On a rainy morning at 8 o’clock, me and three teammates were blindfolded, stuffed in the back of cars, driven out and abandoned in the Albanian countryside…
As you all may know by now, I was asked to be a team leader last month. It was by far a challenge and celebration at the same time. I was given the opportunity to lead an amazing team of brothers and sisters. We all seem to click so quickly and grew to love each other in just a short 3 weeks. However, I still had a lot of insecurities to deal with and not to mention just trying to figure out how the whole team leading thing worked. I was able to begin slowly letting go of insecurities while they were being replaced with confidence in the Lord and the calling He has on my life.
Seeing how the month went, the growth that took place, and the areas I need to improve in, I felt ready to take on another month of team leading.
Debrief was approaching and people were beginning to get anxious about what changes were about to take place. Team Leaders would be stepping down; others would be stepping up. Also the talk of the month, Squad Leaders. Our current Alumni Squad Leaders will be parting ways with us at the end of the month and new Squad Leaders were to be brought up. So many speculations were being discussed within the squad of whom it would be. I had my guesses too. Never would have I predicted that I would be picked. Never had I even allowed my mind to even think about that possibility for myself. However, the Lord was….
On the second day of debrief I was asked to come into the room with the Alumni Squad Leaders to talk about something from last months ministry. We spoke and they said that they had another question for me… “Matthew, the main reason we called you in here was to see if you would be willing to Squad lead?”… I just gave them I look of disbelief and said, “you’re joking me”. I seriously thought they were pulling my leg on this one. I haven’t even got the team leading down yet, how in the world am I supposed to lead a squad??
They told me I could have some time to pray about it first before I gave them an answer. I went to the bathroom and immediately said to God, “whoa God, what are you doing??? I can’t do this!” That reminded me that I couldn’t do the team leading either. The Lord is taking me places that are beyond myself, a place where it’s obvious that He is in control and preparing me for so much more. As I was being sure that this was the Lord calling me into this position, I began to remember confirmation I have already received but didn’t know it.
The night before, Chelsea said to me during feedback that she felt led to share something and didn’t know why. She said that not only did my team respect me, but also the whole squad respected me. Over the past week the Lord began to give me a new love for the squad as a whole. Being put on a new team made me aware of all the other awesome squad mates we have.
I then felt led to look at the verse of the day on my iPod (which I never do). It was Proverbs 16:9, “In their hearts the human plans out their course, but the Lord establishes their steps.” Several times over the years I have found myself trying to come up with a plan. Now plans are good but I encourage you not to let that determine your steps. Be open to where the Lord may lead. This has been huge in my life lately. I would have never planned for my race to go this way. This all stemmed from fear and intimidation. The Lord made it clear to me that morning that this step was being established by Him and if I didn’t take it I would be missing out on huge part of His plan for me on the race and beyond the race.
So here I am with arms wide open, reaching out to the One who is beyond myself leading me through each step. Again, I’m not here to stand above anyone because none of us are worthy of that. I’m here to stand below this squad to push them toward their full potential in Christ. I’m here to love them, serve them, serve with them, laugh with them, and grow with them. I understand as much as I want to love this squad, I can’t take them amongst myself but instead take them to the Lord who can forever diminish all burdens!
“I may be weak, but Your Spirit strong in me. My flesh may fail, but my God, You never will!”
Now back to that cold rainy morning. We began training with the Alumni Squad Leaders and our Mentor Hope. They woke us up that morning and told us to have our rain gear on. We thought, oh! A day to explore and do something fun with our team! Little did we know how true that would be, just not in the way we imagined.
They blind folded us, put us in a taxi, and dropped us off 10 miles away on the countryside. We had a list of challenges to complete and a time to make it back to the hostel. So from 9-5 we did a list of things from blind folds, piggy back rides, music videos in the street to prayers, getting to know each other’s stories, praying for random men in the park, finding our way back to the hostel using only our feet as transportation, and just enjoying each other’s company.
This may all sound silly to you but there were many lessons to be learned. The way we communicate, our strengths and weaknesses, trust, responsibility, and more… I’m super excited to be serving along side Daniel, Bree, and Rita as we dive into whatever the Lord has for us in Squad Leading!
Meet my team of fellow Squad Leaders!
http://danielwilliams.theworldrace.org
http://ritamiller.theworldrace.org
http://breannamason.theworldrace.org/?filename=uncharted
