With a new year comes a new continent and a new team. The first four months of this journey were fun but hard. Living in community was a lot harder than I ever anticipated. While there was lots of laughter and smiles and new experiences there were also lots of frustrations and fears and tears to be had. But I am here to say I think I have come a long way in figuring out how to do this journey well to get the most out of it I can.
I am excited for our new team name; Soar. When we sat down to talk about a new team name we all shared what kind of mindset and heart we want to enter into this next phase with. One person said ‘a spirit of excellence’, another said something about a bird flying free, and I had said ‘freedom’. I want freedom from having expectation. Freedom from anxiety. Freedom from who I have been in the past so I step into who God is shaping me to be. With all these statements someone had suggested the idea of Soar. It has so many meanings. Other than the sense of freedom it gives me it make me think of two things very dear to me. The first being scripture. In Isaiah 40:28-32 it says, “The Lord is the everlasting God, the creator of all the earth. He never grows weak or weary, no one can measure the depths of his understanding. He gives power to the weak and strength to the powerless. Even young men will grow weak and tired, youths will fall from exhaustion. But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength, they will SOAR high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not faint.” The reason I love this passage is because it inspired a song which I love; Everlasting God by Lincoln Brewster. The second reason the word Soar is meaning full to me is because of a something called Soar Heartland. MB Mission is a ministry whose focus is to multiply healthy disciples and missional leaders. Every year they hold a 10 day inner city missions trip for high school aged youth groups called Soar. They are held in numerous cities across Canada and even within the United States and the rest of North America. I have been blessed to be a part of Soar for last number of years as both a youth leader and as a worshiper. When I was still coming into my own faith it was attending worship at Soar that struck and moved me. To witness 300+ youth from across the province come together and jump up and down singing and shouting praises to God was a powerful thing that has even to this day stuck with me. So to be going to Africa (a place I’ve always wanted to go), to being ready to dive whole heartedly into a new team, and to be doing this while people back home are getting revved up and ready for Soar (which is something I know my heart will miss this year), I can’t think of a better name for my team. One of our new raised up squad leaders when she heard our name said it made her think about sore as in sore muscles and about how it takes sore muscles to grow strong and how we are a team that is full of strong personalities and will push each other to be the best we can be and that might make us a little sore but if we let it it will also make us strong. I can’t wait to take what I learned about community with my last team and dive head on into the growth that I crave.
So without further ado, here is Team Soar:
Laura is our energetic and joyful leader. She is such a warm and intentional person and she LOVES physical touch which is something I will never get tired of.
http://lauragalvez.theworldrace.org
No stranger to me, Marius was my leader for the last 4 months. He is strong and gentle all at the same time. He is a deep deep thinker and a formidable chess opponent. I look forward to continuing this journey with him and watching him grow and become the man God has destined him to be.
http://mariusherlea.theworldrace.org
Jason is a unique and amazing person. One day you can be having an incredibly deep and intentional conversation and then the next be debating which super hero is better….by the way he will always tell you it is Captain America. But I guess such is the mind of a Youth Pastor, deeply thoughtful yet ready to transform into a fun loving teenager all over again. I have been blessed by getting to spend the last month living alongside him and his team in Greece and getting to spend time with this thoughtful, relational focused man of God. He also gets points for having packed a guitar which I plan to continue to learn and practice on.
http://jasonchang.theworldrace.org
Not to call her old, but since her birthday is 6 months before mine, I am officially not the oldest member of the team any longer! I am very excited to have this girl on my team. First off she is from Australia so she has an awesome accent. Also this girl loves to explore and take photos so I am glad to have someone to do that with now. She is also a tell it like it is, pull no punches kind of girl that I know will not let me slide through the next three months without digging deep. She will push me and challenge me but all while loving me.
http://yenngo.theworldrace.org
So thankful for the chance to be on a team with this girl! Another amazing accent, this one from Chicago I could listen to her talk all day. She is such a calm and grounding influence and is full of kindness. I loved the time we were able to spend together during all squad month and look forward to continuing to grow our friendship and getting to know her heart more. http://kimrietveld.theworldrace.org
Well there you have it; Team Soar! A team that will push me and challenge me but also will love me. I can’t wait to get messy and do life with them.
Speaking of doing life, one announcement I haven’t yet made is another route change. Instead of going to Mozambique to kick off the African portion of our journey we will now be heading to Zambia! My team will be heading to Zambia’s capital city Lusaka. The little bit of information we have right now regarding ministry is that we will be working with what sounds like a recent church plant of this ministry in a village suburb of Lusaka doing some form of discipleship and also preaching which will be a cool experience to step into.
That’s all for now, I’ll leave you with our first team picture.
