Well, I’m officially in my final month.
Month eleven. My eleventh country. And I really cannot believe it.
Now I felt the need to fill you in on some blessings my team and I
have encountered as we head into our last month, with our last
contact, in our last country.
We arrived in Kiev, Ukraine after a 24
hour bus ride from Prague. It was bitter-sweet saying goodbye to
Prague, but as I’ve told myself before, I have to leave so I can come
back (which I pray I can do someday). But yes, after a 24 hour bus
ride, we arrived in Ukraine. We were told to take a taxi to the mall
and meet our contact. So we hoped in not one, not two, but three
taxis (oh the pleasure of our packs) and we were off. We arrived at
the mall where we decided we would grab shopping carts to wheel our
packs around in, since we had to meet at the food court, inside the
mall.
Oh sure, we got some looks, but like
old ladies who dye their hair purple just because they can (or they
don’t know any better), we decided that, “it’s our last month, and
we just didin’t care what people thought!”
We met up with Andrew, our contact, at
the food court, where he so graciously bought us lunch and then we
piled everything into his van and took off. An hour later we arrived
at our final ministry destination, a camp ground called Jeremiah’s
Hope. My team and I will be helping out around this camp for two
conferences, before heading to final debrief. We will be helping out
around the camp, cleaning, cooking, and whatever else needs to get
done. I’m excited to be here and count it a blessing because if you
remember, I started the race at a camp in New Zealand, and now I’m
ending my race at a camp in Ukraine. I love camps, and consider this
a personal gift from God.
When we arrived at the camp we were
told we’d be staying in the lodge. This camp is only three years old,
and is absolutely beautiful. The God stories in this place are
amazing! One story, is that this camp was projected to be built and
opened in 2011! Well, it’s 2010, and they’ve had two summers worth of
camps so far! Praise God.
So we got the grand tour of our new
digs. We have lots of free space to spread out. There is a massive
kitchen and Andrew & his wife, Jenny really know how to spoil
World Racers. Jenny and Andrew are excellent cooks, and on our first
night here we had, pork chops with veggies and rolls-SO GOOD! Then
to finish off the meal Jenny had baked a pina colada cheesecake-never
has anything tasted quite that good. We’ve had some really great
meals since being here, (I personally think they’re preparing us for
Thanksgiving). We even have hazelnut coffee in the mornings and get
this, honey nut cheerios! I haven’t had those in 11 months! HUGE
blessing!
Some other blessings I would like to
point out are: the jersey sheets on my bed, & a quilt that
reminds me of home, ice in my drinks, not only a washer, but a dryer
too, AND Tide detergent, being out in the wilderness to have time to
reflect, retreat, and be with God…and those are just to name a few.
I truly feel blessed beyond belief and I have appreciated that God
is reminding me of the everyday blessings that I can (and do) so
easily overlook. Today, I am blessed and thankful.
