The Amazing Race

The most amazing adventure of my life:

     As I arrived in Poland, I walked out through baggage to be met by a very enthusiastic gang of JV leaders cheering and welcoming us! Our flight was the first to arrive of the interns. We arrived at 9 am and the last flights was coming in at 2:30pm. There was about 100 of us in all coming to the airport this day. That included leaders, staff, and interns like myself. So we all just hung out meeting one another waiting for other flights to slowly arrive. This was an amazing time having the opportunity to meet passionate and wonderful believers. You could tell that this group was so genuine as everyone kept positive attitudes when there was no reason to. People were welcoming, loving and friendly even though many of us had little to no sleep and food. As 24 hours approached, I decided to grab another nap so that I was refreshed for my team to arrive. My nap lasted an hour which was very beneficial (that totaled two hours in 24 hours for me) as the Amazing Race was to start in just one hour.

     The Amazing Race is modeled after the television show (with the same name). It basically consisted of random challenges, tasks, and traveling from city to city all over Poland and Czech Republic. We were broken up by country teams. So I was with three others (two interns and our team leader) who will be serving in Serbia with me this summer.

     The other two interns on my team literally hoped off the plane, and the race began as they were the last flight of the day. We were given no instruction basically. We were handed our first clue and told to "GO."

     Clues included words in other languages, directions, landmarks, and snippets of maps. Challenges included strutting down a run way in town square in Krakow in quite unattractive clothing (which led into a run-in with the police but that is anther story), transporting M&Ms from bowl to bowl with only a straw, constructing a model of the solar system using fruits we had bought from a local store in correct order of size and distance from sun, completing a Czech dance step by step, reciting a Pope's speech verbatim, eating blood sausage, deciphering Choppin music, canoeing, drinking a hot cup of tea as fast as possible (which burnt my tongue for two days), and many many many more very fun and exciting challenges. We hoped tram after bus after train after train! I hope to tell more of these stories later to you all whether in blog or person! I have stories to share from each of these tasks plus like twenty tasks more! Time and this little blog do not permit such opportunity to share as internet access is hard to get here!

    Each challenge provided great opportunity to see weaknesses in our teammates while seeing strengths pour out as well. We became very vulnerable very quickly as sleep, food, and rest was at a minimum. I was on 48 hours awake with only 2 hours of sleep and barely any food. We had a lot of team bonding while on longer train rides. This really is set up in the perfect way to see each other's human self come out. This vulnerable time is already allowing our team to see our gifts and personalities as we prep for summer camps!

     This also provided great cultural opportunity. Transportation is nothing like I would have imagined. On a three hours bus trip, around eight people had to stand the entire time. People are willing to stand shoulder to shoulder just to get a ride. On another bus, we were piled in each other's laps so that everyone could make it. Personal space is nothing like Americans. Trams are the local means of transportation. You run and hop on your ride hoping to make it. If you don't, you may be waiting nearly three or four hours for another. I am seeing how blessed America is and especially how blessed I am to know who God is so personally. It is much more noticeable to detect believers from non-believers in Europe. Smiles speak loudly. 

     One last thing, I even left the city with a parting touch. As I hoped a tram in the nick of time, remember this is a race, my backpack got stuck in the door. Needless to say, the tram erupted in giggles! So I pulled it in, but I um...broke the door! Each time the tram stopped at the next stop, you had to manually open and shut the doors. Oops! Well, a race is a race!

     After three days of absolutely crazy tasks and exhausting but incredible cultural experiences, we finally make it to our last clue's destination, Malenovice, Czech Republic. That is my team in the picture crossing the finish line! We are staying here at the Malenovice Hotel for four days of training. 

Thank you all for your prayer back home. God is certainly revealing Himself, keeping us safe, and allowing me to have an incredible experience seeing the beauty of His creation in a way I have never experienced before.