I survived my first World Race debrief!!!
Most of you are probably wondering what the heck that is. So, debrief is a time to…well…debrief. Pretty much, it’s a time that my squad and I take away from our ministry location to process the things we’ve learned over the past month. It’s also a time of deep rest and restoration for the whole squad. We will have two more debriefs throughout the remainder of the 8 months we are gone. For this debrief, my squad went to Brasov, Romania. A lot happened the week of debrief, but I should probably start off telling you about travel day.
TRAVEL DAY
Traveling from Craiova to Brasov was interesting to say the least. We had to take two trains that totaled 7 hours. Doesn’t sound too bad. HOWEVER, when you have a group of 30 people who don’t speak Romanian and all have huge 50 pound backpacks piling onto a tiny train, it makes things a little more complicated. The first hour of our train ride experience wasn’t too bad. It took us a few minutes to fit everyones packs in the compartments, but for the most part, it wasn’t an issue…Until the train broke down. Yup. Our train broke down in the middle of nowhere Romania. We had to jump off the train with our backpacks ( it was a good three foot jump), walk down the train tracks, and wait for another train to come along. It was an unfortunate situation, but it was kind of hilarious. We all sat down in the grass. A few people were singing songs and playing their guitars. One lady that lived in a little house nearby brought us a basket of pears and some fresh water. We made the most of it. Eventually another train came along and we all piled on. And when I say piled, I mean literally piled. The train was already at full capacity, so we had to stand in the small middle compartments that connect the trains. It was hot and cramped, but after a few hours, we made it to Bucharest. We had to sprint in order to catch the next train to Brasov. The compartments on the train were so small that we had to sit on top our huge packs. A few Romanians started taking pictures of us because we looked so silly. After that last train and a short bus ride, we made it to our hostel in Brasov!!!
DEBREIF
First morning of debrief, I wasn’t really sure what the next week would look like. All I had been told was that debrief was a time to process, but I wasn’t exactly sure what all that ensued. My morning started with a few hours of prayer and fellowship with the squad. We all sat in a circle and shared things that we felt like God had been teaching us. A whole lot of wisdom was shared in those few hours. I think one of the biggest and coolest ways God speaks is through other people. After a few hours, I got to explore the downtown area. Brasov is the cutestttt little mountain town I’ve ever seen. After walking around and eating some really good food, we went to our team debrief time. Pretty much this was just a time for me and my team ( Kori, Emmalani, Kate, Morgan, Abbie, and Anna) to meet with our our squad leaders, mentors, and coaches. We got to talk to them about our first month in Craiova. We talked about a lot of things. Things that had gone good, things that we were struggling with, areas that we want to grow in etc. It was a really great time of vuneralbility with my team and I can already see the fruit of having such genuine and honest discussions. After that, me and Kori walked around Brasov, got some dinner, and ended the night shaving my head. Yeahhhhh, that happened. I’ve wanted shave my head for a while now, for a lot of different reasons. I wanted to make a physical declaration that I’m not defined by societal norms or my outward appearance. Beauty is abundant inside of me, and how I look has nothing to do with it. It’s also a way to simplify my life. I’m all about sustainable living, and to be honest, spending endless amounts of money and time on my hair just isn’t something I feel like I should be focusing on right now. I was planning on waiting until I was in a warmer country to cut it off, but something about that first night of debrief told me that it was the right time. Honestly after just one month on the field, I already feel like so much growth has taken place. Chopping off my hair was a way to let go of old baggage. It was a way to let go off all the things I had been holding onto the first month of the race: people/comforts from home, my old identity, past sin and coping mechanisms, unforgiveness, etc. My squad mentor (Kate Goelor) talked one day about grieving over past situations that we never worked through. Pushing our hurt and emotions to the side; It s extremely damaging. I realized that it’s a habit I’ve been practicing for way to long. A lot of things that I’m currently struggling with all stem back to past trauma that I chose to ignore rather than work through. When we don’t giver ourselves time to process our emotions, it’s impossible to ever truly heal from them or be present in your current situation. After taking the time to look back on some major things that hurt me, I realize how I still have pent up pain and insecurity in many areas of my life. By choosing to invite God into the process, I’ve seen what true healing and restoration looks like. After a whole week of worship and prayer and processing, I feel completely centered and renewed. There’s so much power in taking time to reflect. The first step in growth is to recognize what areas you are lacking in. I feel so much peace and clarity going into this next season of life on the race after working through some things I know have been holding me back. Every day of our debrief week I learned something new. there was a lot of laughter, a lot of squad dance parties, a lot of good worship, a lot of prayer. on the way home from debrief, two teams from within my squad split off to do ministry in a different part of Romania for the next two months. It was hard to say goodbye to everyone, but I know that the things we will learn while we are apart are gonna make seeing each other again even sweeter. i’ve been home from debrief for almost a week now and I can already see the fruit of all the stuff i’ve been learning.
Heres a few lil pics I took while in Brasov!
crazy big thank you to everyone back home who is praying and supporting me! You have no idea how much it means to me. I have around $4000 left to raise so pleaseee pray about supporting me financially if you feel led to! Love you guys!
-Abigail
