Preparing you, preparing me.

(Shout out to Jordan and Mantha my 2 squad mates who have posted similar blogs to this.)

Family… Friends… I’m coming home next month!

While there’s still a whole race to finish, I know it’s coming to an end. Life was lived in full this past year. I’ve been filled and have been overflowed with the Spirit, the Lord, Jesus, culture, languages, people, my squad, etc. Going home is going to be hard. But I want the Lord to continue to use what I’ve learned on the race and I want to continue to share the experiences He’s so graciously given me this year.

I know most of you are going to want to ask me questions about this journey. And I’m sorry, but I can’t answer the vague ones. (Ie. How was the race? How do you feel? What was your favourite thing?) There’s too much life that I have lived to answer those vague of questions. 

I genuinely want to answer and share with you what has happened this year! So to help you guys know which questions to ask and to help me process this past year, here are some more specific questions. 

1. What did you eat in the Dominican Republic? 
2. How did you adjust to the race month 1? 
3. What ministry did you do month 1?
4. Tell me why the DR felt like 6 years long for you.
5. Tell me about listening prayer.
6. Tell me about rain and why it’s significant to you and your squad on the race.
7. What is “team time” and why did you have it everyday?
8. How did you get used to being a part of a “team”?
9. What was it like to be on an all girl team? 
10. Tell me about “Soli” or Solimar.
11. Tell me about jumping off waterfalls in the Dominican Republic.
12. What was it like living in the jungle and mountains of the DR?
13. Tell me about Tuesdays in Haiti and why it was your favourite days that month.
14. Tell me about your adventure to a sugar plantation and 4 1/2 hour ride to a waterfall in Haiti!
15. Tell me about Haiti transportation… and riding situations.
16. How did you feel while living in Haiti? 
17. Tell me about the time you were tear gassed.
18. Tell me the older women of the Matthew 25 house, and the men of the Matthew 25 house.
19. Tell me about how God used a little Haitian boy to speak through to me.
20. What was your 5 day travel experience like to get from Haiti to South Africa? 
21. Where were you for Canadian thanksgiving?
22. How did South Africa change your life?
23. What did God do for you in South Africa?
24. Tell me about your violin students. 
25. What did it feel like when you got an email saying in two weeks, your team will be split apart? 
26. What was it like saying goodbye to the team you started this race with?
27. Tell me about the time you and your team got robbed and why did you pray for the robbers?
28. How hot was it in Botswana? 
29. What was your ministry in Botswana? 
30. How did this month (Botswana) look completely different than the first 3 months?
31. What did you do in Zambia? 
32. Why was Zambia a hard month?
33. What was the highlight of Zambia?
34. Tell me about the Canadian missionary family.
35. Who are Shannon and Cheyenne?
36. Tell me about your Christmas in Africa.
37. What is a bucket shower? 
38. How did it feel to go months without having a normal shower?
39. How did it feel to not have a lot of “stuff”? 
40. How did it feel to live in Africa for 3 months? 
41. Why do you love Africa? 
42. Where did you celebrate New Years and with whom?
43. Tell me about the time you had to go to the airport bathroom in the Kenya airport layover.
44. Why did you love India so much?
45. What is the culture like in India? 
46. Smiley and Smartie?
47. Tell me about your first time speaking in front of people on the race? What did you talk about?
48. How did it feel to preach for the first time, ever? 
49. What did you preach about? 
50. How do you eat with your hands? 
51. What is a Tuk-Tuk? 
52. Tell me a funny/random Tuk Tuk ride in India.
53. Was Indian food the hardest food to get used to?
54. Tell me about Omma(mom)-geetha!
55. Why was Nepal an incredible month for you? 
56. Tell me about the Nepal mountain bathroom situation.
57. What were the mountains like and how did you feel while looking at them? 
58. Tell me about Kathmandu. 
59. Tell me about the time the Lord told you to speak the morning of church.
60. Walk me through the process of catching a bus in Nepal…. 
61. Were you mad when you found out you had to sleep on the floor again when you got to Nepal? 
62. How cold was it and how did you handle that? 
63. What was the food like in Nepal? 
64. Tell me about Papa and Gresom.
65. What was hiking in the Himalayas like?
66. What did it feel like to wake up in the morning with a mountain view?
67. What was is like to live on the side of a mountain for 4 days?
68. What was your ministry in Nepal/ in the Himalayas?
69. How did you feel leaving Nepal? 
70. Tell me an embarrassing airplane story. Did you poop your pants on the race?
71. What was it like getting to Romania and seeing snow? 
72. What does it feel like to suddenly have a bed, hot water and a washing machine easily accessible? 
73. Why was Romania so hard for you? 
74. Do you like Bulgaria? 
75. How did God move in Bulgaria/with your host in Bulgaria?
76. What did you do in Bulgaria? Is it one of the top months on the race? Why?
77. Tell me about the time you cried in a Nursing home.
78. Tell me about your last 2 months with “no hosts” in Serbia and Albania.
79. What is “ATL”?
80. Did you like speaking on the race? Did you get used to it? How did you allow God to use something uncomfortable into something amazingly humbling?
81. Which books of the bible did you read this year?
82. What was it like going months without having clean clothes? 
83. If you could go back to any country(ies) which one(s) would it be and why?
84. What months had your favourite ministries?
85. Did sharing your testimony get easier throughout the race?/ What was it like to tell your testimony on the race?
86. What has been the main thing the Lord has been walking you through this year?
87. Did you read your Bible everyday on the race? 
88. How did you feel when you got your flight itinerary to get home? 
89. How did you deal with community living? 
90. How did you choose to stay present?
91. Do you like travel days? 
92. Tell me about coffee around the world. 
93. When did you start feeling homesick? Did you miss your family?
94. What is a “debrief”? 
95. What did my team and I do while we didn’t have ministry?
96. Have you gotten sick on the race? 
97. What is a ministry host? 
98. Who are you close to on your squad? 
99. What does team change feel like? 
100. What were some of the weirdest things you ate on the race?

See you soon!

Laiken M.