I am so thankful for this last week. It has been a blast and packed full with Holy Spirit filled worship and growth for many, myself for sure included.
Saturday, August 24th I got to spend the day hanging out with my sweet mom before she dropped me off in Gainesville, to start leadership training for my upcoming 3-month World Race Semesters trip. It’s only been two months since getting home from the World Race, so saying goodbye to all my friends and family again was definitely hard, but it helps knowing God is going to move in incredible ways.
Two of my former squad mates from I Squad, Emily and Morgan, are actually leading a Semesters trip at the same time as me. Morgan is my co-leader! A couple days before we had to be in Gainesville we, along with one other former squad mate, Tyler, got to go to an Atlanta Braves game which was super fun!! We had a great time “catching” up!
(Me, Emily, Morgan, & Tyler)
Leadership training was super fun and I got to grow a lot in just a few short days. We had a lot of awesome people pouring into us. My favorite of which was Jeremy Cearbaugh who was my squad mentor for I-Squad. He is so full of wisdom and loves to have fun. One day we had a lot of information to take in so he surprised us by going skating!
(Jeremy, me, Sarah, Kelley, Taylor, Liz, Emily, & Morgan)
During the few days of leadership training, I stayed in a small house with the other six leaders. The other leaders were all women so I was blessed to have my own room. It was a great experience to continue catching up with Emily and Morgan, along with getting to know the other leaders through card games and good talks.
After just a few days, it was time for the participants to arrive at training camp. I had the privilege of driving one of the big vans, owned by Adventures in Missions, to the Atlanta airport to pick up some of the racers. I don’t know what it is about driving a large vehicle where you are sitting high in the air, but I do know it’s a blast!
I was excited, but definitely a little nervous about meeting my team. But before I knew it we were all together and it went great. They are all 18 to 20 years old and carry a maturity well beyond their years. It fills me with so much joy to see a group of people, mostly just graduating high school, so on fire for Jesus. The fact that they are willing to leave their family and friends for three months is a huge testament to their faith.
(We tried to take a squad photo a couple times but unfortunately it never worked out… team and squad photos for sure coming!)
The next four days were filled with amazing worship, and teachings about our identity in Christ, sharing the Gospel, our relationship with the Holy Spirit, and many other topics. I got to help lead the team in some team building activities and discussions that went super well. Some of the team building activities were pretty entertaining to watch!
As I write this blog awaiting our flight to Nicaragua in the Atlanta airport, I can hardly believe over a week has gone by since leaving home again. So much has already happened, and I am so dang excited to continue to see what God has in store.
Look out Central America, we’re coming for ya!
