Africa has been a far off dream in my heart for many years. I cannot pinpoint a time when this desire was formed nor could I ever tell you why Africa, but upon arrival into the continent the squad could feel that there is something very special about it. SO much has happened in the past months and I figured the best way to explain it all is via Africa narrative. Get excited.
Johannesburg, South Africa:
Or Jo’burg as we like to call it. We arrived in the Jo’burg airport and were almost immediately (like 3 hours later) bused off to an undisclosed destination. Not undisclosed for safety, more so because I have no idea where we actually were staying. We were on serious lockdown for safety so I didn’t see much of the city. The best way I can describe that time in the hostel is that it was like the show “Big Brother”. The whole squad all 45ish of us were confined to our rooms, the common areas, and the really large backyard. We didn’t have our days planned for us and we obviously couldn’t leave so our days looked as follows: Hours of quiet time accompanied by oatmeal and a three-in-one, in the afternoon a sandwich and a pick-up game of shuttlecock (the Asian version of hacky-sack), at around 4 pm some people would help cook a squad dinner while others gathered in groups for some good conversations or a few card games.
It was really nice cold weather while we were there, a welcomed change from the heat and precipitation we found for months in Asia. It felt like fall and it felt like home.
Jo’burg was particularly good for me as I had ample introvert time on a daily basis,a rare and beautiful gift from the Lord on the Race. I also co-led worship for the squad with my squadmate Patrick. He is a quick-witted and quick-learning Dutch Texan traveler of the world and lover of the Lord. He has a passion for worship but had not yet had the opportunity to lead the squad with that gifting yet so we worked on a set together for most of the day and I taught him everything I know about facilitating worship. What happened that night was an absolute blessing to be a part of. We worshiped for a long time that night, we sang out truth louder and sought Jesus with more passion than I had seen yet out of our squad. A few people shared visions or words they had for the squad and it was a night of freedom for many, myself included. I realized that there is something in me that was made for leading. The capacity or context doesn’t matter. I recognized that I was in the Spirit that night quicker than I had ever been there before and from what I can understand I stepped into some obedience that night and I hadn’t even realized. God certainly blessed me with his presence.
On a side note, we applied for Indian visas during our time in Jo’burg (this will come into play later in the story).
From Jo’burg all teams traveled to Cape Town.
Pause. A few things you should know about Cape Town: the landscape is made of both mountains and beach, it is absolutely breathtaking and perfect, there are penguins, I loved everything about it.
Play. My team, in leu of an everyday ministry, worked for the UH program. UH stands for unsung heros and basically our job for the month was to find contacts and ministries for World Race to set up partnerships with so that future squads and teams could eventually being working with them. This means that our month looks a little different when compared to a normal month of the race (heads up though, there are no “normal” months of the race, you’ll see why soon). We had the freedom to make the month whatever we wanted within the confines of finding and meeting with contacts. This means that we had no solidified plans basically all month. We would stay at hostels and camps and houses for a week at a time and when our friends asked us where we were going next we would say that we had no idea. UH was so much fun because we realized that the Lord has such better plans for us then we could have ever put together. We intentionally denied ourselves the comfort of planning our next move ahead of time so that we could wait on the Lord and where he wanted us to go and what he wanted to provide there.
The Lord has such good gifts in for us! It was incredible. Because and only because we waited on the Lord (and believe me it was hard and way scary to wait on Him), we were blessed to live in a house with an incredible woman and her two daughters. She lived in Florida for a time (Talllly! represent!) and was very influential in the life of one of our squad leaders. It was a time I was so grateful for. She made us Mexican and some of the best spaghetti I have had in a while, things I never dreamed of having on the race. UH wise she was an amazing resource for us and is involved with a ton of really cool ministries that we were able to pass on to AIM. We also got to run the Color Run with some of the young adults from her church.
We were blessed in so many other ways with the people we met and stayed with as well as people who just loved on us. We met missionaries from the states working with a multi-million dollar ministry with over 9 sites to provide care to the orphan and the sick. We laughed with them about things only missionaries could understand and they welcomed us into their lives. We had a guy hold down our local transportation and on top of that he got us probably 80% of our contacts as well as a slot on the local Christian radio station to explain the race because he wanted us to reach as many people as possible. We met people who are going into the most needy of communities and empowering them to bring change their circumstances and the culture of their community. We played soccer with guys from the biggest gang in South Africa who realized that there is more to go after than the gang life-style and that Jesus is the only way they can do it. Numerous families took us in as their own. We have South African brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles, and even grandparents. It was probably the most difficult month for me to say goodbye to.
From Cape Town to Nelspruit for debrief.
Debrief was semi-relaxing with the outbreak of lice and impending team changes on everyones mind. During debrief I got to run my first 10k with a small group from the squad while everyone else was on a safari for the day. If I had to do it again I would still pick the 10k over the safari. We ran 6.2 miles through beautiful farmlands and ended at the World Cup stadium all before 9am. Then Paige and I got ice cream so obviously it was a great day.
I also led worship at debrief one night and again God completely blessed me with his presence that evening and it was a really cool night for our squad. There was a freedom that night that I had not seen yet and God gave some people some really appropriate and timely words for the squad. I would say most people left that night encouraged in the Lord.
And then team changes happened. Apparently it’s a natural part of the race but it doesn’t make it any easier to re-do everything that had been built and established in the few months prior to debrief.
Nelspruit to White River (still in South Africa).
At this point the squad should be in Swaziland yet we were still in South Africa. Why, you ask? Because the Indian Visa office still had all of our passports and we did not yet have our Indian Visas. Remember I told you those pesky visas would come into play? So as it goes for Q squad nothing about the race is normal for us but everything is still in control by a God who knows what we need far better than we do.
He provided for us, in what we like to call “South Africa re-do” or “South Africa 2” a church that allowed our whole squad to use their camping facilities for free for the month of November. Everyday we did manual labor around the church as our ministry for the month. A few teams weeded an onion patch for almost 2 weeks straight. We organized and cleaned just about every closet on the premises, cooked, cleaned carpets, made props for a play, and decorated the lobby for Christmas. It felt a lot like camp. Not only because we were all in tents but because we all ate together and played together after work. We had movie nights in the youth room and indoor soccer nights in the action center. The staff at the church were so gracious to us and even invited us back for Christmas.
One of my favorite times of the month was Thanksgiving dinner. We were able to have the whole squad together and we invited some of our South African friends from the church to celebrate with us. It looked amazing and straight off Pinterest. Everyone was wearing their Sunday best and our decorating team made it look like it was straight off Pinterest. We had all the favorites and nobody was hungry. Turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, sweet potatoes, green beans and green bean casserole, salad, rolls, and all the pies, ice cream, and cookies you could eat. We finished off the night saying goodbye to our beloved squad leaders and bringing in the holiday season with one of my all -time favorite Christmas movies, “Elf”. Even in the absence of our families and loved ones our hearts and stomachs were full that night as we reminisced on the Lords providence and goodness in each of our lives.
White River to Manzini, Swaziland.
Which brings us up to date. We got our Indian Visas and headed out to Swazi. The squad is split up in two locations so my team is staying in a house with two other teams. Oh it’s a three bedroom house with one bath and one porta-potty for all 22 of us. Close knit community is an understatement for this month, more like no-personal-space-ever community. It’s a real test of our love for each other and our love for Christ. We work with people in a rehab center for chronically ill patients in the morning and in the afternoon we go play with kids at care center run by AIM. We are only here for a short time though. We leave on the 19th because everything is shutting down for Christmas.
I’m excited to spend Christmas with the squad for sure!
