Hey guys! Sorry it’s been a minute (or two) since my last blog post. Time starts moving so fast and then all of a sudden it’s December 31st and you haven’t posted a blog in almost three months. Well, here’s a not-so-brief summary of the last four months!
The first month of my race was spent in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Each of the six teams on my squad went to a different ministry, except my team (Sonrisa) and another team (Ohava), we went to the same ministry. Our ministry was at a home for women and children in crisis and out first month there was mostly manual labor. We helped re-stone the driveway, we pulled weeds in their greenhouse, cleared out old mushroom bags from their mushroom house, cleaned up the banana tree garden, etc. We worked alongside the women who were staying at this home, so a bunch of the girls on our two teams got really close with them. The whole point of this home was to give women and children a safe place to stay if they came from homes of abuse, were a teen mother, or to give them a second chance. The people who ran this home taught these women how to have a garden and care for it, farm chores, kitchen prep, etc. I’m not going to lie, this first month was HARD. On top of being in a new country for the first time, God digging up things in my life that I didn’t want to deal with, and being so incredibly homesick, we were now working outside in the Thai sun, doing ridiculously hard work. I wasn’t only mentally tired but I was physically tired too.
My month two on the field was also spent in Chiang Mai but my team switched ministries because the home we were previously working at didn’t need as many people. We then went to work for Bookhouse. This “bookstore” was a place where donated Christian books, bibles, CD, VBS material etc that was donated came and was given out to the public for free. My team got to work alongside such amazing men who love Jesus more than anyone I’ve ever met. They were both so incredible and wise men of the Lord and it was so evident in the way they talked, worked and served. The first two weeks we were with them, our team worked in their storage containers, sorting huge boxes of books that had been donated. Boxes on boxes on boxes had to be taken from the storage cube, sorted and put in their designated places. The last two weeks we were at this ministry we went to the Bookhouse with the two men and helped there. Some of the boxes we had sorted at the storage containers were moved to the Bookhouse and we put them on the shelves. This part of ministry was my favorite (and not because there was AC in the Bookhouse) but during those two weeks we really were able to bond and build relationships with the men we were working with. We did a little work then sat and talked with them for two hours. We worked for a little then had lunch and talked with them for some more. Earlier when I said that these men were men of the Lord, I really meant it. They have a heart for Jesus and a heart for the community. The Bookhouse has changed so many people’s lives, including mine.
Outside of ministry times in Thailand we went to markets, waterfalls and played with elephants. We searched for coffee shops, went to the mall (it had AC) and ride around in sungthous and tuktuks. We played countless games of Dutch Blitz and someone was always losing a game of “what are the odds”. Thailand was such an amazing country, with so many beautiful things to see and people to talk to. One of my favorite memories from Thailand was the night I was sitting with Zoë on the balcony and a gecko dropped onto my lap from the ceiling. I jumped, the gecko scurried and I bring this story up at least once a week because it is literally one of the funniest things that has ever happened to me. The sound of the gecko smacking my thigh will forever be imprinted in our minds.
My third month on the field was spent in Georgetown, Penang in Malaysia. Our ministry was at PenHOP (Penang House of Prayer) and we did A LOT of interceding for the people of Malaysia. Tuesdays and Fridays were the most impactful for me though. Tuesdays we spent from 3pm to 10pm in the prayer room hanging out with Jesus and interceding in prayer and in worship. At first when they said we’d be in the prayer room for seven hours I thought that would be the hardest thing I’ve ever done, but I actually looked forward to it. Think about it… seven interrupted hours with the Lord of the universe… who would want to say no to that? And on Fridays we spent from 8pm to midnight in the prayer room praying and worshiping too. They would give us things to meditate on, scripture to read, and prayer requests for the nation of Malaysia. This past month my prayer life has flourished and I’m so thankful. I really feel as though I connected with the Lord in ways I never had before.
Malaysia was a month of rest, meaning I didn’t do a lot of exploring in my free time. But I had some of the best experiences when I did. FOR STARTERS, long story short, Zoë and I fought off NINE MONKEYS with sticks when they ran up to us on a beach and started taking our stuff (like my passport, wallet and phone). Another one of my favorite memories from my time in Malaysia was when Alyson, Sydney and I were able to go kayaking out on the ocean. Nothing extreme happened that day but we were able to spend quality time together doing something all three of us loved. During our time in Malaysia, our squad was able to celebrate our first major holiday on the field, Thanksgiving. I was a little emotional going into it, thinking about the traditions at home that I’d be missing out on and the people I missed. But a huge shoutout goes to Alyson and Sam O. for planning, decorating the house and making Thanksgiving extra special. We all ate KFC/Texas Chicken for dinner and had ice cream for dessert. After dinner we had a dance party and just hung out together as a family. It honestly was so good for my heart, not forgetting about home but adding this Thanksgiving to the list of wonderful memories from the Race.
And for our fourth month we are in the north east section of India in a dusty little village. Let me tell you something… Going from Thailand/Malaysia (TROPICAL COUNTRIES) to the north east part of India where it doesn’t get above 70° during the day and drops below 40° at night was a STRUGGLE. We are ALL freezing, some of us unpacked our sleeping bags for the first time, everybody is shopping in the local markets for long sleeve shirts and sweaters, we don’t get iced drinks anymore, only hot ones and we see our breath sometimes. It’s such a blessing to not be sweating 24/7 but SOMEONE SEND ME A SPACE HEATER. Some of the ministry opportunities we’ve been able to do are children’s day where we play games, sing songs and put on skits. We paint walls in a school, move sand/cement for an upcoming hospital for the village and spend some time in a rehabilitation center with the men. Out of the four months on the field so far, my time spent at the rehab has been my favorite ministry opportunity. The rehab is Christian based (and the surrounding villages are too) so the men in the program have a background in the church. Instead of bringing them something new in terms of religion, we were able to encourage them in what they already know and listen to what the Lord has/is doing in their lives. We have spent more time there than just on ministry days, a group of us go on some of our free days to just hang out and build relationships with these men. They’re all so sassy, competitive in volleyball, have a heart for singing/playing instruments and drinking red tea. There’s a possibility that we will be moving locations in India for the month of January and then coming back to this village in February for the remainder of our time in India, but it’s all tentative at this point. I’m not sure what this next month will look for my squad but we’re all very excited to see what 2020 looks like for us all. We then moved to another dusty little village a hop, skip and a jump away from where we were staying. It was a 15 hour bus ride through the mountains of India. We’ve made it safe and sound and are very excited to ring in the new year in this part of India!
So far, some of my favorite things /memories from our time in India are tea times in the morning (our host makes us chai tea and “happy happy” cookies before breakfast), our team sleeping in one mega bed to keep warm at night since it’s so cold and doing our dance competition. The village we are staying in does a “Krismas Flavor Nite” every year where teams of people dance in a competition for a prize. Our hosts asked our squad if we would participate, and if you didn’t know, our squad has a “little” obsession with dance offs and competitions… so our squad broke up into two teams and we each choreographed a dance to present to the judges. My team went all out (honesty both our teams did) and we had so much fun. Out of eight or so teams, my team got second place and won a box of Kit-Kats. Shout out to our fearless dance instructors Logan, Claire and Abby for bringing us this victory. (I’ll post the video on my Instagram @rosies.grand.adventure). We then were able to celebrate Christmas together as a squad (THANKS FUN COMMITTEE). We did Secret Santa through the whole squad and then just my team did our own little version of Christmas together. It truly was such a sweet experience to have with my family here.
The third day were were here in India the Lord told me to turn my phone off and have no outside communication. I was SO angry. How was I to talk to my mom? Or my sisters? Or my boyfriend? This made absolutely no sense. I was furious. But God actually walked me though every step of the way during that process. He walked with me despite my “kicking” and “screaming” and one thing I learned through this whole thing is that God is not intimidated by me. Not a single bit.
I really am sorry that it’s been so long since I posted a blog, I promise to be more intentional with my blog posting in the future. Thank you to everyone who keeps up with me and my grand adventures, I appreciate your love and support so much.
I have a prayer requests for those of you that support me through prayer: FUNDRAISING. I’m currently a little over $14k and I need to be at $16,600 by JANUARY 15th! That’s a little over $2k in 15 days. I’d love for you to spread the word and get the news out about my fundraising deadline so I’m able to stay on the field. Donations can be made at rosieferris.theworldrace.org.
- Thanks for reading! So much love!
