I think most, if not all people, desire to find a place where they feel safe. A place where they can freely be themselves and revel in the beauty around them or question the not so certain certainties of life. It’s a quest we venture on to find acceptance, and the community we find shapes us for better or for worse. Unhealthy community leads to fear, anger, shame, destructive behavior, pride, etc.
A healthy community is an incredibly powerful tool because when you’re living in it, people notice. It calls you out and into a place you didn’t know you were capable reaching. Healthy community is a door to the Kingdom. It’s hard, and sometimes we enter into seasons of conflict, but in that, we become more like Jesus. We learn to truly love unconditionally, how to speak life around those we disagree with, to rest, and confront. We begin to change, not out of force, but because we experience Christ’s love through others.
Community with Christ as the foundation causes spiritual, mental, and emotional growth.
That is one of the reasons we are place on teams. Even though my 36-squad mates and I would love to all do ministry together, it isn’t logistically feasible. Being split up we can travel to different cities within each country, and we can be intentional with those on our smaller teams. When we are experiencing conflict, we cannot avoid or escape it. These teams allow us to know each individual with more intention and focus!
During training camp, everyone went through a serious of team builders. Our leaders and mentors, with much prayer, changed up the teams every day to see how different people worked together. After the different activities, they took us away one by one and asked us how we thought it went, who we liked working with, whom we didn’t like, and whom we thought would be a good team leader, etc.
It was hard. If it weren’t already so hot outside, I would have been sweating bullets. Seriously. Team placement was stressful for everyone, and what a relief it was when they announced our teams.
After announcing teams, we were told to go into town for a few hours and make a memory. This included food, coffee, and of course, toilets that flushed.
I was placed on a beautiful all-girl team! We are only just getting to know each other, but these girls all bring peace, and I feel blessed to be a part of this next year with them. (You can click on their picture to go to their blog site!)
Ally: Her joy is contagious, and her heart is huge. She was selected as team leader, and already she has begun to do so with her grace and love.
Megan: Her spirit is fun. She is honest, and full of surprises.
Deb: She kills it on the dance floor and in her observations of the world. She’s also our team’s treasurer.
Leslie: I shared a tent with her on “lost luggage day.” She’s relaxed, and easy-going but strong.
Haley: She is an insightful go-getter. A walking dictionary for games and passing time that would otherwise be boring!
After announcing teams, we were told to go into town for a few hours and make a memory. This included food, coffee, and of course, toilets that flushed. We also had to come up with a name for ourselves. We all wanted something that had power. We wanted to make a declaration of who we are and what we will become, and so Querencia became the word that will now forever knot the 6 of us together.
The dictionary definition states that it is an area in the arena taken by the bull for a defensive stand in a bullfight, and Ernest Hemmingway describes it as “a place the bull naturally wants to go in the ring, a preferred locality. It is a place that develops in the course of the fight where the bull makes his home. It does not usually show at once but develops in his brain as the fight goes on. In this place he feels that he has his back against the wall and in his querencia he is inestimably more dangerous and impossible to kill.”
Another definition states Querencia describes a place where one feels safe, a place from which one’s strength of character is drawn, a place where one feels at home.
And so, that became the name of our team. We want to be querencia for each other. We’ve declared that this community we are creating will be a place of empowerment, Jesus, and freedom. Between the 6 of us there is no shame and an open space for vulnerability. That’s not saying it will be easy, but in these girls, there will be home and a place to grow. Querencia is the essence of community.
