Unsung Heroes is a month I have always dreaded doing. It is a month where there is no specific ministry to be partnered with and where there is no housing arranged for the team. The objective is to travel the country and find new partners for future teams. Team Hot Rod was dropped off in Lusaka with no set plans other than a few nights at a squadmate’s contact’s home.
We began to make our way north towards Mpatapatu, a village outside of Luanshya. On our way, we stopped at Operation Mobilization in Kabwe for two quick days. Upon our arrival in Luanshya, a teammate and a raised up squad leader (who were traveling with us) were already sick. The rest of our team and a squad leader quickly followed. Our new host had only known us maybe ten hours and he drove half of us to the hospital at nearly one in the morning. The rest followed a few hours later. Food poisoning for all of us. And three with malaria. We were about the most pathetic team the World Race has seen. Several of us had vomited over twenty times, the record over forty. One passed out. We were all really weak, sweaty, exhausted, and in pain upon arrival at the hospital.
I had already been homesick prior to arriving in Zambia. Food poisoning, a long horrible hospital visit (about 32 hours with nothing to do but lie in a bed), and being homesick threw me into my second round of depression on the Race. Luckily for me, I caught this round quick and was able to dispose of it.
But the homesickness game has stayed strong since. I have spent hours daydreaming of arriving back in Seattle. I would have zero regrets if I returned home right now.
We spent an adventure day at Victoria Falls. It was beautiful, do not get me wrong. But the whole time we were there, I longed to be home. I could quickly and easily think of a handful of more beautiful places I would rather be. Bellingham Bay. Clarks Point. Lake Twenty-Two. Oneonta Gorge. Multnomah Falls. North Lake Whatcom. Lake Padden. Haystack Rock. Fragrance Lake. Diablo Lake. Mount Rainier. The Tulip Festival. The list went on and on in my head. I was at one of the natural wonders of the world and all I could think about the whole time was the PNW (Pacific Northwest).
Lake Twenty-Two; Oneonta Gorge; Tulip Festival
Diablo Lake; Bellingham Bay; Fragrance Lake
It really is true. You can take the girl out of the PNW,
but you cannot ever take the PNW out of the girl.
I really wanted to explain all of this to my friend Nathan and seek his wise guidance in this. But the wifi stopped working because of a crazy rain, thunder, and lightning storm. I prayed a quick “I know I should talk to you God, but really I just want to talk to a friendly face right now.” But then the rain, thunder, and lightning really started.
I stood by the door and just watched in absolute awe as God lit up the skies with flashes of lightning, as He called thunder to boom and cackle across the skies, and as the rain beat the ground in a cacophony I am far too familiar with. The thunder and lightning were just sound and visual effects. The rain, oh the rain, is where God pulled me back to him. The rain is where I felt the longing to be closer to Him, to tell Him everything I was feeling. So I stood and I prayed. I explained all of how I was feeling. I asked for guidance, I sought His counsel and not another’s. Not only did He pull me closer, but He did it by giving me a small piece of home.
“Many of the most gratifying experiences in life are those that are the most demanding.”
David Miller, AWOL on the Appalachian Trail
