Month 7 is here and I’m spending it in Kigali, Rwanda! I’m super excited to be in Africa for the next 3 months.
After Nepal we detoured to Ginga, Uganda for our Month 6 debrief. I was a little skeptical at first when I was told we were tenting for debrief. I was coming out of one of the hardest months on the race (Nepal), and the last thing I wanted to do was spend a week in the heat in a tent. After we landed at the airport in Kampala, we had what we thought was an hour crammed bus ride to the campsite. Check that..it turned into a 4 hour trip..we’re on African time now, baby. Anyway, we arrived to the campsite (Adrift Resort) at dark and set up camp. My perspective had drastically changed…it was GORGEOUS. Our tents overlooked THE NILE RIVER!!!!!!!!! Ah, I am blessed. We settled in for the night and were briefed on happenings of the week. I woke up the next morning to a cup of coffee overlooking the Nile…was this my life?!
Debriefs are a time for rejuvenation and relaxtion..a time to process the past couple months, and make necessary adjustments. I love debriefs because it’s a time when our whole squad comes together and has a blast. I love nightly worship sessions with KSquad. I love the one-on-one conversations I get to have with close friends. I love getting hugs from the Dupree’s (and of course bashing UNC J). I love the family style dinners. I love the passion for Jesus that 55 young adults have. I love the influence we have on strangers. I love napping. I love the quiet times. Debriefs are special, and this one was no different.
One of our last mornings, the squad leaders had a sunrise worship planned for us. I’m gonna be honest, this was THE last thing I wanted to do.. 6AM at debrief, no thanks. But, I got up and went…and I’m SO glad I did. The Spirit fell upon all of us present, and people spoke truth like I’ve never heard before. At training camp, it was prophesied over our squad that we were unified. We weren’t quite sure what that meant, but we knew Jesus was the unifier. Ever since then we have reminded ourselves of that, and we have FOUGHT for that unity since day 1.
Since we had reached the halfway point, we needed some reminders. One reminder we needed was why we signed up for The World Race. One of our amazing squad leaders, and my friend, Erin, posed this question. She stood up and asked all of us to think about that question. WHY WAS I HERE? WHY DID I SIGN UP FOR THIS? I had my journal, and I started to ask the Lord. I wrote in my journal that this is a question I ask myself every few days…as sort of a joke, but sort of not. These 11 months aren’t always fun…they aren’t always pretty or clean. These 11 months are messy. So, why did I want this??
I SIGNED UP FOR THE WORLD RACE BECAUSE IT’S DIFFERENT.
It’s something that the “box” Caitlin wouldn’t do.
It’s something I thought I could get recognition for..something that sounded extreme.
It sounded “fun” to travel the world..and sprinkle some Jesus in there.
So, I did it and here we are month 7. I want so much more than that now. I came to get to know Christ more. I want the deep, intimate relationship with Him. I was tired of the timecard punching relationship. I want to go ALL IN. I want that. I didn’t realize that with all of that came extreme messiness. I didn’t sign up for messiness, but I so did. This year isn’t about being pretty or clean, it’s about being Jesus..being His hands and feet.
I’m so thankful for that sunrise worship that got me and everyone else on KSquad thinking…and remembering that this isn’t about an 11 month change, it’s about a lifetime mindset change.
