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July 3, 2013: Departed Grand Rapids (MI) (my home) – flew from Lansing to Detroit to Atlanta (GA)
July 3 – July 7: Arrived a day in advance of most of the squad for Logistics training. Spent the 4-7th in training with the entire squad. LAUNCH in Atlanta at Holiday Inn Atlanta Airport North
July 7: Departing Atlanta, GA at 5:45 p.m. – Arriving in Amsterdam, Schiphol Netherlands at 7:29 a.m. local time (Flight DL238) Airbus A330-300 (twin-jet)
Departing Amsterdam at 11:25 a.m. – Arriving in Istanbul, Turkey at 3:45 p.m. (July 8) local (Flight KL1613) Boeing 737-800 (twin-jet)
July 8: Boarded two buses (One 45 passenger + One 15 passenger) from Istanbul, and drove 28 HOURS to Lezhe, Albania. Drove through: Turkey, Macedonia, Greece and Albania. Total travel time from Altanta, GA to Lezhe, Albania was 58 HOURS
July 10-30: Ministry at LightForce International – Lezhe, Albania
July 30: Took a 56 passenger bus, 12 hours overnight from Lezhe to Sofia, Bulgaria. Then half the squad split and traveled to Serbia for their month of ministry. Half the squad, me included, stayed and served in Bulgaria. Bus was booked with George, our ministry contact in Albania. Drove through: Albania, Macedonia, Kosovo, Serbia, Bulgaria
August 1-25: Did ministry in Sofia, Bulgaria and surrounding cities and villages
August 20-22: Took Jen back to Belgrade, Serbia to join her team, via 12-hour overnight train ride. Spent the afternoon exploring Belgrade, and returned via 14-hour overnight back to Sofia.
August 25: Traveled with fellow leadership from Sofia, to Bucharest, to Brasov Romania for our first Debrief. We stayed at the Centrum House Hostel, a beautiful new hostel right in the center of town.
August 26-28: Leadership Weekend Retreat, followed by the entire squad debrief. August 28-Sept 2. Non-leadership travel from Sofia by 45 passenger bus and took approximately 10.5 hours to Brasov.
September 2: Six teams traveled together to Draganesti-Olt. My team is Unsung Hero’s. Traveled through Romania including to: Brasov, Sighisora, Soard, Cluj-Napoca, Bucharest.
September 20-25: Arrived in Bucharest with my team to end the month of ministry, and to plan the squad debrief. Scoped out public transportation options, walking paths from hostel to hostel (Half squad stayed at Happy Hostel – Half at Holiday Hostel). Traveled with Brad and Alex to the airport to verify the check-in process and best way to get from A to B in a timely fashion.
September 25-26: Squad Debrief. Team changes – New squad leaders – New team leaders.
September 27: Found the closest DHL branch location at the Shopping City Center, north of Bucharest about 45-minutes, to ship receipts back to the AIM office.
September 27-28: Half of the squad flew out on the 27th. Alex and I flew the 28th, but accompanied Brad and the first half to the airport via public bus transportation to assist with check in and navigation.
Took off at 6:20 p.m. from Bucharest, arrived in Doha, Qatar at 10:00 p. Airline booked us an overnight hotel stay due to the length of the layover. Got everyone through customs and visa checkpoints and security. Drove to hotel, checked everyone in and got food vouchers passed out.
Left for the airport at 6:00 p the 29th, and our flight departed at 8:00 p for Hyderabad, India. Landed at approx 4:00 a.m. local time. Took bus to India Christian Ministries. Arrived at 6:00 a.m. Sept. 30th.
From the time we left our hostel in Bucharest, to when we arrived at our ministry site in India, it took 76 HOURS in total travel from site to final site. 6 Buses, 2 Planes, and 2 Lodging locations.
(Detailed look at travel from Bucharest to India)
October 1: Squad took two busses from ICM to ministry host locations. My team was the first off the bus, in the middle of nowhere of India. Bus ride for my team was 7.5 hours from Hyderabad, traveling south east.
October 29: Bussed back to Hyderabad. Took 9 hours, through the middle of the night from Ongole to HYD. Flew at 9:45 a.m. to Delhi, India – ran through the airport, through customs and security and caught our connection by just seconds. I was the last on the plane, waiting for everyone to get through. Crazy. Arrived in Kathmandu at 5:00 p.m. on the 30th.
October 30 – November 4: Squad Debrief in Kathmandu, Nepal. Stayed at the Sparkling Turtle Backpackers Hostel just outside of town. Coaches and mentor stayed at Hotel Friends Home right in Thamel.
November 5 – 7: Logistics rest days with Squad Leaders. Stayed at Hotel Friends Home in Thamel.
November 7 – 25: Did ministry in a nearby city with AshaNepal Orphanage Home. Regularly traveled in to Thamel with Jeffrey (Squad Leader / SQL) to work on end-of-month travel plans and accommodations.
November 25-29: Leadership Development. Leaders stayed at Alobar1000 Hostel and sessions were held on the rooftop of Hotel Friends Home. Squad arrived the 29th, and stayed at Hotel Himalaya.
November 29: Took two busses from Thamel to the airport. Flew Malaysia Air, flight 171 to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and then flight 797 from there to Bangkok, Thailand. Departed KTM at 1:20 p.m. and arrived in Bangkok at 11:00 p.m. Of the 48 people on the squad, only 28 of our bags arrived, apparently setting a new World Race record. Alex, Brad and I had to scramble to figure out what to do about that.
We stayed overnight at YWAM Thailand, and their excellent accommodations.
November 30: The bags arrived just in time, and the squad split to go to their ministries. Half (the girls) to Phuket and the south bus terminal, and the rest of us to the north terminal and go to Chiang Mai. The buses were by far the nicest we’ve had on the race, with full reclining seats, meal service, A/C, etc.
December 1-25: Ministry at Cafe Zion with Emmi in Chiang Mai, with 2 other teams.
Christmas Day: Departed on an overnight bus back to Bangkok with Alex and Kevin Johnson. We left early to establish a meeting location for the squad, as well as food options, travel details, etc. Christmas was not the same this year!
Dec 26-29: Full squad mini-debrief, where team changes were announced. Everyone stayed at Saphaipae Hostel in Bangkok; wonderful place. Squad meetings in the T.V. room on the fifth floor.
Dec 29: The squad departed to their ministries. Brad took half the squad to Laos, and Alex took the other portion to Cambodia. Travel was difficult, as border crossings were very sketchy. We overstayed our Visa, so had to pay 500 Baht per person (per day).
One team (Shining Grace) didn’t have their contact confirmed yet, so I stayed back along with Jeffrey to help them get to whatever ministry they were headed to. As it turned out, they were going to Cambodia just as Jeff and I were supposed to as well.
Jan 1-3: Departed Bangkok via train to Siem Reap, Cambodia. Worked on hostel and hotel for squad full debrief at the end of month 8. Also checked options for lodging for the squad mini-debrief at the end of month 7 (this month).
Jan 4: Took the 4:00 a.m. bus from Sieam Reap down to Phnom Penh, and joined up with my team.
Jan 5 – 24: Ministry at Bykota House in Phnom Penh, Cambodia with my team.
Jan 25 – 29: Leadership Development / Mini Debrief. Leadership stayed at Camory Backpacker Hostel, and the rest of the squad at One Stop Hostel, both of which are located right on the Mekong River in Phnom Penh.
Jan 29: Teams depart for their ministries in Laos and Cambodia.
Feb 1 – 23: Ministry at Bykota House in Phnom Penh – BEST MONTH OF MY RACE!
Feb 23 – 28: Squad Full Debrief. Stayed at Angkorland Hotel in Siem Reap, Cambodia.
March 1: Travel overnight from Siem Reap to Phnom Penh via large passenger bus. Malaysia Air fligh.t 755 from Phnom Penh departs at 11:10 a.m., going through Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Depart Kuala Lumpur at 5:30 p.m on flight 8040, arriving in Manila at 9:20 p.m.
March 1 – 8: Family Vision Trip. My mother and sister served with me in Manila, Philippines.
March 9 – 29: Ministry in San Mateo, Philippines.
March 30: Depart Manila, Philippines on Qatar Airways flight 927 at 6:40 p.m. and arriving in Doha, Qatar at 11:10 p.m. Squad will bus to a nearby hotel for the short layover. On March 31st, we will fly from Doha via Qatar Air flight 1365 at 7:15 a.m., and arriving at Tambo Intl Airport in South Africa at 2:30 p.m.
April 1 – 28: Ministry at orphanage in Swaziland.
May 2 – 23: Manistry month in the mountain kindom in Malealea, Lesotho. (Africa 4 Jesus)
May 24 – 29: Final debrief in Cape Town, South Africa.
May 30: Depart Tambo Intl Airport, flying through Doha Qatar and arriving at Chicago O’Hare Intl. Airport at 2:30 p.m. (CST) on Saturday, May 31st.
World Race complete.
