I’m so thankful the Lord didn’t create us to be solitary creatures; He made us to be in community and for relationship. I’ve been studying the Enneagram, which is a personality profile aimed toward maximizing self-awareness with the goal of helping individuals embrace their truest and healthiest version of themselves, while also gaining insight into others around them. (I think I’m half 4, half 7, which I know isn’t really possible based on Enneagram rules, but I’m okay with wrestling through to figure it out some day:) I understand that there are certain personality types that prefer to be alone – those types are some of my best friends 🙂 But even the ‘lone wolves’ need connection with others in the pack every once in a while.
I’m so thankful that Adventures in Missions understands the beauty and necessity of connection – connection with God, connection with other cultures and people outside of our small little corner of the world, and connection with other believers. I went through a program several years ago centered around personal growth and Identity. We were all assigned roommates for the duration of our time throughout the program, and we were encouraged to pray and ask the Lord to reveal His reasoning for putting us in a room together. I see the value and transferrable nature of this exercise, in that it caused us to pause and acknowledge that the Lord is in control and that He has beautiful purpose for everything He brings together, even if it takes time to see and understand. Being placed on a team with 4-6 other people on the Race is no different. For the most part, these are not people you get to choose to spend nearly every moment of every day with, but you’d better believe God has purpose in it all, He knows what He’s doing, and He can be trusted.
At the beginning of this month, our squad gathered together in Siem Riep, Cambodia for debrief and team changes. Our first 4 months of the Race were over and it was time to shake things up a bit. Some people from previous teams got to stick together and jump into their new team as a unit, like 2 or 3 Teddy Grahams getting baked together, joining another Teddy Graham family paw-in-paw. Others, like myself, were pioneer Grahams, braving a whole new bear family as a single representative from our previous pack 😉
I wanted to take a moment or two to introduce my new team, as well as my old 🙂
Meet the team I spent the first 4 months of my Race with: Vathos, which means “depth” in Greek. At training camp, several words were prayed and spoken over us as a team, and the theme of depth kept surfacing. We wanted to be a team known for having a depth of Love for God, for each other, and for the people we encountered. I definitely saw the Love of God active in our team, through the areas of forgiveness, fighting for connection with each other and with God when it was hard and loving the people we encountered well. I also believe the Lord is using whatever depths we didn’t reach together to move us forward into our new teams with an even greater hunger and resolve to pursue Him with greater depth.
And without further ado, the members of Vathos:
Hunter – Our resident evangelist, “Hunty” has a crazy love for life, adventure and the Gospel. He will stop at nothing to make Jesus known to the lost, and he has a dream of becoming a missionary to the hardest and darkest of places on this earth. We were always losing track of him, but we could always count on him to lead us to new and exciting things.
Jeff – Affectionately known as “Heffay”, Jeff also has a spunky love for life and embraces it head on with the confidence and excitement of a golden retriever after its owner got home from a long day of work. He was faithful, brought comedic relief and stability to our co-ed team, and often bridged any gap between the guys and girls. Sadly, Jeff had to leave our team after our first month on the field due to family matters, but his spirit with our Race experience lives on 🙂
Tyler – Or as I like to call him, “Ty Ty”, is a man who has lived a lot of life in a short amount of time…and has the wisdom to show for it. Tyler is equal parts silent observer and life of the party. He’s great with children and kids ministry is for sure his forte, but he is also able to dive deep in conversation and give intentional words of encouragement with ease. He also values sleep more than anyone I know, which was a running joke on our team.
Laney – “Laney-Loo” is my partner in crime and the friend on Vathos that I felt connected to even before I ever met her at training camp. She is easy to spend time with, is always a safe place of comfort and encouragement, and makes me feel like I have permission to be myself. Laney and I have very different personalities, but we ‘get’ each other. We don’t even need words to communicate, quite literally; we both use the same odd noises to express how we feel. There are many times I wondered if I would be able to survive the first few months of the Race without my Laney Loo. We’re on different teams now, and turns out I can survive without her, but she still remains one of my favorite people 🙂
Genevieve – This girl is a natural-born leader. As an Enneagram 4, Genna loves to be unique and independent, which drives her to dive deep into understanding herself and others. I think her desire to gain understanding is the source of her love for research and uncovering insight into people, places and things. On the Race, we’ve been taught to “seek understanding before seeking to be understood,” and I see this as a huge strength in Genna. She also has a great personality and relates well to many different types of people. I’ve learned and grown so much from her 🙂
Makayla – Or better known as “Makaykay,” has a heart of gold, a creative bent and loves God and people so well! Makayla has a beautiful voice, both for singing and for speaking; if ever I came to her with something heavy on my heart, she was always ready to meet me with understanding, comfort and brilliant insight and advice into how to bring it back to God. I’m so grateful to have gotten to spend my first 4 months of the Race with her!
Just a few takeaway lessons from my time on Vathos:
1. Value understanding others above striving to be understood.
2. An environment of safety and trust has to be established before people are willing to bear their true vulnerable selves to one another. Everyone has their own unique ways of building safety and their own needs that must be met before they feel safe to open up to the group.
3. Group dynamics are a real thing and groups undergo a true process of the following steps:1.forming 2.storming (would you look at that – conflict can actually be healthy! I honestly don’t know that I believed this before the Race) 3.norming 4.performing. You can read more about these steps and dynamics here: https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newLDR_86.htm
4. Engaging in conflict is risky but worthwhile when the possibility of growing in trust and connection could be on the other side of that conflict.
5. On that note, I also began learning that even if there’s something going on inside of you that isn’t necessarily the other person’s fault, but you realize it’s creating distance between the two of you, sometimes it’s best to bring those things to the surface…after much prayer and consideration…if the Holy Spirit is telling you to…even if you don’t have any answers for the other person…even if you don’t expect them to change because they aren’t doing anything wrong…but you just realize there’s something ‘not right’ going on inside your own head and heart…even if you don’t have a bow to put on top of it all…and the conversation feels REAL awkward…(can you tell I’m still trying to figure this one out???) I only mention it because it’s BRAND new to me and I’ve tested it out a few times and had HUGE success with it…woo! 🙂
6. In order for the team to grow through tension and tough times, each member has to actively choose to “stay at the table.” When things get scary and messy, each of us can tap into the good ole ‘fight or flight’ responses, which look different for everyone. There is incredible value in taking a good long look at yourself and gaining insight and understanding into what ‘leaving the table’ looks like for you, and then asking God to help you figure out how to come back to the table and how to make conscious choices to stay every time things get messy and hard.
7. There are different communication styles based on an individual’s values, outlook and needs. One diagram depicts each style as an animal: turtle, tiger and owl. I’ve learned that tigers don’t make friends, that the first 4 months confirmed that I’m a turtle, and I found out that everyone would be healthier if we were all just owls. I have SO much more to learn about communication! If you’d like to check out this fun little depiction, here ya go:
8.Lastly, I learned a TON about leadership – most of which I haven’t fully been able to process yet. Leading was not the hardest thing I’ve ever done, but to say the least, team leading the first 4 months of the Race was not easy. I plan on writing a separate blog to debrief that experience, once I’ve managed to halfway come to grips with it myself 😉
Now it’s time to meet my newest team: Freedom Writers!
This name came to mind in that it represents the theme of FREEDOM, both for ourselves and for the people we will meet. In it, I see the picture of Jesus kneeling down to write in the dirt with His finger while setting the woman caught in adultery free. I see the word freedom being written over us as a team, I see God writing freedom in our stories, and I see Him using our team to give others freedom and a voice to write their own story. My own team changed from co-ed to all-girls, which I was a little bit nervous about if I’m being honest, but it’s been a great experience so far. I’ve never been on a team with any of these girls, so we’re all still getting to know one another more deeply. I can share with you what I know to be true of them so far, though, and you can check out each of their blog pages by clicking on their pictures to the left of my home page 🙂
Taylor: “Tay Tay” is our fearless team leader. Tay is a full-on Enneagram 7 if I ever met one. Fun, spontaneous, goofy and always on the go, this girl knows how to have a good time and make everyone feel welcome and loved in the process. Don’t let the lightheartedness fool you though, she’s got plenty of depth and maturity to keep her well-balanced. I’m super excited to have Tay as our team lead and look forward to learning a lot from her 🙂
Caroline – Sweet Caroline, bum bum bummmm…see what I did there? 😉 Carole is our resident Enneagram 5. She’s got a lot going on upstairs, if you know what I mean, and is always making witty commentary and filled with helpful info. Carole may take a moment to open up, but she has a great personality and is always up for witty banter and a nice gluten-free snack.
Sharonne – “Roney” is our beloved treasurer and sci-fi loving guru. She’s got a lighthearted laugh so great it’s contagious and a countenance filled with joy. Makes sense, since she’s best friends with Holy Spirit and talks with Him like she’s talking with a friend. If ever you need a faithful friend, this gal is the one for you.
Megan – “Meg-O” is a strong woman of God who loves to sit in His Presence and intercede on behalf of others and our team. She loves her family a ton, is super kind and generous and has a huge passion for the medical field. Meg-O values independence and has a soft and welcoming countenance.
Betzaida – Also known as “B”, this girl loves people like Jesus and has a passion for feeding the hungry. B attended Christ for the Nations Institute (CFNI) and has a dream to follow in her grandma’s footsteps to house a kitchen to feed anyone who comes through. Finally, B has a deep seated and unapologetic love for Korean dramas – she even got me hooked on one for a while 😀
Until next time 🙂
Love,
Me…(getting a $3 fish pedicure in Thailand…yes, that’s really a thing)
