We started our first travel day by meeting in the lower lobby of the hotel at 10 am on Monday. We sat in the lobby for an hour and then took a shuttle to the airport. We sat at the airport for a good three hours. From the airport we took a train to the bus station. One group got lost (we all make mistakes sometimes). So we waited at the bus station like an hour and a half until the bus arrived. We all loaded on the bus and sat there for awhile when we learned the bus driver thought that we were dishonest about how many tickets we purchased since not all of the luggage would fit right and there didn’t seem to be enough seats. After we all got of the bus and were counted as we got back on everything seemed right again, just 2 entire squads crammed on a double decker mega bus for an overnight drive to our Nation’s lovely capital. It took us 24 hours, a shuttle, a train, and a bus to get from Atlanta, Georgia to Washington D.C.
The traveling felt long but nothing like 24 hours. There was a lot of struggling as people were carrying 40+ lbs on there backs and 15+ lbs on their front from there backwards day packs. The heat didn’t help at all either (I don’t think I could ever totally adjust to tons of humidity we’ll see), but I can easily say that the first day after launch set a certain tone because of how our squad acted during the very slow-moving day. In our training they made it pretty clear that this journey with the Lord didn’t start in our first country, and most definitely doesn’t end after the third. And my squad mates took that to heart.
There was a piano in the airport and you best bet we used it for worship. Only hours into the first day, two World Race squads came together to sing in the middle of the Atlanta Airport. A security guard came over to our huddle around the piano and instead of asking us to stop, he told us to sing louder! There were two men watching our group and when we were done I turned around to see them already in deep conversations with my squad mates. At the bus station my squad started worship again with the guitar, and played with a younger boy waiting for his mom to the point where he cried leaving them.
It almost baffles me that I get to be a part of this community. A community that takes each moment as an opportunity to carry a posture of worship and is so eager to spread His love. My favorite moments within the community itself have also happened during this crazy travel.
It seems like in the every day simple moments, and not the planned ice-breakers, are when you truly get to know people. In the last 5 days I can say the most comfortable I ever felt was sitting on the first bus station floor playing 31. Maybe it was because of my competitive drive in dumb games or the moments when the sarcastic trash-talk flowed so naturally, either way it felt so fun in an easy way. And the best conversation I’ve had happened on the drive somewhere in North or South Carolina! I am filled with excitement for the rest of our travel to Swaziland and I have a feeling it’ll be pretty long.
From the D.C. Airport,
Julia
