JD and I decided to go to a local hospital in Oakland about a week ago.  We didn't go inside of the hospital, but decided to stay outside where many of the smokers, patients, and family members would hang out as well as people waiting for the bus.  After talking with many people I saw a black woman with a cane approaching me.  We talked for a bit and then I asked her why she was limping and using a cane.  She said she had stiffness in both her legs and was in pain.  I asked if I could pray for her and she willingly said yes.  So bending down and putting my hand on her foot I started to command the stiffness to leave her body and proclaim life and healing in Jesus name.  She checked out her legs and immediately looked amazed that it was gone and she felt better.  We prayed a second time anyways.  By this point she was quite excited and started to open up about her life to us.  She told us that she used to be a Christian 10 years ago and had two good friends that she used to go to church with, but had lost touch with one and the other had since passed away.  We then parted ways and we laughed as she walked away forgetting her cane.  I went back to talking with some other people and about an hour later I came across the same lady who had been healed of stiffness in her leg.  She was quite ecstatic so I attempted to calm her down and figure out why.  She said that right after talking with me she ran into her friend, the Christian friend of hers that she hadn't seen in 10 years and was able to reunite with her.  God is good and His timing is impeccable!



JD playing "Ninja" with some of the local kids during an outreach in Santa Rosa, CA

Testimony 2

As I mentioned in my last blog, JD and I spent a day in Berkeley and were able to hang out with squatters, pot-smokers, and doubters, but while on the university campus we struck up a conversation with a young woman from Geneva, Switzerland.  We asked her a couple questions about what she thought of Jesus and Christianity, but for the most part we just hung out and talked about life, not being on any time restraint or having any real agenda.  After about 2 hours of talking we all 3 stood up to start walking (not really sure where).  While walking we noticed a girl to the side of us being held up by two guys on both sides of her.  She was limping and not really putting any pressure on one of her feet.  JD walked up to her and asked her what happened.  She said that she had just twisted it and thought it was sprained or broken.  He then offered his "medical assistance" and leaned down to place his hands on her foot.  He started his prayer by saying "In Jesus name", which caused the girl to fake knee him because she was upset that he was praying in Jesus name, but he boldly kept on praying without flinching.  After praying he asked her how she felt and I seriously wish you all could have seen the look on her face as she was able to stand on her hurting foot again.  She humbly admitted that it was surprisingly much better, but not perfect so JD prayed again.  This time it got even better and she walked away on both of her feet feeling quite stunned at what had just happened (so much for needing faith to get healed).  While it was awesome that the girl just got healed it was even more amazing to watch the reaction and change in demeanor of the Swiss girl...she had witnessed the whole thing.  Without going into too much detail, we were able to spend the next 3 hours talking with the Swiss girl over pizza.  She eagerly listened as we shared the gospel with her for the first time and had many questions to add.  We walked her home that night and were able to mail a bible to her a couple days later believing that her life is going to take on a different direction.



Me, Swiss Girl (Mary), JD

Preaching the gospel, praying for the sick, and walking in the supernatural is NOT for an elite group of Christians, but for ALL believers!  Jesus said, "the Kingdom of God is at Hand."  It is supposed to be something tangible that we can touch and interact with.  The Kingdom is within us...we just need to learn how to release it by trying!

Their is nothing holding us back except ourselves, so I will ask again, "Are you willing to look like a fool for Christ?"

Oakland Raiders Game

My journey on The World Race ended about 22 days ago, however my adventure has continued on as if not much has really changed.  If you have been following my blogs then you might recall me writing about the "ATL's" that we often did on the race.  These were days where we didn't have any organized program, but just decided to go out into the surrounding areas to do the work God has already given us.  The last 22 days have basically been one long ATL....JD and I have made ourselves completely available to whatever God wants to do through us and have been pushing one another to exercise our faith and authority, which we have in Christ!  It was a bit strange at first, not being part of any organized program, but it has allowed us the flexibility to do ministry as we have wanted to....or thought we wanted to.


SOS Ministries got a permit for us at Union Square in San Francisco

It has been a sobering and raw experience to literally head out each day without any real agenda, but just desiring to introduce people to the God who made them.  While we did quite a bit of evangelism and preaching during the race and particularly in Africa, it has been a different feel here in the states.  We have been finding out (sometimes rather harshly) what works and what doesn't and through this have been learning to strip down to what we really need.  We have had ups and downs, faith movements yet moments of doubt, been challenged many times, but through this refining process are being strengthened.  Our thoughts, ideas, and opinions toward ministry are also being refined and we constantly find ourselves back at the feet of Jesus desiring to know what a typical day looked like for Him.  Not just the cool stories we read about in the bible, but what did life look like for Him between point A and point B.


Still taking public transportation everywhere we go

However, for the most part this adventure has been a blast.  God has put some incredible people in our path, opened up places for us to stay for free (thanks Sis, Linda, Patrick, Pete & Lily, SOS Ministries), and revealed Himself over and over again.  JD and I are not big planners, but God has provided for all of our needs thus far and has already opened up several doors going forward.  He has truly been showing us that when you start moving and doing His will, that He takes care of the rest...we even had some lady give us free tickets to the Oakland Raiders game and always have people offering to buy us food or give us rides.


Spending time with different ministries (Back of his shirt says "Be the church")

While we were in New York JD and I would pick a different Borough to head to each day.  Even though we didn't really know where we were going, someone always seemed to pop up at an opportune moment to direct us.  Spending time in Queens (Chinatown), reminded us of our time in Thailand and Cambodia.  Even though we were in the U.S. we had to ask people if they spoke English because about half of them didn't.  New York was such a melting pot of people and cultures and we continually found ourselves talking to people from countries we had just visited.


Our new friend Tim

From New York we flew into San Francisco and have been staying with a ministry in Oakland called SOS Ministries.  We found out about the opportunity to stay with them just 3 days before leaving New York through an unrecognized Facebook message.  During our time here we have done street preaching in downtown San Francisco, hung out with hippies, potheads, and squatters in Berkeley, helped film a documentary, spent time at a hospital praying for the sick and disabled, and much more.


Some squatters we hung out with in Berkeley

Each day brings us a new escapade, which I won't go into more depth here; however I plan to write another blog sharing at least two specific testimonies we have had from our adventures with God.  Tomorrow we leave Oakland and are heading to Antioch, CA to stay with a family friend for a couple days before moving on to Santa Rosa, CA.  There we will be staying with a friend of a friend (basically someone we met during our journey).  Hope y'all are enjoying and look forward to seeing many of you in person soon...If you feel like it, we'd appreciate any prayers!


IN-N-OUT, how I've missed you...

So my 11-month journey on the World Race has officially come to an end.  I want to thank all of my supporters for helping to make this year happen.  You have encouraged me, supported me financially, prayed for me, written me, believed in me, and have been a huge part of this experience, which I will not forget.  THANK YOU SO MUCH!

I'm currently in New York City, which is where our entire squad flew into.  I plan to stay here for another 2 weeks before I fly to San Francisco.  I will stay in Northern California for a month before heading back home to San Diego.  A friend from the Race (JD) http://jdrussell.theworldrace.org/ and myself plan to continue our journey here in the states.  We have learned much and been exposed to new ideas and beliefs throughout the year which we plan to put into practice as much as possible during these next 6 weeks. 


  I hope that you will continue to be in prayer for us as we step out in faith.  We don't have very specific plans, but believe that we have everything we need to walk in the full power and authority of Jesus and want to see this happen, primarily through street evangelism.  I haven't decided yet if I will continue to update my blog so I wanted to say thank you now!  Also, please be in prayer for me for my next steps once I get home.  If you have any ideas for me, I'd love to hear them!  Lastly, I'd love to chat with any and all of you and am looking for opportunities to share about my journey.


Squad leaders from the beginning and the end

Below is a video of a “flash mob” our entire squad performed during our final debrief in Brasov, Romania.  We did this on our last day in the city center before heading back home to the states.  It was one last hoo-rah for the Q (our squad) and a great way to end the year!  For those of you who don't know what a flash mob is, I have provided the Urban Dictionary definition below:

Flash Mob: a group of people who appear from out of nowhere, to perform predetermined actions, designed to amuse and confuse surrounding people.  The group perfoms these actions for a short amount of time before quickly dispersing.

THANK YOU AGAIN FOR EVERYTHING!

The World Race has been many things, often what we did not expect.  This is probably why The World Race staff pushes us, at the beginning of the year, to drop all expectations and to be willing to embrace the journey that lies ahead.  There is not much formal training before the race and many on our squad now comment that the entire year is training or better yet a catalyst for life.

Through out the year we have seen many people experience the love of Christ, learning about Him (often for the first time), we have seen many people healed both spiritually and physically, we have had the opportunity to love on orphans and the less fortunate around the world, we have done much construction (literally building the church), we have loved with the love God has given us; from the women in Thailand who are being sex-trafficked to the illiterate poor farmers in the Malaysian jungles.  Overall we have given our lives for a year to help build God's church and I believe, make this world a better place. 


Some of the Gypsy kids we hung out with in the villages around Bucharest, Romania.

However, what I didn't expect was how much I would grow and be extremely challenged by the community of people that have done this journey right alongside me.  I didn't realize how big of an aspect community would be on the race or how little I truly knew about what Godly community looks like and how important it is for growth.

 Starting out this journey I didn't know one person on my squad, Q Squad!  Now, I know more about them and they know more about me than most people in this world; my life story, my desires, my struggles, and the purposely hidden parts of my life that I never volunteered to talk about before.

World Race community has been different than any other community I've ever experienced because we literally do life together and highly value communication and “speaking truth in love” as a means to help one another grow.  We are almost never alone and quite the opposite always seem to be surrounded by people, noise, and “something going on.”  We have done team changes 3 different times, and Tricia and I, as you probably know, have been bouncing around from team to team all year so naturally we all know each other pretty well. 


Youth Retreat in Eforie Sud, a beach town in Romania

This has been a good and healthy challenge and we have come to realize that different people and different types of personalities bring out different things in us, both good and bad.  We as people are always “giving off something” through our facial expressions, tone, words, etc. that cause us to have thoughts about that person, which can in turn control how we act.  For example, I've learned about myself that loud and confident people have much of my life caused me to retreat, be less confident, and actually act different; in a way that I didn't enjoy.  However, other personalities can bring out a really fun and goofy side to me.

I noticed in the beginning of the race that my identity was not as secure in Christ as I had thought it was; that I could still easily be shaken up and think/act like an emotional roller coaster.  Different people and situations caused me to retreat and feel insecure many times in the beginning and to run to God, but He always seemed to tell me to embrace the challenge, to run towards my fears and insecurities, to not give up.  I realized that it was not the fault of the “loud and confident people” (who will always be in my life), but it was an insecurity in myself that that person was exposing.


Community that loves well... Ashley and her team cooked dinner for Tricia and I before we left for another team.

This is just one example of how God has used the community to ultimately strengthen me in Him, by painfully exposing my weaknesses; something I'm not sure would have been worked out (at least this quickly) if I hadn't lived so closely with other Godly people.  

While there are too many examples to go into here, regarding how living in this community has been beneficial, I am so thankful to have experienced this.  It has given me a greater appreciation for the need for Godly community.  Their have been countless times when people on this squad have come alongside me to strengthen me, speak life into me, call me out on my “junk”, motivate me, laugh with me…all of which have formed and are forming who I will become.  They have all played an instrumental part in this season of my life, which I will never forget, and have set me up well for what God has next for me.

THANK YOU JESUS FOR THE Q SQUAD


We always have a LOT of fun...BON JOVI CONCERT

So, I've had numerous people tell me to try making a video blog...that the people reading my blogs would enjoy it.  So this blog is my attempt at that (finally); I basically chose a day and filmed myself throughout the day to give people back home an idea of some of the "stuff" we have been up to.  I didn't really make much of an attempt to edit this so it is pretty raw and random, but the day turned out to be pretty eventful so hopefully you'll enjoy.

LOVE YOU!!!

Growing up in America my whole life I gained the thought that the rest of the world was not that fond of us or somehow resented us.  I can remember hearing comments and reading magazine covers on several occasions that portrayed Americans as slaves to our capitalist ways and that our imperialist attitude pushes to westernize the rest of the world.

I'm not saying that their isn't any truth to the above statements, however it has been interesting to travel throughout the world for these last 11 months in a large, mostly American, group.  It has given me the opportunity to form more of my own opinion and given me much insight into how other cultures view Americans, as well as how I now view my own culture I grew up in.

One of the first things that I began to notice during my travels was how much other cultures actually love America, almost to a fault.  In month 1, while in the Philippines, I even heard several people state that they wish the Philippines could be part of America or that they wanted to marry an American so they could become citizens.  I thought this might just be one culture; however as I've continued to travel I've seen over and over again that everywhere I go people seem to love America and want to visit.  I'm sure much of this desire stems from Hollywood as well as the idea that “everyone in America is rich,” but it was contrary to the idea of bitterness towards America that I was partly expecting during my travels.

I've also realized more, the extent to how much of a large influence America has in this world.  Everywhere I've been I have seen the footprint of America; American products, business, medicine, generosity, entertainment, ideologies, etc. can be found everywhere you go.  For example, I have been continually amazed to see that, without fail, in every single internet café I have visited, someone would be on Facebook.  I have also been amazed to see continuous lines of 50-100 people waiting to order at McDonalds.

Living with families, in churches, jungles, orphanages, and restaurants, etc. we have been able to experience a raw view of each culture.  We have done life with these people and I consistently have seen that the Americans are usually the most prominent in any group, mainly because we make a scene everywhere we go.  We are always the ones smiling, laughing, doing pranks, and seemingly having the most fun.  In my opinion, we are much more laid back and “chill” than we are portrayed, even in the way we dress.  Once again, to a fault, we are also looked upon as “having something special.”  For most of this year, we have traveled as minor celebrities everywhere we have gone.  At first, I thought this was just because of the color of our skin, but even while visiting more western countries, we were still put on a pedestal simply because we were Americans.

This year has helped me to realize the responsibility I carry more and more; and being from America has added to that.  We have a huge opportunity, in America, to help the rest of the world, which many already are.  We continually run into different American missionaries and volunteer groups all over the world, doing amazing things, all of whom are giving our country a great name! 

America is a place of acceptance..often too much acceptance.  It is a melting pot of people, cultures, foods, dreams, and beliefs.  While living in Austin, I had the opportunity to become friends with a young man from Yemen.  It was a short-term friendship since he was heading back home soon after we met, but before he left we were able to have some great conversations, have some fun together, and discuss our faith.  I have no idea what has happened with those conversations, but my friend was able to go back to Yemen having heard the Gospel for the first time.  God always reminds me of that experience and the potential we have, from America, to influence the world.

Overall, traveling this year has helped me to love and appreciate my home more and more.  I am thankful to have grown up in America and excited to return shortly.  So Happy Birthday and God Bless America!!!


**This writing is my current opinion based on my perspective over the past year.  I felt the desire to add a disclaimer to my blog so that people are aware that my thoughts and opinions are continually changing and evolving, hopefully for the good!  God Bless America...

We started out this month living with a very large and amazing family.  Andre and Anna own a quaint little beach cottage, which they built, in the southern peninsula of the Ukraine ,called Crimea.  It was here that we quickly became part of their ever-growing family since they lovingly continue to adopt more and more children.  It was a busy house, which seemed to have children eating, sleeping, or playing around every corner you turned as well as numerous family pets.



They were also a family of many gifts and talents, which included sewing, beat-boxing, drawing, bracelet making, gardening, construction, and basically playing any sort of instrument at any time.  As Tricia and I departed half-way through the month, they even accompanied us to the bus station where the family gathered around us to sing a farewell song.  They reminded me of a mix between the Von Trap Family and the Brady Bunch, which was probably a reason why it seemed like such a fairy-tale month.



Just a couple days into the month Tricia and I had to make an emergency trip to the hospital about 2 hours away.  Our only married couple, Stefan & Christina, were rushed there for Christina to find out that she had malaria and needed her appendix removed.  With much confusion due to language barriers, immoral business practices, and poor facilities, which reminded us of the genocide museum we visited in Cambodia, Stefan & Christina were put into tough situation.  However, without time to waste they decided to get the surgery done in the Ukraine (rather than flying back home), ultimately trusting God with their dilema.  Thankfully, all turned out well and Christina has been healing!


God always provides brothers for me wherever I go, especially when I am with an all-girls team.



While with our first contact for the month, we were responsible for “giving a word” during church services, singing worship songs, gardening, teaching English at local schools, visiting rehabilitation centers, and helping incapable people with errands around their houses.  Overall it was an amazing start to the month before Tricia and I moved onto another team in a different part of the Ukraine.


Nikki's Team - Part II of month, camp begins...

    

As I mentioned in my last blog, I had the opportunity to participate in two church camps this month.  Above, is a picture of Christina helping out during arts & crafts as well as me playing a role in a skit we did for the kids).



Stefan, Silas, and I were able to baptize Brian in The Black Sea.  Following this we celebrated by worshiping on a random dock underneath a Lunar Eclipse.  God is good!


Lunch with the campers

For the second camp we headed to the outdoors, surrounded by mountains, green valleys, rivers, and lakes.  I've realized that camp is fun, so naturally being a camp counselor has also been a blast.  We hiked, swam, played games, taught English, shared about the World Race with the campers, listened to worship and preaching around a campfire, bathed in rivers, provided security for the campers at night, made amazing relationships with the other counselors, and enjoyed the peace of being away from civilization.


Campfire Worship



Lying under the stars was like being at an IMAX Theater.  We saw tons of shooting stars and felt like we could reach out and grab them. Stefan & Christina also surprised us with a firework show!



We hiked with all the kids to the top of a mountain, which was funny because all the young girls would dress up and walk around with their cell phones, even while hiking.  We have felt quite ragged and under dressed during most of our time in this fashionable country ha!


We made it to the top



Overall, this month was a ton of fun and has been sad to leave.  I am currently on a train headed for Bucharest, Romania for our last month.  It is a strange feeling to realize that The Race is almost over and a year of my life has just flown by…

For the past few days I have had the opportunity to participate as a camp counselor in a Ukranian Camp.  I'm actually writing this blog as I sit and judge one of the many activities that has happened over the past few days.  Participating in camp as a camp counselor has been a very redeeming experience for me.  Ever since becoming a Christian I've heard story after story about different experiences people have had either going to camp as a child or being a camp counselor during the summers.  Apparently camp is a prominent part of being a Christian which I felt like I had missed out on. 

    
Sumo Wrestling

In fact, over the last few years God has been restoring much of my youth, which I have realized, more and more, was stolen from me.  By this I don't mean that I didn't have a good and fun childhood, but God has allowed me to have glimpses into what it would have been like if I had grown up having a relationship with Him.  I don't pretend, by any means, that all Christian families have it together, but it's been interesting to see the different lifestyles that Christian children have and has given me many ideas for how I want to raise my kids someday.


Relay Race

For example, while living in Austin, God provided a cool chance for me to become part of another family.  I taught their son in Sunday School and they kindly opened up their home to me, always feeding me and allowing me to play with their many toys (thanks Rob & Christie). I was able to see how this family operated from the inside out, which was an eye-opening experience for me.

Also while living in Austin, God provided an amazing community for me to become a part of.  I started hanging out with several people from church, which was honestly strange for me at first.  It felt like a flashback to being young again and I think it was the purity of it all that really shocked me.  For instance, I remember going to organized dinner parties where the girls cooked the guys dinner, several game nights of acting silly and foolish, and many nights of sober dancing, which really stretched me at first.  However, I decided to embrace it, acting ridiculous and letting loose without the addition of any booze or stimulants and I was able to learn so much during those couple years.


My favorite camper, don't tell the others...

So being a part of a Ukranian church camp over-looking the Black Sea has been a blast…and redeeming.  Not only is this place absolutely picturesque, but I've had several chances to act ridiculous like a little child: participating in slip-n-slide tug-o-wars, sumo wrestling, several relay races, eating in the mess hall with the kids, acting in skits, singing worship and teaching English, always having several kids hanging from my arms screaming at me in Russian, becoming the victim in an all out pinecone war, never-ending sports and games, camp songs and treasure hunts, birthday parties, baptisms, and several other memories.


Mess Hall with the kids

I am thankful for this experience: for how it has touched me and opened up my mind even more to a different and fun way of living life.  While I am often teased as having an “old soul”, I've been learning that I can have an “old soul”, while still being goofy and light-hearted like a child.


Tug-O-War...I lost both games and scraped my knee...boo