On September 7th I headed to Atlanta for launch. My time between training camp at the end of July and launch seemed like a whirlwind. It was hard to believe that I was already about to head out on an 11 month missions trip. I was super excited to go, but at the same time wondered if I had prepared myself enough spiritually, mentally, and physically (what I packed for 11 months) to go.
I was grateful for launch because I knew that it would give me a couple of days to get focused. It was so nice to reconnect with everyone, share hugs, and be able to encourage one another face to face. We had some great times together as a squad and got to spend some quality time together with our teams as well. We were challenged and encouraged by some great messages and got some practical tips/training on safety.
I think my favorite part of launch besides meeting my squad mates’ parents was our ATL time. On the World Race, ATL stands for Ask The Lord. (Yes, we did do ATL (Ask The Lord) in ATL (Atlanta).) During ATL, we spend time sitting quietly and asking the Lord to show us what He would like us to do. During our time, we felt like God showed us some specific people, places, and things. Everyone shared with the team what we saw or felt and then we got ready to head out into the city.
We felt like the Lord said to pack up the extra food that we had and hand it out, so we made some sandwiches and took the fruit we had with us. We gave some sandwiches and Bibles to some construction workers we met. We prayed for a girl we met at a bus stop that had just started a new job and was hoping to get into college and be a social worker. We met a couple of ladies that worked cleaning hotels, heard their stories, gave them a bunch of food, and prayed for them. We also met a guy at KFC, gave him some food and a little money for a hotel for the night and prayed for him. Although we didn’t really have any strong connections with what we saw and the people we ministered to, we still felt like our ATL was a success because we were able to love and minister to people.
We are excited to do another ATL as a team on the Race, but everyone on our team recognized that we should live our everyday lives this way. We should always be walking in the Spirit and asking Him what He would like us to do, who we should speak to, and how we can love and minister to others. If you are not already doing it, I encourage you to start living an ATL lifestyle. It may be a little scary and uncomfortable at first, but it’s also an exciting way to live.
