Ready, Set, Go —–>
I’M STAYING THE FULL 11 MONTHS ON THE FIELD AS A SQUAD LEADER!!
It was a Monday night in Alba Iulia, Romania. My leadership team and myself were out to dinner at this literal hole in the wall steak house. Teresa (our squad mentor*) asked Madie, Davante, and I,
“What do you think the best situation for the World Race leadership team would be? In a dream world, what would be most effective to better disciple, guide, and engage with the squad?”
At that point we began discussing how it would be awesome if the coaches** came and out to the field for weeks or maybe even a month at a time.
We mentioned how it would be incredible if the Squad Leaders stayed another month or two. Because in just five short months we are not able to spend time and invest with all seven teams, which is truly disappointing.
We started to discuss a plethora of benefits to the squad leaders staying longer, deepening relationships, longevity in discipleship, walking alongside people through all ten of the moodcurves that come with the journey of abandonment on the race, and just being better able to serve the squad as a whole.
When Teresa squad led, she was one of the select few who stayed for the full 11 months. She expressed to us how much she loved it and all that she learned through that experience. She shared how incredible it was to see people at the start of the race and then to be able to cross the finish line with a completely transformed and renewed person.
Upon hearing this I asked, “why couldn’t we stay for the full 11 months?”
**crickets
We began to look at each other and reality hit that it was actually a possibility!
Teresa e-mailed our overseer on our leadership team to see if he was “open to it” and she encouraged us to pray about it.
By Tuesday we found out we had the green light and were just waiting for the Lord to give us a yes or no.
On Thursday night, Madie, Davante, and I all sat in the hammocks outside our house in Romania and began to laugh, cry, and rejoice together as we shared that we all felt the Lord was saying, YES!
In the eleven years the World Race has been sending people onto the missions field, never once has a whole trio of Alumni Squad Leaders felt called to stay out on the field for another 11 months!
We are the first.
The Lord is doing a new thing in us.
He continues to grow me more and more everyday!
I have never had to depend on Him as much in my life as I am in this season.
I am ministering daily to 41 people of X-squad.
I’m speaking life into them, walking through past hurts that have defined their lives until now. We are breaking the chains off and stepping into freedom together through Christ.
I am listening to the Lord daily for what He has to share with them, how He wants me to Shepard and disciple them, and how I can best serve them as their leader and a representation of Christ.
It’s still hasn’t quite sunk in that I GET to be here.
Papa called, and I answered.
It has been an incredible journey that has only just begun.
God is truly doing a new thing in me daily here and a new thing in every person on X-squad.
From baptisms to shattering the boxes we put Him in, He is in it all and we are in awe of His goodness and mercies!
Thank you Jesus for choosing me to serve you in this way.
If you would have asked me 10 years ago where I would be today, my answer would have looked nothing like my reality but as always, His ways are higher.
“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” Matthew 28:19
*Squad Mentors have not only finished their own race, they’ve also squad led before, and are truly some of the most incredible people you’ve ever met. Teresa, our Squad Mentor has been living as an Evangelist, radically proclaiming Jesus’s name to 47 nations. She felt the call many years ago that God wanted her to go to all the nations and share Him with all she meets. This woman is a force to be reckoned with. She sees every person through the eyes of Christ and actively walks in a heavenly mindset, sharing Jesus’s love with all she meets and telling all of what He’s done for her. It is an honor to follow her leadership.
**Squad Coaches are a vital part of our leadership team. They are a married couple that has given their lives to ministering to people in Jesus name. They are able to offer insight and perspective that can only come from years of pursuing the heart of the Father. Our coaches, Tanya and Kevin began their journey as coaches after their daughter went on the World Race’s Gap Year (a 9 month trip for 18-20 year olds). X-squad is the second squad they have invested into. They will come out to visit us at multiple debriefs and pour into the squad. We talk with them weekly about what’s happening on the field and they spend many of their hours in prayer and interceding for us. I have been blown away by their incredible leadership.
