We finally arrivied in Istanbul after a pretty ridiculous bus ride at like 4am with nowhere to go, so Patch and I scouted it out and found a park for us to sleep in for a few hours. I had a bit of a time herding away the numerous drunks who were urinating on nearby trees, but other than that it wasn’t too bad, no rain. Eventually we made it to a hostel and had a day and a half of free time until the rest of the squad arrived for the debrief. Istanbul is an awesome city. We did some prayer walking to see the city and it is so cool. It’s definitely one of my favorite places that we’ve been to.
When the rest of the squad arrived, our squad leaders made an announcement. We knew that they, Aaron and Caroline, would be leaving us at the end of the next month and we knew that they would be calling up two new squad leaders from the existing team leaders, but they shocked the squad when they said that this process would also involve changing teams around. They said they would announce it the next day and that the announcement would be followed by two hours of manditory silence. The morning of the announcement, I got sick. Very, very sick. During the announcement, I was vomiting, so I just assumed that someone would tell me the changes. Nope. So I laid in bed for two hours wondering until finally just before dinner, someone told me that I had been moved to a different team and that I was no longer a team leader. It is REALLY sad to leave my friends on my old team, especially Matt Patch, who I’m going to miss like crazy. Having said that, my new team is AWESOME, and I’m SO excited to be with them. Here they are:
Melanie Dodson (team leader)
Melanie is awesome, and very similar to my personality type, so I’ve got somebody with whom to be alone time buddies! Melanie is a fantastic leader and I’m so pumped to be following her. At the very beginning of the World Race when she was on the leadership team with me, I thought to myself, “If I had to follow any of these other leaders, Melanie would be my pick”. She has a wonderful heart for others and does a great job of looking beyond herself to get the best out of her teammates. Needless to say, I’m a little excited to be on her team. http://melaniedodson.theworldrace.org
Hope Mendola
Where do I start with Hope? She is HILARIOUS, she is awesome, she is a HUGE encouragement to me, and she’s one of those people that I already know for sure that I will keep in regular contact with after the World Race. I only wish Hope and I had met sooner. Hope has an amazing vision for others and encourages them with it. She is an exhorter if ever I’ve seen one, and I’m super excited to see her grow the rest of this year. Also, she looks exactly like Flo from the Progressive Insurance commercials.
Geoff Shepard
Losing Matt Patch was a huge blow for me, but if I had to pick one other guy out of our squad to be on my team, it would’ve been Geoff. Geoff is a stud, as you can tell by the picture. He loves soccer, which gives us a bond right away, but he also loves Jesus. Geoff is very wise and definitely has the spiritual gift of teaching, which is awesome. I can’t wait to see the Lord grow Geoff even more in this area and I can’t wait to learn from him. There are only two guys on most of the teams on our squad and I believe the releationship between the guys on a team is crucial, and I’m happy to say that I know that Geoff and I are going to be great together. http://geoffreyshepard.theworldrace.org
Michelle Johnson
Way back at training camp, we had sample teams and after each one, we had to tell the staff which people would be “best teammate”, “most challenging teammate”, etc. Michelle was on my best teammate list and we were both bummed when it didn’t work out. But now, we’ve got a second chance! I’m so pumped to be on Michelle’s team. She’s a phenominal listener and I really feel like I can share with her. She’s also a great runner, so I have a running buddy FINALLY!!!! Michelle has an amazing heart for kids and it’s contagious. I’m so excited about growing with Michelle this year. By the way this photo is from our Halloween party, she doesn’t normally dress or look like this (she’s going to love me for using this photo). http://michellejohnson.theworldrace.org
Emily Gearhart
Emily is a fellow Hoosier and she’s pretty much the best. I didn’t really know Emily that well before we became teammates, but I know enough to know that she is awesome. For one thing, she laughs at my jokes! This is a big deal, seriously. Emily is committed to growing, even when things stretch her and make her uncomfortable, which inspires others around her to grown and that is awesome. She is also the team’s finance person and does an amazing job serving us in this way. Also, as you can see, she has a killer fashion sense. Emily is awesome, and I’m super pumped to experience the rest of this year with her.
Anna Notario
Anna is the only survivor of my former team, so I’ve had the amazing blessing of hanging out with and getting to know her over the last three months. Anna is a keeper. She is ALWAYS in the mood to pray, and when nothing else makes sense she reminds the team that we need to hit our knees before anything else. Anna loves the Lord SO much and it shows and it makes others around her want to love the Lord more too. I am so glad that we are still together because we’ve shared so many great experiences so far and there is only going to be more to come. Anna is a keeper, and luckily, they let me keep her :).
So this is my new team, I’m beyond excited to get going with them, it’s going to be AMAZING. Please pray for quick bonding and unity with this new team so we can take the world by storm for Jesus!!!
Love you all – Adam
