Shortly after committing to the World Race, I became aware of the fact that “Squads” (the group of people that are all going to the same countries for the same 11 months) are divided into “teams” of 6-8 people. You minister with your team each month and travel as a squad from one nation to the next.
“Your squad becomes your family, and your team is the core of that family…” so many blog posts stated.
It was at this point that I began to pray for my future team. Of course, that they would concurrently challenge and sharpen me, and that I would do the same to them. I prayed that I would learn from them and be able to teach them. That I would be compassionate towards them. All great things to pray. My most fervent prayer, though? “God. I want 3 men on my team. Please, Lord, of the 5 to 7 other people on my team, make three of them men. Thanks. Yes and amen.”
Why? Safety. Simple as that. Rather ironic, since this prayer was coming from a girl with 3 sisters and no brothers. A girl who studied Martial Arts with aforementioned sisters for several years, so that we all would be capable and confident in self-defense. A girl who lived alone in an apartment (quite happily), walking downtown in a decently sized city, sometimes late at night, depending on her class schedule. A girl who claims to trust in the Lord for her protection.
Towards the end of the team building process at Training Camp, I was placed in a group with five other women. We completed an activity in which we had to list a group of random items in order of importance for survival if our “plane crashed in rural Canada.” The World Race truly prepares you for all kinds of things. 😉 The six of us worked great together, and I thought, “If these ladies were my team, I honestly couldn’t ask for a better fit.” Immediately after this thought however, worries of not being protected and the “safety factor” (note: the lack-of-3-men factor) flooded my mind.
Shortly after this activity, I was called aside to go to a meeting, along with several other people from my squad, and individuals from the other squads at Training Camp. In this meeting, we were presented by AIM staff with the invitation to be team leaders. After explaining for a bit what team leadership entailed, they gave us a few moments to pray about whether or not we would accept this invitation and commit to beginning our World Race with leading a team. As soon I prayed simply, “Lord…?” the truth from Proverbs 3 leapt into my spirit:
“Trust in the Lord with your whole heart…”
Pause.
Whole heart. Whole-hearted trust. In the Lord. The One who saved my soul. And called me to the Race. The One who created and exists in ALL of the places in which I will ever set foot. The One who always proves Himself steadfast and completely trustworthy.
“…do not lean on your own understanding…”
As much as I believe that knowledge is power, it’d be crippling to rely on my own wisdom to try to please God in my daily life AND to try to lead a team in intense, stretching situations all around the world.
“…acknowledge Him in all your ways…”
By making safety such a concern when I thought about my team, I de-centered the Lord as the One who always, truly, has His best interest for me in mind, who commands His angels concerning me in all MY ways. (Psalm 91:11)
“…and He will direct your paths.”
He is faithful to lead. We only need to commit to being faithful to follow.
In that brief moment of prayer, the Lord not only gave me peace about team leading, but reassurance of His protective nature. And I merely called upon His name.
God’s answer to my, “Three men, PLEASE!” prayer with a blatant, “No men. Yes, five ladies and ME,” gives me unspeakable joy and peace. If three men were placed on my team from the get-go, I would have claimed to firstly trust in the Lord as my protector, but wouldn’t have to walk it out as I get to do now.
And so I go. With whole-hearted, borderless trust in the Lord as my protector.
From my heart,
Erika Venese Wynne
