So since I have been on the race for 20 days now. I guess it’s time I introduce my team to you all. If you remember me explaining what a team is 2 blog posts ago, it’s my family. These are the girls I will be doing the next 9 months of my life with. It’s hard to intimately get to know about 30 people, but 7 is a much easier number. Also, sometimes the squad will split up to do ministry, but the team will always stay together. (Remember, the squad is like my extended family.)
I will also introduce you to my team leader and my squad leader. My team leader is more of our friend. She’s constantly with us, we can go to her whenever; she leads the team time meetings and she knows all the stuff. However, she will not be launching with us overseas, but a new team leader from our team will be raised up. I’ll talk more about that later when the time comes.
Every squad also has Squad leaders given 1-2 teams on the squad to pour into. They are higher up on the leadership board than the team leaders but we can go to them too if needed. They are not always with us, but they will be launching with us in January.
Here it goes!!… I guess I’ll just start introducing them to you one by one. Meet Team Zao!!
Kate Pogue
This is my granola girl Kate. If you don’t know what granola means, that’s ok – I don’t either. (Haha) It’s some kind of youth talk meaning they could totally live outdoors the rest of their life, and this is SO TRUE for Kate. She has a forest green Subaru, great for surviving the treacherous roads. Her favorite color is dark green, she loves everything outdoors, camping, hiking, kayaking and more! Her passion is running… she once told me it has been her idol, her sin and even what’s brought her back to Him, which I think is so powerful! She’s from St. Louis, Missouri and her favorite snacks are granola, check mix and trail mix. She’s rocking the WR life in every way, shape and form. She’s our team vlogger (which is a blog in video form). She only just recently picked up the camera and is already an expert. Kate’s fun and outgoing but also real deep. She takes our bible studies and debriefs deeper than any of us thought it could go. She asks the big questions and thinks them out loud. We love her so much!
Abigail Kidd
This is one of my best friends right here! This girl goes by Abi or her nickname AK-47. (Don’t even ask how that got started cause I can’t remember Lol 🙂 She’s from Wichita Kansas and her favorite color is grey. She’s the oldy out of the group, being the age of 20 and already having two years of college experience. Wow! She’s more on the quiet introvert side (like me) but when she speaks, it’s so beautiful to behold. Her words are kind and gentle and full of such wisdom. (Yeah! Thats what I said Abi! Wisdom!) She loves running and is super good at it. She completed the fitness hike 10 mins early, which is more than I can say. She loves all things Mediterranean but she’s allergic to nuts and gets so salty about the fact that the vending machines never have candy bars without nuts. (Haha) Honestly, she is one of the kindest people I know and I love being around her.
Esther Collins
Esther or Es is our team’s bundle of joy! She’s always full of it and she spreads it around everywhere she goes. (You can’t find her on the weekends though. Sabbath time is when she disappears to rest Lol 😉 She’s from Dayton, Ohio, her favorite colors are light pink and blue, and her favorite foods are avocado toast and noodles. She actually is vegan and super committed to it. She’s been vegan for the past 5 years and I applaud her for keeping it on the race because this is difficult. Es is super talented! She wants to be a cosmetologist when she leaves the race and she has already cut like 4 people’s hair here… and might I add, very professionally. She also contributes so many hairstyles to make us girls look gorgeous when we really aren’t feeling it. I told her by month 9 when my hair has grown out she’s going to give me some cute side bangs. 😀 Es is also like the mom of the group. Always looking out for us and giving us huge hugs and encouragement when we need it. I don’t know what we would do without her.
Grace Leuschner
I don’t even know where to begin with this girl! Grace, or Big Paw Paw as we call her, is just so amazing! (Again the nickname thing is an inside joke so don’t ask…haha.. #basedoffatshirt) She is from Nacogdoches, Texas, and her favorite color is purple and her favorite foods are mashed potatoes and cheese. She is one of those girls who gets along with everyone. Whether you’re an introvert or an extrovert, she can be both. Super fun, super expressive, her singing is beautiful both when she does it to be funny and then also for real. Grace just has such a nice atmosphere to her. She keeps the team laughing and smiling – why? – because she laughs SO MUCH and it’s SO contagious. (Lol) Jesus is so bright in her and I am honored to be on her team.
Hannah Gazan
I love Hannah or Han SO much! Sometimes we call her Hannah Banan, but that’s mostly a Kenz thing. 😀 Han is a missionary child so she’s lived in many places. Her favorite colors are green and yellow and her favorite foods are pasta and anything sweet. Hannah’s talents lye within the photography world. She is our personal photographer and she is so good at what she does! She is also so bold, open and honest. Very outspoken in her words, you always know what’s going on in within her when she speaks. She’s very good at expressing how she feels. Han is also so kind. She’s definitely a rapid, go-getter kind of girl but she always slows down to ask people how their day was, or how they are doing. I’ve only known her for about 3 weeks but I feel like I know everything about her. She has such a beautiful bubbly spirit. She keeps the conversations going so they are never awkward or silent. Hannah is also very on point. I personally struggle with being on time to things and she is always 5 if not 10 mins early. She keeps us accountable. I enjoy Hannah’s company so much! Our team would not be complete without her.
Sophia Porter
I believe Soph may just be my favorite, but don’t tell anyone. (Lol) Me and her connect very well, especially with our love of shows/movies like Avatar the Last Airbender and all things Disney. 😀 She’s from Colorado Springs, Colorado, her favorite color is any color beside green and her favorite foods are Chinese food and hamburgers. Sophia is our storyteller, and she is so good at it! She loves to write, it’s like her super power. She was actually the one to edit this blog before I sent it out to you all… so thank her very much because the grammar here stunk before she came along. 😀 Sophia is actually so kind and does this for all of us. She says she enjoys it and I praise the Lord for her because that could never be me. Sophia is so strong and bold and courageous. I encourage you all to go read her blog posts, they are amazing and you will see why I say these things. She too goes deep in our bible studies and devos. She asks those deep questions and brings up thought processes unknown to us. Oh, and we can’t forget Moses!! Sophia has this huge awesome walking stick she named Moses. I love it so much! She names many things including caterpillars, spiders and frogs that we come across. Our team would not be as fun or intriguing without Sophia and I am so so glad we have her.
Regan Martin
Regan, or Reg, is my alumni team leader/TL. She is the absolute best! I could not have asked for a better leader. She is from Amish Country, Indiana. Her favorite colors are sunflower yellow and emerald green, and her favorite foods are anything chocolate or pasta. She is legit the coolest! Regan is passionate about all things when it comes to God’s word. She prays like a true warrior over everything and God speaks to her and through her in amazing ways. She especially loves the history of the Bible and the book of Revelations. She could go on and on about both. Her knowledge of different words in the languages of Hebrew and Greek and their meanings are super helpful and cool. In her future, she feels her calling from the Lord has something to do with Israel and she is super obsessed over it. Anytime someone brings it up she jumps for joy. Regan is truly a spirited person; always hype about everything good and always giving God the glory.
Mackenzie Meadows
Kenz is our teams Squad leader and I cannot describe in words how much I love her. Kenz is from Chicago, Illinois. Her favorite color is mustard yellow and her favorite food is honey mustard. She brings so much light not only to our team, but to the whole squad. She is so full of joy. Always laughing, always smiling, always so much fun to be around. She adds spice to our squad; without her we would all be so lame. (Haha) XD She actually got almost the entire squad to buy a t-shirt saying “Rad Times” on the front with a pic of her on the back when she was seven years old doing that little rad hand signal. That’s how awesome she is! (I’ll post a pic of it later so be on the lookout.) Apart from her humorous nature, she can also be very serious and go very deep. She is very spiritual and has a close connection with the Lord or “Papa”, as she calls him. One of her spiritual gifts is prophecy, which she has done many times over me and others. This gift she has is truly beautiful. She is also an amazing artist and this is how she journals. If you could see her journal, it looks like a rainbow threw up all over it. So many sketches, paints, colors and scribbles everywhere. It’s pretty neat. Without her, Team Zao and Squad F would be dull.
SO THAT’S IT!!
This only scratched the surface, the tip of the iceberg, of who these amazing people are. I feel so unequipped to even try to describe them because this is not what I’m good at and I feel like my words don’t give them justice. They are all such beautiful Daughters of the King. They have so many gifts and talents and I have only known them for these 3 weeks but I am so excited to see where the Lord leads this team over the next 9 months!
For your information, there are 4 teams on the squad. We all had to choose a name for ourselves so we could be easier called upon. It’s also a way our teams can set a goal for the year or a purpose for what our year on the Race wants to be or look like. It’s pretty cool what everyone came up with. So below I have put the names, what language they’re in, and the English translation and meaning to each of them. Then pictures below to show you all the teams.
I’ve also put some pics of the leaders on here so you can put a face to them as well.
Team Zoe – (Greek) – “To live – active, blessed, and endless in the Kingdom of God”
Team Fervent – (English) – Fervent – “Having or displaying a passionate intensity; zealous”
Team Mesa – (Spanish) – “Table – a place where we can come together as a family and just be in the presence of one another. A place you slow down and take a minute to talk about life and laugh together.”
Team Quo Vadis – (Latin) – “Where are you going?”
Key = SQ – Squad Leader, TL – Team Leader
Here are all the leaders, including the alumni team leaders… 1st pic goes Aaron(SL), Sam(TL), Leanna(TL), Millie(SL), Kenz(SL), Regan(TL) and Austin(TL).
2nd pic goes top left our Squad Mentor Megan, next to her our Squad Coaches Phil and Ruth, bottom left to right goes Kenz, Millie and Aaron, they are the Squad Leaders.
This post was definitely a lot to take in, therefore if you have any questions about my team, my squad, my leaders or anything WR related, please don’t be afraid to ask. It’s the least I can do for all of you!
Here’s my number/email if you would prefer to contact me that way. (Note: I will not always respond instantly to comments or texts due to busy schedules)
Thanks for reading!
609-735-8181
Lots of Love,
Alex 😀
P.S. All the photos taken in front of the blue background (the shower trailers) were taken by my amazing teammate Hannah Gazan! She is an amazing photographer so if you ever want to hit her up after the race… you totally should. 😀
