Today Marks Our Halfway Point

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0.4 years

or 5.2 months

or 22.8 weeks

or 159.7 days

or 3,833.3 hours

or 230,002.3 minutes

or 13,800,142 seconds

OR 5 months 8 days 18 hours

Essentially, we are at the HALFWAY DAY of our World Race.

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Here is a list of 5 of our favorite memories from each of the 5 countries we’ve served in so far:

South America

CHILE

 

1. We had the awesome opportunity to help with construction projects and community outreach for a new church in Las Vertientes. We spent lots of fun time sanding!

 

 

2. We enjoyed learning from our hosts James and Coletta Morsey. They gave us such a beautiful picture of what a life on mission looks like. This picture is from one of our weekly visits to a public children’s hospital where we spent time with families and praying for the sick children.

 

3. This is “Grandpa” – he asked us to call him that. He goes to the first church that James and Coletta started. We were invited to share one Sunday, lead worship, and have an Asado (BBQ) after.

 

 

4.  We hosted YoungLife every week at our hosts’ house. This is a program for middle schoolers where we would play games, roast marshmallows, and learn about Jesus.

 

5. We helped with English conversation classes at a local high school. We got to talk with students about universities in the US, recycling, and immigration. This picture was taken on Halloween, so all the students were dressed in costumes!

 

ARGENTINA

 

1. We partnered with YWAM Mendoza and served with ministries ALL over the city. YWAM stands for Youth with a Mission. About 50 full-time missionaries live on the YWAM base – it was cool to see people living their lives completely in surrender to God’s will!

 

2. One of our ministries with YWAM was a school-based ministry. We were not allowed to talk about God, but we taught English and anti-bullying lessons at local elementary schools. This school is in a poor area of town and values lessons are very important.

 

3. One Saturday, we were invited to join a church in sharing God’s Love. We went to an outdoor market and walked around praying for people. We also got to hold these awesome signs, which reminded drivers that “Today is the time to never forget that God loves you!” We got lots of honks and waves!

 

4. We spent 3 days in the desert visiting the Huarpe Tribe. This is Eulogio and his donkey that he uses to fetch water out of the well. Many Huarpes live in primitive houses without running water or electricity.

 

5. On our last night in Mendoza, our squad decided to do an ALL NIGHT WORSHIP NIGHT! The five people in this picture were the only ones who made it the entire night!

 

BOLIVIA

 

1. We served with Mision Adulam and got the chance to spend 7 hours a day building relationships with the boys. Playing soccer is one of their favorite pastimes. 

 

2. In addition to making relationships with the boys, we also helped with maintenance projects around the rehabilitation homes. One of these projects was repainting the lines on the soccer court.

 

3. We had the chance to visit the Salt Flats on our adventure day. All you can see for miles and miles is flat, white ground. It was surreal.

 

4. We were invited to spend Christmas and New Years with our Mision Adulam/WR family. We helped decorate for the events by making these awesome candleholders with construction paper, tape, plastic lids, and wrapping paper. We also got to sing worship songs with each of the houses.

 

5. On one of our last days in Bolivia, we were able to celebrate one of the boys graduating to the final part of rehabilitation. This is a big milestone, and his family got to come and attend. We cannot post pictures of the boys, but here is a picture of Fineke, the director of the mission, and Lucho, one of the staff members at the boys’ house.

 

Southeast Asia

Cambodia

 

 

1. We were an Unsung Hero Team in Siem Reap where we reached out and built relationships with potential future adventure partners. We stayed at Overflow Guesthouse for the month.

 

2. We made friends with a Tuk Tuk driver named Mob, who drove us all around Siem Reap. He is a Christian, and we were able to connect with his pastor who will hopefully host WR teams in the future. On our last day in Cambodia, Mob invited us to his house where he prepared us a delicious lunch!

 

 

3. During our Unsung Hero month, we contacted 40+ potential future partners and submitted recommendations for 8 of them! Hopefully we will see WR teams helping these ministries in the near future!

 

 

4. One of the potential ministry partners invited us to visit a village and school about an hour and a half outside of Siem Reap. We taught English, sang songs, and played games with the children. 

    

5. At the end of Cambodia, we had the opportunity to be a part of Awakening Cambodia 2018. Four squads came together and spent two days in worship and prayer. It was so cool to hear testimonies and learn from other racers on the field.

 

Thailand

 

1. At the end of Cambodia, we were asked to serve as Squad Leaders and got a new team – 5 in the Fire! This team name represents the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. When they were thrown into the fire for refusing to bow down to a false god, they were not burned and they were joined by the angel of the Lord (Jesus). We will not bow down, and whatever comes our way, we know we have Jesus with us at all times! Therefore – 5 in the Fire (us + Jesus)

 

2. While visiting an elephant sanctuary on our adventure day, we made friends with the owner of the sanctuary and were able to pray with them. He still messages RJ on Facebook with updates about the elephants.

 

3. We visited a village church in Mae Chaem with team Table Turners, where a couple squadmates gave testimonies and a sermon. This village is where the Karen people live. They do not have a pastor, so the pastor we were with visits every so often to bring worship and teachings to the people.

 

4. With team Groovy Crew, we helped lay concrete for a church that is meeting under a small house in Chiang Khong. We had to transport sand in buckets down precarious steps.

 

5. We led a half-day “English Camp” for a village school outside of Chiang Khong. We played games, danced, and taught English words and phrases. This was our favorite day in Thailand!

 

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We may be halfway through our World Race journey but our life of living missionally wherever we are is only just beginning.