It takes a village - Explore Archived World Race Alumni Blogs

Community | noun (plural communities): a group of people living in the same place or having a particular characteristic in common

If you’re talking to someone about the World Race, you probably also hear the word “community” mentioned about 15 times in that same conversation. Community is a huge aspect of what this gap year is about. It’s a daunting thought to a lot of racers; to go for a year and live with people who were raised very differently than you, who you don’t actually get to choose. I grew up in a huge family that invited about anyone and everyone into, treating them like they were there forever, like they were family (I actually am still finding people in my family that aren’t actually my family members, we just call them aunt and uncle). This made coming on the Race fairly easy for me – diving into not only community but also quickly learning to love the 30+ people I was living with every day. Although this wasn’t a huge challenge for me necessarily, the Lord still provided mass amounts of growth through each and every month of this community living lifestyle that I far too often take for granted.

India: All Squad – Ongole, India didn’t quite have the best street cleaning system so rats were everywhere and anywhere they could fit themselves into…including our room. One night, about 5 of us were sitting watching a movie when a rat the size of a small cat comes scurrying in. Proving the stereotype true, we all began screaming at the top of our lungs, some peeing their pants (not naming names), and trying to find words to summon the guys, such as: “it needs to die,” “I’m going to vomit,” and “it’s getting closer, find help.” After we got about the entire city’s attention, the squad was gathered around our room trying to figure out what to do with this thing. That’s when Jackson comes in, corners it, takes off his shoe, gets in fighting stance, and bashes this thing’s head right into the ground…on Lindsay’s newly bought saree.

Nepal: Sister Team – The Himalayan mountain range during sunrise is one of the most beautiful sights I have ever seen, and probably will ever see, in my life. But, it’s even better if you were hiking the night before in the pitch black, freezing rain, muddy mountainside to get there. Our ministry host got a little lost on our way to the hostel we were supposed to be staying at and the night began to come very quickly. As we were hiking, it started dumping rain and hail right on top of us. While this was a miserable hour, it was also one of the best on the race. The singing of “I’ll Fly Away” kept us moving, the dancing kept us – somewhat – warm, and the fact that we could always count on someone sliding and falling about every 2 minutes kept us laughing… hard. We finally made it to the hostel, and the next morning we woke up and realized we were in one of the most stunning places on earth. We hiked up a little higher to get a better view and stood together in awe of what was before us.

Zimbabwe: Original Team – We had this taxi driver named Eddie who would pick us up every morning and take us home every evening from ministry. About two weeks in of us being there, he handed us the aux cord. I’m not sure what I was expecting from this, but I know it wasn’t blaring “Happiness” by NeedToBreathe with all of us singing at the very top of our lungs, Rodrigo singing back up in the highest pitch voice you could imagine, and Eddie dying laughing the entire time. Eventually we got to the point where Eddie would just hand the aux back to Rod and he would already be laughing knowing what was to come.

Zambia: Manlesstry Team – This is the month that about every African illness invaded my body and I wasn’t looking or doing so hot. While this absolutely sucked, I was living with 7 other girls who made me laugh to the point where I would begin throwing up again because my stomach couldn’t take it. There are way too many events to mention that kept me going this month, some including our pet chameleon, “Saucy” who we really did try to take care of but his eyes just ended up falling out, the very frequent hospital visits that almost always resulted in me laying there getting a butt shot and my team laughing in the background, Zebras running after us (by us, I mean Sara), and nights when no one could sleep from the heat or bugs so we’d all just end up in the hallway at 1am laughing at pretty much nothing but being in the company of one another.

Malawi: New Team – There isn’t much that compares to the quiet, early mornings in our Malawian home. Slowly, over the course of about 2 or so hours, everyone would stagger into our dining room, sip on coffee or tea, make and eat breakfast, read their bible and write in their journal. While it doesn’t seem like much, it was my favorite aspect of community during those two months. My team was wild – by wild I mean deciding to wax Elijah’s entire chest and Jackson’s legs out of boredom on our table…that we ate at… – at about every other part of the day, but from 5 to 8 am no one spoke, just sat in the sweet silence of one another’s peaceful awakening.

Ecuador: All Squad – The last three months we would live together, the time when we became a united family. Whatever or whoever you define as family – whether it’s a group of people that all smell the same from the laundry detergent, or it’s the daily silent conversation that consists solely of locking eyes with your “food switching” partner at dinner and knowing that you need to immediately swap the beans for the veggies to finish everything on your plate, or the simple fact of knowing everyone’s preference of coffee or tea, Hawaiian or pepperoni pizza – I am beginning to realize that it is one of the greatest gifts the Lord has given to us in this life. We have our fair share of brokenness in this home we all call Casa Blanca, but I wouldn’t trade it for the world. The amount of love that resides here is testament to who the Lord is and who He’s made us into these last 8 months.

It’s a bittersweet thing to think that in just a little over two weeks I won’t have any of this anymore. I won’t have the natural alarm clock of the busying house, I won’t walk into 15+ people greeting me, that I won’t be able to spit out my confusion of the gospel and be able to immediately have a conversation about it. There is such joy and sweet memories from the truths of this community I have been emerged in for the last 9 months: I have known people who have actually brought countless people to the Lord. I have walked alongside people who have played a huge part in my own salvation. I have lived with people who have laid their own wants and needs, their own comforts and time, their past lives and future plans down at the cross daily. The people that were once only faces 9 months ago are now family that I can’t imagine life without. It took a village to get me here, and I am eternally grateful for every single one of them.

The joy of new countries