On January 5th, we arrived in Tblisi, Georgia, located in the Caucus region of Euroasia. It’s a beautiful country characterized by snow-capped mountains, the Black Sea, and rolling hills. The people are incredibly friendly and generous. It isn’t uncommon for drivers to pull over and offer a ride to pedestrians, or to be invited in to enjoy conversation and home brewed wine.
Georgia is named after St. George. George was a Roman emperor who was martyred for his faith. His cousin, St. Nino is the most highly esteemed Saint in Georgia, and is credited for bringing Christianity to the country. It is said that Nino received a vision of St. Mary, whom handed her a cross made out of grapevines and told her to go to present day Georgia. Soon after her arrival the queen who was very sick requested her presence. Nino shared the Christian faith and prayed with her. The queen was healed, and converted to Christianity. The king was tolerant of is wife’s belief, but did not believe, until he became suddenly blind on a hunting trip and responded by praying to the God of St. Nino. Immediately after praying he regained his sight. In 327 AD he made the state religion Christianity. Presently, roughly 50% of Georgians are either named George or Nino.
With the new year, our alumni leaders left, new leaders were raised up, and new teams were formed. Tercera, a team of 7, 4 men and 3 women is my team. I’m excited to learn, grow, serve, and explore together.
Our squad is the first group of world racers to visit Georgia and Armenia, therefore much of our focus this month and next month is finding men and women of peace (individuals who have a need, and are respect that we are Christians- however, they do not need to be Christians.), who could serve as potential hosts for future teams, and provide outreach opportunities.
The first few days in Tblisi we focused on team formation: vision casting, internal goal setting, values, and setting norms. We shared our life stories, studied the bible, worshiped, and explored the city together. After a few days, our host was ready for us, so we moved 1-2 hours outside the city of Tbilisi to live at a YWAM (Youth With A Mission) base. Typically, teams come and help staff camps, but most of the year-round YWAM staff is out of the country, so we are self-initiating.
Each day is different, below are snippets of what a few days looked like.
- Fencing in a soccer field at the YWAM base with our host and his sons.
- Hammering a basement floor to smooth out the imperfections with our host and his sons.
- Tending a garden at a nursing home, and discussing opportunities to come back to visit with the residents
- Cleaning the YWAM base.
- Baking cookies for a group of international YWAM students staying at the base with us.
- Prayer walking through the city of Tbilisi.
- Baking cookies and writing a kind note to a neighbor who gave us a ride
- Serving dinner and making rice crispy treats with a couple Georgian friends that we have met.
- Renting a car and going to the mountains on adventure day.
- Stopping to help an elderly lady pick olives in the park.
- Making meals and eating together as a team.
- Going to a speakeasy with friends we met at the international church
- Going on walking tours through the city
- Rock climbing with newly met friends.
- Logistic planning: debrief location (4 days for squad to come together with stateside staff to debrief what has happened the past 2 months), figuring out how to cross borders, arrange land travel, and obtain visas for China.
- Figuring out local transportation. When budget is $1 USD per day, there is more of a desire to learn how to use the city buses and metro.
Coming in to the race I had the expectation that I would have a lot of cool stories to share with everyone about how busy we were helping people (orphans, widows, etc.). In reality, we are in a new place every 20-30 days and traveling from city to city throughout some of that time. It’s hard to feel good about great accomplishments, they aren’t finite. We are instead a part of someone’s day, week, or month. The productivity based, goal-oriented part of me struggles with that sometimes. But, I believe that learning to take life as it comes and recognize opportunities to serve and love is of its own value.
After reflection, I find myself believing that God invited me on this journey and that I am where he wants me to be. God is my savior; He is the savior. His word says to love, and that is what I am trying to do. Love God. Love myself. Love others.
Much love!
Catherine
