Team changes are an essential part of the race, and for the most part inevitable. I have been blessed with 4 very different teams who have each grown me and shaped me into the man I am today. So here are all of my teams….
Ignite!!
(Kearston, Erica, Ryan, Me, Robin, Vivian)
Ignite was my first team and we were put together at training camp. We didn’t start off best friends at the beginning, but these are some of my best friends on the squad and the ones who know my heart intimately. We spent the first 3 months together on the race. We shared Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, my birthday and my baptism together. I LOVE this team very much and they hold a special place in my heart.
Salt Shakers
(Me, Vivian, Chrissy, Alyssa, Danae, Andrew)
This was my second team after month 3 when squad leaders were raised up. (the woman in the middle is not part of our team, she is a ministry friend) This team was VERY different. Each one of us had completely different personalities and something to bring to the table. I was blessed to stay with one of my old team members too (Vivian, to the right of me). We spent 8 month of our race together and I love her very much.
Team MAN
(Jeremy, Andrew, Dan, Wade
Dan, Paul, Ben, Me)
This is my team for MANistry, which is 1 month on the race where they separate the men from the woman and we do ministry together. This month was a lot of fun!! It showed me how important it is to have men of God in my life and what brothers in Christ look like. Our motto this month was work hard, play hard. We worked doing manual labor all month, building a brick wall to house a future church, and laid cement for a prayer mountain. We also played hard and took our off days to go to Singapore!! This was a good month with a good group of guys!!
Siloam
(Kat, Laura, Jaime, Kelly
Jeremy, Ben, Me)
This was my 4th and final team I was blessed with for the final 3 months of the race. They are some of my best friends on the squad and taught me a lot!! We had a lot of fun together as a team and we grew and challenged each other at the same time. I was extremely blessed to be placed on this team for the last months of the race. They are a group that loves, encourages, and calls each other to a higher place all for the glory of God!!!
So those are the people I intimately shared my race with. The people I lived with 24/7. The people I opened up with, worshiped with, did ministry with and loved with. If you go on the race, team changes will most likely happen, but it’s for the good!! Different people on the squad can grow you and stretch you in different ways. My advise is to get deep and vulnerable as fast as you can, don’t wait till the end to share your heart.
There was also another person on my squad in which I have to give a shout out to..
Dan Lidwin!!!
Dan has become one of my best friends. We worked together month 1 of the race and have been biffles ever since. We have made it a point to sit next to each other on every single bus ride from country to country travel days to see how each other is doing, how each others month was and what the Lord has been teaching us. He has thought me what a brother in Christ really looks like. He is a powerful, intelligent, humble and loving man of God. I have learned a lot from him this year, he has been a huge blessing in my life.
