I have been on the World Race for approximately 70 days which is completely mind blowing. It absolutely does NOT feel like I have been gone for that long. It still shocks me to think that we are already more than a week into month THREE. The days are long but the Race is going by at lightning speed. So I have been living this life for a few months now and I wanted to share some of my favorite times on the Race so far.
BOLIVIA:
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We got to go to tea time at some of the church members house, Vicky and Alberto. They are cousins (fun fact: we all thought they were married until the last thirty minutes of tea time) and they are some of the most passionate people I know. Their love for the Lord is so evident in everything they do.
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Getting to go to the largest salt flats in the world, taking really fun pictures with our teams and being able to honor Anastasia’s life, our precious squad mate who passed away just before training camp in May.
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We leveled the yard at the church we were working with so the children could have a place to play and a place to have Sunday school. We used pick axes, shovels, moved wires, metal, thousands of plastic bottles and just had fun getting to know each other as we did it.
PERU:
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We got to host a VBS for the children in the neighborhood, the last day we did it we sang songs, a squad mate Ash shared the gospel and we got to give each of the children a toy. The boys got toy cars and the girls got dolls. We lined the kids up by age and gender and gave the gifts out one by one. The looks on their faces as they received a gift were incredible. One sweet little boy ran up to me ten minutes after I had given him the toy, tugged on my sleeve and said “Senorita, senorita, gracias!” with the biggest grin on his face. Nothing else mattered in that moment.
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Peru was all-squad month, so I lived with 44 other friends the whole month. It was the best. It did my extrovert heart so much good. One day we went to Haunchaco beach and had some squad time. We sang together and 5 people from our squad were baptized. It was such a special moment for us all.
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I had the opportunity to go into a woman’s prison and we sang, danced, shared the gospel and prayed with the ladies. It was such a privilege to be able to pray with them and tell them that there is HOPE even in what may seem like a hopeless situation.
ECUADOR (so far) :
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One word: orphanage. My dream of working in an orphanage finally came true and I couldn’t be happier about it. There are 18 children here, 13 of which have special needs. The Lord knew what I needed this month and I couldn’t be happier with where I am. I have already joked with some friends that I am not going to make it to month four on the Race, because I am never leaving.
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My favorite part of the month so far was when we took the kids on a walk. If you had told me months ago that I would be pushing a little boy who has stolen my heart in a wheelchair on a dirt road and up a HUGE hill, while looking at the gorgeous scenery of mountains and volcanoes, I would have thought you were crazy. But maybe I am the crazy one, because this IS what I am doing and I could never dream of doing something else at this moment.
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For the first time on the Race I am living with just my team. It was quite a switch going from living with 44 people to living with 5. We have become so much closer this month. We eat meals together, laugh a lot, have movie nights, and I even tried black bean “brownies.” Life with these girls is sweet.
So these are just a few of my favorite moments on the Race so far. The truth is some of these moments are some of my favorite moments of my entire LIFE. If the last 2 and a half months have been this incredible I cannot even comprehend how incredible the next 8 and a half months will be! The Lord is doing so much in my life while on the Race and I am so blessed to be here.
Here’s the deal. I know without a doubt that the Lord called me to the World Race and I know without a doubt that He is going to move mountains and continue to provide the funds for me to stay here. But I wanted to take a minute to talk about just that: where I am financially. I have had a lot of friends tell me that since I am on the World Race already they assumed I am fully funded. That is NOT the case! I have until January to raise the remainder of the funds for my Race: $3,434. I am currently 79% funded. I know that God will provide and I know that He is going to continue using my friends, family and maybe even complete strangers to do that.
I may be the one living out of a backpack, doing ministry in 11 countries but you are the person doing ministry in your own community. You could be the one who furthers the Kingdom by financially investing in my year. It’s not easy to ask for money, but I know that the Lord will provide for that which He has called me to and if I need to ask for support for that to happen, so be it. I will gladly do the uncomfortable to stay where I know God wants me.
To those of you who have already supported me financially, THANK YOU! You will never know how much it means to me, I have cried tears of happiness multiple times when I think of the wonderful people standing around me, helping me follow my dream.
Please pray about supporting my World Race, any amount helps, seriously, any amount! If you would like to support me, there is a link on the left side of my blog that says “support me!” Just click the link and follow the instructions! 🙂 Also, feel free to share this blog with your friends and family!
