I should have known that dancing would be a part of this year. At training camp last October, instead of listening to someone speak one night, they turned on music and let us wholeheartedly dance for Jesus. It was amazing to see how much healing and freedom came through those several hours of dancing and praising together.
In New Zealand, we were introduced to a whole new kind of dancing. Christine and Jake were in their element doing half hip hop and techno something. And the kids there introduced us to a whole new set of music and moves.
In Australia we had several random nights of dancing. The first was worship in the pouring down rain, which was from a hurricane. We also learned the ha’ka from our squadmate Jordan. He and his team had learned it in New Zealand and during our time together in Australia he taught the rest of us.
In the Philippines we would get together with the kids every night and feed them. During those few hours in the afternoon, several of my teammates spent time dancing with some of the girls in the corner of the room.
In Malaysia we danced several times with the kids in the jungle. Every night they would come in and sing in the church and we attempted to sing along in Malay and also dance around the room. This was also the place of our random night of ballroom dance lessons, thanks to expert squad leader Krissy.
In Thailand we made an epic dance video to the great song “Total Eclipse of the Heart” and also learned a few Thai dances from some of the girls in the village.
In Africa we danced a lot – from church services to crusades with 100 little kids running around. There were points in Africa when we couldn’t even move during dances because there were 20 kids holding onto our arms and jumping up and down next to us.
I guess it never occurred to me how much dancing I might actually do this year, or even what it would mean, until the end of our time in Uganda. All year we knew about the dance competition that would take place between squad at the Awakening Conference in Ireland. There was a lot of talk and planning by some of our squadmates and finally before our flight from Uganda to Ireland, we had time together as a squad. And what did we use it for besides recovery from 3 months in Africa? You guessed it – dance practice.
When we arrived in Ireland that unity continued. And as we took the field for our squad dance, it felt like we got to show everyone else what had happened, what could happen when squads come together.
And we won the dance competition. It was incredible.
So enjoy the Awakening Dance from the N Squad Champs!
