You can train all you like, but there’s really no way to prepare for the moment you are dropped off in an unfamiliar country with no contact and no plan and told to “do ministry”.
I should qualify, that’s not exactly what happens. But in a lot of ways, that’s how it feels. So, here are some tips for the future racers out there. I hope this blog is honest, but also encouraging.
I am on an Expedition Squad, which is different from a traditional race route. Traditional routes usually move from host to host (a new one in each country), they usually travel by air as an entire squad, and will have one, possibly two, months that are “open” (previously, ATL – Ask the Lord). In contrast, Expedition rarely has hosts, we travel mostly by land in teams, and most of our months are open (we only had hosts twice).
So what does an “open” month mean?
Generally, it means you arrive in a country without a host or set ministry.
The idea is to ask the Lord where he is moving and who he is drawing you toward, then do ministry based on that. But as you’ve no doubt realized, arriving in a foreign country with completely different customs, spices, spiritual strongholds, etc. can be overwhelming. Should you try to navigate public transportation with your massive backpacks? How will you know what you’re eating without an English menu? Will anywhere in this country exchange money from your previous country, and if they do, can you negotiate a good rate? If you have a place to cook, where can you buy staples like rice, chicken, fruit, vegetables, etc.? Will any ATM in this entire city take your card? And dear Lord, WHY, just WHY IS IT NECESSARY TO HONK ALL. THE. TIME?!
Here are some tips to make your time as successful as possible:
Things To Be Aware Of For Any Traveler:
You will likely feel tired far more frequently than in your home country, if not all the time.
Interacting with “different” is overwhelming for your brain. Even if you don’t feel overwhelmed , your brain is processing new stimuli and trying to decide which ones are dangerous and which aren’t. You’ll notice the bird that sounds like a falling RPG. You’ll notice people’s expressions more than normal. The monkey climbing through the power lines out of the corner of your eye will make you jump. This is okay. It is normal, and it will wear off!
Smile. A lot.
Even if you’re mad at someone. Even if they’re not doing what you want them to do. If you’re smiling, they’re more likely to go out of their way to help you. Most countries you go to will be shame/honor, meaning that people are judged to be “good” by how much honor they have. (In America we are judged to be “good” by whether or not we are innocent of wrongdoing.) To disrespect a guest or someone asking for your help is the highest shame in these cultures, so they often will still help you, but you make it easier when you smile.
Transportation
Trains and metros are usually pretty easy to figure out. Taxis are great, but usually expensive and often require bartering. (Try to get a local to tell you how much it usually costs, otherwise you’ll likely get ripped off.) The bus system is an entirely different animal.
The best resource for taxis and buses is whoever’s in charge where you’re staying, be it host, hostel, or hotel. Wherever you go (even if a local takes you), be sure to drop a pin on maps.me (if you haven’t read my other post about must-have apps, click here to check it out). You can also make a note about which bus number you took and where you got off.
This is also a great thing to do for places you visit, in general.
Food
You’ll be working on a pretty tight budget (we averaged $4.5/day/person), so you’ll have to be economical with your food. If you have a place to cook, awesome! You can get a bag of rice that will last you two weeks for $0.20, if that. Eating out is also very doable, you just can’t pick the nice restaurants.
A note on street food: It’s not as dangerous as it seems. Can you get parasites? Yes, of course, if the food is undercooked. Good rule of thumb: only eat things you watch them cook in front of you. Will it upset your stomach? It might. Will you know what you’re ordering? Probably not.
That said, some of the best things I’ve found to eat are street food: e.g. salted limeade, a potato pancake with spicy chickpeas and sweet milk curd, fried chicken, yoghurt frozen on a cold stone, shwarma, etc.
Here are some tips for finding food (street or otherwise):
– Go where the locals are going. If you pass a place around meal time and it’s deserted, don’t eat there. Locals know where the good, non-diarrhea places are. If there are people inside eating, odds are you’re going to be just fine. While there, do not drink water that you do not open from the bottle.
– Google Translate App! Google Translate has a feature that allows you to take a picture of a menu and then translate it to English. Now, this isn’t foolproof, and sometimes you’ll have to choose between “Beef Face” and “Framed Arc”, but it’s better than nothing.
– Vegetarian is always a safe bet. You have a much higher chance of getting an upset stomach from incorrectly cooked meat than a vegetarian option. Places like India, China, and Nepal will have a plethora of vegetarian options, and you might be surprised by what you like! Also, veggie is typically cheaper =).
– If you can’t go vegetarian, make sure the food is hot. I don’t mean spices here, I mean temperature. Watch out for bones, though—most butchers don’t sell boneless meat!
– If possible, grab breakfast the night before. Remember how overwhelming everything is? Trust me, the last thing you’ll want to do when you wake up on your first day in a new country is brave the streets to find breakfast. If you can, grab breakfast while you’re out and about the previous night. Find a bakery—sometimes they’ll have half-price deals at night!
When in doubt, the corner-street cart usually sells good food for breakfast. Most places we stayed, we only had to go a few feet to find something we could eat in a pinch.
– Fruit, in most places, is safe. If you’re going to eat the skin (apples, berries) make sure you wash it first. If you feel really unsettled about this you can get a small bottle of grape seed oil and cart it around with you (soak fruit/veggies in 15 drops for 20 minutes), but I’ve found this isn’t strictly necessary. Things like bananas, mangoes, oranges, mangosteen, custard apples, and rambutan that you peel before eating are totally fine!
If you can’t find on the street, it probably isn’t safe to eat.In Nepal we found bananas and apples around every corner, but lettuce was impossible. Our host explained that they don’t eat lettuce during that time of year because during the rainy season it has chemicals on it that result in a lethargic sickness (yikes!).
Lodging
You will book your own lodging during an open month, but don’t be scared! You can easily book AirBnB, hostels (Hostel World is a good site!), or hotels using Google. If you use a third party booking site like Expedia, be absolutely sure they have confirmed with the hotel, even if they send you a confirmation email!
Some things to look for:
– Kitchen you can use
– Washing machine
– WiFi
– A private space (at least one room that’s not shared). This will come in handy for team time/feedback.
If you can’t find any of these, there will usually be cafes with wifi, washing services OR detergent, and you can usually find a roof somewhere to get some privacy =).
The first thing you should do upon arriving is have everyone bookmark the place you are staying on maps.me.
Ministry
So what exactly do you do during an open month?
That’s the beauty of it: anything is possible.
First and foremost, be open to how the Lord leads. You may go for a late night ice cream run and meet a piano teacher who invites you to her home. Perhaps you stop at a park while on your way to a coffee shop and meet some women who are dancing and decide to join. The daughter of the shop owner across the street may want to learn English.
These spontaneous moments are the best. Still, structure is important and helpful. Here is a general schedule that my team adopted month 3:
- Wake up, make breakfast.
- 20 minute devo/worship/word/meditation led by one team member
- 40 minute Bible study (we started in Ephesians) facilitated by another group member.
- Individual Prayer Time: ask the Lord what to do that day, then
- GO DO IT: (Here are some ideas)
- Prayer/Worship-walk the streets
- Visit temples, mosques, etc. and spend time (discreetly) worshipping God.
- Scope out parks/places where people congregate to see what relationships you can build. (Evening is the best time to do this since more people are out and about.)
- Go do something adventurous, and be open to the people the Lord puts in your way.
- Visit a cafe. These are great places to start conversations!
- Make plans with people you meet in your hostel/spend time in the common area of your hostel.
- Go out sharing. Have a simple evangelism tool on hand.
- Do a “treasure hunt”. Ask the Lord for things to look for, then go out and find them and see what he does!
- If you are musically inclined/have an instrument: put on an impromptu concert in a park.
- Do a 24 hour worship day.
- Grab/make dinner.
- Team debrief
- Feedback
- Review plan for the next day.
- Maybe a fun team activity?
**If you have T-Mobile, you will have 2G data in most places. Otherwise, make sure you download a translation file on Google Translate so you can talk to people!
