[As the title suggests, I wanted to write 11 blogs summarising my 11 months of The World Race, one by one. I want to be able to look back in a few years time and remember every detail, but I also want you to be able to live the memories with me. Each week I am going to share a blog post about a country, and also my top ten photos from that month (on my social media). I hope it gives you more of a look into what our lives have looked like this year. This is a look into Month 5.]
Myanmar! Month 5 of The World Race. This was a month that looked a lot different for me and my two squadmates Breier and Taylor. At the end of Month 4, we entered into a time of team changes. I said goodbye to my beloved Haven girls and I was asked to step into the position of Squad Leader. To explain why that happens; the first 5 months of the Race, we had 4 wonderful men & women with us who had done the Race before, and had chosen to come back onto the field with a new squad and lead them. At the end of Month 4, they pray into and choose people to take that role from them at the end of Month 5; that happened to be me, Breier and Tay!
Month 5 was a lot of leadership training for us. We were stepping into a role where the focus was less on external ministry, but more on the squad themselves. We were becoming the idea boards, the outside viewpoint, the encourager & supporter; which obviously brings with it a whole lot of anxiety and fear. I was scared I wouldn’t be enough, scared that I wouldn’t know what to say, scared I couldn’t lead as well as the leaders before me, scared people would see through me when I was struggling.
‘Leadership training’ sounds like learning a whole lot of protocols, emergency procedures and conflict resolution techniques, which was definitely part of it, but the main part was getting to know ourselves better. How we work, how we interact, how we relax, how we manage stressful situations, how we can be better. I learnt SO much about myself this month. I learnt what makes my heart burn with passion, I learnt what makes me angry, I learnt how I respond when things aren’t going my way. I learnt so much from the incredible leaders around me, and how being a leader is exactly the opposite of what you think sometimes. ‘Being a leader is going first when it hurts and last when it pays.’
After 10 days of training, I went with my squad leader from day one (Cote d’Ivoire!!) Meesh out to do life with Team Valor for 2 weeks. We went out to a tiny village, which is where my heart belongs on the Race, and we started working with them and their beautiful ministry. We worked alongside a family who ran children’s homes (in their own houses), schools, a Bible college and a Church. They looked after us like their own, took us shopping, drove us to hospitals to go to squadmates surgeries! Team Valor were a dream to be with, and this began my time as squad leader moving around teams every single month. It’s exciting doing this, and I have adored getting the chance to spend so much time with every person on my squad. I don’t think I’ll ever put into words how much I adore these people of mine, and everything they have taught me.
Month 5 ended with my sweet Prisca getting appendicitis, and living with her in the hospital for a few days. We cosied up in hospital beds, watched Harry Potter everyday and watched the massive monsoon that hit Myanmar that week through our window. A perfect way to wrap up a beautiful month.
