I am currently in Antigua, Guatemala sitting in the “lobby” of Mochileros Hostel and waiting for the next activity. The internet access here is sketchy, but does exist. A few of the squad members have been able to Skype and such. So, we’ll see how it goes over the next few days.
I find myself in a bit of an internal struggle as I sit here. On the one hand, I’m excited. My four year wait has come to an end and the journey of the Race has finally begun for me. So, I cannot express the depth of excitement and honor I have to be doing something like this. Nor can I express the trepidation at it! The “Wait. Wait. Can we talk about this?! I’m not sure I wanna do this!! Just what have I stepped into?!” thoughts definitely still exist. And I’m uncertain of how the process of working through those thoughts and surrendering them to Father will look. Regardless, I’m here. And that is good.
The last couple of days have been full of all of the necessary activities of getting 64 (final count of the squad) people to Antigua – people coming, going, staying and training. Whew. I haven’t been able to train on logistics yet, but should have a meeting with the field office people tomorrow morning. I should also find out what ministry my team will be doing tomorrow.
Which brings me to my team…in July, at Training Camp, we were challenged to hold any and all expectations we might have regarding the Race and life around it with an open hand. Changes happen. And, if we hold on to anything too tightly, the Father cannot work as freely and deeply as He wishes. At the end of Training Camp, I had a team. Team Sozo. And I was excited about this team, the name we felt the Lord placed on us and the opportunity to, by the grace and mercy of Him alone, live up to that name’s meaning (read Team Sozo for more background on this).
Today, that team was dissolved and separated due to participant changes between Training Camp and Launch.
My new team has yet to choose a name, but is nonetheless a group of twenty-somethings ready to take on the battles of this physical and spiritual world together. Our leader is Greg Houghton and, while I have yet to find out much about him, I am excited to serve with him and under his gentle guidance of this team. He is also the lone male on the team and the only male who does not have another male with him (does that make sense?). As soon as we choose a name, I will post more about the members. Suffice it to say that we have experienced a bit of a “Brady Bunch” effect. Half of Greg’s initial team and half of my team were joined together. Greg, Cara, Keryn, Becca, Nikki and I will be journeying together through the next however many months. Cody (my original team leader) has stepped down from leadership and joined Scotty’s team while Angie was moved to Mac’s team.
Already, the Race has hosted changes. And that is good. Uncomfortable and a little shocking, perhaps, but good.
As a disclaimer for future blogs, let me say that I have no idea what they are going to look like. I can only promise that they will be true and honest at the time of writing. Whether that writing is humorous, serious, reflective, forecasted, random or purposeful it will be real.
