Give Me a # Crunch.

I visited a total of 11 countries. (17 if you count driving through and layovers)
 
I spent 249 hours on 24 different airplanes.
 
And 170 hours on public charter buses, 101 of those hours being African buses.
 
My backpack weighed an average of 44 pounds, holding all of my belongings for the eleven months.
 
There are 45 members of “B Squad,” of which I was on a team with 13 of them at different times.
 
I broke down in tears approximately 41 times.
 
There were 6 “small world” encounters where I ran into friends from Georgia.
 
Friends and family provided $16,200 of financial support for my journey, not to mention the $2,500 First Presbyterian Church of Rome supported me when I needed to fly home.
 
I was 24 years old throughout my entire Race.
 
I began the Race with $40.00 in my Skype credit account and ended with $0.36.
 
My computer averaged 2 bars whenever I found a wi-fi hotspot.
 
The e-mails to my friend, Mary Magoni (S Squad), averaged  1859 words.
 
I did Insanity a total of 45 days and ran an estimated 84 miles, but still managed to gain 10 pounds.
 
Each person was given a budget of $1.25 per meal.
 
The price of a fresh banana-avacado-carrot smoothie in Vietnam was a mere $0.50
 
… the same price as an authentic plate of Pad Thai in Thailand.
 
However, a tall chai tea latte from Starbucks was $7.25 in the Amsterdam airport.
 
I spent $9.00 for a 1-hour, full body massage in Cambodia.
 
Somehow I managed to only shave my legs 1 time in Nicaragua and bucket-wash my hair 2 times in Uganda.
 
I mentioned Chick-fil-A an average of 4 times per day in casual conversation.
 
I relaxed on 8 different beaches, watching the sunset over 3 different seas.
 
I can now count to ten in 5 different languages.
 
I’ve been called “mzungu” (“white person”) an estimated 2,102 times.
 
Nearly 743 African children have received a high-five from me and I made 12 African babies cry because of my skin color.
 
 I preached to a congregation from the church pulpit 14 times.
 
I led children in singing, “Making Melodies” 15 times. (Although my teammates may think it’s more like 2,000 times)
 
There are 9 days left until I return to Rome, Georgia and 30 days from now I will re-unite with my squad in Gainesville, Georgia.
 
Today was the 318^th day of my World Race journey and our final day of scheduled ministry.
 
I preached my 14^th sermon to a small congregation and it lasted 37 minutes.
 
That small congregation of 22 village Africans in Lilongwe, Malawi, took up a love offering for me.
 
…it totaled a mere $2.57but blessed my heart 100 percent because they gave, out of their poverty, as an act of love.
 
 
 
In my previous blog I mentioned how it was hard not to count down the days.  As I reflect on these past 11 months, I’ve been able to minister to countless people and share with them the priceless knowledge of the Gospel. Throughout it all, my faith has grown in an immeasurable way.  The Lord has done numerous great works, in and through me, and I praise Him for choosing me, one person in a sea of millions, to experience The World Race. He knew it was what the many hearts of those I encountered needed. He also knew it was what my heart needed.