I will be leaving for Launch on September 4th! My account is sitting pretty just above the August 15th deadline of $6500 [Hallelujah!] and at 11:30AM today, I found out I will be launching from Chi-town! I will be flying there from Philly and meeting up with the staff for a day of training before the rest of my team and squad arrive on the fifth. Then we will be spending a few days in Chicago doing some last minute training before we launch into the nations and head out to our first country: Guatemala!
Antigua [fun fact: I climbed that volcano :)]
'Training?!? Didn't I just get back from training?'
Why yes, yes I did. But training camp is just the beginning! On the first day of Launch, I will be trained on how to be the treasurer for my team. The next few days, our coaches will speak into us and give us some last minute training before they send us out. Our coaches will be visiting us every few months out in the field to debrief and further speak into us. [and did I mention that our squad's coaches are none other than Seth Barnes [the founder of AIM] and his wife!
So let me just paint this picture for you: nearly half of L squad switched from another route for one reason or another. God was HANDPICKING us to be on this squad. He was taking the best of the best from the other squads and assembling THIS power squad. Then, we get to camp and find out that Seth and Karen would be our coaches. Just from these short few weeks of prep since being a fully assembled squad, I KNOW that God has GREAT THINGS in store for us! He is going to use us mightily to heal the sick, clothe the naked, feed the hungry, and everything else He presents to us!
I haven't even been home for a full week since training camp and I already miss each and every one of my squad mates dearly. I cannot wait until we are reassembled again at Launch in 41 short days! We only spent 7 days and some change together, but we have already become family. Those seven days seemed so much longer than just seven days [but I guess staying up til after midnight and waking up at six has that effect…]. The Holy Spirit was so rich and so gracious that week at camp. It is only by the Spirit that 66 strangers could come together and seven days later be closer than brothers. PRAISE THE LORD!
Since I have yet to introduce you all to my team, here is the formal introduction: Meet my team: Team Tumbler! [a blog about the origin of our name will be coming soon to a computer near you!]
