all got ready for our midnight bus, which turned into a 1:30 a.m. bus. Actually, it turned into a shuttle and a van instead of the big bus we were planning on, but after some arranging we fit all 4 teams in and got under way. After about 14 hours of travel we found out not only that one bus wasn’t going to make it the rest of the way, but that our driver had been lost and we had traveled several hours out of our way. Now we’ve switched to a new bus. We’ve been traveling for 19 hours and still have about 2 hours to go. Nothing like travel days! It’s wonderful to be back in Honduras though, I feel like I’m coming home. I can’t wait to find out about our ministry for this month!
