We in the United States thing we have it all figured out. We think we are the innovaters when it comes to all things freedom. Our country is based on freedom; freedom of speech, freedom of expression, freedom of religion, etc. As much as we like to believe we're got the ball rolling on this one, nothing could be further from the truth. When Jesus died for us on the cross, that was the time the world came to know the only true freedom, freedom through salvation. Over time we have lost sight of what that freedom truly is and what it means. We have forgotten that our God has given us freedom each and every day to realize how special we are as creations made in his image. The implications of that are mindboggling. The implication is that a finite being is made to reflect the very image of an infinite omnipotent being. The sky is the limit folks and there should be no turning back at this point. Now as we know with that freedom there is a great deal of responsibility that our Maker has bestowed upon us. We a have very clearly written outline in the Word that has been given to us and we are expected to live out that Word through our daily lives. We have the Law and are expected to honor the Law, Christ outlined this clearly for each and every one of us in Matthew 5:17-20.

                So where have we gone wrong? Where did freedom and the law become such as hodge podge of dissent and confusion among the church? As far as I'm concerned the devil has no greater weapon against us then constantly creating division among the church. The devil lives by motto of divide and conquer and we often just allow ourselves to fall into his trap day in and day out. We have to find the balance of being guided by the Law as the Lord laid out for us and the grace and forgiveness that Christ has given us because we all stumble we all sin and we are all worthy of the forgiveness that God has freely given us.

                If I'm not careful this blog will be too long and I'll lose most of you reading it here in a second, so let me try to wrap it up for ya J

                Many of us have forgotten what freedom through salvation really is and what it means. Often are churches talk about freedom, but that's often all it is, talk. Freedom through salvation is being given the opportunity to fall down, to stumble. It's being given the opportunity to make mistakes, but then it is also the freedom that comes from forgiveness. The freedom to know that when we make mistakes we are still accountable for those mistakes, but knowing that we will still be loved and cherished by not just our God, but also by our brothers and sisters in Christ. The freedom of salvation is the ability to be led by the Spirit each and every day. That is not always easy, it rarely goes according to our plans and it quite often shatters our plans and destroys our expectations. But my oh my does God show up when you just give Him the chance. Now I know God is present regardless of whether or not he's invited, but He loves it when we open the door for Him and welcome Him in. 

                So my challenge for you is to let the Spirit lead you each and every day. Take time to quiet yourself and truly seek out His voice because He wants to talk you. He wants to know how you're doing and He wants to guide you through every part of your day.

                This is one of those days I feel like I could write an entire novel and I know some of my thoughts are bouncing around, so I apologize for that. It's just that I've had such a privilege to see God do some extraordinary things over these past few weeks here in Appalachia. The types of things that only happen when we let go of the control we think we have and let Him take the reins.

Casey and I are about to end our third week of ministry coordinating in the Appalachian region of Tennessee. We were able to shadow our first and second weeks with previous leaders and the Appalachian area coordinator. Our second week had us working for a team of adults and families from all over the US in around the town of Rogersville, TN. I know my lack of writing skills never do the experience justice, but I have to say last week rivaled any week that Casey and I had on the World Race. We had the opportunity to work with an amazing body of people from so many different walks of life and to see them come together as one community and truly seek out the Lord's calling. We saw the Lord do so many amazing things and I am so blessed to have been able to be a part of it. 

Our team participated in construction projects such as replacing shingles on a roof and fixing hail damage on an aluminum roof. Through those experiences the Lord provided a window into the lives of a couple families, allowing us to build relationships and be a part of the families who needed love more than they needed a fixed roof.

 We were given the opportunity to partner with a local church and help with a weekly dinner that they run. We had the opportunity through that dinner to meet a couple who are currently living in a home that has fallen into disarray.  The husband has never been a believer and his wife grew up knowing about the church, but not really knowing about the Love and grace that Christ sacrificed himself for. Our team was touched by their story so much that we are trying to find ways to clean up their home which has pets that the two of them can no longer take care of and has fallen into disrepair. We are trying to find good homes for all the pets and see what we can do to clean up and repair their house. The wife has such a heart for her "babies" who are all strays that she has come across, she said of them "I know what it's like to not be wanted," so she has opened her home to all these lost animals so that she can show them love. We are hoping that we will be able to show her that she has always been wanted and that she matters and is loved unconditionally.

We also had the chance to meet a couple at the dinner who are both vision impaired. I have to tell you Mark and Debbie are two of the sweetest people I have ever met in my entire life. You can't not be touched by their graciousness and outward pouring of love for everyone they meet. They have a love and faith in Christ that is immeasurable and truly have been a blessing on our team's lives to meet and spend time with. They both live in a small apartment and can always use help with odd jobs around their place and with running errands. Our teams have been blessed with the chance of being a part of their daily lives. We thought we would be an encouragement to them, but it has been quite the opposite, without a doubt they have encouraged each and every one of us who have come in contact with them. We have been able to continue bringing teams to them into our third week and will keep bringing them as long as they'll have us!

So much has happened that again, even if I were skilled literary master I couldn't put it all down. Our main goal is to help our teams get to a place where they are intentionally listening for the Lord each and every day. We know the Holy Spirit is actively moving and working through our lives and we hope to help people realize that it's as easy as just slowing down long enough to hear what He has for you. We also hope that we can help our teams realize the importance of just being with the Lord. A missions trip is not a doing, it never has been. If a team goes home and all they can talk about is what they did on their trip and know nothing of what it is just to be in the Lord's presence that they will have missed one of the most important factors of what it is to know Christ and serve Him. I know for me, this has been a journey that I am still very much on and I know Christ will continue to walk me through it. I like being busy, I like to do stuff. I don't like sitting still and just listening to the Lord, at least that' s how I used to be. I'm starting to see how amazing it is when you just let the Lord take control and go along for the ride. It's such a beautiful and powerful thing to know that you don't have control but He does. It's the most freeing experience anyone will ever have.

Well That's it for now, I'll try and get at least one blog up per week, though I know I'm behind J If my lovely wife would put some up that would be helpful, so feel free to poke and prod her about blogging if you have her email or phone number. She's so much better with expressing what God has put on her heart than I am. 

                Week 1 in Appalachia has come to a close. It's been an amazing week where Casey and I saw God show up truly start working in peoples, young and old alike. This week was our first week working in this region of eastern Tennessee. Neither Casey nor I had ever visited Morristown until we arrived Saturday. We met with Mike Cory, who was the Project Leader/Ministry Coordinator for this week's ministry, and who would be coaching us and guiding us as we learned the ropes so that would be able to take on our own teams in a couple weeks. Casey and I are going to be in this region through the first week of August as Project Leaders/Ministry Coordinators working for AIM and with the local ministries and churches to help incoming, out-of-state churches reach out to the community in Morristown and the surrounding areas. We have been in Morristown for the past week working with a local church called Gateway and helping set things up with Mike for a church from Columbia City, Indiana and a church from the Cleveland area of Ohio. Needless to say it's been a whirlwind of a week, but one in which God never failed to show up and guide us on our journey to honor him.

                While we were here we had the opportunity to work with a ministry called One Body Ministry, led by Josh and Tim. After serving with a short term team prior, these two men moved to Rogersville, TN about 9 months ago with nothing but the desire and love God put on their heart to serve and help the community. They currently are working with local ministries and churches to find those in need of home repairs that have come on difficult times and have no way of affording  the necessary repairs to include running water for toilets and showers, leaking roves, collapsing decks and steps, missing window....you get the idea. 

                So this week we were able to partner with Josh and get out to some homes in the area between Morristown and Rogersville. Initially we had two homes we were going to start working on, with two separate teams. One team was able to get started on their project of building a walkway that was more handicap accessible, while the other team was supposed to start on replacing some stairs that were falling apart. Initially the day did not go as planned. While the team working on the walkway wrote up an amazing idea for a ramp to make everything wheelchair accessible, the other team was unable to start on the stairs, because our resident, Wanda and her husband Waylon, were not home and we were unable to reach her to verify that we had permission to start our project.   So Josh was able to find a brand new applicant, Ms. Carolyn, who had a deck on the verge of collapse and broken windows that needed replacing. After we arrived at Ms. Carolyn's place and took stock of the situation a handful of us headed to Home Depot and Lowes to start getting all the needed materials. We got an estimate on the deck that the first team was hoping to make and unfortunately it was way over our budget for the entire week, let alone for the first day. We were able to compromise on a more modest setup though and were able to get all the needed materials to accomplish the task of making the walkway accessible for the couple that lived there. Fortunately because of this change we were able to finish this project in a couple days and start on another women's home, Ms. Polly, whose toilet was not working and who had been unable to take a shower in quite some time due to the water not working.

                Back at Carolyn's we were able to build her a completely new deck in the back and put railings on the front deck. Once again we were starting to run into budget restrictions, but Mike was able to make some adjustments and get us some extra finances to finish the deck as well as cover all the materials we needed to put in new stairs at Wanda and Waylon's place. It looked like we would have to wait and do the windows another week, again money was running short, but the Lord blessed with some donations from friends of our youth teams. Because of these extra donations we were able to purchase and install a new set of windows. One of the youth team  leaders, Troy, was able to get a local cement factory to donate some gravel to even out Carolyn's driveway and make it safer as it's up in the hills and because an unsafe place when it becomes rainy and snowy.

                So what we had planned did not work out as we had initially hoped. What God had planned worked out so much better. We initially didn't have any intention of going to Carolyn's home and doing any work on her place, we thought we'd be busy all week doing ramps, decks and stairs. We thought our plans were falling apart when Wanda and Waylon weren't home. We thought we were in a financial pickle when we couldn't do the deck we initially wanted to do for the other residents. I guess the Lord just decided we needed a little help in figuring out what we were going to do for a construction week. I guess He decided to mix things up a little bit so that we could serve people that weren't even on our radar at the beginning of the week. All I know is that this week's construction projects were only possible because to Lord trashed our plans and made His own that he expected us to follow. Fortunately we had a team of amazing leaders and wonderful youth that were willing to listen to the changes the Lord was asking us to make and they gave everything they could to serving these people they had never met and helping improve their lives.

Oh and here is Josh and Tim's website, check em out, we will be working with them a ton over the next month or so!

Dear Family and Friends,

WE ARE HOME:   

On May 12^th, we arrived safely back in the US. After traveling the world, 12 countries in 11 months, it seems almost strange to be home. As we reflect on the past year we are astonished at all the ministry opportunities the Lord placed before us. This year has taught us so much about God's unending love and his love for the poor in spirit. We have learned what it means to truly rely on God and to trust his heart. We could speak for hours about all the things we saw God do. It has been a blessing to be a part of God's great commission, Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. (Mark 16:15)

THANK YOU:       

We could not have been a part of any of this if it were not for you! Thank you for your sacrifice, love and most importantly prayers! God has used you this year to be a blessing to others. You may never know how much of an impact you had by praying and giving until heaven. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you for all you have done! We prayed that God would provide and he did, THROUGH YOU! 

WHAT'S NEXT:

          We are currently in Louisiana visiting my family. We will be here until to God tells us what's next. We have applied for a few jobs at Compassion in Colorado Springs. We have also been offered another ministry opportunity for Disaster Relief in Alabama. We are praying for clear direction for the next season. We have faith that he will continue leading us and even though the World Race has come to an end, the journey has just begun! God Bless you and your family!

Tom and Casey Kowatch

                For all of our lives many of us are told what it is to be a man, yet when we truly sit down and ponder the question of what truly makes a man we rarely have a sufficient answer. Some of us have the benefit of having amazing fathers and grandfathers that showed us examples of what it meant to live as men. Yet even with these examples we still often seem to search for our own identity in this world of men. We look to our friends and classmates; we are influenced by their actions and what their fathers' told them they expect of a man. We look to TV, movies and what the media claim a man is supposed to be. Why shouldn't we? We see in the theatres what it takes to get the girl and of course that's how we need to define ourselves isn't it, by what it takes to get what we believe is the girl of our dreams (which is of course what the world has told women they should be). We even allow ourselves to be told what it means to be a man by the women around us. We seek out their views and opinions because again we want to be the one to get the girl. Sometimes we seek self-help books, or any book that tells you how to become the man you were meant to be in 10 easy steps. We can look to the church; our pastors, clergymen, youth leaders, members of the board all of which generally can be viewed as fine examples.

                So many examples to choose from, but based on the shape of this broken world which example or examples have it right? Do any of them? I don't have the exact formula for what a man should be and how to become that man. Maybe if I figure that out I'll right my own book with a neat title. What I do know is that most men from all walks of life are missing the mark and missing out on what they were designed to be. I know this because of the brokenness that has enveloped the entire would. I know this because of the pain that people suffer in every corner of the map. I know this because there is so much need in our world and so very few willing to do anything about it.

                The easy thing to do is look for someone or something to blame. Some like to look at the original sin either saying from the beginning it was women's weakness that was our downfall. On the flip side of the coin it was Adam's failure and unwillingness to be strong for Eve that has forever cursed us with the need to prove ourselves or the feeling of inadequacy. We can blame the examples around us and say our fathers' were too distant or we were beaten and abused as children. I wish no one had to endure any of these tragedies and it's hard to find meaning in events such as these. These are more than just mere obstacles to overcome, but events that leave deep scars that rarely are ever healed and usually lead to the building of walls that are so strong no one is ever able to truly get in. To allow these types of scars to define us and use them as an excuse for our mistakes is the path to failure.  We do fail if we allow blame to be our focus of why we are not who God has created us to be. Maybe there is one or two root causes to why we as men are flailing about not sure of where our solid ground is. It just seems to me that when we spend all of our energy on finding out whom to blame and point the finger at, before we know it, our lives have passed us by. We've missed all the opportunities that God has laid out before us to become exactly who we need to be.

                While on the race we have traveled around the world and seen example after example of how much men need to step into who they were created to be. Most church congregations are 2/3^rd women, the ratio of men to women missionaries is worse than that, our squad for example at the beginning the race was around 4 women for every 1 guy. So where are all the men at? I really think most men are terrified at the prospect of failing as a man that they won't even try to realize the truth God has placed on each of our hearts. It's so easy for us to hide behind jobs, sports and even our families. I know what it's like to live a life as a man according the world's definition. I joined the army because I felt it would help me become a man. For a while even after my time in the army I felt like the time I served would be my defining moment. No one could ever take away the fact that I was warrior. I went to war for 2 years, I fought, people tried to kill me and I tried to kill them. I saw people suffer and die and at the end beat my chest and thought, finally I am a man. Now don't get me wrong, I don't regret my service in the army for a moment. It has given me perspective that only being a soldier in a war can give you. It has had a major impact on my life and has helped mold me in so many ways. I loved to wear the uniform, I loved representing my country (still the greatest country in the world if I do say so myself). I loved standing up for something that was bigger than me.  I loved what it meant to others and I loved feeling like I had a purpose. It's kinda funny but when I think about all the things that I loved about my service I see all the same things that I love about being a man that is trying to do my best to represent Christ and maybe that's part of the answer.

                What I think it comes down to is this; don't let another man tell you what it means to be one. Don't let your scars define you, don't let a movie or song tell you and don't expect our fathers' to be the only ones with all the answers, there's only one Father with all of those. Maybe it's a constant journey that doesn't end with one rite of passage into manhood. Like our pursuit of God, it's a lifelong venture that encompasses all that we are and everything we do with our lives. We as men need to step into the world and fight for a change. Fight for God's truth and the passions he has placed on our hearts. We need to be Christ to the nations, even if that means starting in your own backyard and being a part of your own local church or ministry. We need to be there for the lost and forgotten, because that's what Christ calls us to do. We need to be there for the widow and the orphan. We need to stop waiting for others to do all the work and get out there and change the world because with Christ as our guide we can do anything. Maybe it's as simple as realizing the potential that God put in each and every one of us and sees in us all every day. Sprinkle in a little faith and a bit of elbow grace and maybe we have the ingredients to be the men God expects us to be.

                It's always seemed ironic to me that the things in life that are the most trying are always and without fail the most rewarding. Hopefully Casey doesn't get too ruffled with me since that's the first sentence of my blog about marriage and the race. I have to say that being married on the race is definitely a monumental blessing. The opportunity to grow together is one that I feel few people have the opportunity to experience. I feel we've grown together in ways that would take a decade to do living our "normal" lives back home. No matter what happens on the race, I always have my best friend and companion to share my thoughts and feelings with. I have a safe place every day and night where I know I can go to and be completely open and vulnerable. I have had someone to keep me honest and devoted in my walk with Christ. I have had a constant reminder of why we came on the race and why we are trying to build a life centered on God and devoted to serving Him. If I start hopping onto my soap box too much she'll remind to step down and take things to God before I get my panties in a knot. 

In Casey, I have someone that I know I can talk to about what happened throughout the entire 11 months and understand where I'm coming from. When we get home I won't have to struggle with trying to explain my experiences and there being no one that I can relate. The other side to that coin is though we have been with each other for the same countries and contacts we have had two very different experiences. Because of our different experiences I have the benefit of a very different perspective than my own. I feel this is one of the greatest advantages of being married and moving on in life with one another. I'll always have Casey's point of view to combine with my own. I'll always be able to see a fuller picture of any shared experience because I get to see it with another set of eyes and one of the purest hearts known to mankind.

Throughout the race I have had Casey to speak life into me. Whether I doubted my ability to share the message the Lord had put on my heart or the effectiveness of my efforts to serve, I have my wife to encourage and challenge me. I have the Love of my life to push me when I need to be pushed and support me when I need to stand firm. I have seen God's hand at work as much in our marriage and my relationship with my wife as I have in any other ministry on the race. I have also been more challenged by what God has shown me through our marriage and through Casey's heart than anything I've experienced in my life.

When Casey and I were married, like any couple we were still trying to learn about one another. We hung out in the same group of friends for about 6 months before we started dating. We dated only about 1 month before we decided we were going to get married and ended up being engaged about 5 months. So we knew each other about 1 year before we were married. We were married about 1 ½ years before we came on the race. This isn't very much time for anyone to get to know someone else. Factor into that also that Casey worked full time, I went to school full time and worked from 30-40 hours per week and also was in the Army Reserves at the time. Casey and I only had a few hours together a night and maybe one or two full days a month to spend with each other. Not much time at all to really grow to know your spouse in the first year or so of marriage.

So we went from very little time together to living in a 3 person tent together and being basically in one another's face 24/7. Needless to say there were some growing pains. The best thing about always being in each other's space is that you are forced to work at your issues and fight your way through them. You can't just avoid one another and decide to not talk about things, there's nowhere to run off to. You can't hide yourself in work or xbox or reading, or whatever it is that you do to find distraction. A lot of the distractions we love so much go out the window when there is no electricity or internet and live with a team of 5 other people. In times like these, many aspects of our character that we are either not aware of or not very proud of come to light. Your patience is tested, the ability to show grace for one another often proves to be wanting. Pride shines brighter than a lighthouse on a stormy night. Most of us are not eager to bring our character flaws to light. We'd rather bury them with all the other painful scars and memories we've become so efficient at covering up. This isn't gonna happen if you're truly trying to serve the Lord and honor your spouse as the bible calls us to do. If I am to love my wife as Christ loves the Church I can't continue to live in a way that puts my pride before humbling myself before my wife, let alone before my God. I need to show grace and take a bite of humble pie when I believe my way is the right way, but it is not the only way. Casey shows me every day what it means to prefer someone else over yourself. She shows me the power of living a life in the Fruits of the Spirit. She shows me more about myself than I often see when I look in the mirror, the things that the Lord is continuing to blossom within me and the buds that he's trying to cut off. Through Casey, the Lord is showing me how to be a better man of God, a man that God will hopefully be able to say "Well done good and faithful servant."

What it comes down to is this; the race is not a honeymoon. You'll quickly wakeup from the honeymoon faze if you do the race in the sense that much of what we're told to believe marriage is, just isn't correct. You'll wakeup from the false reality of what movies, TV and pop culture tell you marriage is supposed to be. You'll wakeup from your own false pretenses and expectations about what you think marriage is. Isn't that what we all want? To live the truth that God has for us, the one and only truth given to us by the Word as a gift from our Maker. Marriage is a gift and a blessing and we need to thank God for it by honoring and serving Him in all we do. Don't do the race because you want to have a cool experience with your spouse, something to tell the kids about when mom and dad did wild and crazy things. Don't do it because you think it's only about you growing as an individual. If there's anything I've learned about the race it's that it's not about me and it's not about Casey, it's not about appreciating all that we have in the states. It's not about your journey; it's about God and what you can do for God to make an impact in a broken world. It's about realizing that when you give all that you are to God, everything else will fall into place. God will give you the opportunity to build patience and grace into your life. He will give you the ability to overcome the pain of having the chains and walls of pride broken off. God will bless your marriage and you will prosper in it through Him. So plan to be stretched, expect to be challenged and find strength in pain. God will be with you every second of everyday to pick you back up, dust your shoulders off, pat you on the butt and tell you to get right back in there to keep fighting the good fight. Then your spouse can give you a pat on the butt and you get to learn all about finding creative ways to make time for one another while living in community and embarrassing the rest of your team because your lovely wife has no shame telling everyone everything about the joys of the more intimate details of marriage.

                Today I have been trying to catch up on some of my logistics duties. These duties can vary depending on what happened the previous month, where we are currently, where we will be going and so on. Pretty much every month includes basic admin things such as updating where each team will be heading for the current month, contact info for team/squad leaders and tracking any squad mates that have needed to travel elsewhere for medial or personal reasons. There's also the finance side of things which includes tracking expenses for the entire squad over each month. During a month each team has a finance person who tracks their individual team's expenses and makes sure spending in anyone area doesn't get out of hand. At the beginning of each new month logistics is required to compile each team's numbers and report those results to the home office. So we have to be able to keep an eye on the overall squad budget to make sure each month our expenses are reasonable and within budget. What gets tricky is that our budget for each month is an average budget of the entire 11 months. Even though Europe will be much more expensive than say Africa, we have the same budget for each month. So we are expected to go over the budget we have set while in Europe, but when we are in places such as Africa and Central America we are expected to be way under. Simple enough until you start to see that even within the same country or even same city, expenses per team can vary greatly. So Justin and I with our home office need to keep a constant eye on how each team is doing, as well as maintain communication as much as possible with teams so they are aware of what is or isn't available financially. Also each month we need to send every team's receipts for the past ministry back to AIM. Our home office has to keep very detailed records of all expenses accrued in the field for tax and accountability purposes. So in turn our team finance people need to know where every penny is spent, write a receipt for it then pass on all of those receipts for Justin and I to compile and pass on to AIM. I've come to know DHL offices and pickup policies very well in many countries. Again, nothing too complicated until you think about the fact that DHL isn't always a simple phone call away, but hours away in a different part of the country. Or have you tried communicating with a DHL office where you don't speak the native language and your contact doesn't have the best understanding of English? Consider also that many countries don't have internet access or, if they do it requires an hour drive to the closest café and communication between teams and back to the home office can get a bit sketchy.

                But once you get all the admin stuff done you get to the real meat and potatoes of the job. Each time the squad comes together (pretty much at the end of every month), logistics gets to find affordable lodging ($5 per person per day) for anywhere from 50-80 people, which trust me, can require a good bit of wheeling and dealing with most hostels, guest houses and hotels. It's not just a roof over everyone's heads (or an area for tents) but it needs to be someplace where affordable food ($3 dollars a day per person) is nearby as well as transportation to and from the location is reasonable. We need to arrange for room assignments once everyone arrives so that everyone has a place to stay, make sure all food tabs are paid, arrange for meeting locations that can hold the entire squad, make sure everyone understands the safety situation of the area we are in, make sure all teams are up to date on any finance changes that need to be made. Make sure that all teams are prepared as best as they can be for the next month, to include required visas and traveling fees, weights limits on each airline and differences between regions and so on. Once the end of our lovely squad/family time comes, transportation for the entire squad needs to have been arranged. Sometimes this is a short 1 hour bus ride/fleet of taxis/fleet of tuk tuks, or to the airport, or it can be a wonderful bonding bus ride/train ride for 12-60 hours across wonderful clean pristine (bumpy and dusty) roads. All the while keeping a smile and everyone's face in appreciation of the joys of travel days. 

                Can't forget debriefs, do all the same fun lodging, food, transport, meeting stuff then add is coaches and staff from AIM plus usually some sort of fun group activity (rafting the Nile, Angkor Wat, etc.)

                Now Justin and I have been blessed with an amazing group of people that make up our squad. So many times have individuals stepped out and done everything they can to lighten the load some and make things more manageable. For that we are both so very thankful. What I think I am most thankful for is the ministry in action I've seen because of logistics. I was told before the race that logistics in and of itself was a ministry and I didn't really understand; now I think I do. Plans always fall through, no matter where you are. It seems to be amplified when you're traveling internationally and with a large group. Guest houses decide they don't want to house 50 foreigners the day before you are set to arrive. Buses get lost and now are so late that you might miss you should miss your flight. Buses are so late that you are told you won't be able to make it through a border crossing and will have to stay the night in a seedy dark dangerous looking area on the bus. Buses are so lost that you have to go find them by hopping on some random motor bikes and riding through Kampala to who knows where and getting dropped off in the middle of crazy town and left with no clue of what's going on. Customs guards will tell you that you have to pay extra for this visa or that bag because it's too heavy or big. Customs guards will also tell you that you have to pay a fee for each person to travel in the country even though you know they are trying to lie to you and rip you off. People will lose passports, people will get sick and have to fly home or stay behind. Flooding will be so bad that trains will need to be diverted. But what I've seen with my own two eyes is that God is there with you every step of the way. Patting you on the shoulder saying, don't stress, don't get angry, just relax, I got this. Then suddenly your contact will randomly appear and help you find the long lost bus and take you to where you need to meet it. You will be contacted by a different hostel that would love to take all 50 of you and it's nicer and cheaper than the place you made reservations. Some how the flight you should have missed was delayed as well or the bus taking you to the airport came with warp speed and you made the flight. Randomly the customs guards will for no reason tell you that you can go on and enter the country without another word about fake fees and visas costs. And sometimes you will have to spend an extra fee for a large or heavy bag, you sometimes will get ripped off cause you didn't know any better, sometimes you will have to spend the night in a bus in a seedy motel that looks like something out of Stephen King, but either way God's say there helping you along the way, making sure there's no way you can doubt his hand in everything.

                So thank you for the opportunity to serve as logistics, thank you for the chance to see God work wonders and see his face in places I could never have imagined.

                We are now a little over two weeks into our time in Nicaragua. It's an interesting time in the race. We are just about 9 months total in with 2 months left. For some reason I think most of us shifted gears when we came to Central America. I don't know if it's because we stopped in Los Angeles for a long layover and got a taste of the good ol' US. Maybe it's because we all know we're only a few hours flight from home. It could be because we have a case of something like senioritis. Whatever the cause I believe for many of our squad we are definitely looking ahead and not focused on the here and now. It's understandable; almost all of us have no idea what's going to happen when we go home. Schools, jobs, internships, how life will be back with our families and friends, it's all one big question mark. Regardless of what awaits each of us next we still have 2 months and 3 countries that we are committed to serve in. Every one of us needs to dig down deep and find a way to continue to serve our contacts and one another in a way that shows preference for others. We need to understand that not only do we have a community of support who are going through the same struggles, but a family.  A family that we can depend on to fight with us when we are tired and worn out or when we don't want to get out of bed in the morning. We have a God that is with us every step of the way whose strength will never fail. There will be times when we let each other down, when our own flesh fails, as does our team's.   Our Lord will never let us down or fail, and maybe that's something we all need to be reminded of. Once again we need to find a way to get over ourselves and stop depending so much on our own efforts, because let's face it, our own efforts are not nearly enough and never will be. If we continue to rely on what our flesh is capable of and don't depend on God 100% we will continue to grow weary. We will all continue to grow numb to the suffering all around us because we have seen and experienced so much. We will continue to be frustrated with each other and want do nothing more than put in our IPods and get on the internet to escape to our own little worlds of comfort we've created. All we'll continue to think about is what's next and forget about what's now. If we can't figure this out now, how in the world does anyone honestly think we'll be able to make any difference when we're back in the States with all its distractions and detractors?

                So moving on......Central America has been awesome. Vision Nicaragua is an incredible organization that we have been blessed to be able to work alongside. We have been able to work with a local man, Mario is just amazing. We have had the opportunity to get to know a couple of the men, Kevin and Ron who are working with all their hearts to keep VN up and running and improving all the communities with food handouts, toys for kids, finding jobs and most importantly building and maintaining relationships of based on the Love of Christ. This past week our team has been given the opportunity to help hand out rice and beans to two villages and toys in one. We've been able to help paint a church, help with a medical clinic and my personal favorite, play with and love on some kiddos.  Also we have been able to work with another organization, Amigos for Christ. They have an amazing ministry in place that encourages many of the locals who were affected the most by Hurricane Mitch in 1998. After the hurricane there were torrential rains which caused flooding and mudslides that killed many and left more without homes or jobs. Over the past 12 years Amigos has worked to provide these displaced people with an opportunity to have homes and jobs. Overlooked by their own government, Amigos has given many of these people the opportunity to have hope once again. We were given the chance to help in a small way by helping to dig and trench and lay pipe for a new well and water pump for one of the villages that does not have running water. I am so thankful for these two groups and the many others who continue to pour into these communities and this country by serving others and spreading the unfailing and unconditional Love of Jesus.

Our last month in Southeast Asia was spent in Vietnam. Now Vietnam was a very different country from those we have visited up until now. Much of Vietnam is closed and does not allow openly sharing the gospel. While there are churches in Vietnam, they are only allowed for foreigners or internationals from other countries. Any churches that are for the Vietnamese are forced to be underground. While we were there, we could not speak about working for a missions based organizations or even say the word missionary in public. This definitely made communicating a bit tricky, especially when asked about why we were visiting and what we were doing in Vietnam. 

Initially we started out in Ho Chi Minh City, formally called Saigon. It was a pretty westernized city, much like any other Southeast Asian city we has visited. It's definitely a city that foreign investment seems to have brought about an economic boom. Everywhere you go there are new offices and apartments going up. There is definitely tons of money going into that city.

While in HCMC we were able to work with a contact that Casey had worked with when she was going to college in Texas. It was very helpful to meet people whom we had a familiarization with as apposed to most other contacts whom we have never meet or spoken to. The team that was in HCMC were amazing! They did everything possible to make us feel welcome and loved. I don't think we could have asked for a better group of people to partner with. We were able to do a few days of prayer walks, got to sit in on one of their international services and also work at a coffee house while we were there. The coffee house was a unique opportunity. Many Vietnamese come to the coffee house to learn English from native speakers. So we were able to sit with businessman and students alike. Again you need to keep in mind we weren't able to talk openly about Jesus or the gospel, but at times some of our team were able to work it into the conversation. We also had the opportunity to visit an orphanage that is supported by the owners of the coffee house.  It was such a blessing to see the love that these children were receiving when they would so often be overlooked by most others.

We only stayed in HCMC about week or so then moved up to Hanoi, the capital. We were told to expect a very different experience while we were there. It is the center of government and thus it would be much stricter. Keep in mind also that Vietnam is a communist country. We arrived the night before Tet, the lunar new year. We had no contact setup, just a place to stay. We were a little worried about our food situation since almost everything was closed due to the Tet holiday. Well we happened to find a restaurant called the Gecko just down the road. This restaurant and the employees became the focus of the rest of our time in Hanoi. We were able to get to know much of the staff and truly build relationships with them. We ended up working in the restaurant most days, helping take orders, make drinks, work in the kitchen, wash dishes and just be with the staff and customers that came through. It truly was God in action allowing us this opportunity. How many restaurants do you know would allow complete strangers, foreigners no less, to basically show up and start serving their paying customers? Well they definitely welcomed us with open arms.

While we were in Hanoi we also had the opportunity to prayer walk, write out scripture verses on rocks and place them in different locations in a park, we also sat at the park and had a couple worship sessions while Carrie and Kris did some awesome paintings. Tons of people showed up for these events and even though we couldn't speak directly to them about who we were and what we were doing, the Spirit was definitely there and we know God can use that just as well as direct conversation. We then flew back to Bangkok to meet up with the rest of our squad and headed back to the Western Hemisphere. We stopped off in LAX airport for a 12 hour layover then headed to Central America.

So now you're up to date with where we are now in Nicaragua. This month is definitely going to take some adjustment. Central America is hot and only gonna get hotter. We have been blessed though once again with amazing contacts and can't wait to see what God has in store for the last leg of our journey!

Support update. We have now raised everything that we needed to raise for our time on the World Race. That's a total of $28,600! What a miracle so many of you have helped us be a part of! Casey and I can't thank you enough for all the prayers and support you have blessed us with.   There is no possible way that we could be where we are today if it wasn't for all the prayers and faith that you all put in us!