Heyy! Happy to say that I am writing this from Ankeny Iowa! I am home! I am so so grateful for my time on the race and I will talk all about that in a upcoming blog, but first, I want to give you all a little recap of what my last 2 weeks of the World Race looked like!

We started our travels to America in the Johannesburg airport! The feelings were all over the place- last time overseas for a while for most of us, but also so excited to be in the USA! We had a 10ish hour flight to our layover in Amsterdam, and a short layover there until we flew directly to Atlanta! USA RAHH!

Words probably can’t describe our excitement t

o be on US soil! We sang the national anthem and America the Beautiful quite a bit that week! We were back to driving on the right side of the road and it was finally safe to drink the water in the shower. Strange, but it was a big deal for us!

We spent 2 rest days at the AIM base with our sister gap squad (D Squad) where we could recover from jet lag before we headed to Black Mountain, North Carolina for our final week of ministry! This was a “full circle” moment for us because we spent a week there in September! Took a nice drive up, caught up with some D Squadders and spent the night in worship and orientation. The next day we started ministry! Most of our squad went to a children’s home and did some landscaping work, cleared out some brush, and weeded. Ended the night with group dinner and worship!

The following day was Sunday so we went to church at my friend Josiahs church since he lives near Asheville! It was very fun to see his community and what a Sunday typically looks like for him. We had the rest of the day to explore downtown and have some team time.

The next 3 days were work days! My team wasn’t assigned to a house so we did some ministry with local homeless ministries making sandwiches and preparing meal bags, more landscaping, and fulfilling clothing orders at a local drive for people in need of assistance with food, household items, and clothing. We also stayed at base one day and helped finish building and insulating walls in some office space! We used a circular saw, a handsaw, and a drill to cut and secure the plywood. It was really fun and we did it just us girls! My team also had some time to spend with each other for an afternoon which was very fun and needed since we haven’t had set apart Akouo time since before mini debrief in South Africa.

On the 2nd night of ministry, I unfortunately got sick and was confined to my bed for the next 3 days. I missed the last day of ministry, but on the plus side, I got to be inside in the sick room and I never got kicked out to a tent for the rest of the time in Georgia. At final debrief, we tent like we did at training camp. Ill spare you the complicated details, but long story short I don’t have a tent anymore so I would’ve had to bunk with someone, AND my sleeping bag is only for 50 degree weather and it was veryyyy cold in Georgia that week so thank you Jesus that I was allowed to stay inside the whole time.

Final debrief was a really sweet time of fun, fellowship, and reflection. Outside of actual “debrief” (consisted of teachings/panels about going home, worship mornings/nights) we had really fun moments as a squad! We played lots of spikeball, took walks/hikes, played dutch blitz a TON (if you know you know), took van rides into town to visit target for the first time in 9 months, got Cookout (really good fast food/ice cream place down south), and so much more. We also had a "no talent talent show" that lasted 3 hours with all 5 squads which was really really fun! My team did a pitch perfect acapella song of "Since We've Been Gone" and changed the lyrics. here are the lyrics:

LYRICS

[Verse 1] Savannah

Here’s the thing we started as strangers

It was cool but really awkward

YEAH YEAH

Since we’ve been gone

[Verse 2] Savannah

We’re dedicated and we took the time

And then the awkward was left behind

Now we’re friends

And we talk about poop

[Pre-Chorus] Savannah

And all you ever hear us say

Is that we love the Lord

I guess we’ve always felt that way

[Chorus] Abby

But since we’ve been gone

The Lord has changed us on the inside

Now were moving on

YEAH YEAH

Thanks to God

We are a team

And we came so far

Since we’ve been gone

[Verse 3] Adeline

How can I put it? We lost no one

We even gained Mo and Mieko

YEAH YEAH

Since we’ve been gone

[Pre-Chorus] Elina

And all you’ve ever hear us say

Is that we love the Lord

I guess we’ve always felt that way

[Chorus] Ellie

But since we’ve been gone

The Lord has changed us on the inside

Now were moving on

YEAH YEAH

Thanks to God

We are a team

And we came so far

Since we’ve been gone

[Bridge] Mieko

Some peed their pants some pooped them

We’ve licked, our teammates feet

Foreign men they all hit on us

Again and again and again and again

It was really fun being back in Georgia with people that I actually knew this time! We are obviously a lot closer than we were 9 months ago which made all of these memories so sweet.

The last 2 days were my favorite. We had a pickleball tournament in the afternoon with random partners and a random bracket- My partner was Blake and we won the whole thing! We played I think 5 or 6 games and one of which we crushed 11-1. It was a really fun time as a squad and we got ice cream after!

The following day, our last full day before traveling, had set apart squad time in the afternoon for final words and testimony time, which was really sweet. Then, we had a couple hours to get all dressed up for our final banquet! A lot of the girls, including myself, had gotten new dressed earlier that week to wear. It felt like getting ready for prom (not as fancy of course). It was my first time wearing makeup in a very long time and it was fun to wear a new dress that wasn’t from my limited wardrobe.

We took lots of pictures and walked down to our tables. It was nicely set up with pretty plates and glasses and flower arrangements. And the food was chipotle! We all understood in that moment why the other meals had been, well, questionable. (Most of the food budget for debrief went towards chipotle and I am so thankful!). It was so yummy. Then Maleah, Blake, Big E and myself presented the squad superlatives! Everyone got one and it was really fun handing them out. Lots of laughs for the funny ones, and some “awww”’s for the sweet and serious ones. I got “Most Spirited”. Then each team gave a speech to honor our leaders. This got a lot of us pretty emotional, and lots of the boys cried too. Then we got our ‘graduation’ certificates and an alumni shirt, cleaned up a little bit and headed to worship and commissioning. Very sweet night of praising our king with these amazing people! We concluded the night with an all-squad run to Waffle House. Finished packing that night and went to bed at 2 am.

That following morning was campus clean up! All of 5 squads (forgot to mention that semesters and alumni trip were all at final debrief with us) had a task to clean a part of campus. After that was done, airport folks loaded their bags into the trailer and it began the circle of goodbyes and tears. It was really sad. We said goodbye to everyone that was driving home, loaded the vans, and drove away. I was crying for most of that morning. Leaving them was really hard.

Got to the airport, waited for our time to check in. Lots of us flew southwest so we got more time together which was really sweet. Hung out at Chick-fil-a with a group until one by one, they would leave and go to their own separate gates. I was with the Colorado group until my boarding time. Gave some last hugs, and watched them disappear from my sight. And at that point, I was completely alone for the first time in 9 months because of the buddy rule.

I had a layover in Chicago  and got into Des Moines around 10:30. My family was waiting at the bottom and it was such a sweet reunion. And my junkyard friends were there too! They had signs and everything. Was so sweet. Had my dad carry my 46 pound bag to the car, and he struggled. So I think I maybe gained some muscle carrying that thing around for 9 months. Had lots of laughs on the way home. Eventually, we turned the corner onto my street, and saw all of my dear neighbors, some friends, and my aunt in the street waving big signs, holding sparklers, and shot off a firework. It was the sweetest reunion and I felt so so loved. Gave out lots of hugs, made smores at the fire, and saw my room for the first time (I cried looking at it from the doorframe). Unpacked a little that night and my mom realized that my clothes probably needed 2-3 washes for the mildew smell to leave.

And the was the last of the race! I am home! Not sure what is next, but I am doing a worship arts internship at my church this summer. Just taking it one step at a time!

Thanks for reading this blog, my last ones should be up very soon!

Ellie