Life is extraordinary and I believe it deserves a soundtrack.
Therefor, it is my practice, whenever I travel or live through any important times in my life, I employ such a soundtrack to theme my life and generate memories.
Basically, it goes like this:
We remember better with the help of our senses, yes? Things like smells, touch, taste, AND...sound.
I primarily listen to an artist/album in any one place I visit and I can attest, this works!
Try it.
__________________
Thus far, this is my soundtrack to the places I've been:
Netherlands - Mum
Ireland+Northern Ireland - Bon Iver
Orlando - Loney, Dear + Andrew Bird
New Zealand - Owl City
Australia - Miike Snow
Philippines - Pictureplane
Malaysia - Gotye
Bangkok - Patrick Watson [wooden arms]
Thailand - St. Vincent
Kenya - Mamer
Posted in tanz[ON]ia by Ashley Huizenga on 7/13/2010
I sit in church, my mind wonders.
The pastor is speaking in Swahili and there's no one to translate. We have church services 4 times a week, none of which is really translated.
But this is nothing new.
In the Philippines, it was a few hours a day of ICM giving health presentations in Cebuano.
Thailand involved being talked to in Thai nearly everyday by Pa, our contacts father, full conversations as if we understood every word.
In Malaysia we generally didn't have an entire clue what was going on because the country itself is insane and a constant mix of Tamil, Chinese and Malay. (you can reference the video I made if you haven't seen it yet)
And Kenya had many house visits to pray with villagers while we listened patiently to the Swahili conversation held between them and our Kenyan contacts waiting for any translation.
This is ministry for us - even though we sing a few songs in church that aren't understood and one of my teammates taught sunday school the hour before, even though we hand out food to the poor; even though we pray for widows and orphans - we often find ourselves sitting and not comprehending.
I'm not understanding during the music, not understanding during the lecture, not understanding during the conversations.
I've found it's actually rare to find any critical thinking moments here on the world race, although I think this is just a backlash to world travel in general.
When we speak to our contacts, at a church or to anyone we meet, it almost always requires a dumbed down, simplified version of English for effective communication.
Sometimes words are too much and gesturing is employed.
Words, even the simplest, fall out of your vocabulary.
Elements of your trade, that which you may have done for years somehow escapes you often.
What does the mind do when it's not engaged?
I'm not content loosing my mind.
I find my spirit is growing, but my mind is not challenged.
Realization of becoming this ghost of your former self is often tough to see. It's just all too easy to gloss over and tune out.
But can we, in the moment, rein our thinking back in?
Can I use my brain critically throughout the days?
I can.
I choose what to do with my time, in the moments I'm lost in translation.
I'm seeking new ways to avoid becoming dumb.
Something I would not have expected to be a necessity on this trip.
Who knew?
In three days, the Bible has become more of a reality to me than I ever thought possible
DAY ONE ::: evangelism
I have become a representation to simple Kenyan village peoples. They will very likely never again see a white mzungu American nor will more than 50 people ever know their names or who they are. I have become a voice, I have become a symbol - that of Christ, to such a unique audience. I can't take this thing lightly.
The love of Christ compels us. We don't live for ourselves anymore, but for Christ. We become His spokesmen to the world, His ambassadors. Therefor, I implore you, be about His business. Be reconciled with God. Don't live for your own selfish ways anymore. Get into the world and make a difference for Christ. It will change your life forever.
DAY TWO ::: visiting a school and evangelism
The school came about from over population in the nearby school and the determination of a pastor to start a school with quality education out of his church. As they presented their classes, we were told of a family of orphans there at the school. They brought them forward and told us of how they have excelled beyond all the other students. The school is still being built and developed, bricks lie on the ground taking up a third of the main school/sanctuary room, hanging fabric divided the room into 3 classrooms. I was able to share with them the importance of education, how we've been traveling the world and learning is the same everywhere. Education is so key to really surviving in the world.
We set out for evangelism. Our first stop, a house with three widows. There was an obvious lack of joy in that room. One of the women prayed for salvation. We rejoiced with her.
DAY THREE ::: hospital visits
We went to a small hospital to pray for people. We heard earlier in the morning that the girl without any control over her muscles, who couldn't walk and was told she didn't have anything wrong with her whom we prayed for at the beginning of the month when we visited the hospital, she was healed. We moved from room to room, some were sick with Malaria, there was Typhoid and other illness. Some just gave birth or were about to, some welcome prayer while others refuse it. We prayed for healing, that God would use these people, that they would see God.
THE BIBLE IS ALIVE
the stuff written inside is no joke. It's relevant. It's racy. It's powerful. It's comforting. It's real. It's truth.
Anywhere you go, anywhere you are.
Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit
orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from
the world -James 1:27
I read this over a year ago and I thought, okay, where do I find these
widows and orphans?
In only just these past three days, I've prayed with widows and orphans -
seen explosive joy and utter lack of it. I've prayed for the sick, seen God heal. My eyes are open and God is on
the move.
God want's us to be His voice to the nations, to our communities, to our families.
I cannot believe that God entrusts me with this much; to be
His voice, bring His message. Me. This is just insane.
When traveling, here are a few tips on what to bring and what to buy when traveling abroad if you want to be technologically prepared.
THE INTERNET:::::::::
best way to obtain the internet just about anywhere and spread it around
is to buy a USB wireless modem in whatever country you visit. Once you
buy the device you have internet anywhere from that computer, then you
can do cool things like surf the web on your 6 hour bus ride to Nairobi and skype the Kenyan countryside with anyone back home. If
you have a mac, it's real easy to make the signal wireless to share
with anyone around you through internet sharing in system preferences, with mac or pc. Visit this
link for more detailed information. After you leave the country
you bought the device in, it's always possible to research ways to
unlock the modem and just obtain a sim card in other countries to
continue using the device.
EXTERNAL HARD DRIVES:
a good idea for file storage and backups. I would suggest bringing a small USB powered hard drive with a capacity realistic to your usage for larger files such as pictures, movies or your music library. A word of warning about these hard drives, they are fragile and can break without much mistreatment. It is a wise idea to have all your important files backed up in two places in case one of your devices fails. It only takes a short matter of time to back up your files but will cost you in the neighborhood of $500 to have your information recovered.
Buying any type of data storage, you will always find the best deals on Black Friday - that day everything goes on sale after Thanksgiving. Hard drives, memory cards, USB drives - everything is up to 50% off if you find the best deal at the right stores. So stock up if the timing is right.
SPLITTERS:
Bring a USB splitter and a headphone splitter. There's always a situation where these things come in handy or may even be a necessity.
RCA:
not necessary, but handy. For this trip, I brought a 1/4" (headphones jack) to rca cable and connections to hook up the video feed on my computer. I've use both every month on this trip for ministry and for leisure. It's worth the 2" of space it will take in your bag.
ADAPTERS AND EXTENSION CORDS:
Adapters for the countries you visit may be a given, but consider also bringing any of the following: an extension cord, a power strip, a three prong to two prong adapter, and the like. It's comes in quite handy to extend and/or split the power outlet, especially when only one is available. Having US power strips and extension cords makes it easier to share with your American traveling companions.
Have you ever felt like you just existed, with little importance to the people around you? You're there, but you're not there? Maybe you have a hard time talking with people? Or get anxious at the onset of social gatherings?
Can I tell you, I've felt like this far more often than anyone would loath to hear me talk of. It flairs up like a bad rash, dormant for a while and then all of a sudden I'm scratching, my skin feels on fire. I'm lonely. Isolated. Yearning to scream, but finding myself mute. Does anyone really care about me? She doesn't really want to be your friend, he's not interested in you. See how they light up when they're around other people. No one does that with you. I would give heaps for anyone to notice the inflammation, but instead shutdown foreseeing disinterest once they get a taste of how much this rash covers my interior.
I used to struggle with feelings of social anxiety intensely back in grade school, all through middle school and a portion of high. Though slowly and soundly, through much prayer and willingness, I started to mellow out a bit. I learned how to throw myself into social situations and, even though uncomfortable, survive. It was a long road, but one I conquered.
That is, I thought I conquered; until I left for the world race.
THE WORLD RACE COMMUNITY:: you don't exactly get to pick your friends here, you don't get to pick your teammates either. The people on this trip are an eclectic group of individuals who want to serve God. Though we all have a similar focus, this by no means infers you'll all be best pals. The few you find yourself on a team with spend all of every day together with you for just under a year. The rest you see in intervals, mostly a few hours on travel days. Community is tough, hard work and it became for me, an outbreak of social anxiety.
I met everyone at training camp, but didn't form deep relationships. When we left for the race in January, I became painfully aware of this as I joined a group of acquaintances, all of which I was obligated to get to know spending a year together. I hate small talk. It makes me weak in the knees. And because I would only see them for a short time each month, my small talk obligations were going to stretch for a year without much hope of really getting to know someone and move past the awkward stage. I would get a knot in my stomach that rendered my arms and legs to cooked spaghetti like strength before travel days. Limp and drained I'd head to the airport. I would be awkward and avoid people for the most part. After a few months, I even started to feel isolated from members on my team. I'd see them getting along with each other so well and forming deep relationships. I didn't see anyone want that with me so much. I started telling myself I was ugly and undesirable.
Granted, I'd say these things in my head knowing they weren't true, but then again, maybe they were.
It's the irrational parts of this personality trait that are so convincing. A succulent mirage of self pity that wears a dark coat of satisfaction only harboring disappointment underneath.
Recently I got fed up with feeling this way and I've had enough. This is ridiculous and I've been trying to figure it all out. Where is this coming from, am I making all this up, how do I move past it? I don't have many answers yet, but I might have found a way to change. I realized that I don't trust people to want me. If I do air my dirty laundry I expect boredom from people, that they'll think I'm whiny and not want to be around me. I relied on the simple reality that people like sell their own crap but it's rare you find someone wanting to smell yours. Dying inside, I was telling myself no one would care to listen; to share what's on the heart becomes a waste of time and emotion in the end.
There's something not right in my brain and it's imperative to just get over myself, over my insecurities.
I've realized it's a bit selfish to think that no one cares about me. That's just not true. If I were to hear someone voice everything I just wrote here, my heart would be breaking for them and I would make it extremely clear how much I want to hear about their problems. Why am I not giving anyone else the same credit?
Go talk to people. Make an effort. Put your self out there. Trust people to actually want you.
Honestly, I hate this and it kills me a bit every time to try. But I think I'd rather live with trying in uncomfortable situations than loose myself in the death cycle of social anxiety. So slowly and soundly, I'll have to pray my way through this one again and be willing to change.
IT WAS AN AVERAGE DAY
I woke up, got out of bed and entered the common room to wait for breakfast and read my bible. I'd been feeling a bit under the weather the last day or two but resolved that I could make it through a day of ministry. Breakfast turned out to be chai tea (as always), fried dough resembling donuts minus the sugar, toast, peanuts and salt and vinegar potato chips. I ate my fill while my team sat around eating and chatting with our contact before we be headed out for a day of door to door evangelism in nearby villages. When we arrived at the village church, we quickly split off into teams to cover various villages in the area. Setting out, I was feeling okay, not the best but praying God would sustain me. We crossed the road, crossed a bridge and entered down a dirt road. Along the path, we prayed for many believers in the church. Then we went off the road and shortcut through endless fields filled with ditches, mud, sheep and corn like the Kenyans do. Pathways are beaten down by the hundreds of people who have walked the field before us. Homes and paths are separated by ditches to drain the rainfall and it gives me the feeling of miniature kingdoms separated by moats on this luscious green land. There are noises in the corn from chickens hiding out and darting in front as we pass by, they are crafty camouflage artists. We entered yet another home to pray and they offered us a round of sodas in recycled glass bottles. They turn on their television for background entertainment; it was powered by a car battery. We prayed for widows, orphans, believers, wives married to non believers, and a wife married to a murderer. We headed back to the church, crossed a barbed wire fence for the 3rd or 4th time - I got stuck by my skirt, again. Exhausted and tired, we reached the church, ate a bit of lunch and chatted with our new Kenyan friends from the church then headed back home. Another average day on the world race.
IT WAS AN AWFUL DAY
"Ugghh, I hate waking up this way! Throat totally dry, nose crusty and sore from blowing it every 2 minutes the day and night before. I'm miserable." I was half awake, half asleep and in a restless/unrested mode. I threw on my sleep mask and managed to get about 40 more minutes of sleep before pulling myself out of bed. I cracked my ribs last month, and although I've been healing, sometimes I forget and irritate the injury. This morning it also seems to be effected by my current sickness because I'm experiencing a new sharp pain involved. I have major sinus pressure, the mucus in my nose is not letting up and I think I might stay back for the day. But as I wait the morning out, it seams I might be able to make it. Breakfast is served and it includes peanuts and potato chips, how weird, I'd never eat that for breakfast. We arrived at the village church and quickly were split off into teams to cover a few areas around the village. We crossed the road, crossed a bridge and entered down a dirt road. Setting out, I was feeling okay, but I was physically done with the day around 11am. "We planned to stay out until 3:30pm, how on earth will I survive until then?" Trudging along, we went off the road and shortcut through endless fields filled with ditches and mud waiting to claim my shoes. I think I'm allergic to corn, my nose hasn't stopped running this whole day. I've blown through more than half my box of tissues and collected enough dirty ones to fill most of my backpack's outer pocket. There are noises in the corn from chickens hiding out and darting in front as we pass by, they freak me out most of the time not knowing what lurks behind the vegetation. We entered yet another home to pray and they offered us a round of sodas. My teammate requested orange fanta which turned into two, one for me, one for her. I don't like orange fanta. They turned on their television for background entertainment; the same song played for about 15 minutes. Throughout the day, we prayed for believers. "I thought we were here to evangelize? But these people are already saved. Yeah we're praying for these, but aren't we missing the point?." We headed back to the church, crossed our 3rd or 4th barbed wire fence and I got stuck, not again! Exhausted and tired, we reached the church, ate a bit of lunch then headed back home. An awful day on the world race.
IT WAS AN EXTRAORDINARY DAY
"Ugghh, I feel pretty terrible, restless and unrested. How am I going to get a few more minutes of sleep?" Remembering I set my sleep mask next to my pillow, I threw it on. 40 minutes later I woke up feeling much better and more rested. I pulled myself out of bed and over to breakfast. The 'I'm not feeling so good' morning didn't leave me, but I didn't wanted to miss out on ministry and I felt up to day before me. Breakfast arrives and we have those fried dough things again. My favorite! We arrived at the village church and quickly split off into teams to cover areas of the neighboring villages. Setting out, I was feeling okay, not the best but praying God would sustain me. As we crossed the road, crossed a bridge and entered down a dirt road, I found that God did exactly that. Nothing about the day was easy, but manageable with God's help. Continuing along, we went off the road and shortcut through endless fields of scenery I never knew existed in Kenya. It's filled with rolling hills and mountains, beautiful and green. There are noises in the corn from chickens hiding out and darting in front as we pass by, they're sneaky creatures and it's fun to try and spot them and they blend into the background. We entered yet another home to pray and they offered us a round of sodas. They gave me and my teammate orange fanta which is not my favorite and my teammate should really have sugar due to health and food allergy issues. Grateful for the hospitality we drank, but I worked out a quick-witted switch around where I could help her out and drink most of both mine and hers. They turned on their television powered by car battery, "how resourceful and smart for a remote village that doesn't get any power." I walked out with a clever sense of satisfaction. We prayed for many, they were all believers. But I wondered "what purpose we really served to these people? We are on a mission to evangelize, these are already saved." But then God reminded me that as I walk around, we bring Christ where we go; I can see God's people, understand them better and grow passions for their souls. Growing up in church, people would often talk about praying for the nations. I could send up blanket prayers not really knowing the needs of countries foreign to me. But now that I'm here, I can see the faces, see the needs, understand how to pray more effectively. We headed back to the church, crossed a barbed wire fence for the 3rd or 4th time. I just smile and laugh as I get stuck again. Exhausted, tired but content, we reached the church, ate a bit of lunch then headed back home. An extraordinary day on the world race.
__________________
Our outlook on life is not as much determined by our circumstances, but rather our perspectives.
All morning and afternoon I was trying to evaluate what I thought about the day, was this a good or bad day? My nose wouldn't stop running, sinus pressure filled my head and my ribs were aching. But I also got to see the beautiful land of Kenya in a way that the average tourist never can and in the process God gave me revelations and little things kept popping out along our way that inspired me. I was seeking answers and yet all I could see was a blog forming around me.
Life is a matter of perspective.
Choose to look at life with a positive spin - it's there and usually not to hard to find.
After evaluating my day, I resolved that it was an average one coated with the extraordinary.
Posted in THAIland by Ashley Huizenga on 6/11/2010
Our contact in Thailand wanted to have some English words painted on the walls of their English classroom. This is what I came up with. Everyone helped painting the letters, Jessi Marques did and awesome job coloring the fruits and veggies, I was on the mural. Done in more or less 24 hours. (I still have paint on my foot two weeks later)
* and about the cows ears, that's what they look like in Thailand. True story.
We left Bangkok on a Tuesday, I walked briskly down the dusty road full of frustration from last minute packing and tying up loose ends. We were told we could leave stuff in Bangkok for the month (like the clunky tent I've use only once since being on the world race) but miscommunication with a teammate who left me under the impression that she'd take it down to the storage area, but in fact did not left me running as we were all piling into the van that was going to take us to our ministry sight 5 hours away. When I came back to the van, all my things that I placed on the seat I thought I claimed for the ride had been moved. Inside I was screaming and wanting to throw all my stuff outside the van and stomp on it. But instead I quietly slipped into the van, the feeling of defeat surrounded my body, I slipped in my headphones and disappeared in the melodies of my iPod.
//I was in a confounding mental situation from the week prior in Bangkok with a whirlwind of an experience involving public transportation, red shirt protests, exploration in and around the city and unfortunate inability to find a single art museum on my list of about 20 that I could have gone too and tried for.
I also had a squad member heavily on my mind, her name is Denise. The day before we left she slipped in the bathroom and seriously injured her foot in my presence. In a moment of panic I wanted so badly to help but not knowing a thing to do, the only I could think to do was pray, so pray I did. It became more and more evident that this injury was not going to go away quickly. She later had surgery on her foot and is in need of extended physical therapy and will in effect, need to recover off the race. As traumatic as it was and still is for Denise and her husband Scott, it was fairly traumatic to witness the whole thing and feel so helpless to aid a friend who was hurting so badly.
//Thailand is known for it's sex tourism and trafficking and it's talked about quite a bit in the world race community. Even before I left for the race, I had no clue what to tell people in response to what I would be doing since we only finding out maybe a week before we work with any given contact. But Thailand - that was different. Here was a place where it was clear that a certain ministry was needed so I often used trafficking as a go to for explaining various things I might be doing on the race. As much as this ministry was promoted and talked about, it's not what everybody ended up doing. It's not what my team ended up doing. There I was, in a van, headed to a small village in Chaiyaphum, remote and nothing like the ministry I was expecting and kind of hoping for.
I was in a strange spiritual funk when we left, trying to understand what God was doing and make sense of everything I'd seen in the days prior.
We arrived after nightfall. We couldn't see a whole lot, but then again, there wasn't a whole lot to see. YWAM Chaiyaphum is still developing and currently consists of one building for an english classroom and office (with no door or coverings for windows), a hut that serves as the kitchen, another for eating and a small building for the toilets. "What are we going to do here?" I asked myself as our driver pulled out, "stuck here for a month, in the middle of nowhere farmland."
We set up our beds under the mosquito nets provided for us in the classroom building and quickly (or not so quickly) fell fast asleep in the stifling hot air of Thailand.
LIVING LIFE HERE
The village life is slow.
The grocery store is over an hour's drive away.
It's so hot in the middle of the day, all you want to do is escape from life and become useless.
How will we pass the time?
Why are we here?
What will ministry look like?
BUT WHAT DOES GOD SAY
be patient with Me
trust Me
talk to Me
I employed a lesson learned in Malaysia, just walk your surrounding, pray into it and you'll start to grow a connection.
I walked and slowly after a few days, the tension of the spiritual funk I was constrained in started to subside. I settled into the rhythm of the village life and I grew new contentment for our placement in Chaiyaphum and in turn, was ready to start ministry here.
Posted in THAIland by Ashley Huizenga on 5/24/2010
What is that smell?
is it poo?
Well the chicken just went under the bamboo again but that can't be it.
It's not foul enough.
that suffocating sent.... is it the fish and other sea creatures dried in the market?
Smelly -but no.
is it the smell of burning incense?
I think I'm getting closer but I can't put my finger on it.
maybe I can't smell it.
There's something there, but I'm not grasping it.
We walk into a town, a temple, someone's home and there's something there. I hear my teammates voice it, this thing called 'spiritual heaviness' - it's a phrase I've heard plenty before. Growing up in church and a home with christian parents provided me knowledge of this jargon.
But still, I've got nada; no clues to what this thing really is.
I've seen and I've heard that this 'heaviness' can cripple people, make them scared, or inspire and call them to rise to the occasion casting things out and such.
But I don't have this. No. Instead I'm left like a stroke victim in my spirit, unable to move a muscle and crack a smile, gasp, or scowl.
I always resolved to the fact that God makes each of us different and maybe He just made me a non-feeler of these spiritual things. But then I found myself on this World Race where people speak in tongues regularly, where proposing healing is a common solution to problems and people sense demons and spirits of oppression in all sorts.
I was not a doubter. I was actually ready for God to unleash some awesome spiritual giftings or musings that I could write home about so I prayed concerning it regularly. Not pushy, but ready; ready for God to move however He saw fit.
What He did, was nothing.
[short sidebar] Asking God for things is always an interesting matter, it's often viewed and spoken about in varying ways. You could read many a christian or non-christian book on the subject and gain numerous opinions about His responses or lack of.
The way I see it, God hears us always and I think He always answers. The answer may not be what we want - no or wait ring a few bells. And then there's the fact that it's not just God out there in the spiritual realm, we have an enemy too don't you forget. And he just loves to throw doubt and disappointment in our minds the moment we don't hear what we expect to from God or think we don't hear Him at all. The author John Eldridge writes about this idea with the label 'agreements' in his book Walking with God. We make them in ourselves when we think God has failed us, consciously or subconsciously and maybe with the enemy's prompting. Then we hold ourselves to the agreements we've made, blocking us from God in many ways, destructive ways.
Back to my current spiritual issues, I tried to be as conscious as possible to really seek God on the matter, make sure not to let in any agreements or start comparing. Once you play either of these games, you've already lost. But I had a few people prophesy over me that I would be discovering new ways of God using me - there has, by large, been a focus on my talents and creativity, now was the time for God to bring other things out - so they said. I thought great, ok God, do dis thang.
Still, nothing.
What He did instead, was grow a resolve He had already given me.
We are all different and function as such in the body of Christ. Different skills, different gifts, different voices for the variety of people we find ourselves to be in the big world God made.
I may not have these flashy jaw dropping biblical spiritual gifts I was kind of hoping for, but I do think God gave me an eye that sees a little differently from the rest of the world and He's given me a creative voice to share it.
I might not 'sense' it, smell it, or taste it. But I think I've
figured out what God made me to do for now, in this season of life. All I can do is be faithful to continue with the things God has given
me, not become discontent with the things He has not.
My nose has grown tired of these strange smells. I'm weary of trying to put a finger on it and I'm ready to just walk in
the things God has called me to.
Run this race well is what Paul said, that's what I aim to do.
I may not be young. I may not be old. But I've traveled and I've seen a good bit of the world thus far. I know I haven't seen it all, but I've developed a capacity to accept the new or the unknown in the places and cultures I visit for the future.
Malaysia, however, proved me to be quite wrong on that fact.
I have never in my life been so challenged having everything I'm used to become different and unable to keep in the way I'm accustom.
And I literally mean EVERYTHING.
I couldn't communicate like normal through the language barriers, I couldn't shop at the grocery store like normal, it was so hot I couldn't sleep like normal, no furniture or breeze where we stayed and I couldn't find a way to pass time like normal, clumsy transportation options so I couldn't go anywhere without hassle, and plumbing was altogether changed as you can read in one of my recent blogs - I couldn't even use the toilet as normal.
In short, I was stunned at how much I felt oppressed and unable to be a shred of myself of experience normal life.
A little too extreme?
maybe
But you'd feel similar I'd venture to guess. So let me tell you what I discovered incase you ever find yourself in this situation.
Paul says 'I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some' in 1 Corinthians 9. I learned that it's not about me feeling comfortable and like myself because to be like those around me, like the country around me; I was able to save some and commune with the contacts we were placed with.
The more we let ourselves go, the more we become clay in God's hands, ready to be molded and shaped - we're ready to impact the world and bring people truth and kingdom on earth.
Vignettes of Malaysia.
No. 3
"WTMalay"
Sungai Petani,Malaysia
A video || so you can understand some of the craziness of Malaysia
people. We heard earlier in the morning that the girl without any control over her muscles, who couldn't walk and was told she didn't have anything wrong with her whom we prayed for at the beginning of the month when we visited the hospital, she was healed. We moved from room to room, some were sick with Malaria, there was Typhoid and other illness. Some just gave birth or were about to, some welcome prayer while others refuse it. We prayed for healing, that God would use these people, that they would see God.
Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit
orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from
the world -James 1:27
I met everyone at training camp, but didn't form deep relationships. When we left for the race in January, I became painfully aware of this as I joined a group of acquaintances, all of which I was obligated to get to know spending a year together. I hate small talk. It makes me weak in the knees. And because I would only see them for a short time each month, my small talk obligations were going to stretch for a year without much hope of really getting to know someone and move past the awkward stage. I would get a knot in my stomach that rendered my arms and legs to cooked spaghetti like strength before travel days. Limp and drained I'd head to the airport. I would be awkward and avoid people for the most part. After a few months, I even started to feel isolated from members on my team. I'd see them getting along with each other so well and forming deep relationships. I didn't see anyone want that with me so much. I started telling myself I was ugly and undesirable. 
with our contact before we be headed out for a day of door to door evangelism in nearby villages. When we arrived at the village church, we quickly split off into teams to cover various villages in the area. Setting out, I was feeling okay, not the best but praying God would sustain me. We crossed the road, crossed a bridge and entered down a dirt road. Along the path, we prayed for many believers in the church. Then we went off the road and shortcut through endless fields filled with ditches, mud, sheep and corn like the Kenyans do. Pathways are beaten down by the hundreds of people who have walked the field before us. Homes and paths are separated by ditches to drain the rainfall and it gives me the feeling of miniature kingdoms separated by moats on this luscious green land. There are noises in the corn from chickens hiding out and darting in front as we pass by, they are crafty camouflage artists. We entered yet another home to pray and they offered us a round of sodas in recycled glass bottles. They turn on their television for background entertainment; it was powered by a car battery. We prayed for widows, orphans, believers, wives married to non believers, and a wife married to a murderer. We headed back to the church, crossed a barbed wire fence for the 3rd or 4th time - I got stuck by my skirt, again. Exhausted and tired, we reached the church, ate a bit of lunch and chatted with our new Kenyan friends from the church then headed back home. Another average day on the world race. 
split off into teams to cover a few areas around the village. We crossed the road, crossed a bridge and entered down a dirt road. Setting out, I was feeling okay, but I was physically done with the day around 11am. "We planned to stay out until 3:30pm, how on earth will I survive until then?" Trudging along, we went off the road and shortcut through endless fields filled with ditches and mud waiting to claim my shoes. I think I'm allergic to corn, my nose hasn't stopped running this whole day. I've blown through more than half my box of tissues and collected enough dirty ones to fill most of my backpack's outer pocket. There are noises in the corn from chickens hiding out and darting in front as we pass by, they freak me out most of the time not knowing what lurks behind the vegetation. We entered yet another home to pray and they offered us a round of sodas. My teammate requested orange fanta which turned into two, one for me, one for her. I don't like orange fanta. They turned on their television for background entertainment; the same song played for about 15 minutes. Throughout the day, we prayed for believers. "I thought we were here to evangelize? But these people are already saved. Yeah we're praying for these, but aren't we missing the point?." We headed back to the church, crossed our 3rd or 4th barbed wire fence and I got stuck, not again! Exhausted and tired, we reached the church, ate a bit of lunch then headed back home. An awful day on the world race. 
we went off the road and shortcut through endless fields of scenery I never knew existed in Kenya. It's filled with rolling hills and mountains, beautiful and green. There are noises in the corn from chickens hiding out and darting in front as we pass by, they're sneaky creatures and it's fun to try and spot them and they blend into the background. We entered yet another home to pray and they offered us a round of sodas. They gave me and my teammate orange fanta which is not my favorite and my teammate should really have sugar due to health and food allergy issues. Grateful for the hospitality we drank, but I worked out a quick-witted switch around where I could help her out and drink most of both mine and hers. They turned on their television powered by car battery, "how resourceful and smart for a remote village that doesn't get any power." I walked out with a clever sense of satisfaction. We prayed for many, they were all believers. But I wondered "what purpose we really served to these people? We are on a mission to evangelize, these are already saved." But then God reminded me that as I walk around, we bring Christ where we go; I can see God's people, understand them better and grow passions for their souls. Growing up in church, people would often talk about praying for the nations. I could send up blanket prayers not really knowing the needs of countries foreign to me. But now that I'm here, I can see the faces, see the needs, understand how to pray more effectively. We headed back to the church, crossed a barbed wire fence for the 3rd or 4th time. I just smile and laugh as I get stuck again. Exhausted, tired but content, we reached the church, ate a bit of lunch then headed back home. An extraordinary day on the world race. 
that this 'heaviness' can cripple people, make them scared, or inspire and call them to rise to the occasion casting things out and such.
