It’s official-I’m on the World Race. Sorry it has been so long since I’ve blogged-I’ve had a lot going on. So we have made it to Pretoria, South Africa. We are still getting settled in and have been doing some manual labor around the property where we are staying. This place is absolutely beautiful; we keep saying it looks like the Garden of Eden. God blessed us with great accommodations this month-we have bunk beds and a bathroom!
The past few months leading up to the race were really stressful. Future racers- don’t wait to get things together and pack until the last minute. Big mistake. It will add to your anxiety and you will be really overwhelmed (you don’t need a cot, yoga mat, or 3 aerosols of dry shampoo).
Goodbyes are hard and I’m not good at them. I think I cried every day for a month leading up to getting on the plane to SA. I’m not really sure why I was so emotional. People kept asking me if I was excited, and I felt weird because I wasn’t excited at all, I was terrified.
I kept hearing these stories about South Africa and I was very worried about our safety. We are staying about 30 minutes away from the city of Pretoria, and about 20 minutes from where we are doing ministry. The compound we’re staying at is very safe. There’s a big wall surrounding the property with barbed wire at the top and there are quite a few alarm systems. But, they warned us not to leave the compound. The poverty on the other side of the walls is heartbreaking.
God is constantly surprising me. My fears and anxiety have been put to rest now that I’m on the race. I feel this sense of peace and honestly for the first time in my life I feel like I’m right where I’m supposed to be. I can feel that God is going to do big things these next 11 months…I’m just not exactly sure what that looks like yet. I’m just going to take it day by day. One thing I know for sure is that God always has a plan and I just need to continue to put my trust in Him.
This month we are working with BEAM Africa Network. They focus on life skills for kids living in extreme poverty, I think we will start working with the kiddos next week.
I’ve been sick since the first day of launch, which has been a bummer. I went to the doctor yesterday and got some meds so hopefully everything will be cleared up soon.
I tried to go into the Race with zero expectations. I’m glad that was the case because you just have to go with the flow. We haven’t really had a schedule yet; we just kind of wake up and have to be ready for whatever is in store for us that day. I kind of like it but it is definitely harder for others.
The preparation for the race and launch itself were exhausting. I was so nervous and maybe even a little depressed. I wasn’t making the best decisions and was hitting the wine bottle a little too hard. I was feeling all of these emotions that I had never felt before and I didn’t know how to handle them.
Leaving behind the typical things I had at home was hard too. Probably half of the stuff I thought I would be able to bring didn’t make it. I definitely have the biggest pack out of my team (maybe even the squad) and I’m trying to work on getting rid of even more stuff. I know that I don’t need all of this stuff and I don’t mean to sound like a brat…but it’s really hard packing everything you need into a 70L bag for 11 months. It’s just something we’re not used to as Americans.
Now that I’m here I’m able to take a deep breath and let go of all of my previous fears. Everything is going to be ok. I have been thinking in all of these negative what-if scenarios…but I had to realize there are no what-ifs in God’s plan. He’s got my back, no matter the circumstance.
This will probably be our nicest month in terms of living conditions, but that’s alright. That’s what I signed up for. In fact, I’m pretty excited to be living out of my tent at some point with some rougher conditions.
Living in community has been interesting. I’ve never even shared a room with anyone, so this is very different for me. Seven girls means seven different personalities that are with each other 24/7. Right now we are all trying to learn more about each other and learn how to work well together.
We don’t have wifi this month at our house or ministry, but I will try to update as much as possible. This was just a little update but when we start our ministry I’ll be blogging more frequently. I love each and every one of you and really appreciate the continuous love and encouragement. I couldn’t have made it this far without ya.
God Bless,
-Kels
