What was your best moment as a team?
Again, this is so hard because we had so many great moments, but the ones that flood into mind are the most simple of them all. We learned how to live so simply on the race and with that we learned how to make the best moments out of just being with one another. In Ethiopia, my team and I got incredibly close, so when we were just chilling on the couches in the living room laughing and drinking coffee, my heart was always so full. Those moments are some of my favorite from the entire World Race experience.
When was a time when you saw God’s hand working? In Ethiopia, as you probably know, we were working with refugees and one of the requirements we had in order to work with them was that we couldn’t teach about Jesus. This was hard and different than I expected, however after much prayer we had no fear that the Lord was going to work in big ways. About two months into working with these amazing people, the kids started “revolting” against us and sending us out of class. This was so odd because they usually welcomed us with more love than we could handle, so we knew something was going on. One day, it got really bad so we ended up having to go home early. Later on, our host went to check out what was happening and it turns out that the religious leaders told the children to act that way because they thought we were teaching them about Jesus. In reality, we never had even mentioned the name of Jesus, so it was real and apparent that the Lord was moving in big ways that left the religious leaders in fear. The Lord’s hand was working and his spirit was moving without his name ever being mentioned.
What scripture did you cling to?
There were so many throughout the race, but one section of scripture that really stood out to me throughout the journey (and particularly in Ethiopia) is Philippians 4:4-9. This piece of scripture says, “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God,which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.” This was always an encouraging scripture that pushed me towards growth throughout the course of my journey.
Did you have team devotions?
We did, kind of off and on. We had team time every day which was worship, journey markers (a devo), feedback (giving each other uplifting constructive and positive advice from the week), blogging/story telling, debrief for the week, and a free day which stayed the same for the whole race. In Cambodia my team met before breakfast to do a devo all together separate from everything and we did the same thing after breakfast in Ethiopia. In Guatemala we had sessions led my mentors that could be considered special devotions. So, the answer is yes, but it always looked different. When push came to shove we were always encouraging each other when it came to readily sharing the cool ways the Lord worked in each of our lives every day.
Who was the person that had the biggest impact on you?
This is hard to answer because so many people impacted me so greatly throughout this journey from my team building me up each and everyday to our hosts inspiring me to seek what the Lord has for me and walk it in to our leadership team who poured into us so much throughout the course of the journey to people we did ministry “for” in every country, etc. I seriously think I could write a ten page paper on everyone who has impacted me deeply and in big ways, but the first people who come to mind are my sweet teammates. They lived out everyday with me and pushed me towards so much growth. They carry so many of the Godly characteristics I strive to have. They taught me so much about myself and loved me so well. They quite literally know everything there is to know about me and they will not only be my forever friends, but also my forever sisters. So, I guess this doesn’t really answer the question, but I can’t just choose one. They all impacted me in such great ways and were part of helping me discover the woman I am today. They all truly changed my life forever and I wish I could better put into words the deep impact that have had on me.
What is the strangest food you ate?
You can believe me when I say I DID NOT eat dog, although some of my teammates did. I actually did eat Balut though which is a half developed duck embryo that is hard boiled. We ate it with a really strong pepper and it actually wasn’t half bad. I also ate some cooked bugs and my fair share of mystery meat haha.
What was the most difficult part of foreign culture to adjust to?
I actually had an easier time adjusting to foreign culture than I did adjusting back to American culture, but one of the most difficult things to adjust to was the fact that time is just a number. Everything moves at a much slower place and if you make an appointment with someone you can expect them to show up thirty minutes to an hour later. Once I caught on to this it was actually kind of nice to take everyday life at a slower pace, but at first it was weird to catch on to.
What is something new you learned about God?
Through the course of this journey I learned so much about God and his character, but I think the biggest and most impactful thing that will sit with me for the rest of my life is that the Lord speaks. It may not be through a loud booming voice, although this does happen, but the Holy Spirit within each of us guides us, pulls on our heart strings, gives us the right people at the right times, guides us towards the verse we need most, and whispers softly in our ears. This is something that I knew happened in Bible times, but I didn’t think happened today, so it has been a really big thing to uncover and dig deeper into. While He is a mighty, powerful, sovereign, holy, big God, he is also personable and longs for a deep friendship and intimacy with each of us which we gain by not only speaking to him, but listening to what he has to say to us in return. This has made the Lord less of a distant being and more relatable being to me which has deepened and personalized my faith more that ever before.
What was the best and most original thing you ate in each country?Cambodia: Best- The coffee in Cambodia was incredible. Just about everything there was served with sweetened condensed milk and nothing was different with the coffee. It was really strong brewed coffee with just about as much sweetened condensed milk as coffee and I drank WAYYY too much of it. Most original- Cambodia is where I ate the balut which I would say is pretty original haha (see “What is the strangest food you ate for more details). I also ate a Cambodia water bug which our host cooked up for us which was…interesting haha.
Honduras: Best- Honduras was filled with a whole lot of beans and rice which was ALWAYS amazing, but one of my favorite things we ate were pupusas (see “What is you favorite food?” above for more details. The cheese, corn tortillas, and “sour cream” in Honduras were all amazing. Most original- In Honduras we ate a lot of plantains which are kind of like bananas, but instead of eating them raw (they aren’t that good), they are typically cooked. I also, along with a lot of other people, really enjoyed the plantain chips.
Guatemala: Best- Guatemala was much more touristy than any other place we went, so probably one of my favorite foods while I was there was tacos from a local restaurant. They were truly authentic and tasted amazing. Most original- We were there during the time when Easter celebrations began which meant really good street food. We had these incredible churros and popcorn which I guess doesn’t seem very original, but it was cooked differently in Guatemala.
Ethiopia: Best- I really loved the authentic food there as I wrote about above, but I also loved this street food we got called sambusa. It was these amazing lentils fried inside of a thin, flaky bread. It was so cheap and we got it almost every time we went to the market. Most original- Pretty much everything we ate there was pretty original, but the first night we were there as a welcome, our host went and bought a sheep which we ate for dinner later that night. He cooked it over the fire and it was so so good, but definitely an experience haha.
