The World Race - Kendra Baird

Final Note

Mon, 28 Jun 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Looking back to that night in Ireland about ten days into the World Race when I cried myself to sleep listening to Damien Rice in my tent while it poured down rain, I hardly thought I would make it to this point. We board a van in about 45 minutes that will take us to the Bangkok Airport where I'll begin my 40-hour, 4 airplane journey home and the World Race will be over. Six months ago I would have laughed if you asked me if this was the best year of my life, but from where I stand today, I believe that I have the coolest life and maybe it was the best year of my life so far. I proved my theory that God has a better plan for my life than anything I could come up with for myself. I just traveled the world for a year, I didn't have a job the entire time, yet I still ate well for the last 11 months, and I'm going home to re-start my business of selling my original paintings. I don't dare to dream that big, but God does and he did for me and I know He will continue to do so.

Now, all I have to say is...

"I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have remained faithful."

2 Timothy 4:7

See you in about 36 hours Mom & Dad!

Giftings

Tue, 15 Jun 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Since arriving at SHE, we have discovered just how terrible the plumbing system is in Thailand. Though it's pretty disgusting and unpleasant, I've discovered I have a gifting for unclogging toilets. Even when others give up after many failed attempts, I magically succeed.

Will I Miss These Days?

Mon, 14 Jun 2010 00:00:00 GMT

So today I was supposed to go meet one of the bar girls, Keo, at 2pm so I could go with her to get a tattoo. Katie joined me and she picked us up on her motorbike and swept us away down the road toward the tattoo parlor. First we stopped to buy flowers, which I found out not long after was to offer to Buddha as a prayer before she got her tattoo. I went not intending to get a tattoo, but more to just watch her and hopefully talk to her more.

When we arrived at the place, everyone was sleeping inside. It was the home of the 4 people who worked there as well as the tattoo place. The man who did the tattoos immediately went into a chant/prayer to his shrine of Buddha before beginning his work for the day. Keo had bought flowers for me to offer as well because she thought that I was going to get a tattoo as well. I kept saying no, no, I don't want one, I just came to watch. Sure enough, she got a tattoo that had to do with Buddha and she said it would bring her good luck.

When we got done, we said goodbye and Katie and I left. We missed the last bus that left at 5pm to go back to SHE, so we had to find another ride. Since we're too cheap to hire a taxi, we hitchhiked. This was the third time I had done it since being in Thailand and it's really safe (so don't worry Mom & Dad). A nice lady and her husband picked us up and dropped us off at the road we needed.

This stuff just doesn't happen in my real life. Most days, I'm so ready to be home, but then again I wonder how long it will be before I just feel bored because I don't have to spend a half hour hitchhiking to try and find a ride. I'll just be able to hop in my own car and go. I hope, after a year of fiascos like this one, I'll be more thankful than bored.

Offering Truth

Thu, 10 Jun 2010 00:00:00 GMT

We arrived on a Thursday morning after riding an overnight bus to Phuket. After being escorted into where our bedrooms were, we all laid down to sleep for a few hours before our ministry would begin in the afternoon. When I laid down, I saw a vision that looked like this:

Because it is something I love to do and it happened to be Sharon's (our contacts) birthday on June 9th, with the encouragement of my teammates, I painted this for her from all of us. The rest of my teammates added little pieces of collage and written scripture to speak truths to the women that the SHE organization is working with here. So here is the final product:

Some of the verses and words of truth that my teammates added were:

Jeremiah 31:13 "I will turn their mourning into joy. I will comfort them and exchange their sorrow for rejoicing."

Hosea 2: 14-15 "But then I will win her back once again. I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly to her there. I will return her vineyards to her and transform the Valley of Trouble into a gateway of hope."

Psalm 5:11 Spread your protection over them, that all who love your name may be filled with joy.

Micah 6:8 Do justice, Love mercy, walk humbly with your God.

When the Lord saw her, his heart went out to her and he said, "Don't cry."

For the Lord delights in you.

Your were sold, but you will be redeemed.

Beauty, Growth, Love

A Vision in Cambodia: By Team Ninja

Wed, 9 Jun 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Vuthy's Vision from Nick Pauley on Vimeo.

We have met incredible people all over the world during this past year. We have gotten to live day in and day out with people who are putting it all on the line to follow God's vision for their lives. We leave most months inspired and thankful that God would allow us to see the ways in which He is moving throughout the world.

This past month our team (Team Ninja) worked with one such inspiring person. If you've been following along with Team Ninja during May, you've already heard about him. His name is Vuthy Nurn, and he lives in a small, remote village in Cambodia called Toch Village. He was born in the village but spent his childhood in Phnom Penh, the capital. After a few rebellious years, he accepted Christ through YWAM. Almost immediately God laid a vision on his heart for how Vuthy could transform his village.

Vuthy's vision is almost as big as his heart is. His vision includes building a home for abandoned children from the village, as well as for orphaned street kids from Phnom Penh. He wants to construct a youth center for the local youth from his village and the surrounding area. He wants a place for the youth to gather to learn about God, to have a space for a computer lab, and to run English classes. He currently runs English classes every day for local children and youth.

Throughout the month our team caught Vuthy's vision. We believe that God is working mightily through his life. In order for Vuthy to be able to see these dreams come to pass in reality, he will need financial support. He needs money to begin the initial process to build both the orphanage and the youth center. Please watch the video that we have put together to give you a more complete picture of Vuthy and his vision. We hope that you will be able to see the amazing things that will come out of your donations to his project.

With love,

Team Ninja and all of J Squad

If you wish to donate to this cause, please go to www.theworldrace.org and follow these instructions.

1. Click the tab "Donate" on the top right side of the page.

2. Click on the link "Click Here To Give!" This will take you to the donation page.

In the box that appears, you will see:

ONLINE DONATION INFORMATION

3. Please select "Support a World Race Project" under Choose Program.

4. Please enter "2010 Jun J squad" in the Project field provided in order to be sure your funds will go into the account designated for this ministry.

If you wish to send a donation by mail, please make your check payable to Adventures In Missions and mail it to:

Adventures In Missions
P.O. Box 534470
Atlanta, GA 30353-4470

Please indicate "World Race Project Fund - 2010 Jun J squad" in the memo section of the check.

These gifts are tax-deductible.

We want to stress this so there is no confusion - donors should not give to this fund via my personal world race blog page. If you do, it goes into my support account, not into the ministry fund.

Working on Bangla Road

Wed, 9 Jun 2010 00:00:00 GMT

We were dropped off in Patong and we headed for the first bar in groups of three. Thai men flashed pornographic images in our faces, inviting us to come see a 'peep' show. Husbands passed by holding their wives hands as they ogled the women in short skirts and lace tank tops. Parents guided their 5 and 7-year-old boys down the sidewalk by the lady-boy bar. Two blonde teenage girls had their photo taken in front of the red lights, excited for the wild night ahead of them. A young curly-haired girl about the age of four, stood in amazement as she watched three women grind on poles and each other for an audience of men. Her parents were standing right beside her and had intentionally brought her here.

The shock of this sight is more than I ever expected to see. The parents who think it's okay to expose their small children to cross-dressing men, sex and half naked women never existed in my mind before I came here. I had an idea of what the 'red light district' was going to be like, but I always anticipated that the people who frequented these areas would be old perverted foreign men. Reality is that they are only a small portion of the population on Bangla road.

We walked into our first bar and sat down to order a coke. We started talking to a few of the women and men would walk by, groping the women as they passed. All of the Thai women would cheer and invite them over for a drink. Those men are where they made their real living of about $30/night. Otherwise, they would make less than 3 dollars per night serving drinks at the bar.

It's the rainy season, low season for tourism here in Thailand, so we have many more opportunities to talk to the women at the bars because there aren't as many men here to purchase them for the night. We've gone down to the red light district three times so far, meeting women, playing games like Jenga and Connect Four with them, and telling them about SHE (Self Help and Empowerment). SHE is the organization that our women's team is working with in Phuket, Thailand. An English couple began this organization where they and groups like ours intentionally go to the bars to meet women who are prostitutes, get to know them and ask if they'd like another option besides selling themselves. If they say yes, then we invite them to see and work at the SHE facility. Once they come to the facility, they can live and work here or sometimes they just choose to go back home to their families (usually a northern province far from Phuket). Just a few of the job options are administrative tasks, baking cookies, making and selling jewelry and cards and they also train women to work in hotels.

I did the math, and since they sell the jewelry for $12-$15 each, these women can make more on selling 3 pairs of earrings a day then they could by selling themselves for sex. As an artist, I know that they can sell more than 3 pairs of earrings a day and make an entirely different life for themselves.

Sharon and Mark (the English couple) also have a morning devotional every day to teach the woman about Jesus. Wednesday and Friday evenings they have a bible study. We've also been helping with these and doing some manual labor around the facility. I can't believe this is our last month, but I couldn't pick a better ministry to be doing in our final month than this.

If you'd like to learn more about SHE go to SHEthailand.org .

I Would Fail a Pop Culture Quiz Right Now

Sat, 5 Jun 2010 00:00:00 GMT

I can't take credit for this blog... My amazing friend Robin Barnes wrote the following and I thought it was so funny I had to copy it. It also describes a bit of what it's like to travel with world racers:) Enjoy!

____________________________________________________

I'm afraid of being "weird" when I fly into the States in two weeks. Popular culture just hasn't been a part of our lives really for the last 11 months and I won't be able to join in conversations about it. Here are a few examples:

I haven't read a newspaper since we left in August. The only time I picked one up was because Marissa was squealing about how it was regular-size, not half-size like the ones in the States that save money. (Journalists apparently notice these things.)

Last month, I found out that DJ AM died. He died in September.

Ashlee brought a People magazine back from Arkansas when she came back and we didn't recognize half the people in the magazine. (Who is this Justin Beeber kid?)

The most recent song I have heard in the last month was Ricky Martin's "Livin' la Vida Loca" on Bangla Road.

I recently described Selena Gomez as "the Mexican Hilary Duff" because I couldn't think of her name or why she's famous.

A friend recently told me that Trix no longer come in fruit shapes, but rather are now round balls. This is lame and I walked around telling people about this, dubbing it news from America. It was shocking to us all.

We sometimes say "Asanta sana" instead of "thank you", and on more than one occasion, I've called out "Hai-da" instead of "Come here". Hai-da is Romanian. Why is that still in my head?

In Cambodia, we saw a tuk-tuk beside us full of white people. "Mzungus!" Jodi cried out. "Look! White people!" Matt yelled. We all stared and smiled too eagerly at them. They did not return our smiles and quickly averted their eyes, never returning them to our direction. I cannot imagine what we will do at the LAX airport.

Also in Cambodia, Shannon decided to make a short-sleeved cardigan out of her Starter black t-shirt. She cut it in half and then I helped her cut it down the front. We dubbed it the Startigan and I encouraged her in wearing this. Thankfully, Aubrey stopped the fashion calamity about to happen, but we've reached a low point when a cut-in-half t-shirt is a viable church outfit.

Here's another instance of "This is not "real-world" acceptable behavior":

On our bus trip to Phuket, I think the guy who handed us our blankets thought we were crazy. "Kap kun ka!!" we practically screamed at him.

Then he brought us a tuna sandwich. Then a water bottle. Then a JUICE box. Then coconut-coated peanuts. It felt like Christmas each time he presented us with a new gift. I wanted to call him Santa. Every time, smiles lit our faces. I would breathe out "kap kun ka" and hold my new food item like a treasure. He probably thought we were the easiest-to-please Americans he'd ever met.

Then, at 1 o'clock, the bus pulled over. "Twenty minute stop!" a man announced. Everyone else piled out of the bus, but all of us Racers stayed on, confused, except Michelle and Holland. I was joking with Hope. "Yeah, 1 am is a great time for a food stop!" we said. "This is ridiculous!" And this is the part I get embarrassed about.

A man came on holding his ticket. "Uh, you bring ticket" he began in broken English, "and uh, you get free foods." Hope and I stared at each other for maybe a half a second.

"Where's my ticket?!" I shrieked as I frantically rifled through my things. Hope was already down the stairs (yeah, it was a double-decker bus!) and off and running towards the food. "Somebody give me their ticket, please!" I begged. I nearly knocked Jodi down the stairs as I barreled past her in my frenzied rush to find my ticket. I'm not too proud to say that I'm slightly embarrassed of my behavior in hindsight.

It ended up that the "free food" was either a Coke or two apples. But hey, still free food! I took my Coke and got back on the bus. Holland was there, telling her side of what she'd seen: a mad rush of Racers running off the bus, then wandering with their tickets in their hands, looking confused. Jen even asked, to no one in particular, "Free food?"

Needless to say, if you ever have a bunch of listless, tired Racers, say the words "Free food" and they'll perk right up!

Anyways, for those of you close to us who are soon to return home, be gentle. Introduce us back to popular culture gently.

And at least we knew about Michael Jackson...

Praying to Monks

Sat, 29 May 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Okay, so I know I said I was going to stop blogging every day once I turned 28, but yesterday (my birthday) I saw something that I just had to show you. God blessed me to catch it on camera as well. I was walking around trying to catch some good pictures of monks, and as I was rounding the corner to walk back into the building where I stay and I noticed a monk standing outside the home next door. This is what the monks do. They stand outside until someone comes out to pray in front of them and give them money.

So first...

Monk stands out front, waiting for someone to come out of the house.

Little child comes out and puts money in his bag.

Then another small child comes out and kneels with the other one to pray. Too cute.

My Golden Birthday

Fri, 28 May 2010 00:00:00 GMT

So I turned 28.

And it was the best day of my life. It began in the morning with a coffee date with 3 of my favorite girls, Brandy, Jodi and Jen. I had a large latte and chatted with them about how we couldn't believe we only had 1 month left on the race. Then my team and I went to a cute vintage shop called Keok Jay (www.keokjay.org/). I purchased a souvinier and then headed over to an amazing cafe where I had the best lunch of the entire race. My team paid and we headed to our last day of ministry for Cambodia. I taught my 2 o'clock class with Ken as usual and then at the close of class two of the girls handed me gifts. One gave me a pearl bracelet and the other gave me a neatly wrapped package with a stuffed dog inside! It was so sweet! I had no idea that I had made such an impact on them. We then had our two conversation classes where students continued to shower me with gifts. I couldn't believe what was happening. These students have NOTHING, yet they still wanted to give me gifts. One girl gave me a camai sandwhich, a boy brought a bag of fruit for the class to share, two differnt boys gave me keychains with my name engraved in them, and the entire class pooled their money to buy me a new wallet! They knew that mine had fallen apart because Ashlee told them that I needed a new one. I was so overwhelmed by the presents and they probably sang happy birthday to me at least 4 times throughout the day. I was on the verge of tears throughout the majority of the last two hours of classes.

Then, when I thought there was no way it could get better, we returned from ministry to find out that the entire J squad was coming to my birthday dinner at the smallest mexican restaurant in Cambodia. We all rode on 6 different tuk tuk's to get to Cantina, and they sang happy birthday to me when we were all stopped at a stoplight on the way. It was a tight fit but they were all there and got even more gifts from various people and everyone signed cards and wrote me notes. I've never felt so loved in my life by people who aren't my blood relatives! One year ago today was the first time I met most of my original team and now I can't imagine a life where I don't have my 38 brothers and sisters with me nearly every day. As many months as I couldn't wait to be home, now I'm not sure how i'll react to a life different from the World Race. We've really learned how to love each other like brothers and sisters.

Thank you J-Squad for making my night one I will never forget and probably the best birthday I'll ever have!

Growing Old

Thu, 27 May 2010 00:00:00 GMT

So I know most of you would say that the age of 28 is not old, and for the most part, I would agree with you, but this year has somehow given me a complex about getting older. I think it began at training camp last year when I met many people on my squad who just graduated college. My complex strengthened as I noticed more and more gray hairs plain as day on my brunette head. And then it was solidified on Halloween when there were more than a few of my squad-mates who did not know who Punky Brewster was. They thought I just really liked to tease my hair, I suppose.

Anyway, I'm going to take this opportunity to say for the very last time. I am 27 years old.

I Was Naked and You Gave Me Clothes

Wed, 26 May 2010 00:00:00 GMT

This morning, I went to the Olympic Stadium to run like I have for many mornings this month, but today I saw something that saddened me. I was doing a stair workout and when I was at the bottom of the steps, just to the outside of the stadium, I saw a mother with two children. One child, she was holding and the other was walking along behind her. Neither child had any clothes on. The small one was probably about 2 and the other maybe 3 years old. The mother didn't have shoes on and the child following her was crying. This scene was enough to make me stop in my tracks and just stare for a moment, wondering what I could do. Should I take off my tank top and give it to the 3-year-old? Should I take off my shoes and give them to the mother?

I reasoned to myself why neither option would be appropriate. If I took off my shirt, though I wore a sports bra underneath, I would be an even bigger spectacle than I already was in a foreign country where only showing your shoulders or knees is considered scandalous. If I took my shoes off and gave them to her, they would most likely be too big (these women are tiny), plus, I seldom see Camai people wear shoes that cover their feet. They only wear flip flops and I didn't have mine with me to give.

So after reasoning to myself why I had no way of helping this poor mother, I continued with my workout. But I didn't leave the stadium today un-impacted. I know what it says in the Bible. I know what Jesus says. He says we should give people clothing if they are naked. If we don't have extra clothes with us, we should give them the clothes off of our back, even at the cost of becoming a spectacle. Jesus was a spectacle all his life and that didn't stop him from helping people. I know I could have done something for this woman, the truth is that I just didn't want to interrupt my morning run or make my morning more complicated than I had planned on.

Right now I am reading the book "Same Kind of Different As Me" and it speaks volumes about going out of your way to help the less-fortunate, and sincerely helping them, loving them like Jesus loves us. It's a true story, so I know there are people in the world who go out of their way, unexpectedly sometimes, to help other people. People who may not even be nice to them. I guess I have a lot of growing to do.

Camai Dance

Tue, 25 May 2010 00:00:00 GMT

I wish I had taken video or at least pictures because tonight our team learned Camai dancing from our English students. By the end of the night I was more sweaty than when I got done with my morning run. It's basically a combination of moving your feet as if you were doing a line dance and flailing your hands kind of like kung fu. At least, that's what it looks like when I do it. The camai women are much more graceful than I.

A Joyful Noise

Mon, 24 May 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Our contact Prasad is a very musical man and he has taught many of the new believers at his church how to play guitar, drums and keyboard. I thought I would give him this gift to show our appreciation.

Random Opportunity

Sun, 23 May 2010 00:00:00 GMT

So, I have been living at the YWAM base here in Cambodia. One night I met a guy whose name I still cannot pronounce. Something like Joleech. Anyway, he is taking a drawing class taught by an American man named Ronald. He said I could go with him one day, so I hopped on Bopha's bicycle and pedaled the 20 minutes to his studio.

The class had only 3 students and Ronald was teaching them basic drawing 1 skills. It was fun to sit and draw from life again and re-visit some concepts I learned 8 years ago. Wow, that makes me feel old. Once he found out that I was a professional painter, Ronald asked me to come back in the afternoon to help teach a student who paints in acrylics. Despite my warnings that I had never taken a painting class in my life, he was enthusiastic about me returning to help this girl. It turned out that this studio was less than a 10 minute walk from where I teach English each afternoon, so I was able to take an hour break from teaching English to go teach painting!!!

It was one of the most surreal moments of the race for me. I was suddenly standing in the middle of an art studio with easels, paintbrushes and all of the same supplies I had in my own studio back in the states. This man is teaching the Camai men and women for free as a ministry, so he was grateful for a break and I was grateful to be in a real studio again.

One Year Together

Sat, 22 May 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Today is not only our fearless leader, Dan Snyder's, birthday, but it's also the 1-year anniversary of the day we all met last year. Happy anniversary J-squad! (And happy birthday Dan!)

Her Last Two Coins

Fri, 21 May 2010 00:00:00 GMT

It's not often that we get to visit the homes of the students we teach here in Cambodia, but this morning, Robin (from one of the other WR teams) and I went to visit a woman and her family. She made us donuts and coffee for breakfast. The coffee is that kind of coffee we had in Vietnam, with the sweetened condensed milk. (my favorite!), and I usually don't even like donuts that much, but these were ALMOST the best I've ever had. The best donut in the world is actually the whole-wheat glazed donut from Schulers Bakery in Springfield, OH. (only 5 more weeks until I get one!!)

This woman, whose name I cannot pronounce, much less spell, was an amazing woman who had raised all of her 4 children to believe in Jesus. We talked and visited all morning and she kept bringing us glasses of tea. If we finished one, she would bring another. Right now, her husband and her are both unemployed and sometimes have trouble feeding their children, but she wanted to prepare lunch for us as well. The generosity of these people just amazed me and inspired me. It made me think of the woman in the bible who gave her last two coins in the offering plate at church.

Luke 21: 1-4 "While Jesus was in the Temple, he watched the rich people dropping their gifts in the collection box. Then a poor widow came by and dropped in two small coins. 'I tell you the truth,' Jesus said, 'this poor widow has given more than all the rest of them. For they have given a tiny part of their surplus, but she, poor as she is, has given everything she has."

I Sweated, I Am Sweating, I Will Sweat

Thu, 20 May 2010 00:00:00 GMT

So for the last couple of days, Ken and I have been teaching the afternoon English class together. I went around the room and asked each person what they did before class. Most people said that they woke up, took a shower, ate breakfast and went to school in broken English. I got to Ken and I figured I'd ask him too even though he speaks English quite a bit better than the other students ☺ He said, "I woke up, I ate breakfast and I sweated." It was a new word to these students, but a very important word for them to know in this country. So we taught them to say it in past present and future tense.

Every night it's a struggle to stay cool enough to sleep. I've been waking up around 6am each morning to run, but it's still brutally hot at that hour of the day. I sweat so much when I run that my hands get wrinkly from the sweat. It's like I took a 2 hour bath and my hands are all pruned up from it. No matter where I sit, my butt is wet from sweating when I stand up. It's embarrassing, but at this point, I'm getting used to looking like I peed my pants all the time. I know I'm a woman, but I don't glisten here, I sweat. A lot. We don't have air conditioning anywhere but the local mall, so most days off we just go there and stay for 10 hours to get some relief. Praise the lord for A/C.

Cut the Cheese

Wed, 19 May 2010 00:00:00 GMT

So, after teaching English for a few weeks now, I've started to get bored with our typical conversations about what we did in the morning and what we ate for lunch. So tonight during class, I taught my students some idioms. I taught them "five o'clock shadow", "I wear my heart on my sleeve" and "it's raining cats and dogs" but the one they were most entertained by was "cut the cheese". It took me awhile to explain to them what it meant. First, I told them it meant farting, but they didn't know that word either so I asked them to look it up in their dictionary and explain it in Camai to the students who didn't have a dictionary. Once everyone started to understand there were bursts of laughter coming from each student. One girl, Debbie, said "it's the air when you poo-poo" and I just cracked up. It was the best night of teaching I've had so far.

Birthday Boy

Tue, 18 May 2010 00:00:00 GMT

I have to apologize to my teammate Ken. I never sent a shout out to him on his birthday back on the 7th of May. He has been struggling to recover from malaria and strep throat, so on his birthday, we only got as far as making him blueberry birthday pancakes for breakfast and then he spent the rest of the day passed out in bed. Last night, we had the opportunity to go out for pizza, a strange treat on the World Race, so we had the entire staff at the Pizza Company sing happy birthday to Ken. He even got some nice balloons. Happy belated birthday Ken!

I Ate a Grasshopper

Mon, 17 May 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Monks on a Motorbike

Sun, 16 May 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Like I said... not a single day passes on the World Race where I don't at least see something interesting. For example:

Interesting tidbit about Monks. They are supposed to be vegetarians, but Shannon saw one eating a hot dog on Wednesday. I suppose the Cambodian kind aren't that strict!

David and Goliath

Sat, 15 May 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Like I've done many times before on the race, I did my David and Goliath story for the children at Salem Chapel. I tell them the story and tell them how it shows that anything is possible if you have God with you. I juggled for them and then I decided I was going to give the juggling balls. Next month, we won't be working with children, so I figured it was time to retire them for the race. It was kind of sad knowing that the race is winding down and everything is coming to an end. We only have six more weeks. I thought these last few months would never get here. I remember lying in my tent in Ireland while it was pouring down rain, being so sad that I was away from home in a cold, wet, uncomfortable place and thinking how slow the time was going. I couldn't imagine in that moment what it would be like to be at this point in the race. I never actually thought I could make it, but I guess that with God, all things really are possible.

You're Going on a Boat

Fri, 14 May 2010 00:00:00 GMT

So, to celebrate Ashlee's return, we left the place where some of the other racers are staying to have some team reconciliation time. We went to the coast for a day or so, and decided it would be a great idea to take a boat ride to an island for the day. We went in this...

The boat trip was fun with only a few moments when the boat almost capsized. We arrived at an island that looked incredibly untamed. The 'beach' was about 3 feet wide before you crossed into the wild abyss. Needless to say, our time was very memorable. Welcome back Ashlee.

She's Back!

Thu, 13 May 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Though the doctors have told her that it will take her until December to be 100% again, Ashlee is back on the field with us! Thank you to all of you who have prayed for her healing and who have helped in financially supporting her. She's reached her support goal for her trip back to the US and back to Cambodia as well.

When we greeted her at the airport, Ashlee looked significantly cleaner than any of us, plus, she has ditched her backpack for a nice rolling suitcase. She's the envy of the entire squad.

Mohawk

Wed, 12 May 2010 00:00:00 GMT

I wish I had a camera with me yesterday during ministry. The same kid who was ripping pages out of his notebook chose to go to the bathroom yesterday and soak his head with water. I'm not even sure this kid was tall enough to stick his head in the sink, so he may have dipped his head in the toilet for all I know. He came back to class spiking his hair up into a Mohawk. It at least gave me inspiration for my older class. We played "would you rather" and I asked them if they'd rather have a Mohawk or a mustache. Funny, a lot of the girls said they'd rather have a mustache. Who knew.

From $4.00 to $0.75

Tue, 11 May 2010 00:00:00 GMT

I'm quite proud of myself. Recently I went to the central market. I literally only had a dollar with me. Ladies kept asking me to buy things and I kept saying "will you take a dollar for it?" Of course they said no, but I saw this bracelet that I really liked. It was kind of cheap-looking, so I asked how much. The lady said $4.00 and I said again "I only have a dollar." She kept going down 3.50, 3.00, 2.00, and I started to walk away and she said "okay, okay" and then Jodi said she wanted one for her sister too and I said "how about I give you $1.50 for both?" At first she said no but I started to walk away again and she said yes. I got my bracelet for 75 cents!!! I think that's the best bargaining I've ever done.

Bopha

Mon, 10 May 2010 00:00:00 GMT

You'd have to meet her to really get this painting. I'll describe her as a spunky Camai woman who gets her energy from other people. her name is Bopha which means 'flower'. She doesn't like her name because she says she isn't 'soft'. She likes to fight, kickboxing etc... She's always got her dukes up, going to punch someone (jokingly, of course). She's a tough cookie, but I still see her as beautiful, just like these flowers that describe her name. I made the flowers look like they were melting though because of her firey spirit. I wanted it to look as if she's just about to bust through the bouquet of flowers that she feels hidden by right now to do all of the things she dreams of doing like going to a Bible college in the US, then lawschool and eventually get into the Cambodian government and create change.

Broke (n) Part III

Sun, 9 May 2010 00:00:00 GMT

So, some of you know that I have owned a condo in Charlotte for about 4 years now. I've tried to sell it 3 times, but I've failed each time. Recently, the A/C broke and the property continues to live up to being the biggest money pit in my life. I've prayed about it more than almost anything else my entire life, I've fasted while praying that it would sell or rent last fall and I've even contemplated on more than one occasion finding a friend who just really likes to play with fire.

I feel like it's a thorn in my flesh' as Paul described in 2 Corinthians 12:7. It continues in 2 Corinthians 12:8-9 Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. Each time He said, "My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness." So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.' Maybe God has given me this burden of the condo to keep me humble as he did Paul or maybe he has directed my steps as it says in Proverbs and I just don't understand yet why I'm supposed to own it. I always default to the fact that there may be no reason why or why not, it may just be the way life is.

If I could request your prayers that God would continue to provide me with the money to pay the mortgage and also pray that I would be able to sell the property soon.

Broke (n) Part II

Sat, 8 May 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Of course I can't help but cry out to God in a time when I feel like there is nothing I can do to change these things by my own strength. God wants us to come to him BEFORE we've reached our limit. As Americans especially, our limit is pretty far. We usually feel as if we've always got it under control when really it's been spiraling downward for a long time, and you're just too busy or prideful to ask God for help.

I've noticed something else about myself. Whenever I ask God to provide something, the entire time I'm asking, I'm going through the situation in my head figuring out my plan for fixing it myself! How can I ever expect God to answer my prayers if I keep taking back over right after I ask?

In Proverbs 19:21 it says "You can make many plans, but the Lords purpose will prevail." And in Proverbs 10:24 it says "The Lord directs our steps, so why try to understand everything along the way."

It's so difficult to follow in trust, but imagine the money we'd save on the anti-anxiety pills if we could get better at it?

Broke (n)

Fri, 7 May 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Within the last 10 days I have been sick with something resembling strep throat, I was feeling pretty sever pain in my left knee every time I tried to go running, I realized that I was broke (as in the I have no more money') kind of broke, and two days ago I woke up with tears in my eyes and I couldn't stop crying for the better half of a day.

I realize that all of these things happen to us at one point or another, but they all piled up on me like a bad car accident on the freeway. Last month was a really fun month for me, I felt useful, our schedule was organized, I got to run almost everyday with Jen Flavin who is on another J Squad team. Though I was diligently reading my bible every day so I can meet my goal of finishing the entire book by the time I get done with the race, I realized I wasn't really spending quality time with God. And, like all good relationships, you have to put time and effort into them for them to work. Somehow I feel like God was calling me back to himself with all of these things hitting me at the same time. Maybe he has shoved' me down on purpose these last few weeks so I would stop and pray.

I am vividly remembering a moment at the very beginning of the race now as I type this. We were doing one of our prayer walks and we were just walking when Brandy fell off of the sidewalk and did a full-on face plant in the road. As the laughter subsided and we realized she was okay, I said "Maybe God shoved you down so we could stop and pray here?" Maybe he was even teaching me something in that moment that would come full-circle in month ten of the race. God is so cool!