Introducing Team Libre!!!!!

So I think I will begin with our team name and its meaning. Libre is Spanish for “free, clear or at liberty.” We want to spend this next year bringing freedom to people around the world; freedom from the things that people place on themselves or on each other. In all honesty the idea originally came from an inside joke about the movie Nacho Libre, but eventually we began to think of Libre as a ligitimate name representing us as a team and our goals for the year. Our search through Scripture for a team verse and led us to Luke 11: 18-19 (Jesus is quote from Isaiah 61 in these verses)

We want to do all these things, and it is because the Spirit of the Lord is on us and with us. We want to bring the hope of the Good News to the poor and down-trodden around the world. We want to proclaim freedom for prisoners (emotionally, mentally, physically, and most importantly spiritually). We are looking forward to bringing sight to the blind, again both those who have physical eyes that are not working and those who have kept themselves blind of the hope and grace God offers.  We will proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. This year will likely be the most stretching, incredible, hard, amazing year of my life thus far, and I am awed by the fact that He has blessed me with this opportunity to serve him in 11 countries over 11 months. God is good☺

So that is our name, this is who we are:
Summer Smith: She is our team leader and has one of the most amazing laughs I have ever heard. She will be our rock, bringing us back to earth when we lose track of where we are, who we are serving and what comes next. (Minnesota)
Tomina Slevin: She has an incredible quiet grace and brilliance that is going to bless us as a team and everyone we come across. She will be a prayer warrior all year long. (Minnesota)
Abby Barnett: She will be both our comic relief and a doer of the word. She has a smile like you wouldn’t believe and a heart that longs to love others. (Texas)
Emily Rhea: She is going to love. Love our team; love the orphans and widows we meet every month; love the guy who sells her water each morning; love the taxi driver who takes us from point A and B, her family back home and everyone else in between. (Tennessee)
Lindsey Hogg (that’s me): I am ready to learn and embrace each culture we face, each person we meet and each challenge we overcome. I will keep us from getting lost, and cook quite a few meals. (California)
Mark Schandel: He is our go to guy- he will get what needs to get done, find out what needs to be found out. We will have to force him to rest. He has a persistence that will bring our team to a new level. He also runs marathons, like just runs 26.2 every few months or so…(South Carolina)
Ryan Williams: This guy loves God☺ He is going to be another source of comic relief, but at the same time be so actively seeking God we will have no choice but to join the ride and grow closer to Him. He will challenge us as a team and entertain us as a team, what more could you want in a guy! (Tennessee)