- Flushing Toilet Paper
If you’re reading this and you live in America, next time you go to the bathroom just give a quick shout out to God that you get to flush your toilet paper. Because when you can’t, it can get nasty. Especially when there’s one bathroom being shared by 7 girls-it fills up fast. And sometimes y’all wait too long and the toilet paper is to the brim and you have the unfortunate job of emptying the trash can. I won’t go graphic here but you can only imagine how fun that is…
- Washer and Dryer
Never thought I would ever long for a washer and dryer as I do now, but it’s one of the most exciting things about my short time home in August! Each month laundry has looked a little different but for the most part there’s been a theme- where we all take turns hand washing our clothes and turn our living room into a drying room. We string up our clothes anywhere we can, so that the room becomes an obstacle course in itself!
- My Bed / Own Bedroom
This is a big one! In America I could always escape into my room anytime I wanted. I could flop onto my comfy bed with the excessive amount of pillows. I never thought my “bedroom” would look like sharing with 14 girls, or sleeping on a sleeping pad for a full month, or sharing a room with 6 girls in a room half the size of my bedroom back home.
- English Speaking People
It’s hard to remember a day when I could order food without having to pull out my phone to translate every word in the menu. Or using dramatic hand gestures with a stranger on the street to try and get correct directions to where we need to go. Or when I could have a simple conversation without the stress of wondering if google translate will translate correctly or create words that only brings more confusion.
- Hot Showers / Running Water / Drinkable Water
Back home when I took a shower, no matter how long, I could almost always count on a hot water. However, on the race we like to use the military shower method, where we turn off the water anytime we need to shampoo, condition, or wash our body and turn it on quickly to rinse so that we can preserve the hot water we have.
And some months the bigger issue isn’t if we have hot water but if we even have water. Our hosts are always on top of it with buckets of water readily available for showers or to clean dishes. Then you have to decide if you want to take a cold bucket shower or wait in hopes it will be back on sooner rather than later.
- Closet Full of Clothes
I’ve worn the same clothes for 7 months now. To think that I ever thought I didn’t have any clothes to wear back home or that I had all the wrong shoes for my outfits is actually quite embarrassing. Though I miss my clothes and the options I had I hope I can take this minimalist mindset when I eventually go back home.
- Alone Time
I had major FOMO (fear of missing out) back home. I kept myself so busy and anytime friends hung out I wanted to be there. I hardly gave myself time to rest. On the race I’m never alone unless I go to a coffee shop but still there are people there. It’s better than nothing but now I work to be very intentional with my sabbaths so I can be rested to pour out fully into the teams I am with each month. I definitely want to bring back this rhythm of making time for myself when I come back to America one of these days.
- Chick-fil-A
I mean do I even need to explain this one? There’s something about Chick-fil-A that just reminds me of home. I almost never went more than 2 weeks without getting something off the Chick-fil-A menu and never did I think I would be somewhere where it wasn’t a 5-10 minute drive away. Better yet a full days+ travel away.
9. Normal Functioning WiFi
Being miles and miles away from home, good WiFi is important. If you want some clear FaceTime calls without major delays or static interception, a priority getting to a new city is seeking out a good WiFi spot. And sometimes even the best WiFi nearby barely lets us send messages through. We take what we can get but you can only imagine how many movies, songs, apps, games, etc. were downloaded during our layover in America back in January! See gif below to know how I look trying to upload this blog on our WiFi…
- My Story
This one might not make sense. How do you take a story for granted? Something I’ve learned on the race is that my story is important. It can change lives. It has the power to inspire others. Before the race I shared my story with some but hid it as much as I could. I wasn’t proud of it. Even though there are things in my story I’m not proud of I don’t shy away from sharing it. If me sharing my story can cause someone else to share their story which causes somebody else to come to know Christ I want to share it! God didn’t redeem me to hide my story. He brought redemption so I could encourage others and spark some hope within themselves. Nothing goes in vain if God has anything to say about it!
I don’t want you to read all this and your biggest take away be that “Kyndal is miserable.” Yes, some of these things have been unexpected and difficult. But I’m so glad it’s been hard. If I always had good functioning WiFi or my own bedroom or fluent English speakers or all my clothes I would not be filled with the gratefulness I have. There’s something BIG to learn when you get out of your comfort zone!
Maybe you won’t ever be on an 11 month mission trip that opens your eyes to what life could be like without the comforts of home. Maybe you’ve been on other mission trips that helped you see what life could be like, but after being home long enough you forget about the differences and get back into the same routine of wanting and needing things that maybe shouldn’t be the priority of your life.
I pray that I will forever remember the lessons I am learning on this journey. I know it will be hard to not fall back into all those comforts. But even these “things” I’ve listed above don’t even compare to how other people live around the world, and even in America! I don’t want my energy and joy to come from things, but to be rooted in God so that no matter my living conditions I will always be grateful.
Also, I’m definitely not judging anybody who slept in their own bed or who took a hot shower with clean water or who ate Chick-fil-A today, well not sure about that last one… lol no but really be blessed and eat a chicken sandwich and waffle fries for me! Just remember to be grateful for what you do have!
Life Update:
I will be coming home for about 2 weeks at the end of August then heading off for another 9 months to disciple a squad of college age students. (See last blog post for details! Or message me, I’d love to talk!)
In order to do so I need to fundraise $3800 plus airfare for all my travels for training camp, launch and returning home! If you would like to partner with me you can go to my home page and click donate where it will walk you through the steps. I also have Venmo and PayPal which are both two great ways to donate as well. I appreciate all the support, it really means a lot!
Venmo- Knbroome or PayPal- paypal.me/kyndalbroome
I love you all!
