Kaitlyn Allen, of the September 2011 A Squad, reflects on the best parts of her 11 month journey. Best food, greatest pictures, most treasured memories, favorite pictures? She’s covered it all! And most importantly, she gives us 11 awesome reasons to consider going on the World Race!


Top 11 Things I’ve Missed
 
1) My bed
2) Good Internet
3) Air conditioning
4) Driving my car
5) Alone time
6) English
7) Recognizable food 
8) Civilization
9) Sanitation
10) My mountains
11) Hygiene
 

 


Top 11 Adventures

 

From kaitlynallen.theworldrace.org  From kaitlynallen.theworldrace.org  

1) Carpathian Mountains & Dracula’s Castle, Romania

2) World’s tallest rope swing, Nepal

3) Rafting the Bohte Koshi, Nepal

4) Tibet, China

5) Beaches & bike rides in Goa, India

6) Serengeti National Park, Tanzania

7) Mudding & car rentals in Rwanda

8) Rafting the Nile, Jinja, Uganda

9) Camping, hiking & caving in Sipi Falls, Uganda

10) PiPi Island, Thailand

11) Waterfalls in Malaysia


Top 11 Memories



 
1) Training Camp–it was monumental!
2) Riding on the top of busses in Nepal
3) Motos for a day in Goa, India
4) Getting dropped off in the wrong town in Nepal with Brittany & Bri
5) Making babies cry because I’m white
6) Learning to play the guitar with my brother and sisters
7) Mudding in a rental late at night by the president of Rwanda’s home
8) Hiking mountains in Nepal
9) Team times
10) When a rock shattered the windshield and our contact proceeded to drive while the rain was drenching us. 
(I took matters into my own hands and wore sunglasses, a scarf, and a raincoat, and held an umbrella out the front windshield!)
11) Dancing in African church


From kaitlynallen.theworldrace.org





Top 11 Ministry Experiences


1) Healings–hearing loss to hearing, pains to no pain

2) Packed out church opening in Draganesti, Romania (totally unexpected!)

3) Walls of Jericho march in Moldova–for freedom, sharing with trafficked girls

4) Seeing girls choose to come out of the sex trade in Thailand

5) Countless and numerous people come to know Jesus in Africa

6) Hiking hours in Nepal to share the gospel with villagers and “untouchables”

7) Homeless ministry, offering hope at a night feeding in Penang, Malaysia

8) Worship experiences (all too numerous!)

9) Children’s ministry at Jireh Children’s Home in Bangalore, India

10) Seeing the freedom a lady chose after a demon was cast out of her

11) Reconciliation and restoration for friends and families




Top 11 Meals

 
 1) Chicken Burrito, La Casa Mexican Restaurant (Siem Reap, Cambodia)
2) Caru Cu Bere (Old Town, Bucharest, Romania)
3) Chicken Karahi, “Punjabi Restaurant” (Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam)
4) Carnivore (Nairobi, Kenya)
5) Thanksgiving Dinner (Kothe, Nepal)
6) Christmas dinner with our American neighbors (Bangalore, India)
7) Sendme’s cooking (Bangalore, India)
8) Fruit Smoothies, local street side cart (Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam)
9) Romania Family Dinners
10) Ethiopian “Foods” (Busia, Uganda)
11) Chinese Restaurant (Mentakab, Malaysia)
 

Top 11 Blog Photos

 
1) From kaitlynallen.theworldrace.org

 
2) From kaitlynallen.theworldrace.org

 
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10) From kaitlynallen.theworldrace.org



11) From kaitlynallen.theworldrace.org

 

Top 11 Songs

 

1) Angels Surround Me in the Sauna
2) Beautiful- Phil Wickham

3) Take Heart- Hillsong United

4) I Will Exalt- Bethel

5) Waterfall- United Pursuit

6) I Need You More- Bethel

7) Hallelujah- Cory Asbury

8) Aftermath- Hillsong United

9) Hail Jesus You’re my King- A Squad Song

10) Fa Na Na- A Squad Song

11) The Nations are Calling- Christy Zbylut

 

Top 11 Quotes

 

1) “I think you understand.”
2) “I don’t know if anyone really knows.”
3) “Yeahhh rrrrrright.”
4) “Follow me, I follow Christ.”
5) “Oh Chess, dawg!”
6) “Where’s my reward?”
7) “Cause I had a great year!”
8) “We’re all excited to go home and one day get married!”- Ruth
“I’m just excited to flush toilet paper down the toilet.” -Emily
9)  “We had a legit situation; we were in a fake country.”
10) “Dis is dee life!”
11)”And you do dis, and dis and dis and destroy!”

 


Top 11 Items Packed

 

1) Camera (my DSLR Canon has been epic!) 

2) Cocoon Sleeping Bag Liner

3) iPOD with extra earphones

4) My Mac

5) Lefty Guitar

6) Med Kit

7) BlackDiamond Headlamp with extra batteries

8) External Hard drive 

9) Comfortable clothes 

10) Pillow (you have no idea!)

11) Waterproof Indiglo watch
 

Top 11 Things I’ve Learned

 

1) About the Holy Spirit indwelling me
2) About true, unconditional, unfathomable, relentless Love
3) About what authentic community is and looks like
4) About the positives of constructive feedback
5) About my identity being in Christ and not in what I do
6) About the beauty of culture and people
7) About thriving through constant inconsistencies–my consistency is Jesus
8) About confidence in the word & the truth
9) Things that happened in bible days HAPPEN TODAY
10) About my thoughts of what ministry is
11) About the importance of communication and how you deliver it

 

 

Top 11 Things I’ll Miss

 

1) Authentic community

2) Guitar time with friends

3) Late night conversations about anything and everything, when anything and everything happen

4) Squad worship/Team worship

5) Feedback culture

6) Team times

7) The adventures of everyday life

8) Laughing about how ridiculous the realities of our lives are


9) Seeing God manifest in the nations

10) Prayer with my team and squad

11) A-Squad Mom’S Facebook Group (It’s kind of a big deal–we love you Moms!)




11 People That Have Impacted My Life

(besides my teammates!)
 
1) Autumn
2) Jon
3) Moses
4) Pastor Paul
5) Nung
6) Ana
7) Pastor Yesu
8) Samuel
9) Vuthy
10) The Khalings
11) Magesa

Top 11 Modes of Transport

1) Planes

2) Trains

3) Buses

4) Taxis

5) Bicycles

6) Walking

7) Motos

8) Tuk tuks

9) Elephants

10) Safari jeeps


11) Boats

 

Top 11 Team Photos

 

1) From kaitlynallen.theworldrace.org

 
2) From kaitlynallen.theworldrace.org

 
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9) From kaitlynallen.theworldrace.org

 
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11) From kaitlynallen.theworldrace.org
 

Top 11 Reasons You Should Go On The World Race

 

1) If spiritual growth is something you desire

2) If the taste of challenge excites you

3) If adventure thrills you

4) If authentic community is something you want

5) If you want to gain brothers and sisters when you leave (friends for life!)

6) If you want the sweet opportunity to parter with God in bringing hope to the nations

7) If you know that you’re called to it

8) If you keep reading blogs

9) If you want something outside of the 9-5 work schedule

10) If you yearn for knowledge in theology

11) If you want to begin a lifelong adventure of seeing and living in the world differently!