This is the end of the world race. It came like a thief in the night: month 1, month 2 BAM month 11 end. It didn't really hit me until our bbq banquet last night when everyone was taking "last" pictures again. I didn't even know what to think, but I know what I began to feel. I felt sad. I like these guys. These are my friends, brothers and sisters. I have no concept of what my group of friends looks like except for these people here, with the exception of a few others back home.

I began to reflect on the past eleven month's experiences. There is so much to think about, so much to process, so many stories, but yet I have no idea what to say when some well-intentioned person asks, "How was it?" Ha. I appreciate the good will, but it's gonna take some time to unscramble this egg. So I hope no one minds me saying, "It was good," just the same as when I'm asked how breakfast was this morning; I probably had scrambled egg, too. But more specific questions will probably have more satisfactory answers.

Sorry, my thoughts are scrambled in this blog, too.

It's hard not to see this as an end. It is an end, but it's also a beginning. God takes his children from glory to glory, but in order for us to go to the next one we've got to leave the current one behind. I remember a mission trip I took with my church in 2008 that changed my life. Actually, it's what didn't happen on that trip, rather than what did happen, that changed my life. It was a week-long trip to Panama City beach in Florida, and the focus was evangelism instead of a service. I sucked that trip up. Didn't really have any good conversations with anyone, when I did have a conversation I found I had so little knowledge of God's word that I was more just giving my own opinions instead of truth. But through that experience God gave me a hunger to know his word so that I might be able to speak more and more truthfully and insightfully into people's lives if and when I needed to. I've grown a lot in knowledge of his word and still have much more growing to do, but now I sense that he is using the experiences of this trip to move my focus in another direction: discipleship. I've seen how important and fundamental it is to a person's redemption, but I have very little idea how to actually do it, to "feed the sheep" so to speak, for more than a few weeks at most. I've learned a lot (couldn't give you a list of half of it though) and one thing I've definitely learned is how little I know and how much more learning and growing I have before me.

And about that: Although I'm sure I've changed a lot (I have little idea how though) I'm coming off this experience feeling more human than ever. I hope no one will have the expectation that I'm "above" them in some way now that I've been around the world as a missionary; In fact, I'm more humbled than ever. I don't think I'll come off as "super-religious" or "super-spiritual" in any way; God I hope not, though I might be a little more wierd! So don't anyone feel like they have to put on a good facade when they're around me. I'll probably see right through it. And though I thought that coming on this race would fix all my problems somehow, I found that God's grace is soooooooo sufficient and our weaknesses are opportunities to walk in faith in the strength God provides and that they also cause us to continue to seek his provision every day whenever we feel weak. If we respond appropriately in our weakness we will seek the peace and strength of our Father and grow in relationship and understanding of Him. In fact, I'm convinced that he lets us have weaknesses for this very purposes, because if we were never weak we would never have need of knowing him, when in fact "this is eternal life: to know the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom he has sent." (John 17:3) So in fact we are drawn into eternal life through relying on him in our weaknesses.

That said, I'm going to have plenty of opportunities to be drawn further into eternal life in the next few months as I readjust to life in the states, move, make new friends, figure out life... but it wouldn't be the first time I've had to do this, and in all the unknowns I'm about to face, I know God is faithful. So bring it on.

Thank you to all my supporters!             

He came off as a very interesting and awkward individual at first. But as time went on, he became more and more forward in his advances to some of our girls. One day he made one of our girls so uncomfortable that she had to leave for the day. When this was brought to the attention of the supervisors at Kawan, they decided that M---k should not be allowed to volunteer anymore, yet he was still welcome to join for the meals and teachings. Yet he persisted in his sexual advances and again one of our girls felt so uncomfortable that she had to leave, and Marek this time was banned from returning in any manner. This was Wednesday of last week.

On Friday, Will Diefenbach and I were posted outside the main entry, just in case. As we sat out at our posts, Will are I reminisced about previous times in the race when some unfortunate things had happened, such as when a large sum of money was stolen from another team. "How I wished we would have been there to stop that!" we said. And now was our chance to be filled with holy anger and unrestrained jealousy in defending our girls. This time we could do something about it and be justified; we will not allow our girls to be harassed; he will not pass through those doors. And if he did show up, it was going to be a showdown. Oh, the whoopin' he would get!

But there was another part of me, let's call it "Jesus", that hurt deeply for this man. I wondered: In all his time volunteering here, had he ever received the gospel in full, the message of God's grace? Had he ever been prayed over to be released from his addictions? Sometimes it works! Thus I also had a burning desire within me to give this man the time of day, to hear him out like a friend, to share with him the full message of God's grace in Christ, and thus to offer him whatever help I could in talking with him. This was the alternative to confrontation. And I began wondering what I should say to convince him to sit down with me at a lounge across the street so that I could minister to him as well as keep him out of Kawan, if in fact he did dare come by. <\p>

He dared. As he walked up, I greeted him with a smile and handshake, said I had heard the unfortunate news about him being restricted from Kawan, said I'd like to hear his side of the story, and coaxed him to sit down and chat at the lounge across the street. He took the bait, and we did just that.

I would like to tell you everything he said, but his confusion was so great that as he spoke I would often have to remind myself of the truth as his words entered my ears. He is a very, very confused man, and for the sake of any of my female teammates and their parents who may read this I will not repeat the great majority of what he said. We sat and deliberated for hours, until Kawan closed. I shared the gospel with him, relating to it through nearly every point in which he was mentally confused. He said he wanted Christ to set him free, but when I said that he would have to submit his life to Christ he refused. Yet I gave him my bible as a a gift and Will and I prayed over him. That was it for Friday.

When this past Monday came around, we did it again. During these times he was very upfront in his speech, and therefore so was I. He was convinced that he was an entity higher than God, calling himself The Absolute. He called God a pervert and said that God was his tool.  He said that his purpose is to rise to political power in the US first, then become president of the European Union, then the world, then he will bring about the end of the world. I am not lying, he said this. He said that his mind is infinite and can comprehend all things, but there is a void where his heart is, that he has no heart. He said that right now his speech amounts to nothing and he is powerless, but when he gets certain "love feelings" that he was hoping to find through some of the female volunteers at Kawan, he would be filled with power and his speech would be convincing and he would be able to compell his way to political power. Whenever he got like this, I reminded him of the emptiness of his heart, emptiness that he had admitted to and that only Christ could fill. He would sober up a little and agree that he needed Christ, but as soon as I mentioned to him about confessing with his mouth and believing that Jesus is Lord he would retort with, "I don't need Jesus, in fact, Jesus needs me!" This reminded me all the more that that is the defining line between who will be saved and who won't be: You can say all the good things about Jesus that you want, do all the good things you can do, agree that you need him so much, agree with his word up and down the wazoo, and never cross the line into salvation which is making him the Savior and Lord or your life. "This is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent." John 17:3. Gotta know him and He's gotta know you (Matthew 7:23). Because we would be leaving the following week, I decided to report to the Kawan administrators everything he said, that they may decide what to do after we leave and I'm not longer there to occupy his time.

On Wednesday, two days ago, he showed up again. This time there was no mercy. He told that if he did not leave immediately the police would be called. "I am The Absolute! You don't know what you are doing! Here I stand as Jesus outside your doors and I see you are ready to crucify me!" Before he walked away he returned my bible, which I later found to be defiled with perverted things written in some of the pages. "You are very patient with him, James." said Hannah, one of the volunteers at Kawan. "Why are you so patient with him?" "It's only because of Jesus who lives in here." I said, pointing to my heart. "Why did you give him your bible?" "Because I had hoped." And I still hope that he will recognize his need to humble himself before the Lord Jesus and be saved. Because even though his sin is so grievous to us, the fact is that we are all fallen sinners in God's sight, no worse nor any better than him. But God's love and mercy is so great that during this time of his favor he even tolerates those who speak abusively against him, that we may have the time we need to come to him to be saved. 2 Peter 3:8-9 "But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance." Yes, the Lord's patience is great, and only by his spirit was I able to be patient with this man. Yet we have one more day left to work at Kawan, and I will once again be there to meet him and share the love of God with him if he dares to come, but so help me God, he still will not enter through those doors.  

The whole experience has been very draining on me, sitting there with him for hours, assaulted by the same confusion that assaults him every day. Yet God's grace has been with me because as he spews confusion I can almost feel the words passing through a barrier around me which reveals the lies so that I myself am not caught up by them. Some of the lies are blatant, many are extremely subtle. It's the most divinely protected I've felt the whole race, as if the shield of faith is extinguishing the arrows right in front of me. I have also learned a lot through this experience. Since he speaks lies so bluntly and boldly, I have felt permissed to speak the truth of God to him bluntly and boldly and call out his lies in similar fashion. It's been a great experience of "shooting straight" and not being afraid to say things that may offend. And God has shown me elsewhere that having a gift of teaching means that sometimes I'm going to have to offend people with the truth, so I might as well get used to it. After all, Jesus was the greatest teacher, but he was also the most offensive! with the truth! So we'll just add one point to the boldness scale for James through this experience. Yay Jesus!

Muslims: For the past ten years I've been inundated with fearful things about them from the news media, but then again the media loves to make big stories out of whatever "sells", just like any other business, and unfortunately the world's Muslims are cast in a very negative light by small yet significant number of radical groups. But as I walk across the street in the morning to Kassim Mustafa's, my favorite restaurant which serves a delicious and satisfying meal for only $2, I eagerly search out something to say in basic English which my Indian Muslim friends I have made there can understand.

Kasiim Kadil, and Abbas are three of my friends who work at the restaurant as well as an older Muslim lady who works the register. Kadil speaks the best english. His wife and 3 kids live back in India. They are 7 years, 4 years, and 50 days old. He has come to work here in that restuarant for 12 hours each day, every day, 29 days a month, with 6 months vacation every two years so he can go back and visit his family, because the 7 ringgit per day wage is good money which he sends back to his family. Seven ringgit amounts to $2.30. The other gentlemen likewise have families back in India and are in a similar situation. The whole thing breaks my heart, partly because their hearts are big as they work so consistently and diligently for so little for a family they only see every two years. Are they happy? Perhaps on some level. I wouldn't be because I know better: $2.30 per day is crap for how hard those guys work. But when I recognized earlier this month, before I knew all of this, that I would be eating there for almost every meal, three times per day, I felt the Lord in my heart saying that I should make an effort to befriend them. Being intentional is what the Lord has been teaching me this whole 11 months. In obedience I make whatever conversation I can with them as I wait for my food. My God, what a difference I've seen in them, especially Abbas, over the past few weeks, when this plucky Christian American comes up (they know who I am and whom I have believed). Abbas especially used to not smile at all when I walked up and ordered. In fact, I'm sure that's all those guys get all day long is people telling them what they want and waiting for them to make it. But you should see how those guys light up now when I walk up with a goofy smile on my face trying to make conversation with them! I love those guys! Those Muslim guys! They are just like any other hard working guy on the planet! And the older Muslim woman who works the register: I struck up a good 15 minute conversation with her one day and now she looks at me like I'm her son, with such a friendly and kind face! (Her son is a wrestler and she loves cheering him on at his events like any other mother would!) And then today as I'm walking along I pass a "giggle" of younger Muslim girls, head scarves and all, and they glance and smile bashfully at me like I'm cute or something! LOL! Ah, once again the old adage holds true: People are people, all over the world. Even Muslims. Sure, people often put up a cultural or religious front, but break past it with a smile and some friendliness and people in general really aren't that different across the world.

But that's not to say that exceptions don't exist...

We are working with Youth With A Mission (YWAM) to serve several local ministries.

Kawan is a Malay word that means "Friends," and is the name of a ministry founded by an American man named Jody. On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 10am to 3pm the poor and homeless can enjoy free breakfast, lunch, showers, a cool place to nap for the afternoon, and personal ministry attention and fellowship from the volunteers at Kawan. We are also helping to renovate the upper floors of that building, as well as preparing another building to be a training center for those people coming off the street who wish to devote their lives to being ministers of Christ. I have made a good Malaysian friend at Kawan whose name is Noah. He is a 68 year old man who has been on the streets most his life, and since accepting Jesus' free gift of salvation over 10 years ago and being freed from multiple addictions, he has spent the rest of his life still on the streets but as a joyful and faithful witness and servant of Christ. Every Wednesday night Kawan does evangelistic outreach and holds a church service for all who are interested.

There is another ministry that we are privileged to participate in at a Seventh Day Adventist hospital in the area (though I myself have not participated as we were asked to be consistent with our ministry choices).  At the hospital a group of us are helping to raise funds for kids who needs heart surgery, which costs about 30,000 Malaysian ringgit, or around $10,000 USD. The group has been wildly successful, praise God, in raising almost 20,000 ringgit thus far, and they're shooting for having raised enough for one child to receive heart surgery. The original expectations were as follows: if they raise 1000 ringgit in any one day, that is a very successful day and they are treated to a free pizza party. Well, last week they consistently raised over 1500 ringgit each day! Just this weekend, the Lord's blessing was on them to raise over 3000 ringgit in one day!!! So we praise God for that. :-)

At least here in the city of Georgetown the people are so nice. Malaysia is an extremely culturally and religiously diverse country, with Chinese, Malaysians, Indians, and Arabs, Christians, Muslims, and Buddhists... living together not just peacefully but almost amicably! This isn't a melting pot though, it's a mixing pot. Sure there is a mutual cultural understanding and blend to some point, but each people group is visibly distinct, and so is each one's religion. In fact, most of the signs here are in four or five languages: English, Malay, Chinese, some Indian language and/or some Arab language. English is widely spoken by almost all, to some degree. I'd love to tell you more about some of the people I've met, so read on in my next blog coming later today...

I look out on the next field we have to plant... good freaking night that's a big field, maybe the size of two football fields. "You mean he wants us to plant this field too?" The task seems impossible, but we've planted large fields before and I'm slowly beginning to learn that though the task seems daunting there will come a point when we will look back on it in triumph. With this in mind, I stab the first stick into the field and, already being worn out from the previous field that day, I repeat in my mind as I work my way up the field, "Just keep stabbing... Just keep stabbing..." to the tune of Dora's song, "Just keep swimming..." from Finding Nemo. Indeed, that's all I have to do is remain focused on the task immediately at hand -- stabbing only the next stick into the ground -- and the daunting task slowly crumbles under the inexorable force of persistence. The ten of us who are working the field finish the job later that day.

As a good Christian (lol) I translate the lesson of this mundane task into a lesson for life. You see, Jesus pretty much tells us to worry only about one day at a time: the day called Today. He knew that when we consider the big picture and try to fathom all the variables of our entire life we often succumb to a daunting feeling about all the things we'll need to handle later on. But if we can keep focused on worrying only about today, we can probably be much more relaxed!

Not only this, but I was also applying the lesson to doing kingdom work (or any work for that matter) once I return from the race. I really enjoyed my time in China, I think because that's the first month where discipling others was the main focus. "Just keep going to english corners, just keep inviting people over, just keep initiating those deeper conversations, just keep asking people if they want to study the bible with you..." and we saw results! So keeping that same mindset of "if you want something that seems big just keep focused on persisting in little steps and eventually you'll get it" is going to be a focus of mine after the race.

This month we also herded goats, and as I watched some of the workers herding them I noticed that the way to keep goats behaving is to whack 'em with sticks, box them in until their only way out is the way you want them to go, stay outside of their group and clap and shout and pelt them with stuff to get them to move, sometimes wrestle them by their horns... goats are stubborn, or ignorant, creatures. And all we want to do is keep them from getting lost and take them out to pasture and back into their goat-house! Well, doing the "good Christian" thing, I abstracted this lesson into a life lesson and took into account bible verses concerning goats and sheep. Sheep follow the shepherd and only need to listen to his voice to follow. Then I thought about how God might relate to a person who would behave like a goat behaves to us. I'm sure that to the goats, we are a terror, but to a sheep we are the guide to safety and good pasture. The difference in the relationships between goat and master and sheep and master only arises because of the way the animal behaves. God, help me to be a sheep!

Anyways, in recent news we've made it safely into Malaysia for our final month of the world race! Also, the remaining balance left on my world race account is $4,077 which I'll have to pay on May 15th unless I get some help from you guys! Any amount you can give always helps! Thanks and God bless!

So this month we worked with a couple from America named Jake and Steph. They've been in Harbin for four years now, planting a church. Many missionaries who go to China live inn fear of the government; China is technically a closed country. They speak in code, often: "m" means missionaries, "c" means church, "b" means believers, "father" means God, etc. Gospel activities are incredibly subdued under such fear. For many years Jake and Steph also chose to live carefully, often evanglizing on a personal basis through relationships built at english corners, not doing many things publicly or openly. There are many missionaries living in China. "China doesn't need more missionaries, " China needs missionaries to step into boldness and out of the fear of man. Having been convicted of this after seeing anemic church growth for four years, they've decided to not just step out of the fear of man, but to stomp all over fear and trust God with the results.

Our world race team was the first team ever to work with Jake and Steph, and it was our privilege and blessing to join them in many leaps of faith and boldness unheard of in the Chinese missionary world. We joked the whole time that it was our goal to get kicked out of China because of the gospel. So, by choice we all just refused to talk in code. We talked openly amongst ourselves about church planting, God, Jesus, the Spirit, the church, the gospel, missionaries in China.. and you know what? no one cared. We distributed printed invitations to church, complete with address and phone number, on the streets, on people's doors... and you know what? no one really cared. Of course people refused to accept an invitation, one guy took it and threw up in the air and went back to his business.. no different than an open country. We also held a kids festival and at each game we handed out carry-bags for candy, complete with invitation to kids church the next sunday. We also distributed invitation to kids church right outside of a school, giving them to parents and kids alike. Now, in the states people would care about a bunch of strangers handing out invitations to some church kids festival right outside of the school. But here... no one cared. And you know what? The kids festival was a hit, with maybe two hundred kids attending! We announced invitations to church every ten minutes, had a church banner posted nearby, and even did a skit using a bible story, all in a public neighborhood park. At one point a cop walked by to see what was going on, observed for a while, then walked off. Jake and Steph's only prayer was that just 10 kids would come to kids' service that Sunday; God brought over 20. As far as Jake can tell, the government doesn't really care what Christians do, so long as we don't upset our neighbors (loud church meetings, clogging elevators, etc..) or preach against the government, which should never be done anyways according to the bible. In fact, we should pray for the government leaders that there would be peace so that we can spread the gospel effectively.

One thing that is super awesome about our month: English corners. I mean, we went to English corners four times a week at about 2 hours each. It doesn't sound like much, but they do begin to wear on you, getting asked the same questions over and over, trying to figure out what students are trying to say through their broken English, trying to figure out how to say what you want in a way they can understand, standing around awkwardly when no one knows what to say next, or how to say it. Nevertheless, they were the most rewarding, because in that environment everyone is looking to make a friend, and since we're native English speakers, everyone wanted to be our friend! So it provided an easy way to meet many people and kind of "feel around" for those who might be "good soil" to receive the gospel. So from English corners, we invited a few people to come over to our flat for a house party later in the week, where we played games and ate food and were able to have some more in-depth discussion with people. From the house parties, we made contacts with whom we met personally over lunch or something to further develop that relationship and share the gospel. In this way, at least 6 people accepted Christ during the 3 weeks we were there. The guy whom the Lord brought to himself through me and Sarah was named Oscar. Pictures later.

Overall, I really enjoyed our few weeks in China with Jake and Steph. They are a solid couple who really invested in us and challenged us to live ever more sold out for Christ. Thanks, Jake and Steph!     

So, our mystery country that we couldn't mention was China! So I'm really stoked to be in China for the month and so far it's only been a few days and I love it!

From Manila we flew into Hong Kong and spent a night there before crossing into China. Haha, we tried so hard to be secretive but: we didn't really need to, and: we weren't that secretive anyways. For example, exiting the plane we were told to not walk together, not wait on each other going through customs, and the once past custom the largest group we should be in is our team. We also drilled several times what to say if we were asked certain questions by customs officers. I remember our team was told that our meeting spot was at a certain glass elevator in the Hong Kong airport, and we were supposed to wait for our contact there. I thought, "Cool! Each team has a secret meeting location in the airport!"

So we get off the plane, scattered and acting as a bunch of individuals. We arrive at Immigrations where the counters are divided by Hong Kong citizens and Foreigners. So we all end up in the same four lines anyways. Then at the bag claim there are a bunch of Americans (and Canadians and an Irish) standing around pretending not to know each other. I grab my bag and walk right through customs without so much as getting a look-frisk. At the certain glass elevator I notice racers who are also waiting but aren't on my team. Eventually the whole squad is waiting within 50 feet of this glass elevator and we're still standing around pretending not to know each other. Finally our one contact for the whole squad walks up also bouncy and happy and says our bus is waiting, so finally we move as a whole squad out to the bus docks! How secretive is that!

The bus takes us through Hong Kong into some village where there is a YWAM (Youth With A Mission) base which we all stay at for the night...

Oh my gosh... that night... oh goodness...

Fortunately throughout the race I have had yet to get sick, besides a skin infection. But that night for dinner I must have eaten a bad fishball or something cause I was losing it at both ends. Yet I was also the most touched I've ever been on the race so far. You see, I was getting sick in the middle of the night, and on my second trip to the restroom I was in there butt naked, one end on the toilet, the other end in a bucket, guts coming out both ends, and Tommy Sullivan walks in and puts a hand on my shoulder and starts praying for me, reading some scripture, giving me water and some meds... and I remember when I should have felt the most exposed and vulnerable, I didn't, because he was clothing me with the love of Christ in that moment. I was sick and he looked after me. So Tommy if you're reading this, thanks again for being a brother!

Anyways, I woke up the next morning weak but fine. A few teams hop back on a bus and we head to the Chinese border. Our bus parks at an unloading dock and before we get off to walk through customs we get a whole rundown about how we're not going to go all at once, we're not going to go through in groups of more than 3, we review what to reply and what not to say if we're asked certain questions... So we all get off the bus, and on our own accord walk into the border station. Once again, the counters are divided for Chinese citizens and Foreigners. Even though we do stagger our arrival a bit, the line and wait is long enough that we all eventually end up inside waiting at the same time, and the staff decides to open a line just for us! Yay! I mean how many foreigners really try to cross into China at this border every 15 minutes? 60? No, that's too many. We need our own line. So once again, we all end up going through as a group pretending not to know each other, and no one asks us any questions! No questions checking out of Hong Kong, the Chinese guards stamping passports don't ask any questions either! There's even a little box on the counter that gives the guard id number and asks "How am I doing?" So as we leave the counter we all press "Perfect!" Hahaha. Praise God that our entry was so painless.

A while longer on the bus and our A-team Remix is dropped off at the Guang Zhou train station. Our train ride is 38 hours long and with 2 beds and 5 seats we take turns sleeping on the beds. How many Chinese can you pack onto a train? A lot. The train sells "standing tickets" so the aisles were full of Chinese people. And they love to smoke. It wasn't very stressful for me, but a certain team member had a breakdown the first night and stumbled through the train half-asleep yelling "Boo pee al!" which is supposed to mean "upgrade", and banging helplessly on the window of the locked sleeper car. Poor thing. But that was the most dramatic thing that happened. Other than that it was just a bunch of sitting and sleeping.

We arrive at Harbin, China, in the far north east on a cold, cold winter morning. I mean snow and ice everywhere. We're picked up by our contact and taken to a nice little apartment to relax and recoop for the day. Safe and sound. Thank you Jesus.

Many of your inboxes are probably trashed after this month full of my daily blogs. I know they are, because many of you have told me: "Wow James you've really been blowing up my inbox this month! I just about unsubscribed from your blog!" Thanks. Thanks a lot. Lol. If I could have not received all my alerts and blog receipts I would have unsubscribed too!

The explaination was that this month was a practice in blogging. I really haven't blogged enough over the race so far, the unofficial AIM goal is twice a week. Also, since we're going off to a country where we won't be allowed internet accesss for a month for security reasons, I also wanted to make sure you were all blogged up so that this next month would be a little break for you! I'll resume blogging in April, but not daily. However, you may see a short flood of March blogs once the month is over, just so you can be kept informed of what we and God have been doing.

Lastly, I was hoping that a little more communication to you, my supporters would have resulted in more financial support to help take a chunk out of the $4,000 I have left to raise, and whatever remaining balance of which I'll be paying out of pocket at the end of the race. Unfortunately, my final support deadlines we not met, and I was in danger of being sent home. But after chatting with AIM finance department they were gracious enough to keep me on the race with the promise that I'll pay any balance at the end. I have no idea what God's plan is in this but I'm not launching any complaint about it, either. Complaining is shallow and empty.

I understand that times are hard in the states. They're just as hard or harder everywhere else. Alex Kuhlow, whom God used to start Threads of Hope, has made a super cool offer that I'd like to share with you. You see, Threads of Hope bracelets are often sold at fundraising events, and in fact many World Racers have sold ToH bracelets to raise support. So, money may be hard to come by, but if you have a little time on your hands and would like to help support me, you can email Alex at alex@threadsofhope.com.ph and let him know you'd like to help sell some bracelets as a fundraiser to help me. He will ship bracelets to you for free, you don't have to pay shipping or pre-buy them. If you want to have a booth or something he can also include banners and DVDs and signs for free. They can also pay any event booth fees. The bracelets typically sell for $1 or $2 and half the proceeds go back to ToH. The bracelets typically sell so well that some racers have even funded their entire race by bracelet sales.

So, if that sounds like something you'd be interested in, please contact Alex at alex@threadsofhope.com.ph. Not only will you be helping to support me, but also helping to keep young women out of the sex trade by supporting their bracelet business, as well as providing an open door to share Christ with anyone who inquires about them.

God bless you and keep you. Once again, I'm going dark for a month so expect to hear from me next in April. Thank you for all your prayers and support!

By the way, if I can gank some pictures from my teammates' cameras I'll post a photo blog. But besides that, you can check out their blogs with photos and video at

jonathanbunford.theworldrace.org

cinthiaramirez.theworldrace.org

derekbegin.theworldrace.org

bethsaidaportalatin.theworldrace.org

amandaburkett.theworldrace.org

sarahgaddy.theworldrace.org