I want to paint a picture for you, my readers. You have been training for quite a long time, many years for a track meet of epic proportions. You have been waiting actually a couple days for your race to come up, and now is the time…..you have warmed up, mentally and physically…… there have been several heats, and now it's your turn……you are jumping up and down, keeping your muscles warm as the track official announces that it's time to take your marks…….
You shake your legs out as you squat down and place your feet in the blocks………
You line up your fingers on the starting line…………
Your head is down…….. heart is racing……… muscles quivering in anticipation and anxiety with a hint of nervousness as you wait for the gun to fire.
This is a pretty accurate description of how I feel right now. We have been in Chicago for the last 3 days for "launch" getting final briefings on ministry sites, what ministry might look like, some healthy expectactions, responsibilities to keep in mind, but also worshipping with our fellow brothers and sisters and receiving great words from the LORD both through speaking life over each other and through the wonderful AIM staff who is here with us helping us prepare for this trip of a lifetime over the next 11 months. These past three days have been a whirlwind of emotions, UP AND down (well down more in the overwhelming part of the word). AND NOW, it is time…… The information you've all been waiting for……….
BANG. Launch.
Team Degel (and all of iSquad actually) will be flying out of CHI at 7:50pm on 9/8. We are flying Jet Blue into New York City-JFK airport where we will land around 11pm and spend the night in JFK, however, most of us are planning to go out and explore the lovely city that never sleeps!! Why not considering our upcoming flight schedule?! What is that you may ask? Well i'm glad you did! After spending the night in and around JFK airport, we will fly into Atlanta, have a short 2:30 hour layover until the BIG ONE. When i say the BIG ONE, I am referring to the second longest non-stop flight that Delta Airlines does… the MONSTER 18-hour flight from Atlanta to Johannesburg, South Africa. (Of course plus or minus a couple hours for winds aloft). Once we are in Jo-burg, our squad will be split up between FOUR countries–Zimbabwe, Zambia, Botswana and South Africa. Where Team Degel ends up is still up in the air (no pun intended) but that will be determined once we land in Jo-burg. I am so very thankful for our squad coordinator Ryan Hughes who has worked tirelessly to find these ministry contacts in these four countries AND who has also arranged a place for us to stay in Jo-burg the night we fly in because we are scheduled to land about 5:30 pm local time on 9/10. Thank you in advance for all of your prayers for traveling mercies for me and my team as we have a long couple of days of travel ahead of us. Love you ALL, God Bless You!
