Four young adults born in the year of 1989 (and two born in 1988) sat at Namaste Café in Kathmandu, Nepal. They talked about the past three months and the hope of the future eight to come while on the World Race. Only an hour before this meeting, they had learned that together they would form a new team. The question before them was: what should they name their team of six youngins?
Whilst drinking ginger tea, they discuss potential names. They are a quirky, energetic bunch, yet they all desire intimacy with their Father and are easily drawn into deep conversations. Three months in and they have come to find that they are on the Race for both different and similar reasons. One thing that the six of them greatly desire is to be rooted in their relationship with the Lord. They want to be confident in their identity and know him better. Colossians 2:6-8 was brought up. It says, “So then, just as you have received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught and overflowing with thankfulness.” Bam.
This group of six decided to call themselves Rooted.
Welcome to my new team.
Allow me to introduce: Kaitlyn Allen, Kyle Markel (my new team leader), myself, Spencer Adams, Vanessa Butler, and Emily Harr.
Rooted: to establish deeply and firmly. To embed, establish, entrench and ingrain.
That’s what we want. We want to be rooted as a team and in our relationship with God. We want to go further, dive deeper and love better. It will be a process, but it will be one worth the effort and time. It is worth it to dig deep with these men and women.
These past three months I was with four women on Beauty For Ashes. That group had a very different dynamic than this team. I knew that team changes would come when we were in our mini-debrief in Kathmandu, but I never expected them to be as drastic as they were. It was certainly a surprise to find that the five of us are on separate teams, or that I was to be on a team with men. Before Rooted was formed I had not spent very much time with these squadmates, and therefore everything is new. We have much to learn about each other. However, despite the change, I could not be more excited. I know that I will learn a lot from these people; I know that they will love me and be my family for these next months.
They are family, brothers and sisters in the Lord. It is exciting to live life with them, do ministry with them, and joke around with them. I know that the Lord had planned our six-some before we were even born and has sweet purpose behind our group being together. I cannot wait to see what the Lord does in us and through us.
