You asked; I answered.
Thank you so much to those who took the time to ask about my time here on the Race. I’m excited to answer those here!
So, here we go.
Was it different than what you expected?
Lol. That’s kind of like asking, “What do you expect it would feel like to hyperextend your elbow?” I don’t think there is any way I could have fathomed what this would be like. I thought I knew. I mean, 11 months, 11 countries, missions, traveling, Jesus, other people who love those things- seems easy enough, a year full of things I love- and it has been. But it was nothing like I expected. I didn’t expect the lack of sleep; I didn’t expect the lifelong friendships; I didn’t expect the moments of boredom or grief; I didn’t expect the intentionality or the vulnerability; I didn’t expect to see the body of Christ working together differently than I’d ever seen it before.
What was the best and worst food you had?
I have to say, I thought the food situation would be crazy things regularly, and while I have been offered shark bites, a chicken head and a caterpillar, it’s always been at special events where I was able to respectfully not partake. Many times it’s not necessarily that the food is bad, but that you eat it every day, multiple times a day. (This happens basically every month.) The worst food experience I’ve had would probably have to be on the bus from Thailand to Malaysia. We had a short pit stop where they served a meal of rice soup (basically rice in warm water), many types of mystery meats, some spicy tofu and small freeze dried fish, bones and all. (I lost at “What Are The Odds” and had to eat one.) The best food I’ve had was in Honduras. Wow. Baleadas, pupusas, plantains chips, you can’t get better than that. Plus, our hosts were incredible cooks.
What was your favorite ministry?
Malaysia, for sure! We work at a school for children that have severe autism, Down’s syndrome and other serious learning disabilities. We get to teach them things like art, dance, English and music. They are the sweetest kids with the sweetest hearts and I am in love. Also, their teachers have the sweetest hearts, as well, and the way they love those kids looks so much like the way Jesus loves His kiddos; it just pours out of them. They have welcomed us and loved us so well and have challenged me daily to love more like the Lord.
What was your best and worst experience with living in a close community?
The worst experience I’ve had with living in a close community was pretty recent; although, I feel as if “worst” is a bit harsh. Community is a good thing and there is a difference between “bad” and “hard”. We had a month where we lived in the church and services went on very late. Because of the loud noise, we weren’t able to sleep well. On top of that, people would frequently barge into our room at midnight, 2am or even 6:30am, waking us up, asking us for things and being extremely loud. It became physically, mentally and emotionally exhausting to try to function on such little sleep. Don’t get me wrong, I loved this community. It’s just hard to do anything well when you’re coming from a place of exhaustion. My best experience in community was probably in Cambodia. I formed real relationships this month with people in the community, with my hosts and with people on my team. I was able to invest in people and be invested in. I went to a local wedding with a friend we had made, got margs and massages with my team one evening and had good conversations with my hosts about the Lord.
What is the biggest life lesson you’ve learned?
GRATEFULNESS and Lordy am I still learning this every damn day. I like to think no one would actually blame me for being grumpy when I’m eating the same meal for the tenth time in one week (that’s actually not an exaggeration), and yet, here I am eating my tenth meal in a week- that’s more meals than the kids in Swazi ate this week. Don’t get me wrong, other people having problems doesn’t mean yours aren’t important, but is my temporary monotonous food situation really something I should allow to steal my joy? Absolutely not, and yet there are days when I let it or lack of electricity or a dirty bathroom or whatever else to do exactly that. I want to be the kind of person who chooses to live a joyful life and I’m going to continue to choose it until it becomes more natural and I’m going to continue to surround myself with people who do the same.
What was your favorite country?
This is such a hard question! My favorite ministry is here in Malaysia. My favorite living conditions were in Thailand. My favorite adventure days were in Nicaragua. My favorite hosts are in Honduras. However, I think the best overall experience would have to be in Costa Rica. In Costa, we had SO much variety in minstry, which I love. I got to form relationships with working girls, help build a park for an underprivileged community, assist businesses in free marketing, help teach a surfing class, plant trees in the community and even help a missionary edit papers for her grad classes. My team lived in our own room and we spent so much quality time together. We also cooked as a team, so we made some great home-like meals, including regular Mac and cheese. Haha. Individually, we had a great deal of freedom with our free time and were less than a half mile walk to town and 3/4 of a mile from the beach. I got to eat at fun restaurants, go shopping and go to the beach regularly.
What was your least favorite country?
My least favorite country was probably Malawi. Our hosts were i n c r e d i b l e. I love them a ton and miss them so much! They served us and loved us so well. What made Malawi hard was team dynamic frustrations, a horrible case of lice, serious culture shock and missing home during the holidays. Also, the roaches were the size of my hand and one time we watched six of them come in at once and one even crawled across my clothing- maybe not my favorite experience ever. Haha.
Would you encourage anyone and everyone to go on the World Race?
Absolutely not. In fact, there are so many reasons I would tell people not to go. It is hard. You are challenged. The Lord removes things in your life that you didn’t even realize we’re there. You come face-to-face with ugly truths about yourself and about the world and you do this all while living in constant community and serving. To be completely vulnerable, there were a few times that the only reason I didn’t pack up and go home is because I knew that I knew that I knew that I am exactly where the Lord wants me to be. So would I recommend the World Race to anyone? Yes, but only to the people the Lord has clearly called.
What did the Lord teach you during this season?
This question is difficult, as well. Honestly, I could say something that the Lord was teaching me each month. For instance, the Lord taught me alot about self control in Malawi and alot about His provision in Costa Rica and alot about His sovereignty in Cambodia. However, I would say overall the Lord has been teaching me two main things. One, I will choose comfort over just about anything- over trying new things, over dealing with negative emotions, over risking vulnerability- and this is not how the Lord intended it to be. Comfort isn’t bad, but it should be a temporary blessing and not a way of life. The Lord has called us to live brave lives, courageous lives, not comfortable lives. Two, His grace is insane. The Lord loves without borders. It’s a love that takes risks. It’s a love that sees beyond what you do to why you do it. It’s a lives that pursues those of other faiths, comforts those in sin and grief and strengthens those doing their best. He truly did not come to judge the world- not now. He is loving and pursuing and redirecting; He is calling all people unto Himself.
How will you take what you’ve learned back home?
I want to put what people think about me aside and focus on loving people, all people, well. I’m going to make serving others a part of my regular schedule, before filling my time with other things. I’m going to continue living ministry as life and life as ministry. I’m going to practice turning to the Lord for my comfort when hardships arise, instead of turning to things that numb me into a state of comfort (Netflix, food, distractions, etc). I am going to regularly donate to missionaries I know and support bringing kingdom with my time, abilities and resources. I am going to continue to believe what Jesus says about me as I strive to become more and more like Him.
Thank you so much for asking me these questions! They have helped me begin to process my time here and prepare for heading home. I have 34 days until I land in OKC!
Just for fun, here are some questions you could ask me when I get back: (Please don’t ask me “How was it?” That question scares me and I don’t know how to answer it.)
1. What ministry did you do in [specific country]?
2. What was your favorite food in [specific country]?
3. Who were your hosts in [specific country]?
4. Tell me about [specific country].
5. What was Mina Cafe?
6. Who is Diera?
7. How did you get groceries in Costa Rica?
8. What is 611?
9. Tell me how you ended up buying a pig.
10. Who is Miguel?
11. What adventures did you do in Nicaragua?
12. What is Urraco like?
13. What did the Lord teach you in Honduras?
14. What things have you learned that you are passionate about?
15. What is the craziest conversation you had in Malawi?
16. What are debriefs and when did you have them?
17. What are LDWs?
18. What is shema?
19. How did you feel in Swaziland?
20. Who was your Shepard and what does she do?
21. Where did you get to pet a zebra?
22. Tell me the funniest story from month [1-11].
23. How did you work out in Cambodia?
24. What was your favorite team time in month [1-11]?
25. What is team time?
26. What is feedback?
27. How often did you change teams and how did you feel about it?
28. How was PVT?
29. What did you learn during your ATL month?
30. What does racism in Malaysia look like?
31. What did you learn from the Muslim women you worked with?
32. What was it like living in a predominately Muslim nation?
33. How often did you have to use a squatty potty?
34. Tell me about final debrief in Bali.
35. What do you need as you transition back into American culture and life?
