With only one month down, our squad met at the beginning of February in the beautiful city of Antigua, Guatemala for a 5-Day World Race Debrief. Debrief occurs every few months on the Race, starting with the first month, and is a chance for the entire squad to be together, to rest and recuperate, and to meet with our Squad Mentor, Vanessa (a full-time AIM/World Race employee in charge of our Squad), and our Squad Coaches, Roger and Rosie (an awesome couple serving the Lord by encouraging our spiritual and relational development during the year). The Mentor and Coaches fly in from the States and have a whirlwind of a week meeting with us as individuals and as teams.
The biggest official event of the week is Team Debrief, a time where our entire team meets with our Mentor, Coaches and Squad Leaders and gets grilled (in a good way!) about how things are going for our team. I have to say it felt a little like Tribal Council on the television show Survivor, as we all sat on a hotel bed facing our leadership team and answering questions about ourselves. It was a healthy time though, making sure we are headed in the right direction as a team, and luckily we didn’t have to vote anyone off the Island, haha.
Other than our official Debrief meeting, I was able to meet with Vanessa and Roger individually, to pick their brains and to receive encouragement. One of the reasons I chose the World Race for my missions journey is that the year is constantly full of community – working in a team and being poured in to by dedicated mentors. I can’t imagine going in to the World without a community of folks running the race alongside me.
In the evenings, we played games as a Squad and had intimate times of worship and testimony. I have to say one of the more entertaining moments was the celebrations of the January and February Squad birthdays, which included mine! A member of our squad bought a beautiful bizcocho cake, however, when we opened the box after our rousing game of Fishbowl, we discovered that a swarm of ants wanted to attend the party! I think we picked them all off, but I may have gotten some extra protein in the icing!
As far as Antigua itself, it may be one of my favorite cities in the world, right up there with Segovia, Spain and San Francisco. It was an original Spanish colonial capital, but was destroyed in an earthquake in the late 1700s. As a result, the Crown ordered the capital moved to Guatemala City, but many people stayed and today the city is a grid of colonial-style architecture and beautiful churches, both restored and ruined. The city bustles with activity and tourism, but not in an overpowering way. Here’s a photo I took of one of the streets, with the Acatenango volcano in the background and a ruined church on the left.
Our adventures in Antigua included climbing up an active volcano, Pacaya, and trying a variety of fun restaurants, from a cheap sandsich shop (12 Quetzales / ~1.50 USD for a big bbq chicken sandwich) to a funky crepe place. We walked all over the place and had a great time meeting with our friends on other teams and getting our fill of refreshing conversation and excellent coffee.
Also, AIM has a fulltime mission presence in Antigua. The team who lives here invited us over for dinner and a campfire, and shared their heart for ministry. They took time to pray over us and our Race, too. I was comforted in knowing that we are not alone this year in ministering to the people of Latin America.
Things becoming normal: tripping over cobblestones in Antigua, foreign currency, craving American sweets, being offered drugs a lot in Antigua from trip promoters on the corner (“Volcano trip! Guatemala city! Psst, you want weed?”), Taqueritos – my new favorite snack, electrical wires hanging all around showers
