We were sitting in our room having girls night in Europe, so wifi was fast & easy and she was listening to a snapchat from a friend who had just finished training camp. I listened to her friend’s excitement as he talked about his “team for the first half of the race”, the countries he was so excited to see, and how awesome the race was going to be.
I remember being that excited for the World Race, and now I am right smack-dab in the middle of it. The truth is, it doesn’t matter how many times people tell you “the race is never what you expect it to be”, you’re still surprised when it’s not what you expected.
In India I felt trapped because we couldn’t leave the ministry site and I immediately wondered what I had gotten myself into.
In Nepal I felt like I wasn’t making a difference, like I was just another pawn in the evangelism game that Christians seem to be losing
In South Africa I felt like I was living with real missionaries and they were just a family. Just one family – who called themselves a ministry – that lived The Gospel like no one I’ve ever seen.
In Swaziland I went to an orphanage for the first time in a country that doesn’t allow adoption. I fell in love with a boy who I might never see again and it broke my heart to know he could never be my son.
In Mozambique I was sad and angry that boys grow up without fathers all the time. Seriously, almost all of them do.
In Latvia I got lazier, I was just tired of being away from home and I craved comforts.
In Estonia I was exhausted but I fell in love with my team like never before… and then we got split up for team changes.
In Cambodia I saw the first ministry that I could realistically see Wayne and I coming back to and serving full-time. I saw a girl the same age as me carry the responsibility of mom to 19 kids and it really made me wonder what my priorities were.
…
We are ending month 8 of the race right now and in a week we will be placed on our 5th team.
We’ve had 3 route changes and it turns out we’re going to 10 countries, not 11. (Cambodia twice.)
We’ve had to cook over a fire for an entire month and we’ve had meals prepared for us for entire months.
Sometimes Europe means being stuck in the woods all month long… definitely not what I expected!
We have had a whole month with just the 2 of us (Wayne and I) being a team and that’s actually a World Race first!
We have had 2 all-squad months and 2 Man-istry months where the men are all together on a team, also a World Race first!
and we have 3 more months for endless surprises! ??
…
I know it’s all been worth it.
I’ve never given so much thought and preference to others nor have I ever been so aware of how selfish my tendencies are. I’ve never laughed as much – or cried as much – in my entire life. I’ve never spent so much time with my husband, and I’ve never spent so much time away from him (3 weeks!)??So, if you’re wondering how the World Race is, it’s not anything you’d expect it to be – it’s more. It’s better and it’s worse. And it’s totally worth it.
