So what does day to day life look like on the Race?
Well, it’s NEVER the same.
(I must preface…we live in a perpetual state of not knowing exactly what is going on. It’s the…”Um, I don’t know” mantra. For example, our conversations with each other sound like this: When is dinner? I dunno. Do we get internet here? I dunno. Are you sleeping in a bed this month? I dunno. Where are you traveling tomorrow? I dunno. Does your stomach hurt? YES! (This is exaggerated a little, but closer to the truth than you think)
Each morning I wake up, next to someone different of course, at a different time, 4am or 8am. It depends what team I’m visiting, when feedback ended last night, what time ministry starts, or what time the train, plane or bus leaves, or when the roosters join in a chorus right outside my window (not a fan of that one).
Breakfast – ALWAYS different. Cereal one day, Musli the next. African ground nuts with oranges. SOMETIMES there’s an egg breakfast (Praise God!). Once I got lucky and got the hard boiled egg with no yoke.
Laughing is sanity, and spontaneous. We must laugh to survive; a racer falling through an African squtty potty, 29 people squeezed in a 10 passenger Matatu, stealing bites of sandwich, pad locking Jedidiah’s tent while he’s still inside, oh the fun!
Prayers – anytime, anywhere, and for any reason, it’s BEAUTIFUL. We gather and pray out loud; For Mary in Uganda battling alcoholism, for 9 yr-old Angel the Filipino orphan who ran away last night, for Attorney Sharon in Kenya as she prepares to meet with the Mayor of Nairobi, for our teammate to be healed from Malaria, for food tonight to eat, for unity in our team, for…EVERYTHING!
Lunch, what is it? I dunno. We’re 16 racers, following Pastor Zsombar walking down the streets of Romania and he turns left into a building and BAM, there’s two tables with 19 place settings, LUNCH! 3-course meal Mmmm, it was good. Or, Megan asks, “Noe, it’s 2pm, we haven’t eaten yet, and we have 2 more house visits to do in 20 minutes, what do we do?” Noe replies, “Well, let’s walk across the street and buy a loaf of bread, peanut butter, and jam. This can feed all 8 of us for less than the $1/meal per person budget.” Yes folks, your money is stewarded wisely. And cheaply! 🙂
Ministry, you do EVERYTHING! I know my identity, my giftings, so I specialize in those; I sit with Lucy at her hospital bed encouraging her, play a pick up futbol game with 10yr olds, then eat lunch with my new friends. Play my guitar in the park, cowheard, plant banana trees, build a straw hut, teach a congregation, lead and encourage team leaders and teams on the squad, help plan the movement of 51 racers from country to country, continent to continent. Ministry is beautifully different and exhilarating.
Feedback ROCKS! Each day every team has ‘family time.’ We sit around the dinner table, or squeeze in a tent, or next to the Kenya Airlines closed ticket counter, and Feedback! We compliment sermons preached, patience at dinner, good attitudes, and each others personal growth. On the flip side, we challenge each other for more patience, softness with tone in words, to release fear of speaking, to believe self worth. Feedback, daily, is life giving, and a cornerstone of the Race.
Randomness. This is everything else a day could include. Read chapter 9 of “A Proverbs 31 Man” : 2 hour one-on-one talks with David or Liz : update facebook : watch “Braveheart” on a mini-laptop : sit in a hospital waiting room : napping (nevermind, doesn’t happen) : guitar and djembe break out session : blog writing/posting : skype convo’s with mom : daydreaming, daydreaming, daydreaming : God time.
Oh ya, and here’s what is NOT part of day to day life. This might help you understand how we can have 3 different 2 hour conversations with each other, and minister, and facebook, and skype, and summo wrestle fight, all in one day….No TV, no Surfing, no homework, no driving, no DMV lines, no sleep (j/k mom, I do sleep a little).
There is one and only one consistency for me on the race…MY STUFF! I move homes, villages, countries, every few days, LITERALLY. When I walk into the house, room, or to my grassy knoll, of where I will live (sleep), I SET UP MY STUFF! I meticulously unload my backpack and spread out my few clothes, my ziploc baggies of nick nacks, my electronics, books/journals, and my toiletries. THAT’S IT FOLKS, these are all my life belongings, nothing more, nothing less. And Before I do anything (minister, eat, talk, poop) I LOVE to make a place my HOME, even if just for a night 🙂
