We just completed debrief in Nicaragua and we leave for the airport to head to the Philippines in the next few hours. It was a very successful debrief filled with some sadness and some joy! Several things went the same as previous debriefs – team debrief, worship and teaching, and community – but several things were new.
This month marks the end of month three. This is when our alumni squad leaders (KK and Carly) raise up new squad leaders to take their place when the leave at the end of month four. Since we are part of the Laboratory squad, we are trying something new with squad leaders. We will have eight squad leaders, with four on the “field” and four on the “bench”. This will hopefully reduce exhaustion and have a bigger team of people to count and depend on. One benefit to this experiment is that the squad leaders will be able to stay with their team instead of traveling around to many teams each month.
The reason this is so great for our team is because Erin was raised as a squad leader! We are very happy for her and are excited to see how God will change her and how she will grow.
Another thing new to us during this debrief was the possibility of team changes. We had all heard of past WR squads being changed several times during their journey. However, our coach and CEO of Adventures, Seth Barnes, said he was going to try to avoid team changes at all cost. Due to this, several of us were almost to the point of expecting they would not happen. There was a lot of sadness due to some changes on the squad.
Due to the team changes, we are happy to welcome Cathy Carty to Team TUMBLER (on left). We are so excited for her to be joining us and we can’t wait to get to know her and see how she will tumble with us.
The last day of debrief was a fun day with our newly formed teams. We ate a wonderful lunch in Granada at a little Irish pub. We played cards, got ice cream – it was a fantastic day. We also went for a little carriage ride around Granada and the driver was a great tour guide that shared lots of information about Granada’s history and background.
I am definitely thankful for this debrief and everything that happened during the week. I am excited to leave Central America and head to the Philippines. I am excited to see how we can help Cathy grow and I am excited to see how Cathy will help me grow.
“You must grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ”
– 2 Peter 3:18
