This is a blog post that I’m hoping will help future Racers. It’s also for my supporters – a bit of a highlights blog post looking back on my Race – and for me, to help me process this amazing but incredibly challenging experience.
Adventures in Missions takes re-entry seriously. They’ve given us a multi-page packet to fill out, and it’s loaded with all kinds of questions I may or may not be ready to answer. This is my attempt to hash some of those things out, to talk about the good stuff, the hard stuff, and the – erm, weird stuff.
I’ll be splitting this into three blog posts. First:
The Good
The good for me can be summed up in my top three favorite countries of the Race: Bolivia (Month 3), Puerto Rico (Month 1), and El Salvador (Month 10).
That’s the actual order by which I’ve ranked them, starting from my favorite (Bolivia). Here’s why I love these countries so much:
Bolivia was the most physically demanding. We were at altitude – over 12,000 feet – and we were in the desert, on some barren salt flats, in a little city that was strangely reminiscent of a ghost town from the Old West.
Uyuni, Bolivia – like walking through a ghost town
But it was also the place where I grew the most in my spiritual maturity, where I learned the most about evangelism (especially street evangelism), and where I had the absolute best mentor I could ever ask for: Pastor Juan Quispe Choque.
Parting ways with Pastor Juan in La Paz
Bolivia was hard. Really hard. But it’s the country I talk about the most, and it’s the place I always miss when I think back on my Race.
Walking to church with Team Radical and our
translators Caleb and Juan
Puerto Rico was, admittedly, pretty laidback. I slept in a hammock on the beach, and our ministry was the thing I’m most passionate about: feeding the homeless. One of my closest friendships was forged in Puerto Rico (I love you, Alyssha!), we discovered this great smoothie drink called a Frappe (I was known for buying two to three at a time), and the weather was absolutely heavenly (85 during the day, 70 at night – in the dead of winter).
Hammocks set up in the pavilion on the beach –
mine’s the far left one with the mosquito net
So, yeah. You could say P.R. was pretty effortless…except for the fact that it was my team’s first month together, and we were still learning the ropes, getting to know each other and learning how to live in community. Oh, and there was also that time when the Lord led me to a guy who was oppressed by several demons (including a very powerful, very violent one).
Hanging out with Team Crisco Unico after ministry
I was safe – Jesus had it all under control – but it scared the heck out of me.
And then there was the fact that, well, because we treated the people so well at the soup kitchen we worked at, all the homeless men thought we were in love with them. (Yeah. That was a little awkward.)
Ready to start serving lunch to the homeless
community at Cristo Pobre Soup Kitchen
Okay, so maybe Puerto Rico wasn’t exactly “effortless.” But it was definitely GOOD. My team and I learned a lot about ministry, and I believe those lessons and all the prayers and effort we put forth for our community living, really set the tone for the rest of our Race.
My team Hijas del Rey, dressed up for church in Mayaguez
In El Salvador, we were constantly on the go. Our days started at 5:45 am twice a week, but even when we had regular start times (around 8:00 am or so) our days seemed quite long. We had very short breaks between morning and afternoon ministries, and this was the month we sometimes did night ministry in addition to everything else.
Performing for the psychologists who work with
special needs children at Bloom Hospital
Our work was diverse – everything from painting and cleaning to kids programs and school talks. We worked with women and children in a rough barrio controlled by one of the biggest gangs in Central America, we designed and painted a mural for a Christian school/daycare, we did ATL (Ask The Lord) evangelism at the mall, and we ministered to prostitutes and transients on the streets of the capital.
Homeless man we were led to during ATL – we bought
him some shoes and socks with a personal
donation I received from a new supporter!
And all of this while running on Month 10 fumes.
This woman was healed of migraines after the
Holy Spirit led me and my team to pray
a special prayer over her.
But despite our exhaustion and all the ways we were stretched, it was a really, really good month. We met a lot of great people doing discipleship training at YWAM, we loved the staff at the base, we saw healing come to fruition in a woman we prayed for (yay, Jesus!), we saw God touch the hearts of prostitutes during a special performance we did for them our last week of ministry (thank You, Holy Spirit!), and we had lots of fun on our off time going on excursions to Walmart (yes, there’s a Walmart in El Salvador), Starbucks (that too!), and the mall (fanciest mall I’ve ever, EVER seen).
Hangin’ out with some of the kiddos in the barrio we served
Yep. It was a pretty diverse month. And it was absolutely incredible.
My next blog post will talk about the hard stuff. Stay tuned….
Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation, for through Him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can’t see—such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world. Everything was created through Him and for Him. He existed before anything else, and He holds all creation together. Colossians 1:15-17
