Well, I’ve made it to New Zealand safe and sound after my 13 hour flight! What a gorgeous country. God really He knew what He was doing when He created New Zealand. We are tucked at the bottom of a mountain with green hills all around us. I wake up to a wonderful view every morning, it’s such a blessing. That’s when I find myself asking, “God, am I really doing this?”
The World Racers have been arriving to New Zealand in waves. First team leaders, next finance & logistics people and finally the rest of the squad! Everyone (although tired) seems to be in great spirits, excited to get going on the World Race. We are spending a week at a YWAM (Youth With A Mission) base in Matamata, New Zealand (yes, where Lord of the Rings was filmed) and then we head out Saturday (your Friday) to a town called Wellington, to work at a youth camp, called El Rancho, for the month. I’m so excited to be a part of this. I have spent several summers of my life working for Spring Hill camps, in Michigan and Indiana, and to be able to get to work with kids at a camp again will be a blast. The last week of the month the camp is hosting a conference and my understanding is we will be on hospitality duty that week, serving in various areas where we’re needed. We are serving with two other teams this month, so there will be a lot of us at this site. We are also tent camping (but praise Jesus there are showers and toliets available).
Speaking of teams. I have some news. God is moving. The Wednesday before leaving on the Race, we found out a team member of ours could no longer go. I was unsure if they would keep us as a team, or split us up because we now had four members. After discussing options and praying with my squad leaders, Kyla & Mark, we came to the conclusion that Team Poiema would be split up. It was a bitter-sweet realization. These are the women I have been praying for, for the past 8 weeks. We had the expectation going into this that we would be a team and be together. What I’ve realized though is that we don’t have to stop praying for one another. We can always check in with each other, it’s not like I won’t ever see each other again. This does not change the dynamic of our relationships, it changes the dynamics of teams is all. I am continully being reminded that I need to surrender my expectations. With the dynamics of the teams changing, this means I will no longer be leading a team. I have been placed on a great new team, Team Komboa (which is Swahili for FREEDOM). My team leader, Noe Rivera is a man of God that I truly respect and trust. I feel comfortable being under his leadership and I feel I have a lot to learn from him. My new team has 7 members, Noe Rivera, David Shaw, Glenalyn Hunt, Megan Rouse, Leyna White and Cat Pollock, who will be coming from Team Poiema with me to join this team. (Find us on the WR site and adopt our team!) God is moving and He is moving within me. To be honest, I was expecting to lead. I was not expecting for things to go this way. So even though I feel a little thrown for a loop, I know NOTHING happens without a reason. I look back to training camp and up until now, even in that short amount of time, I see how things have unfolded and I feel the Lord is asking me to be obedient. Being a leader does not define me. I know there will be unique ways to lead with in this new family, but I think the bigger thing here was God wanted to know if I’d be willing to lead and once He knew that, He then told me it wouldn’t be in the capicity I thought, but it would be for all His glory and good. As you pray for me, please pray for this transition. I also have been given the responsibility to be in charge of finances for the team (yeah shopping). I will be responsible for keeping close tabs on all seven of our expenses for this year. For those of you who know me well, you know math is not my stong suit, but I’m up for the challenge. So you can pray for that as well! Lots of changes, lots of good to come from it all. Stay tuned to see how it all unfolds!
Love & Blessings to you all!
