Dear Anonymous, I’ve made it to Chile!
First I must apologize to you for my lack of manners. I should have written to you months ago. I hope that my delay does not take away from the sincerity and gratefulness that my heart holds for you. But, how do your properly say thank you to someone when you don’t even know their name.
$17,000 is a huge amount of money to raise. Everyone assured me that the money would come in. When my account received your donation, I was taken aback. There was a complete lack of words on my part and belief in what I was looking at. The emotions that consumed me where more than overwhelming.
Not only for your beautiful heart of generosity but more so for the love and belief in me that your gift demonstrated. You just donated, without a need to be acknowledged. No amount of money can replace the feeling of someone truly believing in what I am doing.
Your financial support confirms that I am in the place God wants me to be and that I need to keep going on this crazy dream and adventure called www.theworldrace.org I can continue on my journey for the next 7 months. Thanks to you, I only have $4,500 to go.
Chile, hands down, is my favorite country thus far. First off it is mucho frio here! Cold, cold, cold and I’m instantly overjoyed everyday when I walk out the door. It’s not my ideal, cloudy with a solid chance of rain weather, like it is in Washington, but, I’m not horribly hot and sweaty like I have been the past 3 months. Therefore, the temperature alone has won me over. The weather is not the only thing I love about Chile.
The views from every angle are breath taking. There are beautiful green trees, uniquely shaped mountains and active volcanoes in every direction. On top of that, the Chilean people are extremely welcoming and hospitable; though understanding their language at times is slightly difficult. The people may be speaking Spanish but they put a heavy Chilean twist in their speech, which is accompanied by their own unique slang.
Nevertheless, we are able to communicate, but, there has definitely been many more “Comos” and “Repetir por favors” being used. In the end, this only produces more laughs and memories made.
During month 4, my team was selected to participate in what the World Race calls Unsung Heroes month. We were all stoked to have been chosen for this honor. Being selected for Unsung Heroes means that we have been given the opportunity to wander around Chile in search of potential ministries that would be willing to host World Racers.
We’re basically doing “old fashioned evangelism” knocking on doors in hopes that future racers will soon be welcomed to partner alongside ministries that the World Race has not been a part of in Chile before.
When my team was presented with this potential task during training camp, it sounded simple enough. Yet, when you arrive in a foreign country, you don’t speak the language, there is no guidance if you should turn left or right, this once “simple” task becomes greatly overwhelming. For me, the unknown quickly caused excitement. There’s now freedom to go anywhere and do anything. We can explore and get lost in Chile. The possibilities are endless.
When you have been controlled by the clock and deadlines, this new adventure is liberating! Daily we ask God, “where is it that we should go, or who do you want us to talk to today?” We just pick a bus, get on it and go. We talk to strangers and listen to where they think there may be a need, what is a place we should see, and what place we should stay.
We have alreadytalked to so many people whose advice or contacts have lead us to beautiful towns we wouldn’t have ventured to on our own. We have gone out of our comfort zone and have been lead to some amazing places and experiences.
During one of these random conversations, my teammate and I started talking with some people outside of a restaurant. We mentioned what we were doing and how the current hostel we were staying in was way out of our price range. They asked us what are budget looked like and it turned out that the restaurant we were in was also part of the hostel upstairs.
They offered to let us stay there for half of the original cost. If that wasn’t a blessing in itself, the hostel even had their own indoor rock wall and invited us to join their sushi party happening that night. This random and hilarious memory would never have happened if we didn’t put our trust in God and His plan for us in Chile.
Since we are now putting our faith in Him, He is giving us the confidence to put our faith in these random conversations with people we have never met.
We are now in Puerto Montt, Chile. We were picked up from the bus station by a pastor who is interested in partnering with Adventures in Missions. We were already making plans and doing research on hostels in the area for us to stay at, or possibly the church we were looking into partnering with.
But those plans were tossed aside when we were told that we would be staying at his parent’s house. The church would be too cold and they didn’t want us to spend our money on a hostel. So, instead of sleeping on the floor of a church, we are all sleeping warm and cozy in beds. We wake up with coffee, tea and biscuits, butter and jam, instead of meals made of protein bars and multiple trips to the centromarket. God provides.
Over and over He continues to provide for us, either in the form of a warm bed, yummy food or simply through the eye opening conversation with a stranger.
If I were to describe to you, in the simplest way possible, what I have learned this past month, it would be just to listen and then go. That’s it, listen and then go. Sometimes the path will be clear to you what it is that God wants you to do and that is convenient. Yet sometimes you are not so sure if you hear anything from God and that is okay too. Just because you’re notsure, that doesn’t mean that He isn’t there.
God will always be there if you think you’re hearing from Him or not. So when you get off that bus and it is not clear if you’re supposed to turn left or right, take a second, listen and then just go. If you hear something from God, follow the direction you’ve been given. If you don’t think you hear anything, don’t let that paralyze you. If you end up turning left, God will be there. If instead you turn right, God will show up there as well.
When you put all your trust in God and His plan for your life, you’re going to be okay. God has entrusted us with His wisdom and discernment. When you fully accept this concept to be true, it is such a relief.
When you start your day, you may not be faced with an Unsung Heroes month, but you should always ask what God has planned for you. Where does He want you to go? Whom does He want you to talk to? If you live your life with faith like that, choosing left or right doesn’t seem that scary anymore.
Thank you once again, for all of that have supported me, whether I know your name or not.
