We’ve kept the faith and finished the race #bsquadbestsquad (Montenegro)
Well it has been quite some time since I have posted an update from the race. As most of you know I have finished and am back in America. I apologize for not posting the last 3 months of the race, but am going to attempt to update you on the last 3 months of the race.
Let’s see…Month 9 was Romania and was all squad month so the entire squad lived in one house. Some teams went out to other villages during the week which made more room for those staying in Dragonesti Olt, Romania. My team was assisting in the village of Comani, mainly preparing for the parents to come join us on the field. We cleaned houses/churches, babysat, did house visits and passed out food bags in the village. I was fortunate to have my parents come visit me on the field so they could have a little glimpse into what my life had been like for the last 8 months. The first day of ministry we did house visits and prayed for less fortunate families of the church. The first house we were praying for the health of the lady living there and for her husbands finances. My mom was the first one to volunteer to pray, she dove in feet first and didn’t hold back. The second house we visited was about the size of a master bedroom and it was infested with flies. The yard had no grass, only dirt and covered with dirty dished and burned clothes. The family has 10 children, with the youngest being 2 months old. The parents were not home, they were out in the woods chopping wood for a fire. All 10 children were left to care for themselves. They were covered in dirt, their clothes had holes, and they still had the biggest smiles on their face when we showed up. We went to 2 other houses and prayed for the health and just shared the love of Jesus with them. The next day of ministry we went to pass out Bibles on the street and do a children’s Bible club. I came up to this one house where a husband (John), his wife and son had just gotten home. I handed John a Bible and said, “for you.” He then opened his gate and LeAnna and I proceeded in. He led us into his back yard and brought out chairs for us to sit in and brought out some soda to give us. By this time my parents, Julie, and our translator had joined us. We found out that John’s father had just passed away a few days prior and he had just come back from the funeral. Both Julie and I felt led to share Jesus with him and to make a long story short, he gave his life to Christ that day. It was really cool that my parents were able to share that experience with us. My time with them ended when we got to go back to the capitol and spend time away with just them. I was amazed at how comfortable my parents were in that kind of atmosphere. I had never heard my stepdad pray out loud for someone and seeing him get emotional during worship just made me so happy to see him in that element. I know they experienced the Holy Spirit that week and I am thankful they were able to join me out on the race. In between month 9 and 10 we were able to spend a couple days at the Black Sea. We slept in our tents and enjoyed the beauty of God’s creation while spending time as a squad.
Mom and Craig talking to a man on the street about Jesus and our Kids Club in Romania
Month 10 was in Chisinau, Moldova. We were working with a new contact this month and it was the first time he had ever had a World Race team, so he didn’t really know what to expect. I loved the freedom we had to choose our ministry during our time there. I chose to attend an orphanage 3 times a week and the other 2 days I went to a transit home where I was able to love on girls who were being taught basic life skills and were transitioning from orphanages into everyday life. We were fortunate enough to be close to another team and we had a few dinner/game nights which was a nice change from the normality of wasting time on the internet. We were able to go to the country’s annual wine festival and another festival this month which was really cool to see some of their culture this way. My heart was broken this month when I was speaking to a daughter from the transit home and she was sharing with me about how the boys treat her at school. We were walking home one day and I was asking how her day was and she proceeded to tell me that boys were stupid and she hates school. I asked why and she told me that they always touch her inappropriately. She tells them to stop, but they don’t. She also stated the teachers and her parents know it goes on but nothing is done to stop it. I brought it up to her mother just in case she really wasn’t aware of the situation and lo and behold she was. Her parents were very passive about the situation and it infuriated me. How can you send your daughter to a school and know she is being molested and do nothing about it!! All I can do from this point is pray for her and for those boys in her class. I ended up leaving my phone in Moldova which was a little frustrating, but it was good because I could be more intentional with my team during our last month of the race together. My frustration was more because I used it for pictures, but it made me learn to use my DSLR even more, so for that I am thankful.
Some girls from the orphanage and the girls from the transit home in Moldova
After leaving Moldova we took a little detour to Thessaloniki, Greece. We were able to explore the city for the first day and had our 1st night in the hostel paid for by Raul (our contact in Romania) which was such a blessing!. We went into St. Demetrios Church, where they believed the Apostle Paul has preached and wrote the letter to the Thessalonians. We hiked around some roman ruins and ate some amazing food. The second night I opted to sleep in my tent on the beach instead of paying to sleep in the hostel and it was such a good choice. It was amazing falling to sleep on a beach in Greece listening to the sound of waves.
Our last and final month, Month 11 in Kaminari, Montenegro. I could not have asked for a better month to end with. My team was living with missionaries on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. Our ministry this month consisted of really 4 days of actual ministry. We passed out fliers and held 2 prayer seminars in 2 different cities. The rest of the time was spend with Joel and Nicola (our contacts) pouring into us with their experiences and deep philosophical topics. We cooked some amazing meals together, played cards, had Thanksgiving dinner, picked mussels from the bay and cooked them, met some amazing people, and ended well as Team Radical. Mark and Nikki stand out to me among all the people we came in contact with this month. Mark was from Belgium and he was an assassin for the US Army and Nikki was his girlfriend. Both of them came from really rough backgrounds and Joel shared with us that people don’t treat them very well because they are more on the poorer side. They would come to visit us and talk just about every day and even made dinner for us 2x. We invited them over for dinner one night as well. Neither one of them were believers, but they felt drawn to us for some reason. Mark would tell us we were like children he never had and he could tell we really loved them. He told us he could tell there was something different about us. We told him it was Jesus and that we were brought to Montenegro for them. We shared stories with them, talked about prayer, and answered any questions they had for us about Jesus and our lives. They have a dream to sell their property in Montenegro and move to Serbia to buy land and house orphans. We told them they should pray for their property to be sold, but they would keep telling us no. You could see they were very curious, but wouldn’t make a move to accept Jesus’ love and help. I spoke with Joel and Nicola since being back in America and they shared with me, 2 weeks ago both Mark and Nikki have given their lives to Christ and now attend a weekly Bible study. They laugh about how it has taken them 6 years to accept the love of Jesus, and praise God they finally have!
Team Radical after our 1350 stairs hike to a fortress in Kotor, Montenegro
It’s hard to believe the race has come to an end. Everything has felt like a dream; both the race and being back in America. The trip was amazing, adventurous, challenging, hard, heart breaking, freeing, it’s so hard to put into words everything that has been thrown my way over the last year. The World Race was life altering for me and I want to thank you for praying and supporting me every step of the way. Stay tuned for what’s next.
B-Squad going out with a bang!
