MEET TEAM D.I.V.A.S
Hello my favorite people! Thank you for coming again. I love and appreciate yalls support.
Today we are going to be talking about MY TEAM!!! As you all know… we had team changes coming into Malawi SOOOOO I am going to introduce you to my NEW TEAM! Yay.
But before I do that… I have a quick story about our team name. In my original team (team Seekers) we had to pick our team name way back at training camp. Me and keia had suggested “team Divas” because there was a cool meaning and stuff and our entire team shot us down. We ended up deciding on the team name “Seekers” and it was a wonderful decision and I think it was a good thing that happened for the betterment of our team. SO… coming into team changes the minute me and keia realized we would be in the same team we just HAD to try to be team “Divas” again… AND OUR TEAM SAID YES. so there you have if folks… our team name… TEAM DIVAS! Devoted Intentional Vulnerable Accountable and Servanthearted.
Okay now meet my team…
Meet Keia… oh wait… you already have! Keia was on my last team and she is still on my team! We have spent almost 5 months together. Every day, every moment, and every situation she has been there with me. I love her so much. She has the sweetest heart and is such a servant. She encourages me in ways I never knew were possible before. She is down to earth and so wise. She is beautiful. She is kind hearted. She loves cats and the color yellow. She has a genuine love for reading her bible. She is 21 as of a few days ago. She has been one of the biggest reasons my race has been so sweet. She and I both have such a sweet friendship that I wouldn’t trade or give up for the entire world. I love my keia and I am obsessed with her and I could talk about her for 89 years. Love that chica.
MEET TARA!! She is new. She is sweet. She is bold. What I love most about Tara is her heart for others. She puts other people first 100% of the time. If I need something and she needs something, 100% of the time she will want to serve me first. I love her heart for helping others and her heart for helping the animals we live around. She rarely complains and she has a genuine heart for the Lord that is evident in everything she does. She is organized, giving, bold in her words, moldable and loving. Her favorite color is “light blue greenish”. Her favorite animal is her new puppy George that we stole off off our property. Something she is passionate about is music and loving other people. She is so sweet and I am excited to grow closer with her!
MEET LUKE!! I interviewed him and these are the best answers I could get… His favorite color is red but he thinks he looks best in blue. His favorite animal is a lion and his second favorite animal is a tiger. Two things he is passionate about is his hair and “women”. He can “speak Mexico”. Luke is someone coming on the race I never thought I would get to know and I even remember my first conversation with him at training camp… it went something like this:
Me- *walks up to Luke because I want to be friends with him so badly* “HI! What’s your name???”
Luke- “Luke”
Me- “Oh cool. My name is Courtney!!”
Luke- *nods and walks away*
Looking back on this conversation makes me laugh so hard because we have come so far. Luke is someone that has many layers. He is funny, he is sarcastic, and he has a really caring heart. He is the first person to spark up a conversation with a local, he is teaching three highschool classes, he loves “scaring” the kids we work with, he has a lot of wisdom to share in our bible devotions, and he genuinely cares about people. Luke reminds me a lot of my brother and I think Luke is cool. Luke also loves to talk about himself and loves to get his hair braided. Luke is cool.
MEET ROD (Rodrigo)!!! I also interviewed him and these were his answers. He is passionate about Music and “autonomy”. He loves the color green. His favorite animal is an elephant. He can speak “American”. Rodrigo is someone I have been friends with this entire race so far so I was excited to be on his team for the second half of the race. He is funny, he is a GREAT cook, he is teaching Physics these next two months, he is from Mexico and used to live a few hours from me for 10 years, he loves to listen to music, and he is very compassionate. He loves to help people and he has a huge heart for not only our team, but everyone he comes across. Rod let’s me cook with him and help him and it makes me happy. Rod also seems to always know what to say when you need advice. He’s a cool dude. Rod is awesome.
MEET NICK!! Nick is currently sleeping so I could not interview him BUT ITS OKAY! Luke and Rod are going to answer the questions for him! Yay! Luke told me that nicks favorite color is “crusty blood red”. Rod told me that he is passionate about people and taking care of them as well as serving them. Nick is very good at photography. He is the most servant-hearted person I have ever met. He puts others first always. He isn’t teaching these next few months but he is waking up early everyday to do manual labor with the workers building a clinic nearby and that’s rad. Nick is always the first person to ask if someone is okay and nick is always looking out for our team. He’s so cool. Yessss.
Hillary (one of my squad leaders) said something she likes about my new team is that “there is always laughter”.
6 things I love about my team:
– We are all so different
– There is always someone to talk too
– There is non-stop laughter
– We can be extremely serious and also extremely crazy
– There is always music playing (usually Lukes or Rods…)
– We are becoming a little family
Women:
– Tara: “I was really excited to grow into closer community with Courtney and Keia and nervous about the change in team dynamic from what I was used too but I love the guys and it’s been a really cool and sweet adjustment”
– Keia: “I was sad to not be on an all girls team but excited to find a different kind of community within the guys on our new team. Courtney and Tara are two people that I feel can really push me and challenge me in my walk with Jesus.”
Men:
– Boys didn’t want to give me their thoughts because they were playing music… which is typical.
I asked each one of my teammates to say something they wanted me to put in my blog to say to y’all… here is what they said:
Tara: “Courtney is the best human that I know and I am so happy to be on a team with her”
Luke: “follow me on Snapchat Stephens_11 and Instagram @lukestephens11”
Rod: “follow me also on Instagram @rodrigo_the_beaner”
Nick: “hello Courtney’s mom… and follow my blog please”
Keia: “if you ever come to Africa buy an aloe drink”
Whelp.
That’s all I have for you now folks! Stay tuned for more!
If you have any blog suggestions or questions you would want answered about my trip, journey, or experience please let me know! Love y’all!
