A day in the life of logistics…

We were asked to reflect back on our time as members of the logistics team for P-Squad and share some experiences or lessons that  we’ve learned while on the field. I’ve been thinking about the lessons that God has taught me through logistics, many of which I wouldn’t have learned if the Race would have looked differently for me.

Communication is key. Any problem or issue can be traced back to a lack of communication, whether it be in relationships or the distribution of information. Make your expectations clear when making decisions on behalf of the squad, be honest, and communicate where you’re at personally to your logistics team and squad leaders. If you’re feeling overwhelmed, tell them. If you’re doing great, tell them that as well.

It all comes down to the posture of your heart. If your motives for doing logistics aren’t in the right place, you will be disappointed. If you desire recognition, re-think your position as logistics. It truly is a position that serves the squad behind the scenes continuously. Most of the time, people have no clue what goes into making a decision that seems simple. Decide if you’re ok with that…if not, you may want to search your heart as to why that bothers you. 

God is a God of details. I’ve tried to plan a lot of things that ended up going terribly wrong. But, no one ever knew they went wrong because God showed up with His much better plans for the situation. Anytime we needed to make a decision and didn’t speak the language, someone always showed up that could speak English. Example: My first task as logistics was to get half of our squad from Haiti to the Dominican Republic on a bus. I was the only logistics person in the area so our translator went with me to arrange all of the details. I walked up to the counter, prepared for a long and drawn out process of playing charades, and was greeted with the smiling face of a young woman that said “hi, how can I help you?” Perfect English. The transmission of our bus actually ended up going out on the way up a hill, but that’s a completely different story….we made it to the DR safely and that’s all that matters 🙂

Relationships, relationships, relationships. Everywhere you go people are the same. They want to be loved and they want to be heard. A huge part of logistics is building relationships, whether that be within your logistics team, with squad leaders, or with contacts and people that you meet during certain logistical tasks. Ask people their name and have a coversation that isn’t based on “business” before you even attempt to ask for help with something. Sometimes it’s easy to lose focus on the fact that EVERY decision that is made and how you present yourself in EVERY situation should be one that reflects Christ, even when you are trying to negotiate or work out details.

Our epic travel “week” to Africa. Traveling from Romania to Malawi, Africa is definitely an experience that none of P-squad will ever forget. The morning started with the buses being late to pick us up…they were waiting at the airport instead of at our house, which still doesn’t make sense to me since the same company had picked us up from the airport a few weeks earlier…anyways, we made it to our flights on time and were on our way to Africa. 

Our squad was split into two different flights, one had a lay-over in Greece and one had a lay-over in Dubai.  So, I was the only logistics person on our flight and the squad leaders + Daniel were on the other flight. Did I mention that Juliette, one of three logistics people for our squad, wasn’t traveling with us? 

The new squad leaders, Daniel, and I had no clue what waited for us in Africa. I randomly decided to check my email during our lay-over and found out that our bus from Johannesburg to Malawi had fallen through, which meant that we had no bus and no accommodations waiting for us when we arrived in South Africa….and we were arriving on a Sunday, which meant that most businesses were closed. AWESOME.

My flight landed last out of the two, so I wasn’t sure what to expect when we arrived in Johannesburg. I immediately asked where Josh, Lia, and Daniel were when we were greeted by the rest of our squad. I laughed when I walked up to “command central”…they each had a cell phone up to their ears making phone calls in a corner of the airport. I bought a SIM card and joined in on the fun.

A few hours and a dozen phone calls later, I received a call from a man named Neal, a friend of a friend of someone we  had talked to earlier in the day. Yes, HE called US. Awesome much? He did in fact have enough room for all of us to stay at his hostel because another group had randomly decided to check out a day early. Coincidence? I think not. Neal also negotiated the price with us so it was less of a blow to our small budget, AND he was willing to make 6 trips of the hour long drive to shuttle everyone from the airport.  Truly a blessing. We decided to stay the night and figure out buses to Malawi the next morning. We were making progress. Our squad of 65 people had the best attitudes ever…they were extremely gracious and patient during our 12 hour stay at the airport, which made me love them even more than I already did.

This is just the tip of the iceberg on how God provided for our squad during that week. To make a long story short, we planned on leaving the next day but were unable to find a bus that would take us across the borders between South Africa and Malawi. We finally found a company that was willing to drive us; after negotiating and running around all morning to make the payment for the bus, we were told we couldn’t leave for another day. We were livid. Squad leaders and logistics came to the point where we fell on our knees before the Lord. We were going over budget, missing ministry days, and it seemed like we were getting screwed over by everyone that we talked to about buses. Lame. 

The next day we were finally on our way to Malawi, which was supposedly a 2 day bus ride at most. Our “2 day” bus ride ended up lasting 4 days. Although it was the most ridiculous experience ever, it was a turning point for our squad. I saw 65 people pass bottles of water to each other and take only a sip because we had no water left, even though everyone was hot and slowly reaching the point of dehydration. I saw people hold their tongue and respect leadership when they were told everyone had to sleep on the non-airconditioned bus at one of the dangerous border crossings. I saw our men honor our women when they chose to sleep on the ground under a semi-truck so there would be more room for us to lie down on the bus. I saw our squad intercede at border crossings and worship when corrupt government officials pushed Lia and I to the brink of tears (don’t judge us). I saw 65 individuals, whom had been struggling to unite as one, become a family. Not by force, but by choice. 

Travel week to Malawi was an experience that will definitely go down in the books of World Race traveling. We had a plan that didn’t work out as expected, but God had a much bigger and better plan for our squad. I wouldn’t trade the unity and love in our squad from that week on for anything. Even when everything seems to be going wrong in logistics, remember that there’s always a purpose…even though it may not be fun for you at the time :).