2018, wow. You have been so amazing and so memorable. You have taken me to so many places. You have introduced me to so many people. You have pushed me further to the Father.
“I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes, I will remember your wonders of old.” -Psalm 77:11
I just want to take a month by month look at what happened this year and how God moved in my life.
January
We were living at my grandparents house, anxiously waiting to move into our new property. And, after months of waiting, we had a home. During mid-January we took the hard work of moving everything in, a process that I am way too familiar with. My cousin Kaalem and his family even moved into the guest house and lived with us for a few months.
February
Well, I simply cannot remember much of anything that happened this month. We started the month out working around the property: raking leaves and tearing down old buildings. Also, Black Panther came out so yeah…
March
March changed not only the course of my year but of my life also. First and foremost, “Shape of Water” won the Oscar when it clearly should have been “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.” I mean like, what the heck?!?! Anyways, the real deal. The life changer. What did I do? I scrolled through Facebook. I scrolled through Facebook and it changed my life. How? Because I saw an ad for a program called the World Race: Gap Year. And I applied. And I was accepted. All of this happened within two weeks. Check out my blog “Not Caring to Care” to see more of my thoughts during that time.
April
More work was going into the property and we built a huge run for our chicken coup. It was fun because it was time I got to spend working with family. My mom, Grandpa, Uncle Chad, cousin Jessica, and more helped out over the week and it turned out great. Also, after two failed attempts, yo boi got his driver’s license. Took long enough if you ask me…
May
“Philip Eber Wilson.” My name was called out as I walked across the stage to receive my diploma from my parents. “Yeet” -Ryan. It was awesome to be able to attend a huge graduation ceremony with 90 other homeschoolers from ODA. Multiple friends also graduated with me and we got to spend time together afterwards. My grandparents from Canada also came down to visit and it is a rare treat to see them. I’m still not used to the fact that I have graduated from high school. Weird. (OK!?! Avengers: Infinity War, am I right??)
June
I had my graduation party at our new house and it was so strange to have all my different friend groups mingle. My work friends and my church friends. My church friends and my family. My family and my friends. My friends and my work friends. It was odd. But awesome perspective to see how many different people God has brought into my life. Many different people actually care about me and support me in my endeavors. I was able to fundraise $3,379 in June. Thanks, God. Not only friends from Texas though! Some family friends from Pennsylvania flew down to stay a while with us and that was so nice. Later in the month, I went to a church camp with my brothers and got to spend some time with them before I left. That week was great because it was softening my heart to be prepared for everything to actually start. It was finally becoming real in…
July
Training Camp. I packed up all my new gear that I purchased for the Race and headed to Atlanta, Georgia to meet my squad. It was an experience unlike any other. I saw new sides of God and grew so incredibly close with my team in only 10 days. I could go on forever about July, but I already wrote three blogs on that so I’ll let y’all look there.
August
God sometimes uses tragedy and loss to bring you to people who are far away. My last great-grandparent, Nana Wilson, passed away. My dad and I flew up to Canada for the funeral. Although it was under sad circumstances, I was able to see and visit all my Canadian family that I hadn’t seen in two years. When we got back home, I worked on getting ready to launch on the Race. I was able to spend a weekend with my teammate Carter while he was in Austin. But pretty soon it was the time to leave.
September
After celebrating my birthday with everyone at home, I finished packing, said goodbye to my friends and family, and headed to Atlanta, Georgia for a second time. I wasn’t going home this time though. After a week of sessions and getting ready for the field, we flew to Quito, Ecuador. Our first month of ministry was hard. We were building a wall that would protect young girls who had been rescued from sex trafficking. The ministry is called the Dunamis Foundation. In this month, I tried new foods, met amazing people, went to the equator, and grew closer with my team. Also, we slept in tents all month so that’s cool.
October
After weeks of Kori (my logistics partner) and I planning, our squad traveled to Banos, Ecuador for month one debrief. It is a week of relaxing and talking about how the first month went. We had boujee dinner, went rafting (which felt like I was in Indiana Jones), and I took a nap almost every day in a hammock. The life. After debrief, the entire squad went and stayed at Dunamis for a week. It was awesome to have 45 people working on the wall and we made a lot of progress. In month 2, I lost my phone, but it caused me to be fully emerged into life on the Race. It was our last month in Ecuador, and I miss it dearly. The people, the food, the mountains. I’ll be back I’m sure.
November
Peru. Oh my goodness. With over 100 hours of travel between Quito, Ecuador and final destination Cusco, Peru, I got to see so much of this beautiful country. Peru is the most biodiverse country in the world and it shows. Deserts, jungles, mountains, farm fields, ocean beaches, exotic floral forests: it was all beautiful. In Peru, ministry looked different everyday from helping out at the orphanage, to overseeing yard sales for local churches, to painting houses. Our hosts, the Anderson’s really poured into us through discipleship. It was only my team of 10 guys in Peru instead of the squad of 40+ which was a nice change. Also, Thanksgiving was all out. I can honestly say that November was one of the best months of my life.
December
We started out the month at my second wonder of the world: Machu Picchu!! After saying goodbye to our hosts and meeting back up with the squad in Lima, there was quite the adventure getting everyone to our next location of Guatemala. Most everyone missed their flight in Bogotá, Colombia. I was one of the few who made it to Guatemala without any trouble. After a few days, everyone made it safely and we jumped straight into ministry. My team has been doing ATL (Ask The Lord) in a small town of Los Corrales outside of Parramos. We ATL what to do and mostly do house visits, teach the Gospel, help do chores, and play with the kids. It has been crazy. We saw a man’s shattered leg completely healed one day. The year ended with Christmas and New Years, and, while I wasn’t with my family, I got to spend it with my squad. So basically my family.
2018 was crazy. A year ago I had no clue what the World Race was and now I’m in Guatemala with 40 people I met 6 months ago. God exceeds all expectations. 2018 brought 5 countries, new family across the globe, and further understanding of my identity in Christ. What will 2019 bring??
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I hate this but I’ve got to ask. “Ask and you will receive/ You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” Common quotes, I know. However they have much truth. As of right now I am funded $11,940 financially. I need to be at $15,800 by January 15. That’s $470 a day to be fully funded. It may seem daunting I have seen God do way crazier things in the past year. I’m not afraid but instead excited to see how He does it. Overall, I have received $1000 in anonymous donations and over $1000 from friends and family of my squad-mates. Insane!!! If you could help at all I inquire you to. If that be sharing this blog, please do. If that be fasting and praying, please do. If that be donating, please feel free. I promise you every little bit helps. Thank you all who made 2018 great. Thank you all who will help this next year be even better.
