So about a week ago, I made the announcement that I had been accepted to squad lead for the World Race. In the whole scheme of things, this announcement was probably on par with LeBron James’ “Decision.” Minus the burning of jerseys, couches, posters, and pillow cases.
I’d imagine that there are probably questions about what this means, so here’s my attempt at a FAQ for anyone looking for some further answers.
Sam, give me the bare bone essentials. Dry enough that Ezekiel himself would have to spend a little extra time speaking some life into them. On January 9, 2014 I will be leaving for 5 months, launching with a brand new squad and walking alongside them on the beginning of their WR journey. I will be providing leadership, guidance, lots of love (including tough), a listening ear, a shoulder to cry on, and be the best support for them that I can be. None of these above things will happen though without the Father and his strength, patience, love, and anything else he’s handing out. He’s the center of all of this.
So you’re going on the World Race again? No! Technically I am on the World Race, but I’ve already had my on WR experience. I’ve had the chance to go to 11 countries over 11 months and immerse myself with ministries and cultures all over the world. This is not my Race, but the squad’s that I am with. My ministry will be the 45-50 young (and a few that are older than me) adults who are embarking on this journey. I’ll still be involved in some local ministries, but my number one priority and ministry is the squad.
Okay, I get what you’re saying, but what does that look like practically or on a daily basis? Excellent question! Each month I’ll be spending 7-10 days with a team in their ministry location. I’ll live life with them. Work alongside them. Love them. Give plenty of feedback. And push when people/teams need to be pushed. When those days are up, I’ll move onto the next team, rinse, wash, and repeat.
Umm, your math seems to be a little off. If you’re spending 7-10 days with each team, how can you possibly give 6-7 teams the attention they need? Fear not! I’m not in this on my own. I’ll be blessed with 1-2 other fully capable and spectacularly awesome/amazing squad leaders. (Potentially some of the other SQLs in this picture.) We’ll be there to support and love on each other too. Plus we will have plenty of support from the AIM office back home and our incredible Squad Coaches who visit every couple of months.
Glad to hear someone will be holding your hand while you’re out there. J/K. You’ve been stateside for the longest time since 2005. Where are you heading now? I don’t know yet. I have not been assigned a squad yet, though that should be coming VERY soon.
And financially? Yep, you guessed it. I’m back on the FUNdraising trail. I’ll need to raise $3500 for the time that I’m gone. I’ll have another blog on that later.
5 more months and a cloud of dust. What’s beyond that? It’s my desire to find a place sooner rather than later to invest deeply in. While never living in the same place for longer than 4 months since the spring of 2011 has been oh so much fun, I plan on finding a place/community/ministry to invest in for the long term. Not months but years. That’s the direction I’m moving in currently.
So what can I do? Prayer and lots of it. For me, my co-leader(s), my squad, and the countries we’ll be going to. This isn’t something I can do on my own strength. I don’t have all the right words to tell people when they reach places of brokenness. I don’t have the answers to questions on the why certain things are the way they are. But God certainly does and if I’m to be even remotely successful this next year, He’s gotta be front and center providing me with all of the words, strength, wisdom, and love I can handle. Please prayerfully consider helping financially as well. Anything would help there as well, but as I said, I’ll have an upcoming blog on that.
Thanks for reading and hopefully this answers some of the questions you might have. Of course you can always shoot me a message asking anything else I might have missed. God bless!
Yep, I'm ready once again.
