Warming up our hands with the coals after a meal
Before I applied for the World Race, I spent hours watching videos Racers made out in the field. I read blogs of people’s experiences in places I never dreamed of visiting myself. While I was still convinced it wasn’t for me, I imagined what it would be like to live a life of adventure and excitement as a young missionary in foreign lands.
The videos and blogs I saw painted a picture of what I thought the World Race was really like. What I didn’t think about was the fact that videos often only capture highlights, and people don’t always share their toughest struggles with any stranger reading their blog.
Hanging out around the campfire
Videos and blogs about the World Race can make life on the Race seem almost glamorous. Although my Race has been filled with plenty of adventure and excitement, I have realized that life on the World Race is still life. I still encounter struggles and hard times just like I did at home.
This past week my team went camping with another team from our squad. Both our teams were through with our ministries for the month and had a few days to fill before heading to Kiev, Ukraine for a squad “debrief.” We decided to camp out in our tents in Naslavca, the northernmost town in Moldova. The day we arrived at the camp I hadn’t been feeling well, but I had convinced myself I wasn’t sick. Our schedule had been thrown off and we hadn’t eaten much all day, so I thought I might just be hungry.
Early morning sunrise at our campsite
By the time we made it to the campsite, I was throwing up. If you know me, you know I HATE throwing up. Thankfully I only actually got sick a few times, but for the next 24 hours, I stayed in my tent. Instead of catching up with the members of Team Reckless Redemption and laughing around the campfire, I laid in my sleeping bag, resting and wishing I were at least in my own bed watching movies, eating saltine crackers and drinking Sprite.
Sounds pretty glamorous, doesn’t it? Here I was, sick in The-Middle-of-Nowhere, Moldova, living in a tent for a week. It would have been easy to throw a pity party and focus on the negative side of the situation. Instead, God chose to teach me something. He reminded me that He really is all that I need.
(Ok, maybe I did throw a tiny pity party, too.)
A World Race first: bathing in a lake
Even though I would have liked to be more comfortable, less sick, and closer to home, He made sure I was taken care of by the people around me. My teammates showed me so much love. They checked in on me and shrugged aside the risk of getting sick themselves. They walked 2 miles to get me the closest thing to Sprite and saltine crackers that the teeny-tiny store down the road could offer. They filled me in on what I missed when I felt better, and made sure food was saved for me at each meal.
I can’t say this experience has been my favorite of the Race so far. I definitely can’t say it was a glamorous moment. But I can say with certainty that, as always, God walked with me through it and showed me He still has me exactly where He wants me.
Whether we’re in Moldova on the World Race or back in the good ol’ USA, God is good. He is faithful, and He takes care of His children. And in the middle of a mess, if we take the time to look around, we can see that God is right there with us, holding our hand and showing us something new about Himself.
A special thanks to my squadmate, Ali Bruce, for the use of her lovely photos for this blog!
