*sidenote: I am a part of August 2018, Route 2. Also known as J SQUAD!!! There are 31 of us who will travel to each 11 countries together. Once we get to said country, we will part ways and go to different cities within the country with our assigned team for the entire month. This team is who I will live and do ministry with for the first several months of the race*
From left to right: Sarah, John, Christian, Jordan, Victoria, Alison
Alison, Christian, John, Sarah, Victoria:
You all mean so much to me already. Isn’t that crazy? We spent.. 11 days together? And I love and care for each of you SO much. I haven’t had very many Godly friends in my life. Before even thinking about applying to the World Race, I prayed over and over again for God to place people in my life who truly love the Lord. I prayed about that for years. That prayer has been answered and those people are you.
It’s still foggy as to why God brought each of us together and with time we will get clarity, but I know for a fact that this was no mistake. I still remember us together for the very first time during team challenge activities at Training Camp. We knew leadership decided to put us together this particular day and we had to trust them. Even though we were frustrated with the STUPID rope and the STUPID piece of wood, it felt like we have worked together a million times in the past. But in reality, we just met.
Alison, Sarah, Victoria: The women on the team. I cannot WAIT to do life with y’all. Each of you has so much to offer. You carry yourselves with such grace and such a gentle spirit. I feel so lucky to be the one beside all of you. The 3 of you have so much to teach me and I am eager to learn. The only thing I ask of you is this: hold me accountable. I want to grow and I want to change in only positive ways. I ask and pray that each of you call me out and tell me what needs to change when I begin to sway away. Tell me how I can lead better, how I can become a better teammate, how I can serve you and the guys the best I can. As time passes, you will start to know me more and more and you will get a better understanding as to when I NEED some good, strong advice that may or may not hurt my feelings. Please, give it to me anyways. I have needed Godly women in my life for so long. I couldn’t have asked for a better group of strong, independent women to travel the globe with. I’m not sure what I did to deserve all of you but I promise to be there during the hard days, lift you up when you need it, pray for you continually and give you grace when the time comes.
Christian, John: You two are such men of God. I can’t wait to learn from you both and I know that y’all with have a HUGE impact on me. Each of you has such a strong presence. Someone I know I can go to about anything. Someone I know who will pray for me, protect me and look out for my best interest. I am looking forward to the ways both of you lead as Godly men and I am SO excited to get to know you on such a deeper level. My prayer is that I can be a woman of God to each of you. Someone with morals, values, grace, kindness, gentleness, patience, and encouragement. Someone who truly cares for you as a sister in Christ; who will look out of you, pray for you and challenge you. I know, it’s hard to find a true woman of God these days and in no way am I calling myself one. But, I am asking you to help me grow into that role. I want to be a positive influence to you both. A true representation of Christ. Please hold me accountable in that and tell me what I can do to be better. A relationship with a brother and sister in Christ is such a beautiful thing and I cannot wait to see that unfold.
When I applied for the World Race, I knew what I was getting myself into. It was no spur of the moment decision. I’m the type of person who does research before pursuing anything, so I looked DEEP into it prior to applying. I knew I would be put into a team at training camp and I knew this team is who I will spend months at a time with. A group of people who will be by my side literally 24/7 until we are split apart. I have been praying for you guys since October 2017. 9 months. I didn’t know who you were at the time but I prayed for you anyways. I asked God to place me into a team of people who love the Lord, who I can learn from, who can help me grow and push me to know our Father and my true self better. Let me tell you, the moment they called out our names together at Training Camp as a TEAM, I was screaming inside. I was so happy. All of you have such a genuine heart for Christ and a longing for obedience to Him. It’s such an amazing thing to see and I feel honored to be riding along side you.
I know this isn’t going to be as easy as it sounds. It won’t always be fun. We will fight, we will get annoyed, we will get frustrated and aggravated at each other but I pray we can work through that and come out stronger. I promise to give you my all. I promise to have the hard conversations and to be vulnerable. I promise to pray for you and encourage you even on my bad days. I promise to give you grace and forgiveness. I promise to do things I don’t want to do just because in the moment, it will bring you joy.
We will see and do things for the very first time together and I know we will create a bond that outweighs anything I have ever experienced. You will see the best and worst in me. I will laugh, cry and travel the WORLD with you all and I cannot wait. John once said, “we made a commitment to fight for each other” and that is exactly what I am going to do.
God truly outdid Himself.
1 more month until this journey begins. LETS DO THIS.
