Teams have changed guys! The end of month three in Nepal brought with it a small,
squad debrief and some shifting around of teams. I want to take just a few minutes to introduce my new
team! But before I do that, I just
want to say a few words about WALDO.
God used WALDO to open up so many things in my heart and
really just release a lot of identity onto me. I love those 5 people that I got to journey with and will
absolutely never stop loving them.
They’ll always be a family that I belong to. Stephanie, Kacie, Wes, Marissa, and Kaylynn; I love you guys
so much. You guys were so full of
grace for me and loved me so well as your leader. I could easily write a blog post about each of you but shall
refrain from being so “long-winded” as some call it. I’ll just say that literally each one of you challenged me
to be more of the man that God has for me. I feel like it is an honor to have been a part of Team WALDO
and you guys know it wasn’t easy for me to lay that Team down. We’re all on to deeper places now
though and I’m PUMPED about it.
Now, to introduce my new team!! (if you could please do a drumroll on whatever surface you
have nearby, that would be wonderful…seriously…if you’re sitting at a desk,
drumroll before you read on…like you’ve never drumrolled before!) I would like to introduce to you…TEAM.
CAIR PARAVEL!!
Yep that’s right, it’s just me and my lovely sister Rachel
Ridings. We have been given the
amazing opportunity of becoming A-Squad’s new squad leaders! If you are unfamiliar with the way that
squad’s on the world race work, I shall give you a brief rundown. A squad is a group generally 40 to 70
people that travel together for each 11-month trip. I am a part of A-Squad which has roughly 45 members. All 45 of us travel from country to
country together. Once we get to
the countries, we split up into our different teams. Teams are usually between 5-7 people and our squad of 45 has
7 teams. Each team has a Team
Leader, which is what I got to be for WALDO during the first 3 months.
On each 11-month trip, there are two people who have already
completed their own 11-month trip who join the new squad as Squad Leaders for
the first 4 months. After those
first 4 months, they raise up 2-3 new Squad Leaders and invite them to take
over leading the squad when they head home at the end of month 4. Our squad leaders have been two
INTENSELY amazing people named Phillip and Christy. These two people blow my mind with the way that they seek
the Lord and seek to lead people to just the DEPTHS of the Father’s heart. They have been and continue to be
phenomenal leaders for A-Squad.
As squad leaders, their first ministry is the squad. They travel around to the different
teams during the month and make themselves completely available to help work
through anything that the teams are going through, encourage the team leaders,
join in on the ministry when possible, etc. There are many logistical responsibilities as well but the
way that their leadership is manifested the most is just in the way that they
speak life, vision, and direction into the entire squad and specifically the
team leaders.
…and they’ve invited Rachel and myself into that! I am so incredibly honored and humbled
to be given the opportunity to lead and love on my squad from the position of
squad leader and I am to thankful that Jesus gave me a sister like Rachel to
lead alongside. It definitely
significantly changes the next 8 months of my trip in that our main ministry
will be A-Squad now, but I am really excited and curious to see what the Lord
has to call me into during these months coming up. It’s crazy what He’s doing. I don’t know how I ever deserved this amazing honor but I am
just trusting that Jesus knows what He is doing and that He will fully equip me
to be able to lead A-Squad always from a place of service, humility, love and
grace. It’s going to be so fun.
I know you’re dying to know why we named ourselves Cair
Paravel aren’t you!? Well, let me
tell you a bit about Rachel’s and my hearts for this Squad Leader team that
we’re both part of now.
Our biggest desire for this team is just that we could cultivate a
relationship that is so full of love for each other as siblings that we
constantly drive each other into the arms of Jesus and into His presence.
Rachel and I are kind of obsessed with sitting in the Lord’s presence and
embrace. Simply put, our hope for this team is just that God would use it
to push us each further into the Heart of the Father than we could go alone.
I (Christian) want you all to know that I am going to be fighting
for these next 8 months for Rachel as my sister. My heart is for her to
be guarded and challenged the way that a brother would challenge and guard his
own sister. I know that Rachel’s heart for our relationship these next 8
months is the same and that she desires to see me as a true brother whom she
can support, challenge, and affirm.
So as we said the other night, we chose the name Cair Paravel
because it is the name of the castle in C.S. Lewis’s The Chronicles of Narnia
where the 4 sibling kings and queens dwelled. There are so many
dork-tastic things that we love about the symbolism in Narnia which we will
list here in bullet format:
–
They are children
–
They are Kings and Queens
–
They are brother and sister
–
They each have different gifts from Aslan
–
They rule Narnia as a family
–
They get hugs from a Lion named Aslan frequently
–
They are beautiful
–
Aslan is a Lion
–
Lions are cool
–
We love lions
–
Narnia is magical/super-sweet
–
Stop judging us
ROOAARRR!!!
