For the last few weeks, we’ve been bringing you the stories of the unsung heroes of the Adventures in Missions office. So far, we’ve introduced you to Sam in Admissions, Erin in Mobilization, and Greg as a Squad Mentor.
This week we're closing out our Behind the Scenes series with a look at the World Race leaders you're probably most familiar with – Squad Leaders. They're the amazing World Race alumni who come back for round two. Two or three alumni go with each new World Race squad for the first five months as Squad Leaders.
They provide spiritual leadership, mentoring, logistical support, and love to their squad. Most of all, they are servant leaders, and we'd like you to meet one of them.
Meet Vanessa Butler.
When Vanessa Butler finished the Race, she didn’t have any idea what she wanted to do with her experience. After coming to the Center for Global Action (CGA) in Gainesville, GA post-Race and wrestling with the desires God put in her heart, she began a journey to lead spiritually while being discipled by Jesus.
We tracked her down on the field and asked her some questions about how she ended up back on the Race.
Q: How did you become a Squad Leader?
A: While in CGA I was placed in the World Race department, and on the first day I got to hear our leaders share their hearts for the Race and the direction they wanted it to go. I got to hear bits and pieces of the hopes and desires and the depth they wanted to see the Race get to. And it hit my spirit in the type of way that plants the seed of passion for involvement and to be part of something that I truly believe in.
Everything they wanted, my spirit agreed with, and I wanted to help make it happen. That was the first time Squad Leading ever popped into my head.
Q: Why did you want to become a Squad Leader?
A: First, because I wanted to love people.
I also wanted to be able to take ideas and improvements that we believe here in the office – the heart and direction of what we want in leadership – to the field and let God use them alongside my own personal giftings to transform and improve the Race.
I see Squad Leading as a huge responsibility, a huge gift, and a huge privilege.
Not everyone gets to travel around the world at 24 years old and walk alongside 50 other people as they experience brokenness and dependence on the Lord that completely changes their lives. I get to do that. I get to love and encourage them through it, and I simply get to be there for them in whatever way they need me.
Q: What are the roles of Squad Leaders?
A: To love those around us. That's what I believe the heart of this role is: to love fully. To walk beside the squad, encourage them, and let them have a place to rest and know they are seen and belong. To speak what needs to be spoken and to challenge them along the way to step into more intimacy with the Lord and empower them to walk in the fullness and depth of who they are."
"We also help with the logistical side of things; travel and debriefs and finances and all the other fun stuff that makes up the Race. We pour into the team leaders and try to develop them and set them up for success because everything will always trickle down. If we can support our leaders and make sure they are healthy and rested and filled; it will spill over into their teams and affect the squad as a whole."
Q: What is the hardest part about Squad Leading?
A: So far, for me, it's been realizing that despite my title of 'leader', I'm walking in as much of a new process as every first time Racer. It's realizing that I'm not perfect and that more often than not, I need to take a step back and have a little grace for myself. It's being ok with not having all the answers and learning the joy and beauty of patience through the process of getting to know an entire squad of completely different people as you carry all these hopes and dreams and love for them."
Q: What would you say to someone thinking about wanting to become a Squad Leader on the World Race?
A: I would say to do it only with the certainty that God is calling you to it, because there will be days when that is all you have to fall back on. To say yes, with a heart that willingly knows it's walking into a season that requires you to love in the most sacrificial of ways, that you will die more to your comforts and wants and desires than you've ever experienced.
That you should feel the weight of what squad leading actually means – the privilege, the responsibility, the service, the sacrifice required, and all the joy and honor that comes with it while also knowing that you don't have to carry it alone. To know that it's honestly, a crazy, crazy thing, but it's one of the best things."
Q: What is something you know now about Squad Leading that you wish you knew on the Race?
A: That squad leaders truly just want to love you. They want to serve you and be friends with you and simply walk beside you in every valley, plateau, under whelming hill, and glorious mountain of your World Race experience."
Vanessa, and all Squad Leaders, have done the Race and know it’s not all the same for everyone. With that in mind, they will be with you on the field to help you through the process. You will not be alone when you go out on the field. Ready to go? Sign up for a route today!
