First off: HAVE FUN, ALWAYS HAVE FUN!! This year isn't about surviving the Race, it's about THRIVING in everything you do.
Okay, with that out of the way…
One of the best pieces of advice you can possibly get is to LOVE THE MESS OUT OF YOUR TEAM. Remember that during the race they are, and will be, your biggest ministry. MAKE TIME for them. INVEST in each other. They, and you, are worth it!!
BE VULNERABLE right from the start, OPEN UP. Share your testimonies in the first few weeks. And not you two-minute testimony, but your hour-long (plus) testimony.
Be CREATIVE with team times.
Make a team BUCKET LIST and be intentional about completing it.
Spend your off-days wisely! Don't always use them for internet, use them for adventures. Live a great story, #LAGS!
Be open and honest in feedback. Don't be afraid to give the hard feedback. While yes, affirming/positive feedback is good, growing/constructive can be even better.
*remember, feedback that is done in love and received in love can make your teammate/squadmate/you an even better person
JUMP IN. Jump straight in. Don't worry about sticking your toe into the water to test the temperature.
Just jump. ALL IN. None of this half-in business.
Get to know your contacts and their stories.
Get to know the country and the city in which you live.
Experience the culture.
Experience the food.
DO NOT, and I repeat, DO NOT long for "next month" where things could be better. Because before you know it, that month is over. LIVE IN THE MOMENT. Live everyday to the fullest.
Pour into the ministry: the contact, the kids you meet, the community you live with. All aspects of every month.
EVEN BETTER: Set a goal that for every day on the race when you lay in your bed at night (whether your bed is on a concrete floor, in your hammock, on an air pad, a real bed (haha), the grass, in your tent), that you instantaneously fall asleep. When your that tire, you will know that you have given your all every day. 🙂 Your all to the team, the squad, the contact, the community.
Praise the Lord for the things He will do to you this year.
Be open to all kinds of awesome. 🙂
"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith." ~Hebrews 12:1
