5 1/2- months
9- countries
8- capital cities
5- plane rides
2- teams
8- new languages that I learned like two phrases in
4- books read
5- new dance moves learned
37- new foods tried (33 of them probs involved chicken)
17000- laughs had (…and counting)
Countless- new friends made
1- impromptu boxing match against a teenager from Syria
We’ve made it. We reached the halfway point! Actually, I’m pretty sure it was about a week ago (week ago), but we’ve still made it! Anyways, with halfway points come a bit of reflection. It’s been a crazy journey so far. From stepping out of the US for the first time ever in August, to preparing to see my third continent in just a few weeks! Like, this almost feel normal by now, and that in itself is weird. But I just keep coming back to this question everyone has seemed to ask me.
What’s been your favorite thing on the Race?
And every time, my answer’s the same. It’s been the chance conversations, the impromptu run-ins with strangers, that have made my race. Each one has left me with a story, a different viewpoint, something to learn and grow from. Here I wanted to share a couple with you.
-In Serbia we got to camp out for a few days with men attending a rehab program at our church. They told us about their careers, their wives and families, their struggles, and all about Serbian history. All while we just hung out and fished and swam in the river. Guys bein dudes.
-Also in Serbia, we made friends with the barista down the street. We’d ask her how she was doing every time we passed, whether we stopped at the shop or not. Then, on our final day there, we made a quick 2 minute visit to say our goodbyes, and left 45 minutes later with a huge box full of pastries and at least 10 hugs.
-In Romania, tasked with cold call evangelism for the month, Nathan and I walked around the fort at the center of town, looking for interruptible people. We come across a guy walking home from school, and begin a conversation. We ask him where we can find good food, and not only does he tell us, but he leads us there and eats with us. We bond over trap music and Game of Thrones, and through several more encounters, he accepts Christ before the month is over.
-Oh gosh… Greece was full of these. But by far my favorite chance encounter happened on a long, arduous, evening shift. It started as I tried, and failed, to stop two families from moving into an ISO box. (It’s more or less a storage container that can house around 3 families comfortably.) At one point I was standing in the doorway, trying to block the way, as a man handed belongings to his sister. I wasn’t blocking them out of malice, but if they moved them selves we couldn’t find them when we needed to, and we would lose a place to house a brand new family. Believe it or not, nuances like that are hard to convey in a language that you don’t actually speak… So I’m repeating myself calmly in English, they’re yelling at me in Arabic, at one point like three grown men are trying to pull me down the stairs, and it’s just become a mess. This debacle calms down a little once they move everything in, but I’m still stuck there. Waiting to see if it’s okay that they moved in. About this time, the one man that actually does indeed live there, invites me in for dinner.
And just like that the whole mood flips.
Suddenly, I’m playing stuffed animals with his kids. He points at each ingredient, and we swap the English/Arabic words for them. He shows me pictures on his phone of his family and their arrival on the island, beaming the whole time. Then lo and behold, the very men who were yelling and pulling on me earlier stop by to eat as well! We share a meal of fish, salad, and fried potatoes, everything fresh, everything homemade. Sitting on cushions all around the platters of food. They tell me about their families, their careers back home, and listen as I tell them about my own. And y’know, they’re from not too far from Jesus’ hometown, and it honestly felt a lot like a meal He would have had.
-One night in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, we were eating at this delicious local hole-in-the-wall spot called McDonald’s. And boy, is it packed. So packed, Isaiah and I actually can’t find a table. So we’re looking around, clutching our trays, looking as awkward as can be, when this man sitting by himself motions for us to sit with him. If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s not to refuse any invitation, so we plop right on down. He didn’t speak when he asked us to join him, so I assumed he spoke Malay, and I just continued my conversation with Isaiah. Then the man held up his phone, where it was typed out, “Are you from America?” Turns out, he had surgery on his windpipe from smoking damage, and had one of those button-on-your-throat things. He told us about his son attending school in New York, about all his travels over the US, and about how he was driving a limo in the city on 9/11. He asked us how we made it all the way to KL. He listened intently and asked deep questions as we shared our faith and our purpose behind our travels.
-While in Bangkok, Alexis and I prayer walked through a red light street. We ended up buying the time of a man named Max, and just sat and talked with him. He was super confused that I wasn’t gay, and wasn’t dating Alexis. Max was from Laos, and didn’t know too much English, but knew enough to convey the pride he felt for his country’s natural beauty. He showed us pictures of gorgeous waterfalls, lakes, and forests. We didn’t have enough common language between us to share the gospel, but it was good to simply share a conversation with him free from agenda; whether that agenda was money, work, or anything else.
-In Chiang Mai, we stopped in a silk shop, and got more than we bargained for. I started asking the shop owner about his rugs, bc it’s not every day you see a handmade silk rug. He showed me differences in pattern, loom, handmade and machine-made, as well as how to tell the difference, with detailed descriptions of every one. Then, without any provocation on my behalf, he turns the conversation to his faith, Islam. This launches a 45 minute discussion comparing and contrasting our beliefs. It was so awesome! We finally had to go, as it was around supper time, but I left the store feeling not exhausted, but excited! It was so cool just getting to defend and backup my faith like that, as well as hearing and learning about his. We ended up returning to his shop once more, to the same result. A lively, civil conversation about our faiths.
To be sure, there are so many more that I didn’t get to list here, and so many more that have yet to happen, but that has been my favorite thing on the Race. Just the random, awesome people that God puts on my path that I get both to teach and to learn from. Encounters that wouldn’t happen but for His subtle nudges and my slow path to being interruptible.
So here’s to being interruptible, and here’s to half a race still to run!!
