Tonight marks the dawning of a new year.
For me, 2011 was perhaps one of the most trying, and yet, at the same time, one of the most exciting years I have known thanks to this thing called, “The World Race”.
Here now, despite much delay, the final excerpts from my time on the road:
Cairo, Egypt
Nov. 1, 2011
As I sit in this quaint little cafe wondering how it is that Turkish coffee tastes so delicious, the call to prayer echos out throughout the city. The Egyptian sun lowers in the dusty skyline, bringing to close a most monumental chapter of my life.
This journey I have found myself on for the last thirteen months, traveling the globe, living out of a backpack, pouring my heart and soul into the causes God had graciously led me to over the year past, it is now finally all coming to an end. For this particular nomad, the final moments of this crazy pilgrimage called The World Race happened to look a little different.
I remember it so well, just months ago, saying goodbye in the bustling chaos of New Delhi, India, to those 60 remarkable people to whom for the rest of my life I will affectionately refer to as “my squadmates”.
Fellow S-Squader Shaun Fredrickson made a friendly joke that I “wasn’t crossing the finish line.” It was the most loving kind of sarcastic comment. You know, the kind brothers make to their sisters, because that’s what we’d become, my squadmates and I- family. I saw where he was coming from. After all, it’s true. I didn’t exactly finish my race in NYC like the rest of the squad… at least, not at the same time, anyway.
But Shaun, my dear brother, I have to tell you, it’s more like
I’d just been running a few extra laps…
(Surely that is something he understands a bit about himself! Shaun had been doing a few “extra laps” of his own with R-Squader Bethany Dragon as they traveled around the US meeting WR alumni. My congrats to them not only on their extended journey, but also on their recent matrimony!)
The month immediately following my time in India, in God’s divine providence, I was blessed with the amazing opportunity to do “wedding ministry”, assisting my best friend as she married the man of her dreams, on the beautiful tropical island nation of Mauritius.
The signs at the airport customs read, “welcome to paradise”. Indeed, a little piece of paradise was what I found it to be! Mauritius is such a breath-takingly beautiful little island nation, with such an intersting and diverse mix of Indian, Chinese, African, and European cultures. I absolutely fell in love with every little thing about that place, and my heart longs to go back one day in the near future.
From Mauritius, it was just a quick hop over to my final destination abroad- Cairo, Egypt. As for my time there, I’d been staying with my brother, his wife, and my new, precious little baby niece, Ella. My family had graciously allowed me the time and space I have needed to just to even begin to really process, and I am grateful for them having let me into their home, and their lives, participating in weekly Bible studies and ministry opportunities including befriending foreigners who have found themselves behind bars in Egyptian prisons.
So now, now that it’s all over, the question on everyone’s mind as one chapter closes and another begins—– what next?
To be perfectly honest, I don’t exactly know yet.
Whatever it is, I couldn’t be more excited! I will say, that in the little bit of processing I have begun to do since this whole thing started, was that I came to a deep, and slightly disturbing realization about the dire condition of my heart upon starting this whole journey. I realized, that living abroad before starting The World Race, I was filled with so much bitterness about the condition of the “American church”. This attitude often got in the way of forming deep relationships with my squadmates, and at times even dreading coming home. Over the course of my journey, and in the last few months in particular, God has done a great and mighty work on my heart. In fact, I’ve never been more excited to be home, and I’ve never been more excited to explore what is happening first hand on the “home-front Kingdom battle” so to speak.
The World Race allowed me a most unique opportunity to live my life as the epitome of a Christian hippie, rejecting the “traditional” American lifestyle of media and consumerism and working the nine-to-five for a year. Even the way that my squadmates and I lived could arguably be likened to an intense kind of “Christian commune”. We shared clothing and stories, and often even beds. Sometimes we lived out of our tents. Many times we had to rely on others, or even strangers for our needs. Sometimes, as I remember picking fruit from trees on a little Nicaraguan island, we learned to live off the land. All these, absolutely unforgettable experiences that will last me my lifetime. Experiences that I realize never would’ve been possible without the astounding interwoven network of God’s people. For all of this, I will be forever grateful to them, and to my Creator.
So, all of that said, a giant THANK YOU to everyone of you who has read my blogs, prayed for me, supported me emotionally with your e-mails and your kind words along the way, and of course to those of you who supported me financially. It sounds cliche, but it’s true, I couldn’t have done it without you. I will be sure to post updates time and again, here on this website for the time being, as God continues to reveal future plans and next steps.
Wishing all of you, dear readers, a happy New Year! May it be full of wonder and blessings in each and every single day!
