What’s been your most favorite moment on the Race so far?
– There are so many to choose from. Singing in the Haitian Choir, playing at the basketball court with the kids in the Dominican Republic, living in the bush of Africa for 2 whole months, all the adventure days in the DR and going to Victoria Falls!
What has surprised you the most about/on this journey?
– The Race isn’t what I thought it was going to be. I thought I was going to be roughing it for the next 9 months of my life but it’s not like that. It’s a normal life but you’re always busy spreading God’s Word.
What has been the most unusual experience so far on your journey?
– This is a difficult question because I’m so used to all the “unusual” things that happen to me. Ya know? For example, when I was in Botswana we went out and collected elephant poop so we could fertilize the trees. That’s not something I do every day but it seemed so normal to me but I’m sure it’s very unusual to people back home! The whole Race is filled with unusual things but it’s hard for me to think of them! Another time when was when we were having a picnic out on the Delta for supper and I turned and saw a hippo standing very close to us so we had to walk back to the fence!
What has been the most awesome/craziest God moment?
– This is a big question. Kind of hard to answer. I haven’t experienced any healing or miracles yet but I’ve seen God change so many of people for the better while I’ve been on the Race. Especially myself and my team. I’ve seen people wanting more and more of God and I’ve seen the Lord give crazy amounts of strength to people who’ve got through terrible things.
What did it feel like jumping off that cliff you showed on Facebook?
– At first I was totally fine but then when I got to the edge I was super nervous. Paige and I looked at each other like what the heck are we doing right now. But when we jumped off it was insane. I can’t even explain to you how wild it was. I felt so free and joyful. It was amazing and beautiful. I would definitely do it again!
Favorite knock knock joke?
– There’s too many to choose from.
Favorite international squad member?
– SQUAD LEADER LUCIE
Most wild thing God has spoken to you?
– Well, He’s spoken a lot to me but the wildest thing I’ve gotten so far was in Botswana. I wrote a blog about it called “Compassion and Empathy” so if you want to hear the whole thing then go to that 🙂
What is your favorite country?
– My favorite country is either the Dominican Republic or Botswana.
– Dominican Republic was the funniest but I grew so close with God while I was in Botswana. Botswana also felt like my home because the hosts opened up their house to us and they were so kind to us.
What is the weirdest and best food you’ve eaten?
– The weirdest is probably shark. I only had 2 bites of it but that was probably the weirdest. The best is empanadas from the Dominican Republic.
Did you meet new friends?
– I’ve met a lot of new friends. I didn’t know anyone that I’m living with before the race. So I’ve met 45 new friends! But I’ve also made friends with the hosts and their families. Also, I’ve made a lot of friends in the countries we’ve been to 🙂
What does a typical day look like for you?
– Oh man, our days are always so different so I can’t even answer this question! It just depends on what the hosts have planned for us.
Have you experienced any bad weather?
– oh yes! In the Dominican Republic we got hit by hurricane Maria, so that was interesting. It had very strong winds and A LOT of rain! That’s been the worst weather we’ve had so far.
Did you visit any churches?
– Yes, we went to church in Haiti every Sunday. We also had the opportunity to sing in their choir, which was so much fun 🙂 We didn’t go to church in the DR. In Botswana we had Burch in the host families house. We listened to a podcast and did worship together. Right now I’m in South Africa and we go to church every Sunday. There is a church on our campus and there’s also a church about 40 minutes away that a lot of us go to in the mornings and at night some of us try and go to a big church called Hillsong.
When will you be home?
– I will be home beginning of June. We don’t know the exact date yet but it will be sometime in June.
Have you held any small children?
– I’ve held lots of small children! We’ve done a lot of kids ministry so there’s many opportunities to hold some 🙂
Do you want to do the World Race again?
– Probably not. For me it’s only a one time thing. I’m so so glad I’m here and that God gave me the opportunity to do this but I would only do it once. I still want to travel to other places, but not with World Race 🙂
Did you cry anywhere?
– You betcha I have. I’ve cried in every country so far except South Africa. When I was in the Dominican Republic I FaceTime my parents and after I got done talking to them I cried because I missed them.
– I also cried in Haiti because I missed my friends and family.
– In Botswana I cried because my dog died, and that sucked a lot.
Have you prayed with the children?
– Yes! There was a little boy with a sliver in his foot and we couldn’t get it out so we prayed over him 🙂
What kinda it of ministry have you done so far and what has been your favorite?
– When I was in the Dominican Republic we did a lot of things on their property. We helped clean the deck, driveway, pool, all of the rooms, kitchen, helped cook, cleaned up the property, went to the basketball court up the street and played with the kids/teens, prayer walks, and one time my team did a nail salon and we walked around the community and invited ladies to come get their nails done! We also helped with a women’s club.
– In Haiti we did a lot of kids ministry. We were around kids most of the time. We taught them Bible stories, played fun games, had bible studies and went swimming. We hung out with some older ladies at the nursing home once a week. We got to eat with them and one of the ladies loved to dance so we danced with her. We also did a lot of evangelism. Our teams would walk around the community and whoever we saw we would stop and talk to them about Jesus. We walked over an hour one time to get to the place we were going to evangelize. We also had the privilege to be able to sing in a church choir.
– Botswana was very different. We did a lot of manual labor there. Every morning we would go to the island and work. 12 girls measured the whole property and put in smallish tree trunks to mark where the property was. We cut down a lot of branches, bushes and trees to be able to make a fence. That took about a week. Then we built a fence, started making a shed and we also put up a vegetable garden. We planted trees and built a stick/thorn fence around it so the animals wouldn’t come in and eat them. In the afternoons we had kids ministry. We would go from 4-6 and play so many games. At around 5:15 we would start a bible story. My team loves doing skits so we would make up a skit to a Bible story and we’d perform for them 🙂
– In South Africa we do gardening in the mornings and help Grace cook lunch for everyone on the campus. In the afternoons we either go out into the community and evangelize or we go to a children’s center and help the kids with their homework when they get done with school. There’s also a school that is on this campus so we sit in on the life skills class. They students are ages 18-34. We also lead morning devotions with the students and some of the staff members.
– There are so many things ministries that we’ve done, it’s hard for me to pick my favorite. I really enjoy kids ministry but I think my favorite so far has been the Haitian Choir.
Has it been super hot wherever you’ve been?
– Yes! Every place we’ve gone to it’s been very hot. I would wake up sweating in my tents early in the morning because it was so hot in Botswana. I bought a mini fan a couple weeks ago because it was too hot in my room. Sometimes in Botswana we would come home early from working because of the heat.
What kind of clothes do you wear?
– ministry appropriate clothes 🙂 the shorts have to be no less than 4 inches above the knee. You can’t wear spaghetti straps and you can’t have your bra straps showing. I usually wear shorts, or my loose leggings that go to my shins because its not so hot. I wear normal tshirts. A lot of us wear each other’s clothes because we don’t want to wear our own 🙂 I usually wear a dress or a skirt to church on Sunday’s.
Do most of the people you’ve been around believe in God, a different God or none at all?
– Most of them know who God is but they don’t know who Jesus or Holy Spirit is. So we have to tell them who they are.
– Some people don’t believe in God so it’s cool to tell them who He is and what He’s done for us!
– I met once and he said he believed in God but when he was explaining who God was to him it wasn’t like my God. Some of the things were the same but I think he believed in a different God.
What kind of dangers have you experienced?
– Well, in Botswana we saw a black mamba snake 3 times. We also got very close to a hippo when we were having a picnic on the Delta so we had to quietly hurry back to the fence.
– Last week there was a huge strike and college students were chanting and throwing rocks at cars and over or fence. So that was kind of scary.
– Other than that, I can’t think of too many dangers. Maybe driving in the Dominican Republic. They have no rules when it comes to driving, if you get road rage easily then don’t go to the DR!
