Debrief was a time of rest and recovery. The whole squad came together and stayed at the Prum Bayon Hotel in Siem Reap, Cambodia. This hotel is a 2 or 3 star hotel, but I never would have known it was less than 4 stars had we not been told. The manager treated us like absolute royalty!!
We stayed for 5 days, basked in the sun, laid out by the pool, and got slapped across the face daily.
…….
Yup…. you heard me correctly…slapped across the face……daily
….
….
metaphorically of course.
Another aspect of debrief that I failed to mention is that AIM staff flies out and “debriefs” us. The nervous butterflies I had reminded me of the way I felt during quarterly reviews at work!
Our days played out as such;
8am: Free continental breakfast….best ever!! (French toast with honey! yum!)
9am: Daily Devotional lead by one of the squad leaders
10am: Worship & Session –> Where an AIM staff member taught on important aspects & characteristics of World Race culture.
12pm: Lunch
Afternoon: Debrief session/free time (pool time)
5pm: Dinner
6/7pm: Worship & Session
……
You’re all still stuck on my comment about being slapped across the face aren’t you?
Well if you must know…
My new team struggled with having grace and honoring each other during our first month together in Thailand. We were absolutely CONVINCED that we had done everything we could to make the team dynamic work, but it couldn’t be fixed.
…..hmm…
Enter AIM Staff…
Noe
Sean
Tim
&
Bethany
During our first session, Sean stood up in front of us all, apologized for his exhaustion (jet lag much :S), and then proceeded to slap me across the face.
Sean talked about culture. He discussed what culture means, looks like, and why it is the way it is. Then he jumped into World Race culture, which is a culture of high honor, high preference, high courage, high safety, & high consideration.
The Slap In The Face = One can never run out grace, and if you ever get to a point that you think you have… You need a reality check. God has an infinite amount of grace for all of us, and we all mess up A LOT!! Thus, we must strive to maintain the same grace for others that we are blessed with.
Thank you Sean, Noe, Tim, & Bethany… I look forward to 8 month debrief and a few more red handprints!
“For all have sinned and fall short of the Glory of God” – Romans 3:23
Then we walked into our team debrief where the squad leaders & AIM staff had us speak life into each other for a few hours.
Word of advice for anyone at home having “trouble” loving your neighbor. Speak life and truth into them, because it forces you to see that person the way God sees them. If you are continuously looking at someone through God’s lens and not your own, loving them will become second nature.
Also… if I learn nothing else on this race….I have learned the importance of how to really fight for my relationship with someone
Conflict Breeds Intimacy
Period.
