Christy Linhart - The World Race 2007

A Grieving Heart

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT

As the World Race comes to a close, I have been trying to reconnect with people back home. Some people have been badly bruised and scarred this past 11 months and I know they will still be hurting when I get home. Some people 'get it' now! They are filled with the fruits of the Spirit and their lives just seem to have blossomed!

Then there are others that have completely turned away from God and have turned to Buddism or Atheism. Over the last few days, my heart has been broken for these people. These are people that I have known for years. I can't even describe the grief that I have felt for them.

We have traveled across the world and spread the gospel to so many people and we have seen so many lives transformed. Several of the people that we have spoken to this year had never even heard the name of Jesus and had no idea who He was or what He did, much less how much He loved them.

The most disheartening thing is that these men and women that I know have heard who Jesus is and they have heard what He did for them and they don't care. They have chosen to not believe in Him and it breaks my heart for them to be so disillusioned.

Please join me in praying for them! Everytime I contact home, I seem to find out about more and more people who have turned away from God. I don't understand what is going on, but I intend to 'fight this phenomenon' with pray.

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!

Sun, 20 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT

As of today I only have 10 more days on the Race. I can't believe that it has gone by so fast! I wanted to take a few minutes and thank A LOT of people who have helped me on my path through the World Race. God has allowed me to do amazing things these last 11 months and I can't even express how grateful I am to Him for allowing me to be a part of this amazing journey. But I can express how grateful I am to everyone else, so here goes...

(Just a warning: This kind of sounds like I just won the Oscar or something, although it really wasn't intended to be this corny.)

I want to say a big THANK YOU for all of those who have been reading my blogs while I have been on the Race and special THANK YOU for those who have been commenting on them! It's really nice to know that people haven't forgotten about me while I've have been out on the field. So THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!

I also want to thank all those people who have supported me financially throughout the World Race. If it wasn't for your kindness and generousity this trip would not have been possible. Thank you for believing in me enough to allow God to do wonderous things through your support. You may never know all that your contribution did or the people that it touched, but God does and I sincerely thank each of you for it!

Thank you to everyone for all the prayers that have been prayed for me and the people we've ministered to and the World Race in general. I can't tell you how much that means to me! Sometimes I think other people's prayers have helped me get through a whole lot!!!! I probably will never know how many people prayed for me but I know people did and I know that it helped make all the difference!

I don't think I will be ever able to thank Diane and Orrin Cope enough for all that they have done for me this year. I love you guys so much! And I am so thankful that God put people like you in my life and my family's life! Your support and love will never ever be forgotten. I can't wait to tell you stories about this past year that you helped happen! May God pour His blessings out on you both!!

I also want to thank AIM and Seth and Jerry for allowing me to come on the World Race. It was an honor to come and work along side so many amazing people. Thank you for giving me the chance of a lifetime! There's no words to express just how grateful I am to you all! And thank you to the Pitts and the Days! You four have been awesome. Thank you for caring so much about us! I know without a doubt I'll be seeing you guys in the future! And finally last but not least, I want to thank the Blacks and Andrew for all the time, teaching and counseling that they have poured into us over the last few months of our lives.

And to all the other World Racers, thanks for going on this crazy journey with me! Thanks for your friendships and your love! I know I have made some friends for a lifetime! I will miss you!

Most importantly, I can't forget my family! My family has been there for me every step of the way on this journey. They have had to deal with all my emotional junk throughout the year, all the tears, all the stress and all the worries and fears. They've had to deal with little to, at times, no contact from me. They've had to deal with all my responsibilites that I left at home, even if it meant a lot more trouble and irritation for them, but they never ever complained. They've helped me on every level and I don't how I can ever thank them enough. I may have been the one who went on the World Race and had a huge life adjustment, but ya'll had to adjust your lives too due to my decision and you did it without any recogintion or thanks. My family has shown me what the true meaning of love and family means. Thank you for everything! I love all of you so very much and I don't know how I could have made it through the Race without ya'll in my life! I am so proud to have you as my family!!!

So thank you everyone who made these last 11 months possible for me! I love you all!

Baby Diego

Sat, 19 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT

On Friday, I went to a nearby village to check up on a newborn baby boy who was only 2 days old. Melanie and Lloyd are now involved with helping children with cleft palates. After a 30 minute drive through very curving moutains we finally arrived at the familys house.

To our surprise baby Diegos cleft palate was much worse then what we had expected to find but also the love that was being poured out onto him was even more surprising. Like in many other parts of the world, fathers here tend to be hands off, if they are even around at all. But not Diegos dad. Diegos dad was feeding him as we walked up and continued to feed, burp and cuddle him until it was time for him to go back to work. Men as attentive as this father are hard to find!

Please pray for Diego! He is only 2 days old and already has a little cold, which in Western society might not be bad, but here its not good. When he was born, his family thought that his cleft palate was a bad omen. I talked to the mom about a friend of mine that had a cleft palate and didnt have surgery to fix it until she was around 18 years old. The mom was stunned that my friend had waited so long for the surgery and was able to go to school and function completely normally all those years with it.

As you will see in the picture, Diego seems to be a healthy weight and size for a newborn.

Traditional Style!

Fri, 18 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT

On Thursday we took a trip to Santa Catarina, a nearby village, to check on a what we thought was a new born baby, but it turned out that the mom-to-be had not yet delivered the baby and then we delivered supplies to a few of the other families. On our last stop the family brought out lots of their traditional clothing for us to put on.

In this area, the majority of the women still wear the local traditional outfits. The majority of the men wear Western clothing except for some of the older gentlemen. All the different villages have different styles or colors so that everyone will know what area they are from. These outfits are also now a sign of wealth. Depending on how the garment is made, the family can be viewed as having money.

Most of the shirts that we tried on took about 8 months to make, which they make for themselves! The mother of the family is extremely talented!

So take a tour of our day of wearing traditional Guatemala clothing!

Our Last Days of Ministry

Wed, 16 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT

As you may have noticed, we have not been with our orginal teams since China (around December.) Although we have been together as a squad and seen our teams or some of us, like myself, have been with one or two fellow teammates during the last few months this will be a rejoining of the original teams to end the Race as we started.

Team Lego is now in Panajachel, Guatemala, one of the beautiful villages on Lake Atitlan which is surrounded by volcanoes. The locals here are so friendly and our contacts are amazing! To have contacts as nice as these people is such a gift from God!

Lloyd and Melanie have a coffee house named Solomans Porch and have to move from their current location to a new location by May 1st, and that is where we come in. Our days are mostly filled with anything from painting to putting in tile to whatever else may be needed that day. We have had a couple of days where we have gone into nearby villages for ministry.

I cant think of a greater location to have our final days of ministry or nicer contacts. God has given us an amazing gift here in Panajachel!

Completely Rambling Thoughts

Mon, 14 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT

As the World Race comes to an end and we prepare for re-entry, mixed emotions and thoughts about our futures can be a constant looming cloud.

There are parts of the Race that I wont miss at all, like intestinal worms, constant diarrhea, wierd insect bites that cause scarring, dirty broken glass on the side of the roads that lead to stitches, tick bite fever, tenting for months, long drops, etc...Then of course there are parts of the Race that I will desperately miss, like meeting new people from different cultures every month, orphans climbing into my lap for comfort, childrens laughter filling the silence, seeing people fall to their knees out of desperation for the Lord, intimate friendships of fellow World Racers and friendships from those we have met around the world, just to mention a few.

The World Race has become life for us. At this point, its not a trip and its not an adventure. Its now a way of life. After 10 months of living this crazy intense spiritual close knit life, our definitions of life, ministry, authority in Christ, friendship, love, fear and even God have changed and evolved. Walls have been broken down, deliverances have occured, hearts have loved more then ever before, hearts have broken repeatedly, comfort levels were stretched and fears faced. All of this has occured so that we could become the people God created each of us to be.

The scary part of this is now the World Race ends and life truly begins. The World Race isnt an ending to our ministry, it is hopefully a beginning to an amazing journey that God has before us.

Over the last few months we have had an opportuinity to find our callings and giftings and then step into them. As of May 1, 2008, what we have learned on the Race will become our past and serve us as we begin a new life with new prespectives, new dreams and new hopes.

As scary as it was to `give up our lives to come on the Race, it is even more scary to leave. So many of us dont know what were doing and of those who do, some arent sure it its right.

From June 4, 2007 to April 30, 2008 my dreams and hopes have almost completely changed. I have no idea what my life will be like in 6 months or even 6 weeks and thats okay. God knows and Hell direct my path. Do I like not knowing where Ill be or what Ill be doing? Hmmm...No! But thats where trust and faith come in.

To think that in almost 11 months God took me to 13 countries, introduced me to the most amazing people, created friendships with people across the globe and allowed me to be a part of leading people to the Truth and even smuggle Bibles and Sunday School supplies into a closed country just stuns me. Im not worthy of these last 11 months, but for some reason God allowed me to experience His love for me and the nations.

I cant believe how blessed I have been. Before turning 30, I have completed so many of my life goals. Sometimes all of this can be overwhelming, if He has allowed such amazing things to happen already in my life, what does He have in mind for my future and will I be able to step into His plans?

My prayer for myself and all the other World Racers is that none of us will ever settle for what is easy and attainable but instead step into the future that God has for us. And as our lives will all take very different turns in the next few days, I thank God for these past 11 months!

It's All About Me!

Fri, 11 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT

The following blog was posted on Allison's personal blog site but I thought it was really nice and it brought tears to my eyes so I thought I would copy it and post it on my blog site too! During our last days of the World Race, Allison is posting a blog about each squad member, so here's mine! It really is an incredibly nice blog!!!

25 Days!! Christy Linhart

Posted in General Articles by Allison Johnston on 4/6/2008

Christy is one of the most joyful people I have ever met. Her laugh is infectious enough to make everyone within a 5-mile radius start laughing too.

Because of multiple reasons I was able to send a decent amount of time in and amongst team LEGO and their entire team was a huge blessing to me. They laughed, joked and goofed around more than any other team on the Race. I remember nights laying in bed reading in Thailand and could hear Christy's laugh echo up the stairs.

God blessed Christy with an extremely joyful personality that she used to the fullest amongst all the children we met along our journeys. In Swaziland Christy was able to connect with the children at the Care Points in Nsoko and lead them in songs, the alphabet and general silliness. She had a way of completely disarming them and showing them the love of Jesus when the rest of us were shy and wanted to hang back.

Because of her love for and background with the kids Christy was also instrumental in helping to teach the Go-Go's (Grandma's) at the Care Points. She helped to organize a teacher training day and loved leading the Go-Go's in songs and further education. Throughout our time in Asia she was deeply involved with kids we met along the way. There were always a couple hanging off of her and she seemed to attract those who were shy and sometimes overlooked.

Christy is fiercely loyal and I have watched her smile and cry with love for her family. Her Granddad means so much to her and we have prayed and supported her and him through some health problems and struggles. Her love for her family is so obvious and we have all enjoyed stories about the antics for her Granddad.

Her love of family easily transferred to her World Race family and she was very connected with her team. The girls complemented each other so well and moved in sync throughout the community living. She and Silas competed with each other for the title of "most witty" and most of the time Christy had him. She could always be counted on for a laugh and quick remark. Christy's joy was a needed and awesome part of our World Race family and her laughter will be missed!

Proverbs 17:22 "A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones."

Neck Deep: Part 1

Sat, 22 Mar 2008 00:00:00 GMT

During a recent wandering door to door trip down mountian, we were invited to spend a Saturday evening with the local ladies of the neighborhood. At first I was so excited about going 'neck deep' into this culture! We would be sleeping in this neighborhood where we were definetly outsiders and getting a glimpse into their real life. No fronts, just reality. We would be sleeping in their beds, eating their food, going out with them for a local concert Saturday evening (of course, walking there and back in the dark) and then attending church with them on Sunday.

I love these people. I fell in love with Nicas in Granada and fell deeper in love with them here. I was so excited to finally get to be closer to this culture, since I don't speak Spanish I end up missing out on so much. Even with translators sometimes I don't feel like I'm truly getting to talk with a person.

As Saturday came I couldn't believe that I had agreed to spend the night with these ladies. I tried to think of ways out of going without being rude but couldn't come up with any good excuses. I can't speak Spanish and none of these ladies can speak English, which could be a problem. How in the world was I going to spend over 20 hours with these people and not have a decent conversation? Would we be in any danger? Our friends had told us that we would be staying in the safest house in the neighborhood and that it had a gate so that we would be okay, but we never asked them about safety they just volunteered this information. Sometimes it's comforting to know the safety precautions that are taken for you and sometimes ignorance truly is bless. Plus we had to speak at church the next morning, what if I didn't sleep well? I don't function that well when I don't sleep.

However, without coming up with any good excuses to stay home, we set out for the evening. We arrived at our friend's house and immediately all my worries went away. Our friend had on a dress that she was semi-concerned about and wanted to know if she look pretty or ugly in it. It was like being back in America. It was going to be a true girl's night out.

In total a group of about 10 of us ended up walking to the concert together that evening. Once there, we saw all of our friends from the neighborhood. One of our friends even bought us watermelon. And it never mattered that I couldn't speak the language. It didn't matter that my blonde hair stuck out in a sea of dark hair like a light bulb. It didn't matter that I had no idea what anyone was even singing all night. None of that mattered.

Neck Deep: Part 2

Sat, 22 Mar 2008 00:00:00 GMT

As the entire neighborhood walked back to their houses around 11pm we arrived at the house that we would be spending the night. Suddenly our friends started speaking a lot of Spanish while looking between us, the house where we were going to sleep and the house where our bags were. Apparently, it wasn't a good idea at this point of the evening for us to be on the road carrying bags.

Our creative friends had a solution for this problem though, they would drive a moto to the house with our bags and bring them back to us. That seemed to be the safest way to work this. So Elizabeth and I were ushered inside the house and sat on the couch waiting for our bags to arrive.

As soon as they did, we were shown our bedroom...yes, bedroom! I thought we would be sleeping either in a large bedroom with several beds and most if not all of the family or on the ground. I can't tell you how excited this made me.

To be honest, that night's sleep was the best sleep I have had in this country up to this point! They way they put roofs on houses here is genius for this weather! It instantly creates a breeze!

The following morning, our hostess called us to breakfast. She served us cereal in pre-packaged bags so that we could eat as much or as little cereal as we wanted. No rice and beans!

So here's some things that I've learned on this trip: people around the world are the same deep inside. Home is where your heart is. If your heart's there then you're home; it really is that simple. People realize that we aren't used to certain things, even if we never say a word and in order to make us feel more comfortable they will go out of their way to provide the best they can. People want to be loved and accepted and are willing to go to extradinary lengths acheive it. People will go to extradinary lengths for you to like them.

Looking back on it, I feel so dumb being nervous about sleeping in the neighborhood. I thought we would be going 'neck deep' into the culture and have all these really wierd or scary things happen, but in reality we simply had a good evening. Nothing wierd or scary happened. It felt like going to a good friend's house for a night.

Although we were 'neck deep' in this culture that evening, I didn't feel like it. It felt comfortable and natural. It felt like home.

On Our Way...

Sat, 22 Mar 2008 00:00:00 GMT

EC2 will be heading out to go to Ometepe, a volcano island off of Granada, Nicaragua on Easter Sunday. While on the island we will be working with an orphanage for at least a week.

As many of you already know, my heart is for orphans so I am so excited to work with them again. One of my prayers before coming to Latin America was to exprience ministry with orphaned children in this region of the world and my prayer is being granted.

Sunday morning we will be getting dropped off at a bus station around 9:30am and hopping a bus for another city in order to hop on a ferry to go across the lake. Please pray for safe travel on one of the busiest travel weekends here.

True World Race Conversations...Unedited

Mon, 17 Mar 2008 00:00:00 GMT

The following conversations took place in a few hours span time.

Disclaimer: We really didn't edit what we said. There is no true spiritual value to this at all. It's just for fun. This is life on the World Race...unedited.

Saturday night at a church concert in the middle of Pochocuape...

Christy to Elizabeth: Look at 'Farley's' eyelashes! They're so black that they're blue! Find me a grown man with some of those who can speak English and I'm not leaving this country! You'll have to call Seth and tell him, 'Christy can't finish the Race because she found a man with blue eyelashes.'

Elizabeth to Christy: I can't do that! You're the one who is dragging ME out of this country...remember!

Again that night...

Elizabeth to Christy: Hey Christy, they bought us this melon juice. We need to drink it so we don't look rude.

Christy to Elizabeth: Nauh! I'm not drinking it, it gives me diarrhea! I just got rid of a worm; I don't want another one! (Side note: Elizabeth disclosed this personal problem to an all male group of 20 somethings at a dinner table. Then feeling bad later she tried to take the attention off of me by telling them that she had pooped a feather the month before.)

Elizabeth to Christy while sucking on a bag of melon juice filled with lots of unfiltered ice: You're making me drink the poison?

Later the next morning after church while walking down the road with others...

Side Note from Christy: I had just shared my testimony at church about God being in the little things in life including when you need a hug or a kind word from someone.

Side Note from Elizabeth: The only translator in church, conviently went to the security guard's house right before it was time for us to give our testimonies. Therefore, I was Christy's translator.

Christy to Elizabeth: Did you see 'what's his name' come up to me after the service and try to hug me? Seriously, people! You can't use my testimony to get freaking frisky with me!

Elizabeth to Christy: Did I tell you what 'what's his name' asked me after the service? He said, 'Hey Elizabeth! I kept waiting for you to share your testimony. Why didn't you ever share it?' And I said, 'because I didn't want to keep standing in front of the entire church still speaking Spanish.' Then he said, 'Why were you embarrassed? You weren't embarrassed were you?' Then I said, 'Weren't you there! I was freaking floundering in front of all those people.'

Christy to Elizabeth: You said freaking floundering to him?!

Elizabeth to Christy: No, I don't know how to say that in Spanish. But it was something like that.

Christy to Elizabeth: We should Google translate it and see how to say it.

Later that same day now at our home...

Christy to Elizabeth: I'm so sad to be back. I sleep so well last night. There were no mutant rats moving furniture on the ceiling tiles in our room! (Side Note: These noises have been so loud that Elizabeth has crawled out of bed and gotten into bed with Christy.)

Then a loud noise from the ceiling. Christy looks to ceiling.

Christy to the rats: Don't you dare fall on me!

Cristie to the rats as she whips her arm in the air: Fall! Fall! Fall!

Elizabeth to Cristie: Whatever! If a rat fell on her head, you would be screaming the loudest!

Cristie to Elizabeth: Why would a rat fall on her head?

Elizabeth to Cristie: Because you're cheering for it to.

Cristie to Elizabeth: Ewww! No I just wanted to rat poop to fall on her bed too. (Side note: Rat poop falls on Cristie's bed every night.)

Later that evening we learned that there are both cats and rats that live above us which is why we can see the ceiling tiles move when they chase each other across the room. What a relief!!! It's not JUST mutant rats!!!

Lego Video

Mon, 17 Mar 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Three Women and Two Kids

Sat, 15 Mar 2008 00:00:00 GMT

As with any of our ministry days, after we are done teaching the kids or helping cook the food to feed the children we walk up and down the adjoining road and let God lead us to whatever may happen.

On this particular day, the three of us EC2 girls set out with two local children as our guide. At this point, the kids love leading us around the nieghborhood and we like it because they know who lives where and who's home! (Plus, I get to be around Nica kids which makes my heart happy!)

Our first stop was their house! It usually is! But we love the whole family, mom, son and daughter are amazing people. There are only two ladies that help cook breakfast and lunch for over 100 children. This mother is one of them and the other lady was there to speak with us as well. She insisted that we go to her house after visiting some other people first. We agreed and off we went!

To make a 3 hour story short, house after house we stopped in to say hello and speak with them for a little while and then left for the following house adding at least one person each visit! By the end of the 3 hours we realized that we had too many people with us to go to anyone else's house so we bought them a 3 liter Pepsi and went back to the community center to host all of them. At this point, we had turned into 10 to 12 women and 2 kids.

The awesome thing is that these women actually want to be around us. At times it blows my mind how much they like us. I couldn't figure it out, especially knowing Cristie and I don't speak Spanish, we try but we aren't good at it. But I think I figured it out...there is nothing that special about the three of us. Overall, we're pretty ordinary people. But inside of us, they see something that they haven't seen much of around that area. They see Jesus! It's not us that the are wanting to be around so desperately, it's Jesus. He's the reason we're even here and they are seeing Him in what we do and hearing Him in what we say. They are so desperately seeking Him and what they see in us is what they're wanting in themselves!

So to end our story, the whole herd of us went back to the community center and had our Pepsi while talking for another 2 hours. At the end of our time with them, we had been invited to go with the women to another town known to locals for it's market on their day off AND a concert at a church somewhere near where they live over the weekend. Then they wanted us to spend the night with them. Tonight we will be going to the concert with the ladies. I'm really excited to see what amazing things God is about to do!

Mr. Perry Brown

Sat, 15 Mar 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Have you ever donanted money to a cause and hoped that all the money you donanated went to where you thougt it was going but in reality, you knew that probably very little if any actually went to the cause?

The last couple of weeks we have been working with a man from North Carolina named Mr. Perry Brown. I don't know if I have ever seen someone so forthcoming about what he does with the money that is donanted to feed the 18,000 children that he feeds in a day. If the money runs low, he'll put his own money in to cover it.

(Mr. Brown with a Nica girl.)

His whole thought is based on this...if a woman donants $10 to feed a child and that's all she has to donante then he wants to make sure that all $10 of it will go to feed the children. The $10 won't be split between operating costs and food and freight. All entire $10 will go for food to feed the children. If someone donates a large amount then he may ask them if some of it can be used to cover freight, otherwise all the money people donate go straight for food for the children.

$10 a month will feed a child for the entire month! I know first hand that he even checks up on the food centers to make sure that they are using all of the product in order to make sure the children get as much nutrition as possible.

(Mr. Perry Brown and Allen at one of the feeding programs.)

If anyone is interested in donating to Samaritans International you can contact them at:

Samaritans International

c/o Furniture Factory Outlet World

8315 Lancaster Hwy.

Waxhaw, NC 28173

Rambling Questions About Re-Entry

Fri, 14 Mar 2008 00:00:00 GMT

As the final weeks of the World Race quickly approach, questions flash through my mind as to what life after the Race will be like. For example...

1. When I hear a noise at night, who will crawl in bed with me? (Now when we hear a noise at night, we always know it is a rat. My teammates and I usually end up in a twin bed together due to rats at some point almost every month.) Will it be weird not to have someone else in the room with me as I sleep? I am pretty sure I won't be missing any of the rats!!! I don't even remember, do you hear strange noises at night at home?

2. Will people ever truly understand what all has gone on with me this year? Will people realize that I am not the same person I was when I left home? Will I even realize how much I've changed?

3. Will I even like the same people, places and things as before? Will things that use to bother me before, not even phase me now and things that did not bother me before, will they start annoying me now?

4. Will it be weird to be alone? I have not been alone in over 9 months now! In an empty bus yesterday, three World Racers ended up sitting apart for the first 20 mins after that all three of us were in a line as if there were no other seats available.

5. Will it be weird not to have someone hold my hand or hang onto me as I walk down the street? Anytime there are kids around, I have at least one attached to me most of the time usually by them hanging onto my waist as we walk. And if not, most of us WR now hold hands and or arms as we walk or sit.

6. Will it be strange to see 90% or more white people? Will it be weird not to hear other languages?

7. How quickly will I forget what life out in developing countries is really like?

8. Will I fall back into the American Dream way of life or will I follow God's plan for my life?

9. How long will it take for me to get back on the mission field?

10. Will I become too comfortable with the American lifestyle again or will it totally irritate me?

11. How will I deal with the abundance of everything in America?

12. How long will it take me to get use to the American prices? Right now, I can not even image spending $5 on a DVD!

13. What in the world will my life be like in 6 weeks or 6 months from now?

14. Will I forget how blessed I've been to be involved with the World Race?

15. Will I ever go back to being the old me?

God Never Ceases to Amaze Me!

Fri, 14 Mar 2008 00:00:00 GMT

After debrief, EC2 had to figure out a way to get back to Granada so that we could settle the logistics for the beginning of out trip. However, we weren't sure how going back to Granada would really work.

The morning before we left one of our debriefers overheard me talking to another Racer about our team needing to get back to Granada the following morning. She told me to check with the lady that ran the hotel that we were at. So I did. The woman was willing to take me and my team back to Granada if we would split the cost for the gas! I was like "Heck yeah!" Please, not having to deal with public buses with all our luggage I'll happily pay whatever!

Two more teams ended up going us on our ride back to Granada and then when it came time to pay, our tab was picked up for us! To the people who picked up our tab...Thank You!!!!

(EC2 arriving in Granada)

When we arrived in Granada, we ended up staying at a hostel that was a good walk from town. But it was cheap! We were planning to stay there for at least 2 nights.

The following morning we went to breakfast to say good-bye to our debriefers. E-Beth was going to another city to try to catch up with her brother, so Cristie and I headed back for a day full of logistics. Within 2 blocks, our phone randomly rang. It was the man that we had been trying to contact about working with him in Managua!

He asked us where we were at and even though he had never been to Granada he told us that he was on his way to pick us up and that he would be there in 30 minutes! Our mouths dropped open! That morning at breakfast we had been discussing pairing up with another team to travel on the public bus system.

However, none of us were packed AND one of our teammates was heading to the same town this man was from to try to meet up with her brother. So I ran down the street trying to find Mark. Thankfully Mark was just turning the corner a few blocks back and agreed to help us pack and carry our bags to the center of town. THANK YOU MARKY MARK!!!!!

Within 45 minutes, we were in our new contact's brand new air conditioned van heading up to Managua. We stopped for lunch at Tip-Top to eat and he insisted on paying for our lunches. We then picked up E-Beth and headed to the grocery store to buy some food. Once again, he payed! We couldn't believe it! He asked us which rooms we wanted to stay in. Singles, Doubles or a Triple. Did he just say Singles???? I don't even remember what that would be like! We asked for a triple. He even took us to a nice dinner on the beach about an hour from here and payed for everything! I honestly can't believe that the three of us are being treated so well! God is blessing us right and left!

(Our sunset view from our table.)

As of now, we have really only payed for one taxi ride and a few snacks. That's it! We all have therapuetic foam beds and a small AC unit in our room. We are staying in a nice fenced in, guarded facility. God has truly blessed us! Our ministry is awesome with the kids and ladies! Oh and our contact is from North Carolina, two hours away from where I live. Small world huh?

At the beginning of this last full month of ministry, I asked God to show me that He loved me everyday. Either in a big way or small way, I just wanted to know that God loved me. And He literally has done just that! Everyday somehow He allows something to happen for me to know that He loves me. So far EC2 has been tremendously blessed!

Keep checking my blog to read what else God is doing!!!

(*Both pictures belong to Cristie Reiter. You can check out her blog at cristiereiter.theworldrace.org.)

ECsquared

Sun, 9 Mar 2008 00:00:00 GMT

I am still in Nicaragua!!

For our last full month of ministry, we were supposed to choose from four groups of World Racers. One group was doing an extreme-ish type ATL (Ask The Lord), another group was ATL but not as extreme, another group was staying around Granada to do music ministry and the final group was going to stay in Antigua. Of the four groups I didn't feel peace of any of them. For a little bit, I actually went to two groups' meetings so that when I decided which group I would be in then I wouldn't be quite as behind on the news.

Our decisions were due on Tuesday. On Monday afternoon, I still didn't know where I was going. Then within a short period of time, a new group formed. This group was geared toward Nicaragua and two major contacts here. One contact which feeds thousands and thousands of children and another contact that runs an orphange. I had already spoken with another World Racer about my heart still being in Nicaragua and working with the children here.

I was never excited about Latin America until I arrived. I have fallen in love with Nicaragua and its people. But in Granada I never got a chance to form relationships with the children and in turn felt empty.

With this option on the table, I finally had peace about which group to join. Our new team name for this month is ECsquared. Our members are Elizabeth, Cristie and me! Get it...ECC...ECsquared! So the three of us are heading out to do the Lord's work in the next few weeks. Elizabeth and I are on Team Lego together and this will be the first time that I have done ministry with Cristie.

God has already provided so much for us in just the first few days! But you'll have to come back to read about that!! My only desire when I came to Latin America was to work with children and now God is allowing me to do just that in a country that I just adore!

The Angels in Heaven Rejoiced

Sun, 24 Feb 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Earlier this week we had to decide who would be preaching a service in the poorest section of the barrio. God laid on my heart that I needed to share a little of my own story but at this particular time I thought it was more in line of my testimony (although I was a little confused over the part of the testimony He wanted me to share).

As I prayed more into it, I realized that I was actually getting a theme for a sermon about love and that I was supposed to be contrasting God's love as a Father to my own earthly father.

God had given me three very distinctive points to cover and I was confident that God was using this to touch at least one person who would be there.

Now, as most of you probably already know my heart is for orphans. I can do children's ministry at a drop of the hat and be fine with it, however, to preach to adults I actually spend a considerable amount of time with God figuring out exactly what He's wanting me to say.

We had been to told to expect anywhere from 100 to 175 or more people depending on how many heard that the Americans would be there. But as we started the service, there were only a few adults and several children. (Apparently, we being Americans isn't as big of a draw as they had thought.) During a last minute decision we decided to drop part of what we were doing and I needed to refigure what I was going to preach about since we had geared our service toward adults. Thankfully, God had already given me what He wanted me to share so all I had to do was scrap the details and go off memory and the Holy Spirit.

God as always was wonderful! We now have a new brother in Christ! He is 13 years old and very small for his age, possibly due to lack of food. (In the photo above, he is the boy next to the tree with his hands under his chin and in the top picture he is the boy moving the chair.) He has beautiful curly hair and even more beautiful eyes. Thank God for him and for allowing me to be a part of this boy's life.

Ever Wonder How Much God Loves You

Sat, 23 Feb 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Ever Wonder How Much God Loves You...

This last week has been a strange one for me emotionally although I'm not quite sure why. Maybe it's because I'll miss being on the field in a few months or maybe it's because I'm not totally convinced on what life after the Race will look like or maybe it's just because of insanely dysfunctional living. The point is, one day I just felt a heavy sense of sadness.

That same day I decided to lay it all out for God, which I always think is kind of funny - like He doesn't know anyways. But as I was talking to Him I just wanted to know how much He loved me. What did He think of me? I needed to hear some encouragement. (I never realized how little encouragement missionaries receive from others until this trip. We tend to dish it out but very rarely receive much in return.)

As I continued to talk I realized just how much my self esteem and confidence had taken a beating lately and all I really needed to hear was a random heart felt compliment. I didn't care who said it or how or what they said but that's what I needed to hear. So I asked God for it.

Sometimes it's just nice to hear a compliment, you know? Now this may seem silly but trust me, heart felt compliments are few and far between sometimes. So I told God that a good heart felt compliment was what I needed.

After venting to God and coming up with a quick fix to my sadness I went on with my life and actually forgot about my request. The following night one of my friends came home and told me that she was looking through photos that she had taken early and gave me a very sweet heart felt compliment. Then she said, I was just thinking this and that and God told me to tell you. At those words, I started to cry.

These were not tears of sadness by any means, but tears of joy and love. You see, God loves all of us so much and although right now He's helping voters decide the next President of the United States and protecting His people from rebel attacks and saving souls from Hell and ministering to prostitutes around the world, He still wanted me to know how much He really loved me. My simple request had not gone unheard. With everything in this world that God is dealing with He still has the time and love and patience to let me hear a flattering remark so that I can be encouraged.

How amazing is our God? After creating the world and creating everything in it, after dying on the cross, after performing miracle after miracle, He still loves us enough to show us that He cares. What an intimate God serve! At times like these, I realize just how intimate my relationship with God can be and that's how He wants it. Life could be so much easier if I would just remember this!

So if anyone reading this needs to hear a loving remark from God or needs encouragement or whatever simple little request that you may think is just too dumb to ask from God because He's the King of kings or because you think God won't care, I ask you to try it. Ask God to send someone to you to encourage you or to give you a heart felt compliment or a hug or whatever you may need. Yes, we serve a big God but we also serve an amazing God, a God who wants to be a Lover of our souls. He wants an intimate relationship with you.

Higher Prices

Wed, 20 Feb 2008 00:00:00 GMT

In most of the countries we've been on the World Race we tend to be the only white' people, at least on my team. I'm on the team with some of the whitest white people you will ever meet. (Which is funny since my team likes to have dance parties but we all dance like the white guy on the movie Hitch.') Now that being said, we stand out. People always know where we are and what we're doing. People know where we live and when we go to town. We stand out. I don't mind it - usually.

Besides the lack of so called privacy we also end up being charged whatever the person my feel like charging us that day. For example: a local price and an American price. As you can imagine, the American price is considerably more than the local price and sometimes there are easy or creative ways around that but overall you just have to say, "Yes, I'm an American and I'm white and I will pay way over the normal price while in my mind I'll consider it a blessing for you although I know you're taking me to the cleaners."

Again, this is all relative you see. We're on a World Race budget - which means we live very frugally. We usually spend a couple of dollars on food a day per person, less than a McDonalds combo meal. So we have to remind ourselves that although on our budget, it can make a big difference, in our American lives it usually only adds up to dollar or so (usually less).

In the last two days we have been charged two different prices, each time the price gets higher, on Cokes from a local restaurant and both prices being higher than what a local told us he paid for the Cokes. We were charged by the same restaurant for using FREE wireless which we had used there before three or four times for free because their power went off and so they couldn't have lunch customers, which by the way were white people. (We basically had to pay for the lunch that they couldn't order due to there being no power.)

At the end of the day, it doesn't matter - it's just money. For us we can go back to America and make up the amount in a few minutes (or a few hours if you're really bad at bargaining) but for these people it could mean the difference between eating that day or not. Or for those who really just don't like Americans it can at least bring a smile to their face.

Door to Door - One Man's Story

Mon, 18 Feb 2008 00:00:00 GMT

(This is the continued story from Door to Door - The Beginning.)

As we walked over to the two Nicaraguan men, you could see that the older man was visibly upset. At this point, I was still unsure if the man that our new friend was speaking with was sober or an emotional drunk...until I got a closer look.

I saw a huge tumor-like bulge coming out of this man's neck. His voice was faint and frail. He barely could move his shoulder and winced at the pain from attempting to move his shoulder. Then he unfolded a piece of cloth that was wrapped around his wrist, exposing a severely broken bone. This man was literally broken - physically and spiritually. I've have never seen so much pain and suffering in one human being in my life.

Our new friend explained (through a Spanish/English book and gestures) that this man had tried to end his own life by hanging himself but obviously God had spared his life. He wanted us to follow him to his house, so we set out not sure of what to expect. When we arrived to his house, I was surprised to find that he lived in a nicer looking area of the neighborhood. Soon several half dressed children met us at the door with curiosity.

The oldest little girl spoke in English to tell us that she just stayed at this house but wasn't a part of the family. Surprised to hear English, I questioned her and like most locals who only speak a little English she became shy and refused to speak any more English.

The man brought in a woman and the smallest baby I've seen. The woman instantly handed me the baby (side note: I'm not a baby person so this made me very nervous.) This little baby was so frail and weak. I'm assuming by the size of the baby that it was a new born, like a few days old. But in reality I really think the baby may have been older.
Then the man brought in his son. The first thing I noticed about his son was a metal necklace that the man wore around his neck; it was way too tight! Frighteningly, too tight! Then he spoke. It wasn't a necklace, the man had a hole in his neck and this cheap little piece of metal on a string was covering the hole.

All this family wanted from us was prayer but surprisingly only for the son's wife: not for any of the broken bones or bulging tumor-looking things or the hole in the son's neck or the undersized baby or the half naked children filling the room or any of the other devastations in their lives, not for food or money, just prayer for the wife. With all the other problems this family was experiencing, the main thing they were concerned about was the son's wife, everything else to them had seemed to have worked out.

As we started to pray, the older man fell on his knees holding up the Bible and the Holy Spirit fell on that house that afternoon. Tears started flowing. The old man began to sob then our new Nicaraguan friend started to cry out and then I started to cry. I have never experienced such a devastated situation with such broken people nor have I ever been in a place where it was only God who could communicate the real hearts of his people.

God hadn't forgotten this family. Although from the looks of things, this family had been forgotten by several people including neighbors, extended family and friends. He loved this family enough to allow this man to live for a reason. He has allowed the son to continue to live and breathe and even talk through a piece of metal and a string and some how this tiny baby has been able to survive.

Door to Door - The Beginning

Sat, 16 Feb 2008 00:00:00 GMT

While in Granada we've been involved in afternoon door to door evangelism in the poorest section of town. And did I ever get off to a rough start!

The first day I went was our first 'official' door to door evangelism experience here. And I hated it!!! Our interpretor only translated to the other team member so I had little to no idea what was being said or what they were wanting us to do and then he critiqued everything that was wrong in his eyes. (Side note: Door to door evangelism can be nerve wrecking and it doesn't help when someone that is there to help you makes it more difficult by 'judging your performance.')

I don't tend to get really upset about much on this trip. I figure God has a plan and we'll grow from it one way or another, but on this day I was ticked! I couldn't believe how badly things had gone and I worried about our impression on the amazing locals that we work with since they only know what we say through this same translator. And if he was being this difficult to us I figured that he may have been that difficult with them also. Not to mention, I have no idea what he was saying even to the people we were talking with.

The following outing, I decided to give it another try but this time with a different interpretor. I wanted to have a better view of this ministry before taking a day off from it. But as I've found out, God has a sense of humor. All four of the team members got the same interpretor. My heart sank. This time the experience was better. I still didn't know a lot of what was being said but at least there was no critiques. (This day we only had time for two houses and the second one the interpretor himself just spoke to the man due to something that irked him that the man had said.)

Friday came and it was time to go door to door again and I ended up having to fill in for a team member. At this point, I was dreading it! I've never dreaded doing ministry before. But this time, there was only two of us from the team going and no interpretor. So four of us headed into the neighborhood not being able to communicate much except for a little Spanish/English book that has now grown attached to my hand.

This time started out much like the rest except we prayed while the locals spoke about Jesus and then we would pray with the people at the end. At our last house, a man walked by yelling something in Spanish and the younger man with us went to speak with him. We finished with the woman and then prayed with her before going to meet up this man who had now absorbed a considerable amount of time of our new friend. (At this point, I wasn't sure if this man was drunk or not since at that time of the day in that area there are several men already intoxicated. But I soon found out that he was in fact completely sober.) And his story (what I could make out and through the help of our handy dandy book) was in itself sobering.

This man's daily life ended up changing my view of door to door evangelism. God had divinely appointed this interception and this is what all the frustration and irritation was preparing me for. I don't think in all my life I have ever physically seen such devastation and pain!

To read about this man's story check out my upcoming blog named Door to Door - One Man's Story.

Granada, Nicaragua

Sun, 10 Feb 2008 00:00:00 GMT

We have finally arrived in Granada, Nicaragua!!

I was actually dreading the Latin American leg of this Race. Honestly, I have never been a fan of what little Latin culture I have seen. However, I love it here! I love the town, the local people, the relaxed, laid back feeling and even the animals (I finally have a dog on the Race - so it really is not MY dog, but it lives in the building that we live at.)

We will be doing a lot of manual labor during the morning hours in order to help clear out what will eventually become a mission base. During the rest of the time, we will be involved with door to door evangelism and helping with a food program for children.

We live in the building that will be the future mission base. So we are tenting inside the building due to possible critter encounters, but we have running water! So we do have a toilet and a shower!!!!

(My home for the month. Tamara is my neighbor - our rain flies connect to keep bird poop off our tents -- she is such a lucky girl!! And then here is a photo of Nico, the dog we live with for this month. Too cute huh? )

My Favorite Time of the Day

Wed, 23 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT

As any parent would probably agree, children are just way too adorable at bedtime!

Bedtime at the children's home is my absolute favorite time of the day. I head over after dinner (usually around 6:30) and we read or talk until worship and devotion time at 7:00. Worship and the daily devotion will go until 7:30. (By this time some of the youngers kids are pretty much out.) Then it's time to read a bedtime story.

I head towards the boy's side of the house, first to the younger boy's room and then to the older boy's room. It would be too hard to explain how adorable these children are with words so I thought I'd just share some of the photos. Be prepared to see some of the most precious kids!

Fear

Fri, 18 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT

This week one of the girls from the Children's Home faced two of her fears and conquered them! Maricel is around 12 years old (between 12 and 14), according to her dental records. She is a shy, cautious child with obvious trust issues and emotional walls that she has built in order to protect herself. Maricel says few words including, "Yeah!" and "No!" However she can understand what we are saying to her.

No one is sure what exactly Maricel has been through in her life. As of now, there's no way to know. One day she may be able to tell people what her life was like before she came to the Children's Home or maybe they will never find out.

Last week while we were swimming in the kiddie pool, Maricel wouldn't leave the safety of the steps. Although she was tall enough to stand in the deep end of the pool, she wouldn't even try. This week however, Maricel not only left the comfort and safety of the steps but went into the water waist deep! I couldn't believe it! I was so proud of her. For days I told her how proud of her I was! For a 12 year old to have such a fear of water and then to venture waist deep into her fear without anyone next to you just amazed me.

A few days later, she surprised me again. As the older kids went swimming, the younger kids including Maricel stayed back at the house. Before leaving the kids took a turn on the new rope swing. Maricel stood at a distance and watched, not venturing too close to the swing. After the big kids left I asked Maricel if she wanted to swing. Her answer was "No!" I assured her that if she changed her mind and decided that she wanted to swing, that I would help her onto the swing and not let her fall.

Five minutes later I heard Maricel yell, "Yeah!" I turned to her and saw her standing next to the swing, looking at it. I asked her if she was ready to swing and she said "Yeah!" As I helped her climb onto the rope swing, I explained how I would not let go of her and if she wanted to get off then all she had to do was tell me. After ten minutes, both of my hands were off of the swing and Maricel was on her own.

After Maricel had conquered her fear of the rope swing, she ran to the normal playground swings wanting to compete with Camille, an adventurous girl that is known to like to swing high enough to reach the leaves on the trees. So I began pushing Camille and Maricel, each going too high for my comfort! Maricel held her own against Camille, although she didn't go as high as Camille. But she did go higher then I have ever seen her go before. And the entire time, she was laughing! There were no fears anymore!

As I watched Maricel swinging and laughing, I thought of how proud of her I was and that's only after knowing her for a couple of weeks. Imagine what God must feel like when we step out of our comfort zones and face our fears.

When our fears about the future surface, I wander if God says, "Go ahead, you won't fall and if you do, I'll catch you."? How many times have we turned away from something because it was scary when even if we had fallen God would have caught us?

I Forgot!

Mon, 14 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT

I recently realized that I haven't posted what we're doing right now. So I thought I'd better let people know. Oooops!

We are now in the Philippines and working with a missionary named Jim Long. While we're here everyone has been able to branch out and do pretty much any type of ministry that they want to do: working with orphans, preschool classes, landscaping, painting, prostitute ministry, the list could go on and on. I've been working with the orphans at a Children's Home, tutoring at the school and helping out in the preschool. This is the first month that our entire squad has been together.

So far this seems to be a month like I had in Cambodia where I enjoyed being around the kids so much that I forgot to blog, ie why I've yet to blog about my activities this month. But don't worry I have plenty of cool stories to tell and the blogs will be up and running soon.

So stay tuned...more stories will follow!!!!

Joy in China Part 1

Thu, 3 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT

"For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places." Ephesians 6:12

China was by far the most oppressed country and 'darkest' that I've experienced while on the Race. Just walking down the street you could feel the heaviness of the people. I've never experienced anything like it in my life. I can only describe it as a cloud the presses down on the land and its people.

One night I went to meet a young woman in hopes of sharing the gospel with her. The night started off fine, but as the night went on the spiritual attacks seemed to grow and grow to the point of frightening the young woman. Now, I won't get into all that happened. One because I may inadvertentingly give away too much information about the town we were in and two also because I'm not sure if I could actually write it the way it happened. But bottom line, the young woman left feeling frazzled and I was standing among the darkness alone. (I had learned later that she actually called a girl she knew who was in the area I was in to make sure some of my squadmates found me because she was worried about my safety.)

As I stood there probably not in the safest of situations, I began to pray harder. I was irritated that events had messed up my plans and I was irritated with myself for not taking better control of the situation. I felt that I had missed my opportunity with this woman and in this situation I had lost the battle.

While I was still praying I heard a woman from behind me say, "Hello." And as I looked up the darkness began for fade....

Joy in China Part 2

Thu, 3 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Within the first few introductory questions the woman asked me if I knew who Jesus was. At the sound of His name, I literally felt my entire body relax and knew that this woman was a gift from Him. The evil and darkness that was around me was now completely gone and I was left alone with this stranger and her friend.

After discussing my feelings toward Jesus I asked her if she believed in Him. At first, her answered surprised me, she simply said "I want to believe but I don't know how." I never had heard anyone say that. She wanted a relationship with our Creator but didn't understand how easy it really is to be His child.

We made a date to discuss some biblical questions that she had. At this point I realized that I didn't even know her name. She told me her name was Joy and I could see why this name had been picked out for her. The Holy Spirit had been at work in her and it showed.

We met up for a date and she began her questions with "How was Jesus born from a virgin?" So much for the easy questions!!! She also asked for proof that God existed and why do Christians celebrate His death. As I heard the questions, which by the way dumb founded me, God put the answers in my head.

I was so amazed. I literally wasn't even having to think of answers, they were being given to me. At the end of our time together I was simply going to pray that Joy would continue to get the answers she was looking for but instead decided to ask her if she believed that Jesus died on the cross for her sins. To my surprise she said 'yes.' I continued to ask her questions and evertime she answered yes. I finally asked her if she wanted to accept Christ as her Savior and she said yes.

We prayed the sinners prayer and talked about her new relationship with the Father. She was scared about 'The Party' finding out that she was now a Christian especially during this point in her life.

I now realize that the night I was under attack didn't have anything to do with the woman I was with, it had to do with Joy. Satan didn't want to lose control over Joy and he didn't want me to meet her. Whereas I thought the evil had won that night, it in fact lost!! God won!!!!! We now have a new sister in Christ inside a closed country that is hungry for the truth. Praise God!

Smuggling

Wed, 2 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT

After leaving China, we had the opportunity of a lifetime. Since we had been granted double entries on our visas, we would be able to go back into China taking with us Bibles and other materials. After having our briefing on what to expect and how to handle certain situations, my group headed out with bags full of God's word.

During our briefing I learned that in reality, it is not illegal to take Bibles into China. It's illegal for me to give a Bible to a local. Although, I probably won't get in trouble (the worst that would happen to me would be being deported), on the other hand, the person who receives the Bible could get into serious trouble.

(However if you are caught taking Bibles into China, they will take them from you and you will have to pay in order to get them back out.)

As we headed through the crowds of people, silent prayers filled the place. I came around a corner and was hoping to see a huge crowd of people just walking right on through security so that I would be able to get lost in the crowd and bypass security with the other travelers. However, I saw only two or three people. One was a person from our squad being told to go back and put her bag through the scanner and the other was a Chinese man being told the same thing. For an instance, my heart sank. They had already told us that when the Bibles go through the scanners they will look like a solid brick therefore they raise red flags and the bags get searched.

I tossed my luggage up on the scanner, copying the actions of the Chinese man in front of me and prayed for blind eyes. As I looked up, I saw my squad mate taking her bag. Then the man in front of me took his bag. Then finally my bag rolled out, scooping it up I walked past security with no stops! God had blinded the eyes of the security officers!

100% of my group got through! What an amazing experience! At times like these, you get to experience the most amazing spiritual high' because you have to completely depend on Him. What an awesome experience!

Lost in Translation

Mon, 31 Dec 2007 00:00:00 GMT

During our time in China, I became friends with a homeless beggar who sat on the corner of the street of the hostel we stayed at. As soon as I saw him, I adored this man! He reminded me a lot of my grandfather. He spoke with his hands and had many of the same hand gestures that my own grandfather has.

Every day I tried to make sure he felt loved. Unfortunately, I didn't know Chinese and he didn't English. But a smile, a touch of the hand, a high five and true excitement to see each other even spanned the language barrier. I could say "Hello" in his language and I learned to say "Jesus loves you." Other than that I would speak to him in English, knowing he had no idea what I was saying to him but I wanted him to know that someone cared about him.

At night, I would go to bed hating that I couldn't speak properly to this man. (This is the first time on the Race that a language barrier has bothered me to this extent.) However one day as I handed him his lunch he looked at me and said "Thank you." I couldn't believe he had spoken English! My heart melted. He had learned to say "Thank you" in English!

On our last night in the city, a teammate of mine found a Chinese phrase book. My heart sank and my stomach turned, all this time I could have spoken to him in his own language or at least pointed to the phrases but I didn't even know this book existed!

I rose early the following morning so that I could tell him that I was leaving and tell him about Jesus, but I never found my friend. This was the first time that he wasn't at his corner. I could have cried. I never saw him again. Thankfully God doesn't really need me to bring this man to know Him. If God had wanted me to communicate more with this man, then I'm sure I would have learned of this book's existence before our final night in the city.

I never found out this man's name but God knows who he is. So please pray for this man's salvation, safety, health and a place for him to have constant shelter. This man changed everything that I ever thought about homeless people. I don't know if I could walk by a homeless person now and not think of my friend. It's one thing when beggars want money for alcohol or drugs, it's totally different when they want food to survive or a few cents to sleep in a bus for the night so they can get out of the bitter cold. God brought this man in my life to teach me about compassion and humanity and because of that I'm thankful!