Unless you are familiar with how the World Race operates, you may need some clarification on the terms squad, teams, and racers. Who is on my squad? How many people are on it? Is that the same thing as a team? Are you called a racer because you run?
These are all good questions.
As I’ve said before, the World Race is an 11-month mission trip to 11 different countries to share the love of Jesus and serve others around the world. They partner with more than 1,000 ministry partners in 79 countries under the umbrella of Adventures in Missions, which exists to mobilize a generation of radical Christ followers, discipling and training them to establish the Kingdom of God.
That generation of radical Christ followers? Those are the racers. Because I am going on the World Race, I am considered a racer. Although I do love to run, you do not have to be a runner to be a racer.
The World Race sends out racers three times a year: January, August, and October. Each time, they launch multiple groups of racers that are each going to a different combination of countries. A squad is just a group of racers going to a specific number of countries. For example, I am in a squad of 32 people, and we are going to Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Cambodia, Thailand, Indonesia, and Malaysia. We are called K-squad! Look how cute we are.
Other squads are going to a different combination of countries. We may have some of the same countries, but the overall route is different. The ministry opportunities could be different as well.
Now, teams are not the same as squads. At training camp, we did multiple team building exercises to help the staff place us into teams. After a few days and a lot of prayer and discussion, they announced those teams. Each team has about 6-7 people. Some are co-ed, and some are all-girls teams (we don’t have any all-boys teams because of the overwhelming majority of women in the squad).
I am in a co-ed team of 6 people! I am SO excited for what God has planned for us! You can see their pictures on the left side of my blog, which is think is super cool. You can click on their picture and it will take you to their blogs! I encourage you to check out how God is changing their hearts and read about their perspective. Our team name is Harbor, and we chose this because we want our team to represent a place where people can find refuge and protection. We also like how it represents how God is our biggest source of refuge. Please be praying for Hannah, Julie, Zack D., Zack S., Dylan, myself, and the rest of my squad as we get closer to launch!
My team is who I will be doing ministry and life with. While our squad will be traveling to the same countries together, each team is partnered with a specific ministry within that country. Ya still trackin’? Although sometimes more than one team can be placed in the same ministry location and work together for that month.
I already have my team’s ministry information for Panama, our first country, and I’d love to share it with you all!
We are placed with an incredible couple who do a lot of work with deaf ministry, and their heart is in the indigenous church. We will probably be working on teaching computer coding as a resource for kids to get jobs in the future. We will also probably be doing a lot of kids ministry (YAY), teaching English or other skills, maybe some manual labor projects, and hopefully helping with the recent church plant that they launched!
Please continue praying for our hearts and the hearts of the people we will be coming into contact with!
