Hello person that is loved, 

Here is a blog about important topics, culture, and some thoughts of my experience now that I’ve been back home for awhile. I pray favor and blessing on every one of you that will read these words.

Feel free to keep the conversation going, I know there is a whole lot more for me to learn and understand, and remove my American lens at times. 

It would seem gratitude will get us through these times.

Corona has changed our lives. It certainly changed mine.

Walking into my house, I was automatically hit with so many luxuries I did not have days before. After only two and a half months there is reverse-culture shock.

Corona has stripped so much from people. For the first time for many, simply surviving and getting by has been put into question.

Through being stripped of distraction, comfortability, and luxury though, I believe God will spark revival. He did in me, and I hope he will continue to all my days and maybe if I relaunch on the Race. My heart is desiring to more and more (we will know more about our options end of May). 

We will be led to the point where we have no other gods but the one true God. We won’t be able to depend on anything else but Him. We will realize that He is completely sufficient to meet our every need. HE IS ABUNDANTLY ENOUGH

And there is hope and mercy for every person whoever you are, wherever you come from, and whatever you did or have been through.

Jesus' Kingdom looks likes this (Matthew 5)...

Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.

Lord, I am grateful for these 37 things (please read #37)…

*Everything below is based on personal experience and observation that I think is important to share, not meant to generalize or misrepresent anyone or any place. Truth and big topics like some of these are always more complex than a mere mortal like me can observe in a couple months.

I believe no one is better than anyone else; we are all fallen, yet we are all made in the image of God.

We all have a complex history, personality, and motivations, including every culture and government, both upsides and downsides.

There are parts of other nations I just absolutely love like the vibrant, cultural traditions and beautiful scenery,

slow pace or relationality, passion and grit, light-hearted fun, humility, ability to accept pain and go deeper overall/see the need for spirituality, and common and unified ethical norms.

I love culture and love people of every religion and ethnicity and nation. There are certain things about home though that I am abundantly grateful for and hope we can count these blessings. 

1. Freedom of speech

I have a whole blog I wrote my first month about this, yet I didn’t post it due to the freedom of speech issue. It was the most frustrating thing for the first time in my life to be restrained in expressing my beliefs and acting upon them. It might just be the most important thing to me in a country; a basic human right that should not be suppressed. I arrived back in America, and I could say exactly what I was doing and could tell anyone anything; I am more grateful than ever for this privilege as I am using it right now in this blog. 

2. Freedom of religion and to gather

Oh boy, this is heartbreaking to me.

According to the testimonies I've heard from locals, countries I have been to can make life for people of minority religions or ethnicities disadvantaged. In my first country, that I love so much (so much so I wished at the time to stay there the whole year) there are some things I really don’t love. 

It is requirement by law to have a religion on your ID card and there are limited options to choose from. Being an atheist in that country is straight up illegal. Some converts to Christianity will not change their religion on their ID card so they won’t be treated worse or with less opportunity.

It is illegal in the second country for the majority ethnicity to be anything but Muslim. I was told a leader who converted disappeared and that churches that have seated this ethnicity have been shut down.

I pictured being able to do my favorite thing - pray over strangers or share Jesus or worship in public, but even local Christians were telling me not to do so. It made me angry since the context of the letters of the New Testament is an oppressive Roman government that would burn and martyr Christians, yet they still preached on street corners.

I was in a pretty modern place my first month so they were more tolerant. Yet when I went to a certain Island I met these adorable girls. After minutes they started making crosses with their hands and shaking their heads in honestly a bit of hatred. They couldn't speak our language, but they were sure to communicate that they did not approve that we were Christians. Taught at such a young age, to not like us, it is sad. Yet, a Muslim friend of ours kindly explained to them, it is okay that they are different, say you are sorry. 

Thank God all the countries I went to still had freedom to gather. I can’t fathom going to or living in countries where this isn’t the case, where holding a Bible is illegal, where gathering is done in secret and in fear.

Muslims I know are peaceful and wonderful people. Yet there is genuine fear for people who are thinking of converting of being killed or abandoned as their book actually commands it (Sura 5:33 - "the penalty for those who wage war against Allah and His Messenger and strive upon earth [to cause] corruption is none but that they be killed or crucified or that their hands and feet be cut off from opposite sides or that they be exiled from the land. That is for them a disgrace in this world; and for them in the Hereafter is a great punishment.")

Years ago I watched The Silence and balled in my room as I realized the persecution Christians face and how I should be willing to literally die for Jesus.

Watch this soul-moving trailer about people going towards the gun shots and pain of the persecuted. Some of my squadmates watched it in Asia with people who were shown the movie by the main guy in the movie himself! Watch it on Amazon and become educated, as I was, on the absolute unimaginable evil people live in and support Free Burma Rangers who are bringing hope in dangerous places. 

3. Freedom to criticize and question the government

In the last country, where my time was cut short, we were told to answer every question concerning the King, "I don't know, he is a good guy." Although previous king was truly considered a great king, the new one lives in Europe and is questionable according to people who live there, but you do not to say that. Stepping on money with a leader's face is illegal and pictures are everywhere of this King. 

Other countries respect for authority can be cool I think. This is called power distance index in cultural study. However, I am personally grateful to live in a country and work for businesses where equality is the core value. If you study doing business in countries like these, decisions are often solely trusted to the leader. 

Speaking words against the government or their central faith whether it be Buddhism or Islam is a definite no, no in these countries. 

4. Nondiscriminatory opportunity

Though America still seems to have work to do in terms of not discriminating, it seems to be even rougher in countries where there is a nationally declared religion and where leadership is less diverse. My Indian pastor in my second country and my Chinese friends both claimed how much systematically harder it is for their ethnicity/religion to succeed and how even the schooling can be separated and less supported by the government.

I had a grab (like uber) driver tell me people of the Muslim faith in the second country are treated with preference when accidents occur even if they are not native.

5. Police that I can trust

Bribery is common in some countries. If you have the money, you can pay them off. Many do not trust the police and authorities in countries around the world. 

6. Healthcare that I can trust

My American hosts the first month said they avoid going to the doctors there. They had a really bad experience with a condition that was wrongly dealt with and identified. My squadmate who is a nurse went to the doctors in this country and was shocked at the system and lack of sanitation. 

My heart breaks for the many countries around the world during this pandemic. Our hospital beds and testing and ventilators are a huge blessing. The education of our health care professionals is incredible. I truly trust them. 

One of the team's placement the first month was so remote, the town didn't even have a hospital.

7. The U.S. Education system 

I am so incredibly grateful for the education I was able to receive. It blows my mind how few people in the world are able to go to college. I pray we as Americans use our education not in pride or for the pursuit of power or money, but to help people and work in passion. With everything everyone says about my generation, I see my generation truly having a heart for this. I also see it in the first country with local peers who are so intelligent and are pursuing careers in everything from engineering to teaching to business. 

There are many well educated people in the countries I went to and seemingly great colleges. However, the town I lived in in my second country it is not the case. They are poorer and my friends graduating from high school seem to not even consider going to college. I pray education improves in every nation that all can receive no matter their religion, ethnicity, or gender. 

I'm grateful that I have endless opportunity and options. Even opportunity to play sports as a woman in America is just unparalleled. The investment into women's soccer is something I am so grateful for in America (go USA women's soccer team!!). I experienced the difference as we had sports day every Monday my first month. (p.s. Sports day was soooo fun! returning me to my athletic roots)

8. A government with checks and balances, representatives, not a centrally planned economy

From my understanding, there are endless political parties and still democratic voting, yet not representative, so it is hard to have leaders that represent your change-making desires. I also heard bribery is also common for high leadership, paying your way to the top.

In the second country, I had a Chinese man describe to me the difficulties of economy due to the government's control. They have started to let outside investment in a specific city, and it has helped the economy. The leaders of this city are Chinese who often feel restricted by the country's government of a different ethnicity in terms of investment.

I am grateful for business opportunity and innovation in the States. It is clear though that Asian countries also have this in splendor; it just depends on where you are.

9. A society educated on our impact to the environment

I was planning on writing a blog on this at the end of my 11 months. After a theology from ecological perspectives class in college, my heart was burdened for our environment, the climate, and how our actions seem to disproportionally affect the poor who lack infrastructure.