I'm HERE! All 240ish of us racers are packed into a hotel near the airport in Washington, DC. We've been getting a few last minute training tips, getting to know our teams better, receiving powerful words from people who have gone before us, and getting free refills on awesome worship time. I wanted to catch you up on a few exciting things…
1. My first ministry site
My team, (Team Veracity) will be living in El Tingo, Ecuador (about 20km southeast of Quito) We are going to be hanging out with and tutoring children in an after school program. We're told there are about 60 students and we will be living on site in a big house with hot water! (Thank you Jesus!)
My whole squad will be Launching from Washington, DC tomorrow! Friday, January 11 at 3:30pm to Quito, Ecuador
2. I'm proud to announce that I am FULLY FUNDED!!! Thank you thank you thank you for all of your tremendous support!!! If you would still like to donate, my team still needs your help and support. Again, thank you!!!
3. I've really enjoyed my time here at Launch. I'm not quite as terrified as I thought I was at the beginning. Today, my team has our first team debrief with our squad leaders and coaches. Here are a few things I've learned from hanging out and getting to know my team:
- The phrase "Hey let's knock this out real quick and then we can ____" really means "Let's hang out for at least 2 hours, this is assignment is bound to get done that way"
- We get excited about the things we talk about and that can quickly turn into yelling.
- For being such a well balanced team, we're also surprisingly similar in personality.
- ^ Example: In an exercise when given the scenario of having a day off and extra money to spend – What would we do that day? We sort of all agreed we'd enjoy a relaxing day at the beach and some good meals. After a minute, we rethought our decision. And kinda started yelling… "What kind of beach is it? Is it sandy or rocky? Is there a ton of seaweed in the water? Are there sharks? How far must we walk to said beach? Is it overcast? What's the weather like? Is this a dangerous area? We need details!!"
- A trip to Target can feel like herding cats, especially when naps are overdue.
- We got ripped off on transportation prices before even getting out of DC.
- We have team flannels… not sure how that happened.
- Even difficult discussions typically end in smiles and laughter.
- We are all in very unique places in our walks with Christ.
- We desire to love and serve each other well.
- I couldn't be happier to be on an all girls team
So there's just a little glimpse into my time here at Launch. Next time you hear from me, I'll either be in Ecuador or on my way there!!! Please keep praying for us as a squad as we keep moving forward into this new life and as some of us are helping others figure out how to put that new life into a backpack… 🙂
