Here they are the answers to your questions. Thank You so much for asking and supporting!
What is one of your favorite memories so far?
– This is a tough one!! But I think a favorite memory is the cafe Team Zealous Love started in Valga, Estonia. It was called Elutuba Cafe which means “The Living room.” It was a place where youth could come and hang out. We played cards, had movie nights, had dance parties, and fiestas. The best thing about the cafe was that we built relationships, we really got to know the kids coming into our cafe. Also the cafe was a place where we as a team prayed together and really grew closer. It was something that we were invested in together and we sought after God together to make it work.
What has given you the greatest fulfillment so far?
– My greatest fulfillment would be something God taught me in our first country, Zambia. Then it continues to be a constant theme to see. Its the fact that God is already working in all the countries I am going to. It’s being able to go to these places and see the people God is using to spread His Kingdom. It was so evident with our ministry in Zambia. We did Unsung heroes and we traveled all over the country just hearing peoples stories and seeing what they were doing for God. How the people there are doing big things. Then in all the other countries we get to work alongside people who the joy of the Lord just completely over takes them. Its so awesome to see. Also to know that God really doesn’t need me, but I am so blessed that he wants to use me. He has allowed me to come alongside the people in all these different countries and serve with them, and to help them where me and my team can. Its a really awesome privilege and it continues to humble me and teach me.
What food has been your favorite from each county you’ve been to so far?
Zambia – One of the last nights we were in Zambia, we had a family cook for us. They made us this awesome meal with so much food. The sister cooked, her name was Sibol, and she made chicken in some kind of pepper sauce and she prepared cabbage in the same sauce. I don’t even know what it was called but it was definitely my favorite food from Zambia. (I went into the kitchen to ask her how she made it, she told me she just threw all the ingredients together and the pot and sautéed it… so that helped me a lot)
Malawi – Mandazi. It’s basically fried dough! But its soo good. They make it at all the little stores and most of the time the street vendors will sell it. They would come up to us when we were in the back of a truck to sell it. They even came on the public buses to sell it!
Estonia – We cooked for ourselves in Estonia, but we would eat lunch at the local high school. We got the left over food when all the kids had eaten!! But this lunch room food was not like the cafeteria food I got in school. It was a lot of soup but sometimes they would make special sauces for the potatoes. One day they made a beef sauce, very close to beef stew, to go on the potatoes it was soo good. Then they would even have dessert. So potatoes were a stable in Estonia, so my favorite would be the beef sauce that went on them. OR Our contact made us food when we came to stay at their house. They grilled salmon for us in a special blend and of course they had potatoes that were pan seared in oil and sea salt!ed It was good and a really fun night.
Latvia – In Latvia we spent a lot of time in the Riga, the capitol city. There was a restaurant there called Sefpavars Vilhelms that served Latvian Pancakes “Pankukas.” It was a really cool place. You would go in pick what pankukas you wanted then pay by the weight. European pancakes are different than the simple flapjack back home. In Europe pancakes are filled with things, like meat or mushroom or cheese even some have caramel. But my favorite was their Apple filled Pankukas
But our ministry site was in a city called Saldus, which translates to sweet in English. So this city was a city of sweets. It even had it’s very own ice cream factory. And towards the end of our month as it to started getting warmer, a scoop store for their hometown ice cream opened. It was such good ice cream and my favorite food 🙂 Kiwi flavored, Strawberry Pina Colada, or vanilla so good!!
What ministry opportunities have you been able to be involved in?
There are so many but I will try to write them out…
In Zambia we did “Unsung heroes” so our ministry was to serve future world racers by finding people and organizations that were doing great things for the Lord and maybe one day could host a team.
Chikumbuso an orphanage/school, that ran their school through money brought in by widows who sewed bags and made jewelry.
We met Whitney who was working on her own to start a non-profit that would empower and help the teachers of community schools in the compounds around Lusaka.
The Special Needs Network that worked with the intellectually disabled children in Zambia, They run a program where teachers give one on one attentions to the kids teaching them basic education along with biblical principals.
New Life Ministries they had many different areas they were involved in prison ministries, making tricycles with hand peddles for people who were cripple, and helping local churches.
An orphanage that was self sufficient growing their own food.
Jeff and Hedi a couple from America who are working with discipling the people in the villages and helping them to learn profitable farming techniques from biblical principals.
The Ester School, a primary school that serves to empower children in literary and bible education so that they can have a positive impact on their community.
In Malawi we worked with Zehandi Missions. We worked in the village of Senga Bay doing many different ministries. We prayed and evangelized in the market place, played soccer with kids in the village, and manual labor around the bible school they held.
In Estonia we worked with Jenny Kruse, in our time with them we started a little cafe that was aimed to be a hang out spot for the youth of the city. We built relationship and served the organization in any help they needed.
In Latvia we worked with St. Grogors Mission Center. We did lots of different things from working at a crisis center and loving the kids to manual labor, cleaning graves and pulling weeds. St. Gregors had their hand in many different places so we got the chance to do a range of services.
My question is how many late nights you have had????
ha ha good question! Let’s just say to many to count. The girls this past month stayed in two bedrooms. Me, Brittany, and Katherine stayed in one bedroom. It was called the college room. Where most night the lights stayed on quite late with lots of giggles.
What’s the most difficult thing you’ve had to do so far?
Learning how to rest and rest well. This past month we had a little more down time than I am used to. So God really used this time to teach me to be still and be at peace with not having everything scheduled out.
But physically would be carrying 20 liter water jugs, full of water from the well to the place where we were staying. It was over a 1/2 mile walk with a uphill climb in soft dirt. This was usually down at sunrise, so the camp could have enough water to cook, and use the restroom.
What’s the oddest thing that you’ve had to eat?
Hmm well we’ve had to cook for ourselves most of the race. But we have encountered some interesting foods. I think the oddest was the warm milk and noodles. The meal was just Macaroni noodles in warm milk. To me it was an odd combination.
