These past few weeks have been filled with tremendous growth. I feel like I’ve known my squad mates for years, and it’s really only been two weeks or so. One of the first things we did together was training camp, which involved leaving Chiang Mai and traveling to the Free Burma Rangers grounds. These grounds are located out in the country, so we stayed in our tents each evening to get comfortable with sleeping in them. Training camp ultimately focused on personal growth and healing. As a squad, we experienced so much unity as we learned more about each other and lived in close community. We had some incredible talks from some devoted couples whose heartbeat is to spread truth and be led by the Holy Spirit to bring about wholeness in Jesus. Personally, I experienced a lot of healing and realization.
As training camp progressed we learned to deal with various unexpected situations that may occur over the next eleven months, and became comfortable with relying on each other. We had the chance to play some team sports, and do some team exercising during our free time. There were times I had to remind myself that I was in Thailand playing soccer, or riding horses; it was surreal. Our meals together were also unifying times. One evening in particular, we all ate this pineapple rice combination together from one large pot, using just our hands. Talk about accelerated bonding. How grateful I am for those moments. Towards the end of training camp, we were given some special group activities to perform. We were all divided into four teams for these activities. During each activity our leadership team was deciding on teams, and were prayerful in ensuring healthy chemistry for each team. I was honored to have been asked to step into a team leader role. After taking some time to pray and reflect on the offer, I decided that God was, and is, indeed calling me to lead. These teams will be the people we do ministry with and living closely with for at least the first four months, if not longer. They announced the teams later after returning to Chiang Mai. It’s an understatement when I say I love my team. My excitement is in full swing for serving alongside them. Their names are Salvador (my fellow bro), Makenzie, Gabi, Denise, and Alycia. Please pray that our team is effective, and bears much fruit for the Kingdom. We decided to name our team Trotos, which means vulnerable in Greek. God has been pressing each of us to be vulnerable, so we took that and ran with it in incorporating it into our team name.
After our five or so days of training camp at the Free Burma Rangers site, we returned to Chiang Mai as I mentioned. Our first evening back we were challenged to spend the evening with our teams and do something memorable. As team leader, I was excited to help plan something truly memorable. Some of my team members had already discussed getting tattoos, so we ended up all getting tattoos that night, except for Salvador (he got a less permanent one). So there’s that. I see this tattoo as a new chapter in my life. It represents all that I’ve learned so far these past few weeks, and it is a reminder of the life God is clearly calling me to live.
Leadership gave us two ‘off’ days after our memorable evening to recharge and to get to see some of the neat places in and around Chiang Mai. On our first off day, we visited a large waterfall that you can hike up and down in. It was an incredible experience. After our two free days we began what is called launch, which is what we are currently still completing. Launch differs from training camp in that team dynamics are focused on, rather than having an individual focus. We have been working heavily on building team unity, discussing how to deal with conflict within our teams, etc. We learned about a powerful group tactic that revolves around honest feedback for all of our teammates. It’s something that our teams will engage in quite often once we begin ministry. Launch ends tomorrow (Wed. 1/20). We will then begin ministry within our teams here in Chiang Mai. We’ve had the privilege of living in a hostel (Zion Café & Hostel), so our month here in Thailand won’t consist of sleeping in our tents.
If you’ve read this far, thank you. I know this is a long blog post, but I want to share all that’s happened since I last blogged so that you can accurately walk through this journey with me.
One thing I’ve realized is that I often make dangerous agreements within myself that are destructive, such as believing that I’m no good to be a part of this squad, or that I’m an ineffective leader, etc. Even more so, I’m realizing that I’ve been doing this for a long time. God has been revealing to me that His view of me is radically different than the view I’ve had of myself for so long now. I’m redeemed, I’m a man made in the image of the one true King. So my plan is to be cautious in what I agree with inside my head, and only allow what is true to stick and to come into agreement with. I’m also learning that different people often require different dynamics of leadership. The way I’ve been leading over these past few years is different from how I am being called to lead now, within the team that God has placed me in. All in all, it’s encouraging seeing God’s fingerprints on all that’s been happening, and seeing the growth He’s bringing about in me.
I’ll wrap up this blog post with some more prayer requests.
1) Please pray for powerful vulnerability.
2) Pray our team continues to come together.
3) Please pray about giving financially to my teammates who are not yet fully funded::
http://gabirodriguez.theworldrace.org/
http://makenziebaker.theworldrace.org/
http://denisehenderson.theworldrace.org/
http://alyciacrane.theworldrace.org/
http://salvadorgallegos.theworldrace.org/
