As of today I have been on the world race for 102 days.
It’s hard to believe that it has been over 100 days since I said goodbye to friends, family, and comfortable life in America and said hello to life on the world race which has brought some of the best and hardest days of my life.
To celebrate 100 days on the race, here are 10 things I have learned on this journey so far…
1. The race isn’t all adventure, beautiful views, and breathtaking moments. You see a lot of pictures of beautiful scenery or fun adventures because that is often when I have my camera on me, but day-to-day life on the race doesn’t consist of these things. Day-to-day life is corn flakes breakfast, piling into a smelly van, sweating in places I’ve never sweated before, and serving however we are asked whether it is washing dishes or washing a kid’s feet at the city dump.
2. That leads me to another lesson I’ve learned: Ministry doesn’t always look like you think it would. Sure, I have spent time at the city dump, loving on orphans, building homes, and many other things but many times it is much more simple than that. It’s befriending the barista at the coffee shop, breakdancing in the park, talking to a taxi driver, or taking a selfie with a kid.
3. Transportation in other countries is crazy. Here are a few situations I have found myself in: fitting eight people plus bags and groceries into a 5 person vehicle, literally hanging out the door of a rapidito, riding in the back if a pickup truck, buses breaking down on the side if the road, or lying on the floor of a bus because there weren’t enough seats. However, I have a feeling the worst is yet to come.
4. Community living. Back home the groups of people that you live, work, go to church with, and hang out with are usually different. But on the race you are with the same people 24/7 and alone time doesn’t exist. You see your teammates when they are at their best and when they are at their worst. And they see the same in you. There is no hiding. Instead you learn to love each other through it all and encourage each other to grow into the men and women God created each of you to be.
5. Hot dogs are a main food source in Central America. Seriously, I have eaten more hot dogs in the past three and half months than I have in the past three years.
6. There comes a point where things that once might have shocked you no longer do. Like yesterday when a cow tried to walk into our house, a bat landed in the dining area, and as I was going to bed a millipede was crawling on the wall near my bed. When did I reach the point where none of this was weird? I mean, I didn’t even care enough to get up and kill the millipede.
7. God is in intimately involved in and cares about each detail of our lives. “For we do not have a great high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses…” Hebrews 4:15. He knows, understands and cares about the struggles we have each day. He wants us to bring these things to Him and lay them at His feet. Some days this means praying that the gecko that was in your bed earlier is no longer there when it is time to go to bed.
8. You discover that you need less than you think you do. Things that are considered necessities at home become luxuries on the race. You see so many people living without these things and learn not only to not to take these things for granted but also realize that they are not completely necessary. For example: showers. Don’t get me wrong these are great things to have and it definitely improves your life and the lives of your teammates when you take one but in a pinch baby wipes and febreeze will suffice.
9. Be flexible. We learn to live by the motto, “Hurry up and wait.” Schedules are more like guidelines anyways, right?
10. Dream big dreams. Something the Lord has been teaching my teammates and I is that He created each of us uniquely with specific passions and skills and that He has a vision for our lives that is far beyond anything we can imagine now. He is calling us to step out of comfort and into the unknown, all the while trusting He is with us and that He is the same God who blessed Abraham and Sarah with children when it seemed physically impossible, who was able to make the sun stand still, and the One who raised Christ from the dead.
