At the end of each month on the Race,
there is usually a little mini-debrief that includes the whole squad. These
function for the Squad Leaders to do checkups on each team, for turning in
& organizing everyone’s finances, for some sweet fellowship time together,
and to just reconvene before jumping in to ministry again. We eat some good food, use up some internet,
and cram in time with other squadmates before being sent off again.
Our squad after our first mini-debrief;
after India!
These little debriefs are a breath of
fresh air before starting to pour out again, but every few months there is
about 5 or so days of very purposeful time together, a time for all of us to
rest and evaluate, rebuild and refresh ourselves
before hitting the ground running again.
Our end of month 2 Debrief happened in Brasov, Romania, and it was one
of my favorite weeks on the Race. Brasov is a cute European town with a quaint
little square full of shops, restaurants, coffee shops, and personality. It
started snowing the day we arrived, we made friends with our wonderful hostel
owner, SiSi (as well as the cat, Julia…she quickly became our squad mascot),
and we jumped right in to our time of fellowship, rest, and some tasty foods. We
had only a few meetings, had daily trips to Ando’s Pizza, and set our sights on
finding boots for this newly cold weather (almost every girl on the squad got a
pair!). I had a really sweet one-on-one with Hollis, my squad leader, and was
encouraged by her greatly. She has this gift of drawing things out of people,
and bringing things to light I would have never noticed on my own.
View from the top of the Brasov sign!
Even among the sights, smells, and
tastes of Debrief, my favorite part by far was the fruitful confrontation I had
with one of my teammates. I had been holding in misconceptions,
misunderstandings, and unnecessary judgments since DAY ONE that build up to 2
full months worth of lies, assumptions, and confusions to work through with
her. If you didn’t already know this about me, I do NOT do well with
confrontation. I will do just about anything to avoid making waves with another
person, including blaming things on myself and just ignoring things that need
to be addressed. I had felt the Lord tugging on my heart all month long, pushing
me to have these conversations, but I needed Hollis to give me that extra
direction and encouragement before I could bring it up on my own. Let me say
that there was nothing to be afraid of! It was such a beneficial time for the
both of us, and I felt this huge weight lifted off of my shoulders. PRAISE GOD!
There were tears and I didn’t always get my words out very smoothly, but in the
end I could pray with her and not feel any malice or frustration, only love.
What a blessing!
A picture of our last day in Nepal, with the Himalayas in the background
Another one of my favorite parts was
getting to spend time by myself in reflection. Though we are officially not
allowed to really be alone, I had the opportunity to do a lot of processing and
thinking in the coffee shops around the square. Here is my view from one of the
best alone times I’ve had in months:
Where I had a solid 2 hours to think
about how I’ve grown, what the Lord has taught me, and what I want to get out
of the coming months.
Usually the next big debrief isn’t
until month 5, but for various reasons, we are having another one at the end of
this month! This time, it is in Bucharest! I’m looking forward to going back to
Romania and getting to spend some time with everyone on the squad. There’s also
going to be some big news at Debrief this time—we are having team changes!! The
current squad leaders (Noe & Hollis) pick new ones to lead the team, and
then do a little rearranging of the team leaders and members according to what
they’ve been hearing from the Lord. There isn’t really any way to predict how
this would happen, but I’m just soaking up the last bits of being with the
Mighty Team Rapha in case we get split up!! They have become my family and I
will always have them in my heart.
View from the top of the Brasov sign
