highlights + hard parts

In month 8 (Armenia), Court – my friend & our squad storyteller –  encouraged us to begin thinking back on some of the best & some of the most difficult times on the race thus far.  I thought it would be an awesome way to look back on the year & begin to process.  Here I am two months of being back in the states & just finding the time & heart space to begin reflecting again.  I know it’s impossible to capture 11 months in a single blog, but I wanted to share with you some of the things that, upon reflection, have stuck out to me this year.

Highlights & Hard Parts of the Race: {Broken up by month}

Colombia:

Highlights –

• Sitting at the dinner table trying to learn Spanish with our hosts & completely butchering it. 
• Learning how to play Colombian spoons (burro).
• Learning how to make tinto (the term they used in Colombia to describe black coffee) + drinking it alllll day long.
• Painting bunk beds with paint thinned by gasoline.
• Playing soccer with the kiddos. 
• Bussing to Bogota’ after arriving in Metallin {all the while spending many sketchy hours of the early morning in some random bus stations.
• Learning our first Spanish phrase: “Este bus tienne wifi?” (Does this bus have wifi?).
• Licking the walls of some salt mines.
• Walking around the neighborhood of La Candelaria – in older part of Bogota’.
• Helping our hosts orchestrate two weekends of youth retreats.
• Meeting the Lamca family & other IncaLink missionaries.
• Getting to know & love the kids in the village of Santa Cecilia. 
• Peeling, chopping, baking, cooking, & washing things daily.
• Learning from our ministry hosts what it is like to live in love & pour out your entire heart in everything you do, every single day.
• Hearing & falling in love with the sounds + words of prayer and worship in Spanish.

Hard Parts –

• Realizing what I have gotten myself into for 11 months. 
• Learning how to be a team.
• Realizing how ill-equipped Eric & I were to step into a long distance relationship.
• Being on our feet for 10+ hours a day to help clean, prep, teach, & serve.

Ecuador: 

Highlights –

• When I asked the cab driver if he liked sauce: “Te gusta salsa?” intending to ask if he liked salsa – the type of dance! 
• Hiking Rucu Pichincha a 15,000 foot mountain + reaching the summit right before a giant storm rolled in.  
• Our ministry “Pan de Vida” – the way they served and loved those around them.  We got to be a part of food distribution program, rebuilding a functional home for a family who lost everything & served Venezuelan refugees.
• Debrief in Banos’ Ecuador – it was one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been.
• Visiting the “middle of the earth” & doing experiments on both the northern & southern parts of the hemisphere – seeing the differences.
• Spending the weekend at a beach (Pedernales) & drinking batidos (frothy, milky, slushy, fruit drinks)!

Hard Parts –

• Our first all-squad month – living with ~25 other people. 
• My teammate going into anaphylactic shock. 
• My back pain flaring up because of the manual labor we were doing. 
• Figuring out how to communicate with Eric because of our limited access to wifi.
• Missing the Thanksgiving traditions my mom & I used to always do together – like decorating & going to a movie the night before Thanksgiving.
• Squad-wide food poisoning (20/26 of us were affected, I didn’t get it, thankfully!).

   

Peru:

Highlights –

• 24 hours in Lima – getting to walk in the sunshine & sit on the rocky beach.
• The night before we toured Machu Picchu, Sara and I attempted to walk back to our hotel.  We returned 20 minutes later to our team confused & empty- handed.  You see, we were supposed to find the hotel & get a piece of paper with information about our tour & dinner we were already late for, but we came back unable to figure out where our hotel was!  I’ve never seen Katie so mad (Katie is really good at directions). But it was HILARIOUS.
• Fiesta de los niños {hot chocolate & popcorn & face painting & Jesus-sharing}.
• Machu Picchu: Katie puking on one of the seven wonders of the world 🙂 
• Our dirty santa giveaway; this is akin to a white elephant gift exchange.  My team got together with another team Christmas night and exchanged “gifts” that mostly came out of the bottom of our backpacks 🙂
• Hiking Rainbow Mountain!
• Plaza de Armes in downtown Cusco.
• A Peruvian New Year celebration with half our squad!

Hard parts –

• Panetone (Peruvian fruitcake)…we ate it frequently.
• Big summer blow outs with our team (a.k.a. hard conversations about growth & feedback).
• We experienced a lot of spiritual warfare this month – many of my teammates were frequently ill, had sleepless nights, & we constantly were working through miscommunications/misunderstandings.
• Birdbox. This is the reason I don’t watch scary movies!
• Christmas & being far from home & my loved ones.  Homesickness was real in month three for me. 
• Also Machu Picchu: thinking we would be able to hike 20+ miles in 2 days, but quickly learned that was unreasonable.  We decided to take the train instead of walking 8 miles back :).
• 24 hour bus ride from Lima to Cusco (think: the bus cabin was very hot, most of us had cankles, swollen fingers and a foggy head).  We think part of why this bus ride was so terrible is because of the 10,000ft elevation gain!

   

Bolivia:

Highlights –

• Our hosts: Juan & Ann – they adopted us into their family for the month, it was such a sweet gift.
• Our ministry: we got to facilitate a few weeks of bi-lingual VBS’ – in La Paz and a few in smaller villages in rural Bolivia. We helped paint & clean.  We also hosted two beauty for ashes events (women’s ministry).
• Bolivian food! Especially the pollo de mani (chicken with peanut sauce & rice with veggies).
• Madidi coffee – the actual best coffee shop in the world.
• Getting to visit my number one bucket list item: the Salt Flats during wet season!
• La Paz: what a fun city – we got around via teleferico (tram car) much of the time  
• Border crossing: although we got stuck at this border for 6 or 7 hours, missed our bus (the company sent a second bus) – this border crossing was cool because we got to stop along the way in a few small towns – one in Peru & one in Bolivia.  We got to see the floating islands and meet the people who lived on Lake Titicaca.
• Code names for dayssss.

Hard parts –

• 6/7 hour border crossing 🙂
• Learning it’s okay to tell people what I need to feel loved & watching them fight to make that happen. 
• Eric & I trying to figure out how to love one another from a distance.
• Big summer blow outs rounds 2 + 3 with my team.
• Team changes.

 

Argentina: 

Highlights –

• Swimming in an Australian Olympic-sized pool.
• Hiking & rafting – a lot of adventure ministry with youth. 
• Advocating for those I care about.
• Getting to be around people from American/Canadian culture & all serving youth together. 
• Drinking lots of grapefruit bubbley water!
• Getting to preach and share words of encouragement with a local youth group & the YWAM family.
• Learning all about Mate’!

Hard parts –

• Learning how to be a team leader.
• Fighting for unity & embracing team changes.
• Establishing and figuring out new norms for our team.
• Eric and I talking about and learning to navigate boundaries, while I am on a co-ed team.
• Fighting for rest and sabbath for my team.
• SO MANY MOSQUITOS.
• Hospital visit for a teammate.

 

India: 

Highlights –

• Swiggy.  Food delivery service: because leaving our air bnb or house to venture out into a giant Indian city was SCARY!
• Indian head-bobble… you never know if who you’re talking to is saying yes or no, they just sort-of bobble their heads.  It’s probably the best thing ever.
• Chai.
• Hindi music.
• Frederick!!! {the monkey that stole my banana}. 
• Waking up to the village (I swear, if you could have a playlist on Spotify titled “village,” you would hear chickens, cows, goats, music blasting, horns blaring, & kids laughing at 430 or 5am).
• The boys.  OH the sweet kiddos we had the honor of getting to know and love this month.  We got to live with a family who adopted 9 boys as their own, in addition to their two bio kids.
• Who and how we got to serve has forever changed my life.  We got to share the good news every single night, worship with local believers, pray for and with them & bear witness to miracles!
• Parent Vision Trip: My mom got to come serve with me in India.  It was such a wonderful time to spend together & experience Indian culture.
• Our hosts & our ministry were incredible and life-changing.

Hard parts –

• The food! I spent the first two weeks – every meal in hiccups & tears because my body rejected just about every aspect of Indian food (SO SPICY!).
• Squatty potties & bucket showers.
• Indian traffic & Indian Uber & bus rides into the city (sometimes we would literally get dropped off in the middle of a busy 8 lane road).

 

Nepal: 

Highlights –

• Spot it. It’s a simple and fun game Court carried the whole race – we played it a lot both here and India. 
• As a way to celebrate & process the month, my team rented a paddle boat – we spent the afternoon on Lake Phewa, worshiping, praying, talking, debriefing, & spending time with the Lord – it was beautiful.
• Mountain biking to the Pagoda. It was so hard but SO worth it. Also Dan wiped out coming down the mountain, that was hilarious (he was also laughing).
• We met an incredible family, were introduced to dahl bat (delicious Nepalese food) & got to spend Easter with local believers.  It was a once in lifetime kinda experience.
• Nepal debrief in Kathmandu.
• Kathmandu & Pokara – I LOVED NEPAL! Cutie coffee shops, amazing culture everywhere: from the clothes, to the decorations, to the Hindu religious symbols, it was all breathtaking. 
• Momo’s & pani puri (spicy Nepalese food – but so fun to eat!)

Hard Parts – 

• Because we spent the month in a few hostels, we were immersed, for the first time, in a younger, party-oriented crowd.  There was a lot of drinking, smoking, and offense language/conversation.  It was surprising because I realized: “this is what I came from,” but I felt uncomfortable to be surrounded by it again.  
• The 7 hour, most bumpy bus ride I have ever been on (from Kathmandu to Pokara and back).
• The air in Kathmandu was visibly polluted so several people on our squad had respiratory issues that month.
• Walking alongside Sarah as she grieved her Nano’s death.  It was wonderful to hold a memorial service for next to the lake.

  

Armenia:

Highlights –

• Our air bnb! It was within walking distance to a bus stop, a great grocery store & a few cute parks – we got to cook all our meals for the first time & it was awesome.
• “Snowboarding.” – my teammate Dan REALLY wanted to go snowboarding.  We learned all the ski places were closed this time of year, but found a ski lift that was running in Trazkador, so we took a taxi out there and began our adventure.  Wes brought his drone and we “snowboarded” on our backs down a hill.  It wasn’t what Dan was hoping for, but it was definitely fun!
• Adventure day at Lake Sevan: the water was literally jade colored, it was beautiful.
• Getting to see all the monasteries & gaze at Mount Ararat nearly every day.
• Spending time with the Lord every day watching the sunrise out our front window.
• Learning about Armenian culture and history.
• Getting involved with a local church – Yerevan International Church – and loving who we met & what we learned about.

Hard Parts –

• Because this was our second ATL (Ask the Lord) month in a row, our ministry was different and challenging.  At times we found it difficult to decipher what the Lord wanted us to do.
• We thought we were going to a country that spoke a lot of English, but we quickly learned that no one actually speaks a language we know (the main languages were Armenian & Russian).
• Allowing myself to rest more, instead of feeling like I always had to be doing something.
• The 8 hour time difference made it really challenging to figure out a good time for both Eric and I to talk.

 

Georgia:

Highlights – 

• Month 8 debrief, in Tbilisi! Our hostel was so fun, modern & within walking distance to so many things in the town.  We also got the opportunity to sit with our leadership and talk about our values, the future, and how we see and hope to see God in all of it.
• Team changes – for me, it felt like a much smoother transition than the first time.  It was awesome to see how how each person on my squad celebrated & honored one another as they each stepped into/out of new roles.
• Getting to know team BAMMM!
• Getting the opportunity to travel home and celebrate the weddings of two very special couples in our life & of course getting to see Eric! 

Hard Parts –

• Being by myself for the first time in 9 months – with 16+ hours of travel and an 8 hour layover somewhere in Germany.  
• Saying goodbye to Eric…again.
• Realizing my time on the race was quickly coming to a close.

Romania:

Highlights – 

• We combined our adventure days & got to spend a weekend in Greece!
• I learned I love getting to do ministry-related administrative tasks.
• I learned a lot about evangelism and how the Lord has equipped me with the gift of building relationships and encouraging other believers.
• Living with my whole squad again was redeeming for me because month two (Ecuador) was really hard for me. 
• I also got to ring in year 26 in Romania, which was unforgettable – I felt so celebrated!

Hard Parts –

• Saying goodbye to team BAMMM, feeling like we didn’t get a ton of time as a team, compared with other months with our previous two teams.
• In the region of Romania we served in, we learned that there were a higher population of people who practice witchcraft. As a squad, there was a lot of discussion about spiritual warfare, spiritual authority and demonic/dark activity. Like Paul wrote in his letter to the Ephesians: “Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (Eph 6:12), and then he goes on to talk about putting on the armor of God to protect us from these unseen forces.  I am so thankful to have learned so much about the spiritual realm this year & appreciate the different views and experiences each person has.  Romania was an awesome month because I think after a year of challenging personal and spiritual experiences, it was great to be able to put into practice what I’ve learned – specifically learning what it looks like to “pray continually” (1 Thess. 5:16) and in every circumstance.

 

Spain/Portugal:

Highlights –  

• I feel surprised looking back on this month, realizing it was absolutely one of my favorites.  Walking the Camino is something I never would have done in my life, had I not been given this opportunity.  The exercise, the culture of the Camino & getting to share with strangers what we had been doing for the past 10 months was incredible.
• Gifting my bible to my new Irish friend, Emma was a sweet & divine appointment in Hontanas, Spain.
• Walking through fields and fields of sunflowers.
• Walking and finishing all 300-ish miles across Northern Spain. (Burgos –> Santiago)
• Final debrief.  I’m probably going to write a whole other blog, man it was so good. 
• Surfing in Porto, Portugal!
• Resting in knowing that it’s only by God’s goodness, intention, and grace that Eric and I made it through the year of distance.

Hard Parts –

• After hiking for two weeks with not a single blister, one day we hiked in the pouring rain for 3 or 4 hours & my feet were never the same.  My pinky toes immediately began to swell & bubble… I’ll spare you the details, but lets just say my toes are still not fully recovered or normal looking & it’s mid-October!
• Saying goodbye to the people I have grown to love & live with & serve alongside. 

N squad, it’s been an incredible year & I am filled with gratitude + joy when I think of you.