Hello!
What a year it has been! I encountered some of the most beautiful places in the world but it was the people: supporters, teammates, hosts, and new friends that truly shaped my journey along the way. This trip wouldn’t have been possible without the love and support of so many special people, THANK YOU.
It is impossible to recap it all but I would love to share some of my favorite stories with you.
Our route began in Honduras and my team’s first ministry assignment was on a mountainside right outside of the capital, Tegucigalpa at Loyalty School. My team of 5 women dove right in as teachers. This school only has 4 teachers who are eager to provide a Christian education for the preschool, elementary, middle and high schoolers! Our host experienced many difficulties this month with a mudslide on the property, his van breaking down and the school closing for a week, but he remained so thankful. One day the school was closed, he said, “It’s never a bad day, just different.” We celebrated the 4th anniversary of our host’s church during the month of October and gained amazing perspective as we completed our first month of the trip.
Next, we took over night busses, trucks, a boat, and a school bus to get to our ministry partner in the Mayan Jungle in San Andres, Peten, Guatemala. Hearts in Action is 20+ year old organization meeting the needs in underprivileged communities in countries throughout Central and South America. The main headquarters in Peten is a school to over 200 children. On multiple afternoons, we jumped in the back of a cattle truck and went deeper into the Mayan Jungle to share about Jesus and provide a meal to the kids. We also worked in the corn fields, painting classrooms, cleaning the facilities, administrative work for their sponsor children and provided assistance for the conference they were hosting while we were there. We hosted an American thanksgiving during their conference with over 80 people from many different countries celebrating everything we were thankful for and for the work the Lord is doing through this ministry.
http://www.heartsinaction.org/en
Our last stop in Central America, and one of my favorite months on the World Race was in Santa Tecla, El Salvador at Mi Casa children’s home. We did art projects, sleepover parties, games, talent shows, had a full field day at the park, did karaoke, helped with the chores and cooking. Brenda was celebrating her quinceañera (15th birthday) while we were there! Our team was able to buy her a dress, decorate and cover the food for her special celebration. We also hosted Christmas at the home while the founder went home to visit his family in the US for the first time in seven years. These are incredible kids with beautiful stories of redemption. If you want to help support this ministry, they sell fantastic coffee to support the homes. Each package has a different child’s picture cartooned onto it (the kids loved this) and you can order it online!
We spent New Year’s Eve flying over the Atlantic as we headed to LightForce in Lira, Uganda. This ministry has established a school, clinic, vocational classes, a café, and a children’s home. Since the kids were out of school, we set aside two hours each day to tutor them and to catch them up with the rest of their classmates. During the month I was there, I was able to teach 6 year old Angela the alphabet and she learned to write her name for the first time! We also preached a message to 30-60 kids each Wednesday at a sports outreach right outside our compound. My eyes were opened to a very difficult way of life by getting water at the well every morning, eating posho (cornflower and water) and beans every day and doing everything by hand. Our translator opened up to us about the story of her abduction by the Lord’s Resistance Army when she was eight and how she escaped. Another woman we met had escaped unfathomable violent circumstances in South Sudan nine months prior to our meeting. She came from a Muslim background but gave her life to Christ with our team three days before we left! We had a huge celebration in the local church the next morning.
http://www.lightforce.org.uk/uganda/
Then we took one of my favorite scenic bus rides through the African bush to Kigali, Rwanda. The pastor we stayed with established his ministry one year after the genocide took 1.5 million lives in 1994. Since then he met his wife, had three boys and they have now planted seven churches and two schools. The pastor was hosting a conference while we were in Rwanda. Each of my teammates and I were able to be guest speakers throughout that week. Our new friend who had recently accepted Christ was talking about life 23 years after the genocide and he said, “Since then our people have found peace, some have found love, but most people have not found hope. Now I have hope.” Pastor Innocent and his family have played a huge role in bringing hope and the love of Christ to Kigali and to the Rwandan people. I have also been immeasurably blessed by my “African mom and dad”.
https://www.facebook.com/SponsorALifeHelpRwanda/
In March, we touched down on our third continent, Europe. Our host church was in the very rural town of Patos, Albania. These believers shared with us their experience during 1967 to 1990, when Albania was under communism and all religion was banned. They started the “Way of Peace” church on the radio when Albania was declared an Atheistic state. Since the fall of communism, “Way of Peace” has planted 2 churches. My favorite moment this month was on a bus ride home from church. The woman across from my teammate and I asked us where we were from. She talked about her dreams of moving to the United States (a dream shared by countless people we met) and shared about her difficulties and depression. We started to tell her about our faith in Christ. She was so intrigued that she missed her bus stop to hear more. We got off the bus, prayed with her on the side of the street and gave her information about the local church. 🙂
https://igtalbania.wordpress.com/about/
After a 5 day debrief in Mostar, Bosnia, something new happened for our squad in April. In order to establish future relationships with new ministries, two of our teams were sent to Bosnia, one team was sent to Serbia, and my team was sent to Croatia. After four days, we found our first connection! The founders of the ministry were from my home town in Boca Raton, Florida! Lighthouse Church was planted in Zagreb, Croatia. They have a gypsy village outreach called Gospel on the Go. We are so grateful that the Lord allowed our paths to cross and are excited about the new partnership between the World Race and this ministry to continue touching this unreached area.
The month of May brought our final continent shift to Asia as we headed to Thailand. The Lord provided us the opportunity to work with an International School. We helped the art teacher (who has been a missionary in China for the past 17 years) with the end of the year art show. We also visited an orphanage to play soccer with the kids. We spent many nights prayer walking through the Night Baazar and through the Red Light District. We made friends with a street artist and his two little boys. (3 and 5 years old) We visited him multiple nights, brought them fruits and snacks and got to pray with him. We also spent time with two girls working in the Red Light District at the bar, after we bought sodas to talk to them and hear their story. One of the local missionaries got them connected with their Christian café and says they have visited the café since our time with them.
Malaysia was another favorite month on the Race. Malaysia is a primarily Muslim country and we were visiting during Ramadan. We partnered with a sports ministry this month. While we were there, my teammate and I had the privilege of joining the pastor in his prison ministry! I was able to go into the prison and speak with two men on death row through a window and telephone. They both have accepted Christ since being in prison and they were sharing the Gospel in their high security ward! I was able to pray for them before we left. The most unreached prisoners of the unreached country of Malaysia are hearing the Gospel through the redeemed lives of two men. Praise Jesus!
For month ten, we arrived in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia after a breathtaking flight over the Gobi desert. The Lord quickly showed us the beauty of the international connections of the Church! Our friends from Malaysia had friends in Mongolia and they picked us right up from the airport. We got connected with a local Mongolian pastor right away. We spent time with this church and traveled with them to their Christian conference in the countryside. 160 Mongolian Christians attended. We served at the conference as a part of the set up/decorating team and dance team. I was given the opportunity of guest speaking on the final day of the conference. We went to the river to have a celebration picnic and 31 people got baptized in the river that day! 🙂
Our final stop on this incredible journey was Sri Lanka. My team traveled through the southern coast meeting with many small churches. At times we could not meet at a church because of safety concerns with the persecution they are facing. We were able to hear countless testimonies of the Lord’s faithfulness despite their difficult circumstances. One of the elders in Matara allowed us to hold private prayer meetings in his home to encourage their congregation. I still get emotional thinking about these moments. I have been so encouraged by their faith. Please be praying for the persecuted church.
On the last few days of my World Race, our squad gathered together in Galle, Sri Lanka to celebrate the 11 months. 🙂
I am so grateful for you taking part with me and I pray you have also been touched by all the Lord has done.
With much thanks,
Lauren Alexander
