Hello Ants! Hello Malawi! Hello first debrief!
Let’s start with the important stuff first….ants. African ants. It’s a whole new ball game because they are literally everywhere. They don’t have the typical American ant “hill” home going on, they just roam constantly. If you touch the ground, ants are looming. Which makes tent camping interesting. Because they are pesky, determined, and have all sorts of skills to get in your tent, in your sleeping bag, and in all of your business. Yes, these ants can eat through the floor of your tent or the mesh walls….then with military precision they file in by literally the hundreds. The only grace to them, is they don’t bite or at least not hard enough to leave marks. If they had the attitude of an American fire ant…forget about it, because we would all be eaten alive.
I have personally managed fairly well on the ant war front. They have penetrated parts of my tent walls but a massacre happened in the morning and the damage has been minimal. It is impressive though that they made a pinkie finger size hole in my tent mesh (now patched up with duck tape). Chemical warfare is underway and the tides are turning.
Now the interesting stuff…Malawi! From what I hear this month we are going to the bush of Malawi! Which is going to be the exact opposite of my team’s time in Zambia. Going to fully dive into living off the land with little outside resources like grocery stores, coffee shops, internet, and plumping. In Zambia the worst bathroom situation we had to endure was 3 days with toilets without seats and a drippy shower; Malawi I hear the norm will be squatty potties and rejoice if there is a bucket shower. Zambia we had the joy to cook our own food, eat out when we wanted, and be westerns; Malawi will be repetitive “bush” meals of nsima, rice, porage, with sparse fruits/vegetables. Zambia it was just Zealous Love, and Malawi is an all squad month! The freedom of Unsung Heroes in changing cities, changing contacts, and being spirit lead in Zambia. In Malawi still seeking the spirit in our daily lives but more structure over our daily schedule with having the same contact all month.
Excited to see how God is going to show up during these extreme changes in our earthly comforts. Individual growth through this new month is going to be incredible! I am particularly excited to see how Zealous Love rallies around each other, to love better, and grow closer in our relationship with God.
Hooray…the extra life changing stuff debrief! Debrief happens at the end of month 1, 3, 5, 8, 11 and one month after being home! So what happens at these magical times – reflection, relaxation, rejuvenation, relationship, rejoice. And our Squad Mentor and Squad Parents travel in too! Each team gets a specified time to do a debrief with the squad mentor, squad parents and the squad leaders.
Reflect – on the past month and how God worked through you and what He is calling you in to
Relaxation – find your own quite time to catch up on some ZZZs, swim in the pool, read a book, or shop at the market (can be stressful). Whatever your vice is to unplug
Rejuvenate – catch up on tasks like showering, laundry, journaling, blogging, etc. whatever you need to get done to feel prepared for the upcoming months. Provides you time to catch your breath so to speak
Relationships – connect with other squad members, share what God has been teaching you, and grow deeper with teammates
Rejoice – squad WORSHIP!, share awesome God stories, share photos of God’s creation!
Overall debrief has been an amazing time! So cool to see and hear from the other teams! To share about God’s provision that Zealous Love experienced doing Unsung Heroes. To connect with the other men on the squad and able to talk through about the “stuff” that happens when you live with 5 women and one other man. One of my biggest struggles from the past month was feeling heard on the team. God pressed into me with, “Eric, How well do you foster listening? What does good listening look to me?” Going into this next month, I am going to try to model good listening, so others can be heard and to set an example of what listening looks like practically! Excited to see how this is going to grow our team and take us to new deeper levels of knowing each other!
As of tomorrow the squad is off to the bush and back out to a ministry site!
Definitions:
Squad Mentor – a member of the Adventures in Missions (AIM) staff that oversees a squad spiritual health. A contact States side to email and stay in contact with to discuss our “celebrations” and our “challenges.”
Squad Parents – awesome married couple that volunteers their time to be another mentor/parent figure. Our squad parents are missionaries and they have a daughter on the race too! Very easy to connect with
Squad Leaders – a person that has completed the race before and AIM asked them to come and help lead a squad through their race.
