Our travel days for most of the trip went without any issue, these final travel days however really sent us on an adventure! Despite the chaoticness God was so faithful and there was so much peace in trusting him as situations came up!
We left Eswatini by bus, traveled to Johannesburg and spent one night near the airport. Originally we had two flights, with one (too) short layover in Ethiopia. Our first plane was delayed and by the time we arrived in Ethiopia our connecting flight had already taken off, without us! Thankfully they were able to quickly reschedule us all onto a flight an hour later that would take us through Germany. We even got to still sit near others on our squad! Now what would’ve been an 18 hour straight flight would be split into two! Upon arriving in Germany we realized that one of us had left her passport on the plane… she and one of our leaders walked all over the airport to track it down. Thankfully, after a bit, they found that one of the plane crew had brought it to the service desk and they were able to get it back, praise God! It was neat to be able to stop in Germany, even if I spent most of our layover resting at our next gate! Our flight from Germany to Atlanta was quite nice, most of us were able to sit in the same section and we had such a fun time! Landing back in the USA after months away was so nice! Walking towards the customs line “US Citizens” felt like home. We’d made it! And then we went to collect our luggage… which apparently had not made the final flight from Germany with us…we had to go to our final debrief back at the AIM training center with almost none of our stuff. Though annoying, there was a blessing to this as well, we were given real beds to sleep on for the weeklong final debrief instead of the sleeping bags and mats everyone on the other squads had to use. We also went thrift shopping the next day to find clothes to wear! This week of final debrief was such a sweet time with the squad. We had worship in the mornings followed by a session/teaching and We went on so many little adventures in the afternoons and evenings! unfortunately some of us had to leave to go home before this debrief week was over but it was still a blessing to spend quality time with most of the people we had spent three months with before going our separate ways. It was also really nice to have time to pray and spend time with God, to journal and think about what going back to normal life would actually look like. 2 days in to debrief, after many fruitless attempts to fill out baggage claims or call anyone who would help us, one of our leaders got a text from someone saying that they had our luggage, so we took a trip back to Atlanta to get it (well, most of it) by the end of debrief everyone had the luggage they were supposed to! After everyone went to the airport on the 23rd I still had several more stops before travel was truly finished for me! I stayed an extra night in Georgia with a friend I knew from the Ranch, then flew to Pittsburgh, spent two nights with my family, two nights with my grandma for Thanksgiving and then one night with friends in Corry before finally coming back to the Ranch! It has been sweet to be back, although it was incredibly hard to say goodbye to new friends that had been part of nearly every moment of my life for three months, It has been a blessing to be back home again! it has been so nice to see people back home and catch up with everyone! I’ve jumped back into familiar activities of work, meeting new students, planning Christmas parties, helping with youth group and working with a student in the office, but with a new perspective, a greater desire to know more about the Lord I serve and to spend more time with him. he has given me more joy and greater gratitude for his faithfulness and the life he has blessed me with. he has provided rest in the busyness of the season. He leaves me continually amazed at all that he is and the hope of his Gospel, of what a privilege it is to get to serve the God and Creator of the world who loves me and allows for a personal relationship with him. Thank you Lord for the opportunity to help build your kingdom, for the blessings, the people, and the lessons the last few months have held! Thank you Lord for your love and your faithfulness and opportunities to serve you, then and there and now and here!
who knows, maybe one day I’ll be posting about another trip with the World Race, but for now, until next time, God Bless & Merry Christmas! I hope that hearing the stories and testimonies I’ve shared have been an encouragement and blessing to read!
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