Debrief session on Re-entry
Discussing issues that present challenges to World Racers
upon arriving in the US of A
I would never have thought that my 4 year military academy
experience and my current 11 month mission trip would have things in common. Well, I found one. Today, we had our first debrief session of
our month 8 debrief. The session focused
on Re-entry. First question, “What does
Re-entry mean?” Responses from the group
included: “Chick-fil-a! family, clean
sheets, Sweet Tea, driving, Christmas, meat, etc etc.” Of course we established
that re-entry can mean different things and look different for everyone, but
generally it is the re-entry into your home
culture.
The speaker presented various issues that present challenges
for World Racers as the return home. She
spoke of her personal experience including a breakdown in Target when seeing
just how many options of toothpaste
exist. Many World Racers struggle with
communicating their experiences to others.
The growth, the events, the struggles and thrills are often unfathomable
to those who weren’t there, who didn’t live it.
It is natural to want to share your every anxiety and excitement with
others, but unfortunately, impossible. World
Racers can get frustrated and/or depressed when others are unable to fully
understand. All year, we have lived with
a consistent group of individuals
who have had personal journeys, but all similar countries, circumstances and
motivations. We have shared really
terrible hardships and really amazing revelations. Such intangible feelings are tough to
communicate to those who weren’t present all year. What I realized as the session continued was
that I have lived through these concerns.
The things mentioned as
challenges to World Race re-entry are similar to explaining USAFA (United
States Air Force Academy) to anyone but military academy graduates.
I had so many life
changing-personal development experiences at the Academy that can only be
understood by the people who went through it with me. I lived in a community for 4 years only to
graduate and have the community spread all over the world. My best friends now live no closer than 3
hours by plane from my last residence (I don’t say from home because I’m not
sure where home will be). Talk about a
transition. USAFA has its own culture very different from
other state universities and colleges. Mandatory meals, marching practice,
parades, uniforms, mixed dorms and room checks are not things that cadets share
with many other college students. I
can’t just meet anyone in the world and ask them if they remember BCT, CQ, DI, EI, GE, Jump or PFT!
The outside world also doesn’t
function on the same values. This is a
hard realization: my girlfriends and I can’t meet at the coffee shop on a
regular basis; there aren’t people who
can truly empathize with Academy circumstances, or reminisce all night with
ice cream and laughter; not everyone
values efficiency, logic, detail and order.
Yet, I have survived. The Lord
works through all situations. There is
always something to learn from everything: good things to carry with and not so good things to leave
behind. 
Jack’s Valley during Basic Training, Combat Survival or any other training event at USAFA
On the World Race, we have experienced hundreds of things
and lived in 11 different cultures. I know we have each caught on to things that
we want to take home with us, and other things that we have seen, observed and
decided to leave. We have lived, worked
and worshiped with the same people all year.
But, the World Race is going to
end. December 1, 2012 January
C-Squad departs Manila bound for the United States. Our squad will disperse and our experiences won’t match those we return home
to. People might ask how the year was,
but they won’t be able to fully get what we did and some might not even
care! The culture might not value what we have grown to value: a deep desire
for dependence on the Lord, feedback , prophetic living and effective
communication. These are the things that
make Re-entry so complex.
It might
overwhelming. It might be sad. It
might be amazing. All transitions
require some form of adaption and readjustment.
We will just have to depend on our amazing God to help us move through
the tough times and find the path
that He has planned for our lives.
