We have made it home after one of the most amazing years of our life!!!  I think it goes without saying that this last year was one of our hardest and best years (so far)!!!

There was one underlying theme this year....love.  We where shown love this year by strangers, by our friends and family back home, by our team/community that we were living with 24/7, and of course by God.  Although it was not always easy, it was very rewarding.  

I'm hoping that the love we encountered will continue to be the type of love I show to everyone in my daily life.  I hope that my words of love will speak loudly and that my actions of love will speak even louder.  This can be a very hard thing to do, especially to those who are "harder" to love.   We all have some of "those people" in our lives. (some of us may even be "those people")  I'm just being honest.  But what I come to realize over this year is that love goes a long way, especially to those who are not used to being loved.  For some of us it may be hard to imagine that there are millions of people in this world who have never been shown any kind of love!  They have never heard the words "I love you" or been shown love in any way.  It is our responsibility to show God's love to everyone.  Yes, everyone.  Even those who are "hard" or inconvenient to love.  You can look anywhere and find people who are longing to be loved.  They are in every house, city, and country in the world.  They are at work,  in the grocery stores, and even in churches.  They are even possibly in your own families.   

So my request to all of us is simple, in this next year lets strive to love people.   Don't worry, it doesn't have to be a huge show of undying love, it can just be a smile, a polite gesture, or word of encouragement.  Trust me, it WILL go far!!    So on that note, let me begin....

We want to thank every single one of you for loving us this year.  Even when it was hard, even when you might not have even known you where, we felt it.

Thanks to our families for being selfless and letting us leave to travel around the world and serve others for a year.

Thanks to our friends who followed, prayed, supported and vicariously lived through us on our amazing journey. 

Thanks to our financial supporters who not only spiritually, but materially backed us and helped us go on this trip.  

Thanks to our squad mates/community for helping us every day these last 11 months and for loving us so well.

Thank you for everything!!   For all of the prayers that where lifted up on our behalf, for reading our blogs and giving us encouragement along the way, and for loving us and supporting us in all that we did. 

Thanks to God for protecting us and blessing us this last year.

 We are already beginning to see that we are different people than the ones who left in January.  Much of the change is due to the amazing people we have met along the way.  We will always be thankful for the opportunities we have had to serve alongside such giving and selfless people.  We hope that our lives will reflect their love and devotion to others throughout this next season of our lives.

Recap:

2011 has been an exciting and adventurous year for the Hanes'.  We had the privilege to spread the love of Jesus all across the world; we served others, we challenged ourselves and we are forever changed.  

We hope that in 2012 we have the opportunity to continue serving, to continue challenging ourselves, and to continue seeing ourselves and others changed.  We pray that you will be led to do the same.

We will be having a get together for all of our friends, family, supporters, and stalkers the second week in January.   We will post another blog with the where and when details soon.  So stay tuned.....

Now that we are HOME!!!!  We thought it would be fun to share some of our stories through out the year that didn't quite make it into the blogs.

Sleeping Buddies!

Some of you might have heard of our sleeping arrangements while in India!  It was month five and we were in the capitol city, New Delhi, in one of the hottest months of the year.  That meant it was about 110 degrees the whole time we where there. We were privileged to stay at and work with a place called Asha Orphanage. Since there were so many of us this month, we had our team plus 2 squad leaders, the sleeping arrangements were a little different.  Justin and I had a room at the orphanage and the rest of our group stayed at a nearby small apartment.  Our room at the orphanage consisted of two twin beds, a table full of stuff, a dresser and a desk.  Sounds fancy right?  It actually was pretty good considering all of our accommodations this year, but what we underestimated was how badly outside factors would affect our month.  Since we were in India in the summer we would fall asleep in our own sweat each night while getting eaten alive by mosquitos. I would fall asleep almost every night with my fan in one hand and the mosquito zapper laying next to me in bed.  One night in particular I woke up because there was something scratching in my hair.  I thought it was weird but quickly went back to sleep not knowing whether I actually felt something or not.  I told Justin the next night that I had felt something and that I thought it was either a rat or a roach.  We had seen both in the room before.  "Surly it must have been a roach,"  I told myself, because this seemed to be the lesser of two evils and easier to cope with.  The next night Justin woke up to the same scratching in his hair.  He quickly sat up and stared at his bed waiting for his eyes to adjust, but didn't see or hear anything.  He decided to check under his pillow as one last precaution. As soon as he lifted it up the RAT jumped off his bed, onto his pack, then to his guitar case and finally onto the floor where it ran for safety.  Yeah you guessed it, we had a pet rat that liked to burrow into our hair.  And when the burrowing stopped the rats resorted to running up and down my legs while I was sleeping.  One night I was actually quick enough and swung at the rat and felt it on the back of my hand.  But for the rest of the month, besides laying in our own pools of sweat, being bit by mosquitos, spotting roaches of all sizes, and fighting off rats, we slept like champs.  Gross...  

  Tiffany in our fancy room, and her "glowing" while she sleeps with her fan and mosquito zapper.

Upside Down the River

Our team decided to go on a white water rafting trip while in Nepal.  One of the squad leaders (Chelsea) and I (Justin) opted for the individual kayak instead of the rafting experience.  The guides somehow were under the impression we were intermediate kayakers, which was news to us.   We found this out halfway down the raging river when they instructed Chelsea to abandon her kayak and join the others in the raft. I think it had something to do with the constant circles she was doing and how she liked to go down the rapids backwards. I think she was just trying to show off.  Anyway, we began to hit some class 3 rapids which were a bit tricky even for our expert guides.  In the middle of one particularly difficult stretch of rapids I flipped upside down and found myself in a tight spot.  The skirt, which keeps the water out of the kayak, has to be pulled to release me.  There is a small tab that we are supposed to pull on if we ever flip upside down. Since I didn't know the roll technique to get me topside this was the only option.  I had had to pull it a few times during this trip to release myself from the kayak so I wasn't too worried.  So, I'm upside down, holding what little breath I could take in before I capsized, and reaching for the tab.  The only problem is, the tab is nowhere to be found.  It has been folded underneath the lip of the kayak and is resting safely inside the kayak with the rest of my body.  I'm not going to lie, I was a bit nervous about what to do next.  And as if it couldn't get any worse, my head begins to crash into rock after rock under water. Thankfully I was wearing a helmet which took the majority of the beating, but it did nothing to help me get my bearings and focus on what to do next.  I was slowly running out of breath and options.  Finally I grabbed as much as I could of the stretchy fabric of the skirt, and when I had a handful, I ripped it from the mouth of the kayak.  Instantly water began to rush in and push my body out and up towards the sky. The whole ordeal probably lasted less than a minute but it felt like a lifetime to me.   As I look back I think, "not to bad for an "intermediate" like myself".

Before our adventure...and after our adventure.  Normally it takes 2 hours to get down the river, but it took us 4!!  

Tiffany's Special Diet

We spent month 9 back in Swaziland working with 10 care centers.  Our days where pretty full with planning, visiting the care centers, teaching, and clothes distributions.  In between these things we helped out around the community where we lived.   We played sports with the kids, helped at the clinic, and visited the gogo's (grandmothers).  One day I was really tired and was going to relax before cooking dinner that night.  I had about an hour slot and I was going to try to take a hot shower and rest for a bit.  I turned on the water and there was "hot" water trickling out.  "Heck yes", I thought as I striped down and got ready to jump in.  It's was a bit of a rarity to actually have water come out of the showers let alone warm water.  I just knew this was going to be an amazingly relaxing hour.  Then next thing I know things went from good to bad to worse in an instant.  I began my shower and noticed something where there should be nothing.  Before I knew it I had pulled a 6 inch white roundworm out of place I'd rather not mention.  I will spare most of the details from you.  I can tell you that this little incident completely ruined my relaxation hour.  I finished my shower in shock, saying over and over, "surely not," "surely not."   Then I of course told my team, who at first didn't believe me until I showed them the proof.  Let's just say for a long time after, we all thought twice about doing anything more than peeing when it came to using the bathroom.   Gross...

 Need I say more.

It might seem odd but these are some of the stories we remember the clearest.  Of course we remember great worship times, praying over people, serving others, ministries and striving to be like Christ.  But, it seems that stories like these are ones that really got us out of our comfort zones, helped us identify with other cultures, and change for the better.  Not in spite of, but in many ways due to all of our "crazy" stories, we are no longer the same people that we were a year ago.  We have been reshaped, molded into something new.  I'm sure it will take a lifetime to figure out just exactly how this past year has affected us, but we know deep down that we are changed forever.

In the past few weeks we have been here in Moldova we have been able to help in a variety of ways.  We have helped a family remodel their home.  This family of 4 lost their mother last February due to alcoholism.  Even before her death they had grown used to taking care of one another.  This family of 4 consist of: Oleg, 24, who has a mental handicap, his brother John who is 18 and the care giver/guardian for his 3 siblings, Mihai who just turned 13, who also has a mental handicap, and the youngest, Juliana who is 11.  This family's story will break your heart.  Their home is bad, to say the least, if it where in America it would be torn down and re-built but that is not an option here.  So, we have been working alongside them and doing everything we can to help out.  The younger two children go to a special school/orphanage during the week and come home on the weekends.  

Cleaning up around the house.

We scraped wall paper off of the walls and ceiling for 3 days strait, what a mess.

We were able to throw a birthday party for Mihai and give him some small gifts and play some games with him and his sister.  The family will continue to be in our hearts and prayers.

We have also been able to put on a week long VBS for the kids in the community.  They had a week of vacation from school which was a great opportunity to have them come to our program.  We would have games, crafts, some singing, and a lesson.  The first day we had 6 kids, the second day we had around 10, the third day around 15, the fourth day around 20, and the fifth day we had over 30 kids.  It was great to see the kids having such good time singing songs and listening to bible stories.  

We have an english club for a few of the older girls.  There are mainly three 14 year old girls that come on a daily basis.  We play games such as hangman, watch movies in english then go over vocabulary, talk about our travels and families and just hang out.

We had a Halloween type party for some of the kids in the village.  They know about Halloween but they don't celebrate it so we made some costumes, had them trick or treat, played games and carve pumpkins.  It was a lot of fun!   

"Super Justin" and "Waldo,"  Most of these kids had never carved a pumpkin in their life. 

It has been a great last month of the race.  We have had an opportunity to work with some of the most amazing and self sacrificing people on earth.  Moldova has been no different.  Everywhere we go we encounter people that are doing a great job of loving God and loving others!  We have learned so much from each of them and will miss them all greatly!

To view pictures from Moldova click here: Photos

Well, November has arrived and with it came fall and month 11 of our journey.  It is bitter sweet to see November arrive.  Our minds have started to fill with thoughts of home but our hearts are still here, connected to the race and the people we have met in Moldova.  We are working and serving in a small village, Gura Bicului that has about 5,000 people. 

Just like every month on the race we have been blessed beyond measure, and we are amazed at how well God is taking care of us in even the poorest of countries.  Moldova is the poorest country in Europe and has spent the last 20 years being fought over by its neighbors.  Most Moldovan people, especially those with education, try to leave Moldova as soon as they can, which leaves the country in a perpetual state of poverty.  

Most people here live without running water in their homes and no heat.  (It gets down to -40 degrees in the winter months!)  Alcoholism runs rampant throughout the whole country and it tears many families apart.  Children are not being fed, homes are falling apart around families, and pride, hypocrisy, and corruption are commonplace.  

Our contacts this month, unlike most Moldovan's, have decided to stay in Moldova and try and reach out to their community. Their community is resistant to their help and resents them for being "well off."  What the community doesn't realize is that this family is not only pouring their own money into this community by building a center, but is getting aid from sponsors in England to help single mothers and orphans.  The community doesn't understand that this families end goal is to help this village and the people in it by giving back what they have been blessed with.  

John and Diana are young couple with big plans.  They are in their late 20's and have two young children of their own.  They started building a community center back in 2009 and it is planned to be completed in spring of 2012.  They want to create a safe place where families and children can come to have parties, to be taught English, to have a hot meal to eat, and to be loved.  

As if these two don't have enough on their plate we added our team to the mix.  They were asked and agreed to have us come just 2 days before we arrived in Moldova. They have been working hard to find ways in which we can serve their community and the community of believers they are a part of.  While spending time with this couple we have been able to hear their desires for Moldova and their ministry.  They pour themselves into everything they do 100%.  With the help of the supporters in the UK they put on christian camps in the summer, run soup kitchens in different villages, help single mothers with their rent and food money, take care of orphans in many different ways, run a family farm, and are now developing the center/ cafe.  Needless to say, they are crazy busy.  And they have so many more dreams and visions for this place.  We have been honored to share in some of those dreams with them.    

More to come soon...

This month we have been in the beautiful capital city of Ukraine.   From an outsiders perspective it is just like many cities in the United States.  It has a metro system, people walking at a fast pace to their destinations, traffic backed up for miles and skyscrapers all around.  But, when you spend any amount of time in this city and in Ukraine in general, you quickly find they have a rich culture filled with some of the most amazing historical monuments, grand cathedrals, fantastic food, and of course beautiful people (inside and out)!

We spent the month working along side and organization called CCX, which is actually pronounced "S-S-HA".  Don't worry, we don't understand it either.  CCX works with university students at number of universities around the city.  Their main goal as a ministry is to reach out to the students by helping them learn english.  They speak to different classes, lead english clubs, plan various events and service projects, and lead bible studies and discipleship programs. We were able to get involved with many of the programs they have available.  We were asked to many different english classes to share about our trip in detail.  It was a great way to build relationships with the students and get to talk to them about why we are traveling around the world.  

This month we have been busy with:

Speaking in English Classes - telling the students about our travels

The weekly english clubs  - where we got to know the students in small group settings

Movie nights  - where we watched a movie in english with english subtitles and then discussed it in small groups. (one of my favorite activities!)

Service project  -  We helped clean up the trash in one of the many parks in the city.

Game nights  -  We had students come to the CCX office and play games and hang out.  

Bible studies  - We were able to join the bible studies with the Christian students.

It has been a busy yet rewarding month.  We have made great friends with the staff at CCX and the students at each university.  We are excited to move on to our last country but we will miss everything and everyone we have come to love in Kyiv.  

To view more pictures of our Month 10 in Ukraine click here: Photos

It is hard to believe that we are now leaving africa after spending 3 wonderful months of our race here.  Once again we fell in love with its people, and we have been so blessed to be able to serve them these last three months!  There was just one thing we had to do before leaving this beautiful continent.  

Yes, you guessed it....visit the lion park in Johannesburg, South Africa to play with baby lions!  So the willow family packed up, said some much dreaded goodbyes to our Swazi family and headed to Joburg.  After a long journey across Swaziland and some trouble with the police.  (We had too much luggage for the vehicle we had rented. It's always something!)  We finally made it in to Joburg full of excitement for the next day when we would see lions.  Our taxi came to pick us up at 10am which turned out to be a large white van windowless van, which is never a good sign in the movies.  But of course, we're World Racer's so we are all for taking risks. (don't worry it was perfectly safe) "Are you the guy who is taking us to the lion park?"  "Yes."  "Okay, why not?"  We traveled about 30 minutes then arrived at the best place on earth, (as our team mate Katy would say.)  We spent the day looking at animals, taking a safari ride through the lion park and yes playing with baby lions.  

Overall I would recommend this adventure to any animal lover, plus who wouldn't want to pet and play with a lion cub? 

To View more pictures from the lion park click here