Muturara via Miami - Explore Archived World Race Alumni Blogs

     So… I’m quickly realizing that this is much more of a
disciple-making trip (as in “making me into more of a disciple”) than about
specific ministries. The Lord is really working on my heart and pulling it and
twisting it to be passionate in ways that I have never been before. The month
in Bolivia
was definitely trying. A.I.M. warned us before we left that our 4^th
month would probably be the toughest as far as missing home and adjusting to
community living. They were right! Adding to the sadness now is the fact that
our larger team will now break up into our smaller teams, and not be together
for a long time.
     Our time in
Bolivia went well… we did three weeks worth of physical labor crammed into one.
We varnished the inside and out of a 2-story brick house, dug sewage ditches,
painted, built a staircase, and countless other construction tasks. We started
our travel time last Tuesday with a 10 hour flight from La
Paz to Santa Cruz to Miami. In Miami airport,
we looked like kids in a candy store. In the three hours we were there, most of
the team made multiple trips to Starbucks, and repeatedly flushed the toilets
and watched…. fascinated as the toilet paper went DOWN (in most places we have
been, toilet paper always goes in a trash can – the toilets are either bucket-flushed
or don’t have sewer systems that are capable of taking in toilet paper).
     The flight to New
York was quick, but the closer we got, the more I was bummed out. Nearly half
the team had family and friends meeting them in New York for the all-night layover and they
were all getting excited about seeing them. I didn’t have anyone coming, so I
was dreading the 12 hours of sleep on the airport floor. I was one of the last
ones off the airplane, and when I walked out the corridor, everyone on the team
was still standing right outside our gate. I couldn’t figure out why they
weren’t all running to baggage claim to meet their family, so I asked which way
it was. Robby giggled and said, “over there,” and as I turned in the direction
he was pointing… there was my Nels! Needless to say, I was rather excited. I
cried, and so did the rest of the girls. It was the fastest 12 hours of my
life, but we had a blast. We took a taxi into town and walked around Times
Square, Rockefeller Plaza, and out to the edge of Central
Park. We spent the rest of the time in the airport just hanging
out with the rest of the gang. The goodbye was tearful, but was a lot easier
than the first, considering we’ve got less than 7 months to go! Thank you
again, Nels! : )
     We safely arrived
this past weekend in South Africa, after 3 LONG flights and a layover in Abu
Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
     We have been
debriefing in our tents in a town called Nelspruit, South Africa, and found out
last night that our team of 5 (Team Isaac) will be leaving this afternoon for
Muturara, Mozambique. It will take 4 to 5 days of multiple bus rides, tenting
on roadsides, and walking across 3k bridges to get there. Everything we’re
taking has to be on our backs. Since we won’t have electricity, we’re leaving
all of our electronics and most of our clothes with a contact here in
Nelspruit. We’ll be living right along the Zambezi River, so once again, I’ll
be combating mosquitoes. We still can’t figure out why they like me so much
more than everyone else!
     Getting to
Muturara will be tricky; we will be on our own for the first 4 days of travel
with practically no clue where we’re going. In this part of Mozambique, the
people speak Portuguese combined with about 4 other African languages. Once we
figure out how to get to a town called Dondo, we will meet up with a Pastor
named Peter who will be taking us across a bridge (that is often closed) and to
our final destination in Muturara. Pastor Peter is blind.
     In Muturara,
we’ll be hanging out at an orphanage and putting up a roof, septic tank, and
bathing area. The Pastor of the church in Muturara, Pastor Ezekiel, was
martyred last October by a Muslim extremist. His wife has remained in the town,
and will be our contact and hostess while we stay in Muturara. If the photo of
the Zambezi River Basin successfully uploaded, try to find Muturara just above
the Zambezi Delta in Mozambique. You’ll note this is fairly close to Zimbabwe,
which has been in the news a lot lately. Please be in prayer for the political
unrest in that neighboring country.

An important word about my support….

I’m
extremely grateful to those of you supporting this trip through my A.I.M. World
Race account. I couldn’t be doing this without you. One thing we couldn’t
foresee before the trip was the actual breakdown of expenses. While the A.I.M
account is used for our major travel expenses between continents, it turns out
that a higher percentage of personal money is needed to cover daily meals and
the localized expenses of travel, medical, and humanitarian opportunities. IF
BY ANY CHANCE you can do without a tax deduction for your contribution, it
would greatly assist me if you would contribute directly to me. I anticipate
that I am short by nearly $3,000 for the remainder of the year. You could make
out any checks to “Teagan Highfill,” but please mail it to Steve Highfill, P.O.
Box 2303, Valley Center, CA 92082-2303. THANK YOU for prayerfully considering
this! One time gifts, monthlies, whatever…. All would help and be greatly
appreciated!

An equally
important way that you could help out me and my team is through prayer. It is
going to be a rough month, and the most dangerous one so far. Please pray for
safety, and that will be able to just love on all the kids at the orphanage and
get a roof over their heads! Also pray that we would be able to be Jesus with
flesh on; that these people would just see Him through our eyes and hands and
hugs.
I will update
when I’m able; just remember that no news is good news! Thank you for keeping
up with my adventures thus far, they’re about to get really exciting : )

Love and Miss you all! I won’t see your response comments
for a while, but they are welcome sight for when I get back online…

Teagan

P.S. The photos should include a couple teaser shots of
teammate Gretchen and me and our 80 meter, 19-story, 60 second freefall… to
date the most exhilarating minute of my life. It the pics didn’t upload
correctly, my dad said he would take the blame, since I needed his help to
bypass some African Internet filters. You’ll eventually see some video of this
adventure. Check the pics below..