Jeff, Jamie, Anna G, me, Kristen, Anna L, and Kevin!
For a day and a half, we got put into different combinations of teams and did activities together. On Thursday morning I got put onto a team with these awesome six people, only one of which I had worked with in a previous group. As we discussed if this team would be good for us, I looked around and it just felt right. I hadn’t worked with these people and most of them I hadn’t even spent much time with, but there was a depth to us that I loved. Two of our trainers were overseeing the activity and when one of them turned her head away in an attempt to hide her teary eyes, I knew that this was going to be my team. She saw something so great and so powerful within us. It was encouraging to me.
That evening we got to leave camp to go make our first memory with our team. We decided our plan of action would be Starbucks, Chick-Fil-A, and Brusters (ice cream). We sat around at Chick-Fil-A and discussed what our team name would be. Earlier when I was analyzing why the seven of us were together, healing came to mind. After more thought, depth came to me as well. There are some powerful stories of redemption in our group. Because of that, we decided on the Hebrew word go’el which means Redeemer. Our group verse is Isaiah 62:12 – “They will be called the Holy People, the Redeemed of the Lord; and you will be called Sought After, the City No Longer Deserted.” We decided that it was right for our team, so without further ado I’ll introduce my team.
Jeff is our team leader, or captain as I like to call him. He is a native of Tulsa, so I’m thinking God gave me a little piece of home for those times in the first few months when I’m homesick. When I can turn to him and reminisce about Josh’s Sno Shack or my favorite coffee shops, I’ll feel a little closer to home. He is a man of Truth and has already spoken it over me. I’m honored to have this man as my leader.
Jamie is a ball of jokes, laughter, and energy. She has a deep Southern accent and loves deeply. She is unafraid to be herself. Our tents were camped next to each other quite a few times this week and the laughs we shared late into the night when nobody could sleep are definitely indicative of the coming months together.
Anna G is a servant at heart. I really don’t know her very well yet, but I know there is so much to learn from her. She has great wisdom and the sweetest smile. She loves with her whole heart and is super compassionate. Almost immediately after official teams were announced, she asked me to tell her about myself. I am a lover of questions and of life stories, so I felt really loved in that moment.
Kristen is fearless! She will speak her mind and desires unity for our team. We were sitting around talking to an alum and I had a question, but I couldn’t butt into the conversation easily. Kristen was freaking out that I wasn’t getting to ask my question. As someone whose biggest fear in a team was not being heard, this brought comfort to my heart. She’s willing to fight for me.
Anna L is the only person I had worked with in the group formation activities prior to being put on this team. She has a still, calm presence around her which will be great for me in moments of total freak out. She helped out in driving my carload of people to Atlanta while our car took a group to the airport, even though it was out of her way. She loves languages and I’m super pumped to learn from her as we encounter so many other languages.
Kevin absolutely loves to serve others. He is also a man of Truth and wants to speak that over our team. He has been vulnerable with our squad and that means the world to me. By stepping into vulnerability, he opens up the floor for the rest of us. I’m so honored to serve with this man for the beginning of our race!
