Meet The Fam!

35 days until I get to see my squad again, and 39 days until I head out of the U.S. for the year! I’m so excited to finally share a little more about training camp, introduce y’all to H squad, and the team I’ll be starting out with! 

Above is where we stayed in tents for the week! A lot of rain, some sun at the end of the week, (which we REALLY appreciated) and even a tornado warning! Our leadership was kind enough to have us sleep inside that night though. 🙂 

This is H squad celebrating as some of our squad was getting baptized! Such a beautiful day, and the Spirit of God was ON us. 

Throughout this week, getting to know these people, I really felt so seen and loved! In one week, God supernaturally helped us to connect as brothers and sisters so quickly! Every single day He gave people words for our squad and for each other, moved so deeply in our hearts through worship and teachings, and strengthened us to walk through the whole thing with so much joy, even though we barely slept and were soaking wet most of the time! 

Committing to the world race, I had my mind on ministry, traveling, and experiencing God in new and powerful ways. Coming out of training camp, the thing that was so important to me, and that I’m now most excited for, is this community. We always learn about the body of Christ, but this is the first time I really saw it, and saw myself as a part of it, and it’s the most beautiful thing. It felt just like Acts. 

“That day about three thousand took him at his word, were baptized and were signed up. They committed themselves to the teaching of the apostles, the life together, the common meal, and the prayers.

Everyone around was in awe—all those wonders and signs done through the apostles! And all the believers lived in a wonderful harmony, holding everything in common. They sold whatever they owned and pooled their resources so that each person’s need was met.

They followed a daily discipline of worship in the Temple followed by meals at home, every meal a celebration, exuberant and joyful, as they praised God. People in general liked what they saw. Every day their number grew as God added those who were saved.”

Acts 2:41-47 MSG

Within our squad of 44, we’re also broken up into smaller teams of around 5-7. This is my team, named Gracefully Broken, (check out that song if you don’t know it!) after Kelsie (in the front) got baptized!

My other teammates are Cayce on the far right, then Sierra, then Alyssa, then Krista, then me on the left! In our short time spent together, we got to get to know each other and see each others hearts a little bit. I really love them so much, and even though what we’re about to do is kind of scary, I feel a lot of comfort about getting to do it with them.

It was SO amazing to see how God so intentionally put together each team. It also gave me so much trust in leadership, because of how prayerfully they did it, how Holy Spirit led they were, and how they just trusted and obeyed in their decisions. 

It is amazing, and so beautiful, to be able to see how each person is so different and so gifted, each representing a part of God that only they carry. 

As God has been speaking to me about having confidence in just who He created me to be, and being this in community, and unity, a couple verses from Matthew 5 have really stuck out to me. In Matthew 5:5, Jesus says,

“You’re blessed when you’re content with just who you are-no more, no less. That’s the moment you find yourselves proud owners of everything that can’t be bought.”  

In Matthew 5:9, Jesus says, 

“You’re blessed when you can show people how to cooperate instead of compete or fight. That’s when you discover who you really are, and your place in God’s family.” 

Also in Matthew 5:14, Jesus says, 

“Here’s another way to put it: You’re here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. 

My squad, my team, myself, and you, are here to be light and bring out God-colors in the world. We can’t all be every color all the time, which is why community is so beautiful. Only Jesus could be everything, and so in community, as His body, we are truly representing Him. 

Training camp was just a taste of this, and the thing I’m most excited for now is pressing into community with H squad!