GREETINGS PEOPLE OF EARTH!
I feel enough time has passed I can finally sit down and reflect on my crazy, epic adventure. I haven’t even officially been back in the States for a year yet… but wow. What a weird, uncomfortable, and fast past 12 months.
ANYWAYS.
I prefer visuals, so over the course of my year abroad, I kept up with a video diary of 1-2 second clips per day. If you’d rather just see my year-long journey in ten minutes or so, please enjoy it here: Rebecca’s World Race!
Finally, without any further ado, here are the answers to the questions I was asked upon returning home…
What were the most eye-opening and heart-warming moments on the journey?
Okay! Let’s hit the ground running, then!
Eye-opening: (1) the South Sudanese refugee camp theatrical competition – see my blog “Imvepi Refugee Settlement”. (2) The spiritual warfare in Kenya – it made me aware that I have no idea what to do in times like that. (3) The mountains in Peru and stars in Chile – the world is literally brimming with beauty if you only look. (4) When the Chinese news stations all blamed the burning of Notre Dame on “Muslims” – it made me sad and scared how news stations can blatantly lie and how masses will believe them. (5) Visiting the malls in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – they were more eloquent and celebratory than any mall I’d ever seen… there are really too many “eye-opening moments” to recount.
Heart-warming: (1) My bond with Alicia, a Chilean foster child. She and I played soccer, sang songs, and talked about some real heart-break. (2) My goodbye to Moses, my Rwandan host/pastor… when we were getting on the bus to leave after an entire month, Moses and I held hands and cried in a parking lot! (3) Anytime kids around the world played with my hair or tried to braid it. (4) Realizing that the most precious thing is to give your time to others.
What advice would you give to a future world-racer?
Oh, man. I’d honestly say this: know that you are a part of the BODY of Christ. Everyone you go with will bring something to the team that no one else can offer: there are ministries you will feel like you changed the world in, and there are ministries that you’ll feel like others are better fit to work in. It’s okay that not every month feels like you were the best version of yourself or the most helpful. That’s the beauty of the body: we have different functions and strengths. It’s awesome if you let it be.
Tell us something you learned about God that you didn’t know before the trip.
The more freely you worship, the deeper your relationship with God becomes. Sing! And not just the words to the song in time. Draw! Dance! Jump, sweat, laugh during worship.
God is this over-arching presence throughout time… the Holy Spirit will speak in miraculous ways if you take time to learn to listen… identity should be found in who GOD says you are.
How has your world view changed?
Everything feels closer. Christ IS hope and shalom, y’all. He just is.
What is the most important lesson you’ve learned and how are you going to take that back home and into daily life there?
The most important lesson I learned on the World Race was how to listen when people are telling me how I can grow. Others’ opinions can be strong, and not shared in the best way… I learned how to put emotion and “the need to be right” aside to prioritize relationships and humility. You don’t get to tell someone else if you’ve hurt them or not… that’s for them to share with you… your job is to LISTEN.
Thorns and roses. Best and worst moments. Would you do it again? Do you think an adult tour would work? Do you now appreciate your new perspective? Next steps? I’m gotta million questions. 🙂
Roses: the adventure… the astonishing, Dr. Seuss like mountains in China and Vietnam & the up-the-mountainside-housing in Colombia & whitewater rafting on the Nile River in Uganda & the plethora of languages & the friendships that were overflowing with laughter & the vibrant Rwandan skirts & the Atacama Desert stargazing in Chile & hiking Rainbow Mountain with a group from Costa Rica in Peru & the music – oh, the music! The Peruvian windpipes, and the African drums, and the Asian flutes and chimes… it was exquisite.
Thorns: the MOSQUITOES in Africa & the food poisoning & the heat in Southeast Asia in April… the demonic oppression and the team division we endured. The miscommunications and the disagreements within our squad. The rumors we allowed ourselves to speak over one another.
Best moments: worshiping with my squad, moments of spiritual victory or artistic expression! When Riley braided my hair or Alicia laughed or Shelby made the cutest face at me. When I almost gave Morgan a heart attack when I dreamed a spider fell on my face and I YEETED out of bed. When I held hands with Rob on the way to a child’s funeral and I knew we were in it together. When Rachel and I realized JUST how alike we both were in our DRAMAAA! When Renee and John took me to dinner in Thailand, and when I saw my parents for the first time after not seeing them for 7 months… it was SO SWEET to sprint towards my mom and envelope her in a hug & then to sneak up on my dad and hug him from behind.
Worst moments: any moment where we were defeated or divided.
Would I do it again? Honestly, probably not. I would consider leading alumni leading a team at some point for a few months! But I would not do another World Race caliber journey… It was a LOT.
Would an adult world tour work? I think with the right, adventurous adults, it could honestly be so amazing… they may need slightly nicer living conditions for their physical bodies to feel okay though…
Do I appreciate my new perspective? 100%. I don’t think I will even fully understand just how the World Race impacted me for at least another year… however. I know how I view time, God, others, the church, and worship have been forever changed in the most beautiful of ways.
Next Steps: a year after the Race, and I’m still working on this one. This past year, I have been working in senior care at independent living, assisted living, and skilled nursing facilities with Balfour Senior Living. I love this organization, and I love my many jobs… and to be totally honest, it has been a complete honor to serve these people during the COVID-19 pandemic. It has been heartbreaking at best as the world around us and within us deteriorated. But I’m so glad I got to spend my pandemic experience fighting for these people and loving them with everything I had. As far as “what’s next”… Ask me again in 15 weeks! I may be going back to school… I’ll know by the end of the summer!
What was the hardest part? Of all the places you saw, where would you most like to return to? Of all the people you met, who made the greatest impression on you? Where do you feel you were able to make the greatest difference?
Hardest part: for me, it was probably the spiritual warfare in east Africa. I just got wrecked over and over. I don’t think I ever figured out how to navigate it.
Where I’d return to: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Hands down. I’d move there if I had a reason to!
Who made the greatest impression: For this, I was trying to challenge myself to pick just one person. And I literally can’t. There are so, so many in both good and bad ways. So instead, I will pick a moment that had a great impression on me: in southeast Asia, there was one particular street beggar who caught my attention every time I passed him. He was a young boy who often sat with his mom and little sister. My heart for this boy grew tremendously in the weeks we were there. I told my sister about him, and she sent me funds to go buy him brand new toys to give to him. So, I did. And when I went to give it to him, he was gone. After almost a week of searching, and on one of our last nights in the area, I saw him. I approached the little family, and in the city center of one of the busiest streets I’ve ever been on (thousands of people walking by every hour), God put it on my heart to sit with them. They didn’t speak any English, but they seemed okay with me joining them after I handed them food and toys. So, I sat. On the dirty cement, being overwhelming ignored by the hundreds of people walking by. I just sat. And I tried to take it in… the smells, the emotions, everything. I wanted to do my best to understand as much as I could in the minutes I simply existed with them. The best moment came when a face emerged from the swarms of people and he shoved his phone towards me. After observing what I was doing, this man had used a translator app and had written in Arabic something along the lines of “you are the light of humanity.” And all I could think as I started to tear up was, “Jesus! He sees you through me. He is perceiving your love.” And all I had to do to show off Jesus in that moment was sit on the cement with the young beggar boy.
Where I made the biggest difference: The main three that come to mind here are (1) helping Pastor Moses fundraise in Western cultures for his churches in Rwanda. I helped him create financial tables, etc. and our presentation ended up raising a substantial amount. (2) helping Vuthy build a business plan from start to finish for his Cambodian Oil of Joy company so he could apply for an Australian loan for expansion – I just felt like I did a job that no one else could do. (3) when I got raised up to be a worship coordinator… I just remember we got to help lead the squad into radical encounters with the Holy Spirit in beautiful ways. My favorite memory in that role was leading the squad to sing a worship song in Spanish (Milagroso) while living in Chiang Mai, Thailand.
What’s the food that has taken you by surprise during your travel?
Vietnamese pho / all types of tentacles and such in Asian food… SOOOO good.
Also, in Uganda, they make french-fry like things out of many types of roots – I thought they were amazing (though some of my team thought they were bland!).
Also these sausage stuffed peppers in China. No idea what the spices were, but I loved them.
What was the most memorable time? And why?
I know Shelby will cringe if she ever reads this… but I would have to say dancing as hard as we could in Malaysia. Honestly, we had gone through some really tough months (physically, emotionally, mentally, spiritually, etc.), and we just needed to be light & silly. And so, we went out with some people from the hostel we were staying in and we danced. We “ugly” danced. And we had an absolute BLAST.
Who were your favorite people you encountered?
Now this question almost isn’t fair. I could go on for DAYS about the people that were my favorite- including Patrick in the photo immediately above this! So, I have selected a few to share, but this is NOT all-inclusive.
My 7th grade classroom in Chile:
Arif’s family in Kenya:
Naseem, Epool, Syuk, and Erin in Malaysia: 
Moses, Mary, Lori, Deborah, Jay, Josiah, and Isaiah in Rwanda:
Vuthy and Connie in Cambodia:
Marco from Costa Rica in Peru:
Of course, my squad:
And, last but not least, my ride or die, my absolute best friend in the world, Shelby:
Thank you to all who have followed my beautiful, challenging, incredible World Race journey for the past two and a half years. It has been the best thing I could have ever done, and it continues to grow me and give me opportunities and introduce me to new community today.
I am FOREVER THANKFUL for my World Race.
xoxo
