On November 26th, at about 6:30AM, my feet were back on American soil.
Thanks for your prayers and support, I have returned home healthy and happy. I also have returned home FULLY-FUNDED! I am elated! Thank you for coming alongside me and supporting me during this past year. I could not have overcome the many challenges I’ve faced without you and your prayers, especially without my wonderful family.
God has given me amazing opportunities to see His creation and His heart for redeeming His people. I’ve sat down several times over the past three months and tried to describe some of the experiences I’ve had, and the words aren’t there yet. My goal is to try to post more pictures and continue to share stories here of God’s faithfulness and goodness.
In the meantime, I hope you’ll enjoy my World Race Stats…
Countries I visited (not including airports): 13. Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador, Bulgaria, Albania, Italy, Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique, Botswana, Thailand, Cambodia, Malaysia
People on my Squad: 41
Teams I was on: 5 (Brazen Hearts, Team SHOW, Team W.E.R.K., Skittles, Hope Arises a.k.a. Lisa Frank Sparkly Unicorns)
Days I was on the Race: 321 days (January 9 – November 26)
Number of Flights: 12
Train rides: 2
Bus rides: Lost count
Most people in a 15-passenger van: 26
Beautiful children I’ve seen: Countless
Number of children I got to baptize in a river in Mozambique: 8 or so
Months I’ve slept outside in my tent: 3 (Guatemala, Malawi, Mozambique)
My pack’s weight at the start of the Race: 44lbs
My pack’s weight at the end: 39lbs
Times I ate something that almost made me throw up: 3 (Roasted mouse – with the fur still on it, pig intestines in Malaysia, and durian – Malaysia’s “King of the Fruits,” the smell alone made me sick!) Pictured: Me after eating durian.
Times I got car sick: Lost count
Number of times I ate rice: Lost count
Got really sick: 3 (Stomach virus then pneumonia in Guatemala, parasites in Mozambique, more parasites in Cambodia)
Cheapest doctor’s visit: Less than 162 Mozambican Meticais (Less than 5 USD, included doctor consult and medications)
Pounds of pig poop shoveled: Only God knows…
Months I washed my clothes by hand: 9
Times I had access to a dryer for a load of laundry: 2
Times I used a dishwasher: 0
Most consecutive days without a shower/bath: 4
Months I showered using a bucket: 4
Number of people who heard the Gospel for the first time: So many!
Amazing, selfless people I’ve met: Lost count
Sermons preached: 4 or so
Number of Christian teenagers who heard they are called by God to be “bold as lions.”: So many!
Testimonies of God’s goodness shared: Lost count
Times I danced to worship in African churches: So many!
Languages I’ve heard people worshipping Jesus in: 9 or so
Some are: Spanish, Bulgarian, Bemba, Nyanja, Chichewa, Sena, Portuguese, Khmer, English…
Times my feet were filthy dirty: Lost count
Times I saw a baby scorpion: 3
Number of mosquito bites: Lost count
Times I was horrified: 2 (I was near a riot that broke out in Malawi, and a hedgehog, or something else, was scurrying around my tent late one night in Mozambique.)
Times we told this Buddhist monk Jesus loves him and he doesn’t have to earn it: So many!
Times the village chief in Nhambita, Mozambique asked me to marry him: 3
Beautiful sunsets seen: Lost count
Longest I went without Internet: 1 month
Longest I went without TV: 11 months
Moments I was depressed that I didn’t have TV: 0
Number of tigers I met: Several 🙂
Longest I went without sleep: 36 hours
Times I saw my parents: 1
Wonders of the World Visited: 3 (Victoria Falls in Zambia, Angkor Wat in Cambodia, Colosseum in Rome)
Times I walked through knee-deep mud to get to Bible study: 2
Weight gained: 7 lbs
Number of women who have been trafficked in Malaysia who heard the Gospel: About 160
Longest walk to buy groceries: 1.3 miles
Times the challenges weren’t worth the opportunity to share the Gospel: 0
Times God blew my mind and exceeded all my expectations: COUNTLESS
Look at the nations and watch— and be utterly amazed. For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told.
~ Habakkuk 1:5
