After a couple of flights, I’m back home to the Lone Star state. Now I’m lying on my bed thinking about my past nine months on the race. I know it was real, I got 15,000 picture to prove it. I feel alone, I miss my squad and my team. Everything feels familiar in a different way, coming back is hard.
I had a dream right before I left Ecuador. I was at my house doing nothing because life without adventure is really boring when my mom came up to me and told me that I needed to go tree grafting. I think, “oh great more manual labor”, so, me and my Mom ran to my neighbor’s yard and starting grafting their trees. The dream was random but it seemed as if I should “graft” all that I learned on the world race into my life.
The race was a great eye-opening experience. Everything was easy when we first started because it was all new and fresh. We were all doing crazy things and running away from the real world since we had unlimited freedom and independence. Getting to see the rest of the world, while at the same time learning to live with them. As time went on God pulled us back into his presence, and reminded us about why we were there, to serve, love and show others who HE is. After seven months of manual labor and community living, our comfort began getting stretched, and homesickness struck. This began a very difficult part of the race.
In Thailand, God taught me what the meaning of worshiping the Lord freely is. I was always very insecure singing worship music in an Asian accent in public. God broke me from that fear and set me free because my worship is not for others to hear or for them. It is for God. Later, I was given the responsibility to lead the squad in worship. I totally wasn’t ready for that. God also taught me He is my comforter. We run to seek affirmation from the world, and it is endless and only numbs your pain for the moment. Instead, we should meet the Lord in the midst of the discomfort, because He is the one who gives eternal comfort.
Malaysia was a time of obedience, a time of flexibility, a time of sickness, a time of grief and a low point. To be honest, Malaysia was awful. It was my least favorite country to serve in. God was working in me through discomfort to remind me that He was still with me through those times. He also taught me to have a heart of thanksgiving. Many squad mates prophesied the word “worthy” over me. I never knew what the word worthy meant to me. God revealed that word’s meaning to me in Malaysia. At that time I was questioning why out of everyone that applied for the race how on earth was I accepted. He reminded me that I am a child of God, that I am in His will which is pleasing and perfect.
In Costa Rica, I was still in the season of learning that I am worthy. I was struggling to be present on the race because I felt I was the third person, and that there was no purpose for me to be there. God used my squad to remind me of what He says I am. Community living was the one thing that never crossed my mind when I signed up for the race. There are a lot of pros and cons of living with my squad under one roof. Noisy nights, teammates driving me crazy, stinky smells and picking up after them are some of the cons. Those could never overcome the pros I got from living in a community. They pushed me to overcome my struggles and pointed me to God while we all kept each other accountable.
At the beginning of Ecuador, we had our parents visit trip. The thought of those three words made me emotional because my parents couldn’t make it. However, God used the guys’ parents who were able to come, to encourage and care for me. Towards the last three months on the race, most of my squadmates wanted to go home, some of them actually did. It was hard not to be influenced by the atmosphere of their complaints and grumbles It was hard to be present on the race. Overall I can say that I finished the World Race strong.
I’m still trying to process what happened in the past nine months. Thank you for being apart of my journey. The World Race was an adventure of learning and ministry in the real world. I’m back in the states about to start college and won’t ever forget what I have learned on the race. I will join a community and apply everything on the race to my life at home. Even though the race is over my relationship with the Lord is still growing. Thank you for your support. If you’re interested in hearing more about my trip I would love to share.
Yours in Christ,
Tikki Martinez
