Greetings from Gainesville, GA!
It has been a little while since I last wrote. I was on break from CGA and travelling across the states for most of May. First, I went to MN to visit my sister and her family as we celebrated her graduation from college. Then, I went back to MI for several weeks to visit with friends and family. While home, I also got to take a weekend trip down to IN & OH to visit relatives. My time at home was great. I got to rest a bit, which was much needed. I also got to visit Lake MI. Sometimes you don’t realize how tired you are until you stop moving and just relax.
Now I am back in GA. I have been back for almost 3 weeks now. The first 2 weeks were extremely busy with Training Camp. There are 6 new squads that are launching in August – 4 World Race and 2 Gap Year, almost 300 participants in total. Training Camp is a time to prepare the Racers before they Launch for their 9 or 11 month kingdom journey. They come down to Gainesville, GA, and are there for 10 days of intense training. As part of Leadership Track at CGA we will be doing a lot of hands on learning and training. I was privileged to explore leadership by participating on Serve Team for Training Camp.
Sometimes leading means being the example. Good leaders should not ask their followers to do something that they themselves have not done and/or are not willing to do also. One example of servant leadership can be found in John 13:1-17; this is the story of Jesus washing his disciples feet…a task usually delegated to the servants of the household.
Leadership can take many forms: speaking, serving, preparing and organizing all the things, taking charge, delegating, supporting role, being the point person, etc. I’m not entirely sure what all I will be learning this semester in Leadership, but I am looking forward to learning more about myself and the different types of leadership to figure out how I best operate and how I can better grow and develop as a leader.
Shifting focus on, I want to tell you a little bit about being on this side of Training Camp. I was on the Serve Team. This means that I got to help do a lot of the behind-the-scenes jobs that no one realizes even needs to happen (until they don’t get done). A lot of our tasks were: food prep and cooking, cleaning, set-up and tear-down, cleaning the Port-a-potties, changing the garbages, delivering food, etc. This also looked like extremely long days: 11-14 hours usually. Working that many hours 10 days in a row is exhausting. Don’t get me wrong though, it was a great time, but I was definitely ready for bed by the end of each day. I definitely did not realize all the hard-work being put in while I was doing Training Camp almost 2 years ago now.
While working on Serve Team we got to interact some with the Racers at Training Camp. One afternoon I had the privilege of going and keeping track of the progress of the Racers trips around the track – this was Round 2 for the Racers who had to re-do the hike. The weather was extremely hot – 91 degrees with humidity, no shade, and on a track. The Racers had to complete a 3 mile walk with their large packs on in 50 minutes or less. Long story short, there was a Racer who tried REALLY hard. They would walk most of the time, but then jog around the corners so they could stay on time. This Racer kept persevering. They literally kept moving until they basically collapsed. I am going to blame it on the heat. This person was extremely determined and I could see the fight in their eyes. I tell you all this because of what I am about to say next. I was able to be there for that person when they went down. I was able to sit with them, encourage them, serve them, walk alongside them at their pace, and helped nurse them back to health once we returned to the office.
The lesson I learned through this story: I believe that this was a glimpse of what discipleship looks like in a physical way. Disciplining someone is about pouring into them, meeting and loving them where they are at, encouraging them, giving them a good kick in the pants if they need it, challenging them and calling them higher, etc. One of the ways that I want to grow this semester is by discipling someone. I feel the Lord has walked me through a lot of hard things and has gifted me with both wisdom and the ability to encourage others, which I think makes for a good start to discipling someone.
Fundraising Update: My next deadline is next Wednesday, 6/29/16. In order to meet that deadline, there needs to be another $1,265 deposited into my adventures account. Would you prayerfully consider asking the Lord if He’d like to use you to help me reach that goal? Any amount you give is greatly appreciated. All donations are tax-deductible if given directly to Adventures in Missions. There is a link on the side of the page to give directly should you choose to do so.
As always, if you have any questions or comments, feel free to leave them below or send me a private message. Thanks for all your support!
Keep Lookin’ Up,
Misha
photos:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BzuG3cRxXGtmVUQ5cTZLaGhYNU0
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BzuG3cRxXGtmeXc1X1FUS2F3LTg
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BzuG3cRxXGtmYnNNdHFlWHg1Zk0
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BzuG3cRxXGtmRm9FQU5qTTNGQTA
