June 24th, Day 159 of the race. 1/2 way mark. Wow where has the time gone. The race has gone so fast but January launch seems like it was years ago. I didn’t know how to celebrate this day, so here are 159 things I learned on the race so far…
1. Don’t walk past a cow too closely. He will bully you…
2. Its okay to brush your teeth with the sink water
3. Don’t eat too much greasy food at once.
4. Always carry toilet paper with you. ALWAYS
5. How to properly boil water for 4 minutes before consuming.
6. Patience on travel days.
7. If offered food, eat it, don’t ask what it is until after consumption.
8. Rice, learn to love eating it.
9. How to be obedient to God.
10. It is what it is.
11. When being proposed to, the answer is always “I’m married already to Jesus.”
12. Every part of the chicken is eaten, including the feet.
13. How to sleep in an airport.
14. How to sleep in a bus, a taxi, a tuk tuk…
15. Which essential oil to use
Lavender—bug bites
Peppermint—headaches, stomach aches
Lemon grass—prevent mosquitos
Thieves—sinuses
16. Ministry is life, life is ministry.
17. Cold drinking water is a rare commodity.
18. How to fit 4 people and huge bags in a small taxi.
19. How to fit 3 people and 50 pound bags in a Tuk Tuk.
20. Becoming uncomfortable to make others comfortable.
21. How to appreciate hot showers.
22. Never wear a v-neck shirt to bible study outside, bugs with get stuck in your bra.
23. You can survive not showering or washing your hair everyday.
24. How to forgive.
25. How to travel with 30 people, crossing borders.
26. How to hand wash your cloths.
27. How to defend your faith.
28. Perfecting the Gospel story every time you share it.
29. To be a great leader, you must follow.
30. How to play frogger in the streets
31. How to fight for your introvert time.
32. Perfecting zoning out people with my headphones in.
33. How to use a squatty potty without getting pee all over you.
34. How to plan a wedding in five hours under $50
35. Always find the atm with air conditioning.
36. How to convert USD to Cifas, cedis, reils, baht, kyat, rupees….
37. AirDrop is life, unless you have an Android
38. Trust God in everything
39. God’s timing is always perfect
40. Community is tough
41. Community is worth it
42. Community speaks life and calls you higher
43. FEEDBACK SAVES LIVES—Hebrews 3:13
44. Do not read Ezekiel 23
45. I warned you.
46. Isaiah 43:4 “I love you”
47. A smile is a universal language
48. Worship is powerful in every country and every language
49. If you buy a new clothing item, drop and item.
50. We love because He first loved us.
51. Bartering in a market
52. When the price is too high, slowly walk away, they’ll change their mind
53. Hard drives with movies are priceless
54. Always have a full water bottle
55. Know where your flashlight is
56. Patience with slow wifi
57. Street food, try it
58. How to build a bamboo hut
59. How to cut down bamboo
60. Machetes are an universal tool
61. Learn the local language, it will be greatly appreciated
62. The tourists in Nepal are crazy, they walk around barefoot
63. You can fit 30 people in one truck.
64. How to successfully break someone out of a locked room
65. Never put everyone with team phones in one taxi, the other taxi will get dropped off at the wrong location
66. Hand “shakes” are an universal language
67. Build the kingdom by recklessly pursuing Him
68. How to give constructive feedback
69. How to give feedback in the moment.
70. It will take two weeks to learn one song in French.
71. You will remember it 5 months later.
72. On average it takes a non-believer 7 times to hear the Gospel before they accept Christ.
73. It’s okay to simply plant the seed, or help water it.
74. The best way to learn is to become the teacher
75. Stop and go lights and stop signs don’t exist in Africa or Cambodia.
76. God constantly speaks to you, you just have to listen.
77. I am Jesus’ disciple
78. I am called to “heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons.” Matthew 10
79. Jesu Tem
80. Relationships are not one sided, especially with God
81. Abide: John 15:5-8
82. Kids in Cambodia will ask you a million times to play bingo, you will always play bingo.
83. The glass is always half full.
84. Nothing goes to waste, including your septic waste. Makes great fertilizer
85. How to kill mice, scorpions, spiders, beetles, mosquitoes, ants, leeches etc
86. You can share the gospel with someone as much as you want but if you don’t continue to disciple them, they will fall back to their old self.
87. Seatbelts aren’t required everywhere
88. I have a beautiful singing voice
89. I love to worship God
90. It doesn’t matter how you worship God, what matters is the condition of your heart.
91. I am the King’s princess
92. He gives me the crown of life.
93. The king always arranges his daughter’s marriage, I trust that my King has that under control.
94. You may have to push a taxi when it runs out of gas.
95. I am an official Ghanaian. At least my Uber driver made it official.
96. I prevented true love and marriage from happening, making me the devil. (oh, Daniel)
97. Excalibur is a fencing company in Ohio.
98. Because I ate fofu in Ghana, Donald Trump won’t let me back in the country.
99. When someone says they heal fast, it doesn’t mean you can stab them with a fork.
100. Travel days can last four/for days….
101. Ministry never pauses
102. Send letters home with your mentor, SQLs, coaches etc to mail. It’s much cheaper postage.
103. How to count to 100 in Khmer
104. Couple’s yoga
105. Sunlight through the clouds is my thing with God.
106. Ministry could look like going to the mall, watching Avengers, and evangelizing.
107. Getting stepped on by an elephant can actually happen.
108. How to play Uno the exciting, intense, stressful way.
109. Lord of the Rings makes an excellent background music for Uno.
110. The king in Thailand is a good man.
111. Umbrellas, buy one. They are great in rain and sun.
112. Sometimes the power randomly goes out.
113. I am very knowledgeable of the Bible.
114. Sarcasm is a blessing and a curse
115. Ministry is 90% just being present
116. Wake up each day asking God “what do You want to do today.”
117. Take initiative in my faith.
118. Ministry may not what I want it to be, because it is God’s ministry.
119. How to sing the Doxology in Khmer
120. I am not called to the race to have fun and relax.
121. You can choose to accept the lies that are told to me, or are in my head, or I can have God speak truth into them.
122. Feedback doesn’t have to sit well. We are humans. It can be against what God says. Ask God to speak truth.
123. Don’t pretend to be someone I’m not when talking to God.
124. Trust that I cannot fix all problems.
125. Stop waiting for God to tell you what to do, because He already did. It’s in the Bible. He calls us to make disciples, heal, serve, forgive and love.
126. Bidets make cleaning toilets much easier
127. Water buffalos love water
128. Ziploc bags are a necessity for the race
129. I can water color
130. How to make pancakes with oatmeal and a banana
131. How to eat gluten and dairy free
132. Knowing that you are forgiven is not enough, you need to truly believe and fully trust in that forgiveness.
133. How to speak fluent goat
134. How to make a YouTube video
135. How to patiently wait hours for your video to upload on YouTube
136. How not to get angry when it says “three minutes left” and the wifi goes out
137. Crispy noodle hotdogs are surprisingly good
138. Durian, DO NOT eat it
139. 30 people can get off the plane, go through immigration, grab our bags, check in to our flight, go through immigration, and security all in an hour.
140. MTV Cribs better look out, WR Cribs is where it’s at.
141. Wedding photography, it could be in my future
142. Never give up searching for stick deodorant
143. God is always in the places you least expect him
144. Fitting 9 girls in one small room, is possible.
145. Over packing is acceptable, if you’re willing to carry it.
146. You can eat French fries with chopsticks
147. Don’t do anything with your left hand, it’s dirty (its your poop wiping hand)
148. Never point the bottom of your feet at someone when sitting in Asia.
149. Religion is culture, culture is religion
150. People crave to hear the Gospel
151. Raising $17,700 is possible!
152. Everyone has a story to tell
153. How to make fresh spring rolls
154. Sometimes ministry is right in front of your face
155. What YWAM is
156. What the Enneagram is…
157. This list was much easier to make than expected
158. Every moment is a moment to grow.
159. Appreciate every single second of the race. Time will fly.
Yes #157 this list was much easier to make than I thought. Why? Because I journal everyday. I wrote down memories and lessons. Wow that could be #160…
Thank you all for reading! There is so much more I could share! Stay tuned for a 318 lessons learned at the end of the race! (Okay maybe I won’t write that one…)
