I had to make a High School Musical title reference since the race is officially over (and we started with “We’re all in this together”), yet what we have learned and done this entire year has only just prepared us for how we are to live out our lives from now on.
I am officially headed home after some time spent with friends and debriefing, so I wanted to share a little recap of the year…
Some vocabulary (that I can remember still):
Paris
“Je ne suis pa non fatigue” I am not tired.
Spain
“Buen Camino.” Good way.
Morocco
“Moose”- knife, “nana”- mint tea.
Cyprus
“Teshekular” thanks!
Jordan
“Shway shway” Small.
Kazakhstan
“Paka!” Bye!
One thing that stood out: kindness of strangers around the world.
Favorite nature: Spain, Cyprus— green and beaches!
Favorite ministries: Armenia- orphanage for disabled children, Morocco- neighbor kids and university, Jordan- Syrian refugee school and home visits, Kyrgyzstan- university.
Favorite people: all of them! Every one of the countries we visited was unique and the people were SO amazing and loving.
Favorite food: China- spring rolls and dumplings, Kyrgyzstan- Uzbek Lagman – fried, noodles and veggies and meat. SO GOOD. Jordan dishes.
Favorite music: Kyrgyzstan, Arabic.
Favorite bed: China debrief.
Favorite sound: last day of our Camino hike, standing by a humble little church, near the Forrest, listening to quiet and birds in the early morning.
Random memories: a woman in a suit pulling a flower through a gate in Paris, a person with wrapped feet limping to their bed on the Camino, running into strangers who would be our friends on our first day of arrival in Morocco, late night hangouts at friends houses in Morocco, making noodle shapes with kids in Cyprus, setting up the Christmas tree at a church we stayed at in Jordan, and a brownie being caught on fire, hugging a homeless woman in a Georgia who couldn’t stop holding us, having deep convos, tea and snacks at night with a priest and a friend we made at Cinnabon, walking home from the church at night with a big group of friends in Armenia, singing and dancing in Kazakhstan, putting on skits at English club, sitting in the parks in Kyrgyzstan talking about everything, drinking shodo (interesting grain, sour type beverage), when our guide Mogi dropped his phone in a squatty in the desert of Mongolia, looking at chinese magazines at a coffee shop with Sam.
Things we did: helped with the refugee crises, shared Jesus along the Camino, connected people from universities to places of faith, helped with an eco tourism hostel- building, gardening, working in the vineyard for future missions to be hosted, outreaches in the cities- random God encounters, homeless outreaches, orphanage volunteering, college seminars, teaching English to open up to the gospel, encouraging local believers, helping side by side with what others have already established – cru, ywam, etc., house visits, trekking to nomadic villages and distributing bibles and sharing Jesus’ love.
What are some things I learned? Patience, trust, hearing God clearly, receiving, confidence, dependence. I learned the global scope of Gods kingdom. I went around the entire world and heard people say things like, I’ve heard about Jesus from a group of Koreans before, or from an American named Dan from Texas, or from a group of people and there was something DIFFERENT about them. The word has reached out into the very middle of the desert! It gives me so much hope and joy that His messengers aren’t stagnant, but that there are people sowing seeds all across the earth, all of the time. And how just one person can give a gift just by being obedient with one soul.
I learned that the more I discover about God, the more there is to find out. I learned that the only difference between an adventure and an ordeal is most certainly attitude. I learned that if I can survive a 60 hour train, with no fresh air, and weird smells, I can survive anything. I learned about persistence, and that it changes a lot of outcomes. I learned about the kindness of strangers, and how important it is to welcome people into your home or your city or your school. I learned about how much more those with little give, than those with much. I learned that there’s always a blessing, it just depends on your perspective. I learned that complaining is the thief of joy. I learned that grace is necessary in community. I learned that community is hard. I learned that in community someone will always have your back, the one spot we have no armor. I learned that we all have gifts.
What am I doing after? So I thought the race would clear some things up, which it solidified that my passions are indeed my passions, but it also gave me more options. So my plan is to keep seeking God of course, who will guide me more fully into His work. I am wanting to pursue photography and graphic design, potentially find an internship, and in the long run would love to work with children in orphanages, or anyone the world has outcasted, and tie it all into creativity. (Something I knew before, yay, but it could look a million different ways)
Thanks for staying with me on this journey, this is a brief recap…I know, but how do you sum up so much!?
I didn’t post on my last month in Mongolia, and there are so many cool things God deserves glory for throughout this year that I could go on for 1,000 pages- and I’d love to share about it in person with anyone interested. Let me know if that’s you and I would love to meet up and share what God is doing globally!!
Be home in a few days!!
Thank you for all the amazing support and love and prayers.
