WE MADE IT!! PART 3!! Let’s not waste time and dive right in!
If you missed my last two posts, you can check them out here:
https://brandonsnodgrass.theworldrace.org/post/let-me-catch-you-up-part-1
https://brandonsnodgrass.theworldrace.org/post/let-me-catch-you-up-part-2
So in my last post we left off in Hong Kong, and after our time there, our squad headed to East Asia. This month brought a lot with it, a number of highs and lows and just interesting situations, much of which I will try to share with you (unfortunately I can’t go super in detail on things but I’ll do the best I can). Here are some of the highlights:
- Our first night in the country we were forced to sleep in the train station. Initially we were pretty frustrated, but the night turned out to be pretty sweet. We met a youth soccer team in the station and played soccer with them. It was also just sweet to camp out with everyone in a weird spot like the train station. We made the best of it.
- We got to play basketball at a local University with a bunch of guys. It was so cool to be in that environment and meet new people and make new friends (it was also great to get in some competitive basketball, reminded me of college).
- We were able to attend an international church in the area. This was my first time in a service like this with so many people from all over the world. Everyone was so nice and we met some of the most interesting people.
- We got to spend a day in Beijing. We explored the area and saw the Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square, and a number of cool areas (if you ever visit the Forbidden City, you need a full day, there’s a lot, just a heads up). That afternoon, we went on a hunt for a burger that I really wanted. We probably walked 3 miles out of the way only to find that the place was closed (was pretty bummed about this). We made up for it later when we found this rooftop restaurant with wings which was pretty awesome. We followed this up the next day by heading out of the city to a hostel next to the Great Wall. Our hosts were so nice and actually took us to a roped off area of the wall which was unbelievable. Then that night we made some friends at the hostel, and they made us a bunch of food and we played a bunch of games. It was honestly such a great night with them and was so cool to do all of this right next to the Great Wall.
This month was great and our team had some sweet opportunities. I wish I could share so much more and I hope to do so in the future. For right now, our squad is all together, just outside of Beijing for debrief. We leave for Mongolia in about four days which everyone is super excited for. One other exciting change that I want to share with you all is that I will be changing roles this month, from treasurer to team leader. This is a big step for me. I think it will bring a lot of challenges but I’m excited to step into this next season on the race.
I also want to give you all a quick update on my finances. As of now I am about $2700 short of being fully funded. My deadline to be funded is April 30th and is coming up shortly, so definitely be praying for the Lord’s provision in this season. If you do have questions about any of this or feel led to give, feel free to contact or give on this blog, or you may also email me at [email protected].
Thank you all for coming along with me on this unbelievable adventure. God is doing some awesome things and I can’t wait to share more with you! Also, if any of the highlights I’ve shared have stuck out and you would like to hear more about them, or if there’s anything you would like me to blog about in particular, feel free to drop a comment and I’ll see what I can do. For now, thanks for joining me! WE ARE OFFICIALLY CAUGHT UP! It’s on to Mongolia next, so stay tuned!!
