Well folks, it’s the final countdown – in just five days I’m leaving for Launch.
It’s surreal, and that’s the only way I can describe it. It hasn’t completely dawned on me yet that I’m leaving for 11 months. Honestly, I don’t think it will until I set foot in another country, be that South Africa or wherever we have our first layover.
So while I’m still at home and still have reliable internet, I want to address a few things to give you all some concrete information before I leave.
1. Communication
One of the big questions I get are “so are you going to be able to call/text/email/FaceTime home?”
The best way I can answer this is “yes, but…”. It’s a little completed because I don’t always know when I’ll have internet, and when we do, my team is making a conscious effort to not let it get in the way of our ministry and community. So I’ll lay this out as best as I can:
Texting: No
Phone Calls (regular): Probably no
Skype calls: Yes
Email: Yes (my email is [email protected]. That is by far the best way to contact me)
Facebook: Yes
One of the things that was emphasized at Training Camp was quality communication over quantity communication, and I want to stick to that principle. I would much rather Skype someone while on the Race once than text back and forth, because let’s face it, real conversation happens face-to-face.
2. Where I’m going, what I’m doing
At this point I can only tell you the countries, because AIM doesn’t give us all of this information up front. This keeps us present in whatever our current ministry is. Team Kindred’s first location is Durban, South Africa, but after that, anything goes. As of now, our route is still South Africa, Swaziland, Mozambique, India, Nepal, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua
Now to answer a few F.A.Q.’s
Can you receive mail on the field?
No. It’s too expensive, and quite frankly, we move around too much to guarantee anything will make it on time. If you ever want to send me a letter/note/word of encouragement, please feel free to do so via email! I would still very much appreciate it 🙂
How many people do you actually travel with?
To translate the WR jargon a little bit, here’s a quick breakdown:
Squad: The large group of all Racers going to the same countries. My squad is the U Squad, and there are about 55 of us. We’ll travel to each country together, then split off into our teams.
Team: This is the small group of Racers I will work with in ministry each month. Occasionally the whole squad will be together, or a few teams will be grouped together, but mostly we’ll be on our own. Team Kindred is made up of Jarred, Danny, Kyle, Kelly, Gretchen, Kaitlyn, and myself.
Squad Leaders: Our squad has two leaders -Alyssa and Zach- who have both been on the World Race before. They’ll be with us for the first five months, at which point they will train a few members of the squad to replace them.
Squad Mentor: Travis Bonning is our mentor, and he’s our main contact with AIM while we’re on the field. A few times during the year, he’ll come out to where we are for debrief, but other than that his role is mostly behind the scenes.
Are you going to be safe? What happens if you get sick?
If there’s an illness or an injury, we’ll seek treatment. We won’t be in the backwoods by ourselves, so we’ll have access to medical care. It might be harder to get to in a village as opposed to a city, but we’ll make it happen. In regards to safety, it all comes down to being smart and being aware. We may be in some dangerous places, but many precautions are common sense. It’s an AIM policy to always be in a group of two – no one is ever by themselves.
Any other questions! Now is the time to ask – I’ll answer as best as I can.
