Meet my new team, The Dry Bones!
Earlier this week on Tuesday, my squad was told to meet for some big and exciting announcements. We all knew that meant change. And for me that also meant butterflies because of the unknown.
We gathered in the Jericho house on our lodging base. Each one of us was handed an individual slip of paper with our name on the outside and the names of our new teammates on the inside.
Hearing from past racers, I anticipated team switches at the end of month three and I had been praying some specific prayers over the past two weeks regarding team changes. I was nervous and excited to open the paper. I had spent three months getting to know and investing in my teammates and now changes were at bay. I had developed trust and relationships within Team Degel and a new team meant starting over again.
But as God keeps showing me over and over, He knows what I need and does not withhold any good from me. Opening the folds in the torn piece of notebook paper, I read the names of my new teammates: Joseph Johnson, Adam Mollica, Alexandria Potter, Amy Dillman, Ashli Blackwell, and Lauren Lee. God answered two of my very specific prayers by placing Amy and Ashli on my team and by keeping me on a team with a male leader.
Grieving the loss of Team Degel is part of the process, but I immediately had a sense of renewed joy over my new team. We headed out together that night to make a memory in Hong Kong. Laughter, chatter, and snapshots filled the evening as we watched a laser light show, rode the Star Ferry to the island, walked the chic streets of Central Hong Kong, took a ride on the world’s longest escalator, and searched for Starbucks.
With the creation of new teams, came the task of choosing a name for our team. This usually proves to be more challenging than necessary. With seven individuals, there are at least seven different ideas or inspirations for team names. We began throwing out ideas of words, phrases, and scripture: renewal, life, arise, going deeper, pressing onward, Genesis 28, Ezekiel 37, and more.
Joseph, our leader, felt drawn to Ezekiel 37 and the intensity of God’s power in breathing life into dry bones. We read the passage together as a team and each one agreed that there is deep meaning and parallel to why we are on the World Race. We also listened to Gungor’s song, “Dry Bones”, and found the lyrics to express so much of our hearts (see below). We are hungry for God and want to continually be made alive in Him as we share His love and life to others who are spiritually dead.
Now you may be wondering why I am still in Hong Kong and able to use internet when I am supposed to be in China by now. Well, God had different plans for my team this month.
Toward the end of our month in Swaziland, my tent along with Amy and Ashli’s tents flooded one night during a heavy rainstorm. As a result, Ashli had some damage to things that were unprotected in her tent. And one of them was her passport. It was soaked, smeared, and smelly. She did her best to dry it out and unstick the pages from one another. We joked together that if she couldn’t get a visa into China that I was going to stay with her in Hong Kong. As it turns out, due to her soggy passport, Ashli was only granted a 15-day visa into China while the rest of iSquad got 30-day visas. And so that is why The Dry Bones is still here in Hong Kong.
God has provided so well. We had no trouble finding accommodations and we were able to link up with a ministry here in Hong Kong, Crossroads Foundation. We will leave our current lodging base tomorrow to move to Crossroads. The plan is to be in Hong Kong until December 17 and then cross the border into China.
I am so thankful for God’s guidance and continued grace. He knows me and loves me so well. He is speaking to me and stretching me, and using the people around me to affirm who I am in Him.
"Dry Bones" by Gungor
My soul cries out
My soul cries out for you
These bones cry out
These dry bones cry for you
To live and move
'Cause only You can raise the dead
Can lift my head up
My soul cries out
My soul cries out for you
Jesus, You're the one who saves us
Constantly creates us into something new
Jesus, surely you will finds us
Surely our Messiah will make all things new
Will make all things new
My soul cries out
My soul cries out for you
These bones cry out
These dry bones cry for you
To live and move
'Cause only You can raise the dead
Can lift my head up
Jesus, You're the one who saves us
Constantly creates us into something new
Jesus, surely you will finds us
Surely our Messiah will make all things new
Will make all things new
Life is breaking out, it's breaking out
Life is breaking out, it's breaking out, it's breaking out
And life is breaking out, it's breaking out, it's breaking out
Jesus, You're the one who saves us
Constantly creates us into something new
Jesus, surely you will finds us
Surely our Messiah will make all things new
Will make all things new
