At
training camp one of the things that AIM stresses is that you need to
loose your expectations. You think this means being prepared to hike
over mountain passes and through muddy jungle rivers while carrying
an 80 pound pack filled with medical supplies for a remote village.
You think that this village will be without indoor plumbing,
electricity, wifi or western clothing.
While some racers may have experiences like this, my race broke my
expectations in other ways. Like they say, Your
Race is not like Anyone elses’ even your squad
mates.
Instead of primitive conditions I have had access to western
toilets and hot water showers in every country (although not every
day).
I
have been without a mattress once.
This
month will be the first time I have had to hand wash my clothes..I
can’t put it off much longer….
I
have always had electricity- (except when lightning knocks it out).
I
have been able to drank water from the tap in 7 of 11 countries
(sometimes it was filtered on the property)
I
have not been buried in a grave of white rice-
I do
not carry around a day-pack full of survival gear. (like I thought I
would)
I
have carried my tent around for 11 months. I used it
once out of necessity, once on an off day 
Although no two race experiences
are the same, there are some things every racer should keep in
mind….
Do
not expect your route to stay the same as what you signed up for
(ours
changed three times, and we only ended up with 5 of our original
countries).
Do
not expect that everyone will be wearing traditional clothing-
some may, but by and large
most of the clothing I saw was western- (except
in those countries where women traditionally wear head coverings).
Do
not expect a particular
kind of ministry that fits your desires, gifts, or longings- if your
ministry does
not focus on what you want, this is a chance to experience
something new and to grow in a different area. Even is that area is
patience….
Do
not expect to automaticly
grow by leaps and bounds, just because you took
the plunge to race. You
have to choose it and pursue
it.
Do
not assume
that you will have
to depart
from
chocolate when you leave the
states- it turns out that
many counties
actually like it more than
we do… ..
Do
not worry about forgetting something–
it turns out people use
necessities
all over the world, and they are usually less expensive.
Do
bring movies
Do
bring a smaller internet accessible device than/in addition to, a
laptop- sometimes you don’t want to carry a bulky laptop around the
whole day.
Do
expect to get sick; at least
a cold every so often from the travel and wear.
Do
invest in a lice comb with metal teeth. plastic teeth break out.
Do
bring your rainbows if you have them.
Do
bring your kindle, you may read A LOT, and you will definitely get
many books recommended to you.
Here are some of the books that made it onto my kindle this year
(in no particular order):
Anything
by Stephen Lawhead (especially Empyrion)
Prophecies of Pale skin,
Ender’s game,
Crazy
Love,
The
Divergent series,
Kingdom
Journeys,
Ted
Dekker anything,
The
Wild of God,
Any
book in the ‘Christian Heroes, Then & Now’ collection,
The
Aero Complex -Natalie Reid,
The
Insanity of God,
Gladys
Aylward,
River
of Time series- Lisa Bergren,
The
Wingfeather Saga
.
several mindless/free/teen books which are not good enough to
recommend. I may or may not have read several post apocalyptic zombie
books one month…
The
Pursuit of God,
Screwtape
Letters,
(these
last two were probably the most impacting books I red on the race)
* Photo credit: Alana Flora
