Sometimes a person can go on the World Race and not experience major team changes. More than likely, a person will go on the World Race and experience major team changes once or twice.
Like ME! I’ve had a laundry list of team leaders, but up until this month I’ve had the same teammates with the exception of a minor team change in Malaysia, the beginning of Month 5. I want to take you on a short (okay, it might be longer than I think) journey of what my teams have looked like while being on the field.
Team Ratsah: The original Ratsah was made up of six girls eager to start off this Race strong. Lesley Dennis as our team leader, myself, Ana-Lisa Munoz, Ana Sampaio, Lucy Morgan and Rachael Paz all set out on the journey that is Month 1 to South Africa. Our team was split three and three between host homes. We functioned pretty well together, however we weren’t able to fully get to know each other and become a close nit family because of the housing situation.
Team Ratsah: The slightly altered team Ratsah was formed of the same six women plus one. Jena Foster. She became our team leader in the start of Month 2. Little to our surprise there were some kinks that needed to be worked out among us girls and Jena came alongside us, helped us work those kinks out, pushed us to our potential, and led us well for two short months. In Mozambique (Month 3) team Ratsah thrived on laughter, love, and Jesus. We loved being together. We loved each other.
Team Ratsah: Slightly altered… again. This may sound dramatic, but I’m going to go for it anyway. When we sat around a camp fire on the beach in The Philippines, Month 4 staring us in the face, and heard the news that Jena was being ripped straight from our hands I thought, “This is joke. Tell me this is a joke…” No one was joking. It was serious. Jena was being pulled from our team to lead another. Back to the original six. Ana was raised up as team leader and into Month 4 we went.
We were well aware that teams would change for real at the end of Month 4 because our Alumni Squad Leaders had to raise up Squad Leaders from within our squad who would lead us the rest of the Race. I held onto the hope that my new team would be drastically different from the girls that I’d spent the first four months of my Race with. If you remember my blog titled “Puzzle Pieces,” you will remember that the shuffling around of squad mates among different teams was a major deal in my head because the result of team changes was not at all major enough.
Team New Heights: This team was made up of the original Ratsah girls minus Lesley, plus Alyson Tofel and Aimèe Labelle. Ana is still our team leader. This team hopped on a roller coaster as we entered Malaysia together. Malaysia- we were on the downhill slope, had some issues that needed to be addressed. Once that was done, we were good. We had a good month together in Vietnam. Every team has their junk, but with the proper feedback, love, and care things can be good.
Team New Heights: Same girls. New leader. Aly humbly led us into Cambodia with a heart to see New Heights grow and love. The attitude of one person on a team can truly affect how the rest of the team functions. It can cause an unsettling shift in the atmosphere. It’s sad, really. There was a slew of emotions that consumed our team all month long, but we pushed through and eventually, Month 7 was over. It was a hard month for the team, but we grew.
An email was sent out from the main office in Georgia from our squad mentor, Jeremy, letting us know that we were being hit with team changes at the end of the month.
This will be good! I need some change.
Team Soul Sistaz: New girls. New faces. New friendships. Praise the Lord. Me, Aly, and Ana-Lisa are still together. Aly is still the leader of this beautiful new team. The other girls are Kristin Lupton, Fiona Gaul, Sarah McComb, and Kait Backensto. As we dive into Month 8, I’m so excited for these new relationships. I can’t wait to get to know each of them and see why God has picked us to be together.
Sometimes team changes go your way. Sometimes team changes don’t go your way.
Just remember, things that happen on the Race, team changes, route changes, ANY changes… it’s God’s way.
