Teamwork can lift a car… literally

I am on a squad of 30 people, but we have smaller teams of 6. My team, Sol Sisters, was alone in Guatemala. We had an entire month to bond as a team without distractions. We became very close and watched as God used us all in different ways. He used Makalah as our photographer, He used Caitlyn as our translator, He used Lauren’s teaching skills, He used Kathryn’s incredible leadership skills, and He used Brittany’s ability to be in tune with the Spirit. As a team, we knew when to step back and let the other person lead. We knew how to encourage each other through the highs and were all together to usher the team through the lows. 

Back in Georgia, Makalah told us about the image she had seen when she thought of teamwork and what our team would be this year. She was reminded of the story of Moses holding up his arms over a battle in Exodus 17. He had to keep his arms raised in order for them to win. His arms got weak and he was tired, so Aaron and Hur came alongside of him and held his arms up for him. She told us this story and related it to us as a team. We will get weak and feel that we cannot continue, that is when, as a team, we come alongside of that person and help them raise their hands back to God. When that person can’t see the Father, it is our job to turn them back to Him. This is how we went into Guatemala and we definitely saw it on display there. 

Then we went into Honduras which is “All Squad Month”. All 30 of us here working together. It is beautiful and so much fun, but it is hard to still fight for your team. We all have different friends on the squad outside of our team so we were a little concerned with how all squad month was going to go. Man, has it been interesting. We don’t work together throughout the day, but at the end of everyday we get together to talk about how it went. It is so beautiful so see the team encouraging each other from things they saw in passing. Like, “Lauren, I really loved watching you lead a group of girls in building chairs today. I was on the other side making a door, but I couldn’t stop smiling at your patience and grace in how you led them.” Or like when someone cut Katherine off mid sentence and from across the room you hear Caitlyn telling them to let her finish. There was even once when someone raised their voice at me and as soon as I walked out of the room I was met by Lauren asking if I was okay. Whether I was right or wrong in the argument, her goal wasn’t to judge that, but to let me know she was their to help. 

We are still unified as a team even when we are surrounded by so many other people. We still choose each other even when we have so many other choices. It has been interesting to see how team dynamics change in each month. This month we aren’t in the trenches together like we were before, but there is something even more beautiful about coming together at the end of each day and decompressing as a team. It has only been 2 months and we have all already been the Moses in the story, weak and tired, as well as the Aaron and Hur, coming alongside of the person struggling to point them back to the Lord. God is teaching us what teamwork looks like and I am so grateful to start off this year with such an amazing group of women.

Last night there was a car accident. Our friend Danilo drove us from the city back up the mountain where we live. After dropping us off, he was heading back down the mountain to his house. The road was slippery with mud and he spun out. He tried to slow himself down by side swiping a tree, but that made his truck flip 3 times off the ledge. We gathered up volunteers from the squad and rushed to his aid. When we got there with almost our full squad, we saw the truck barely hanging on to the side and Danilo getting checked out. He had some pain in his neck and back, but the fact that nothing worse happened to him was a miracle considering he wasn’t wearing a seat belt and was driving on the side of a huge mountain with so many cliffs. He was definitely shaken up, but his truck was worse off. 

We held ropes attached to the truck to keep it from rolling backwards while Pastor Paul and his sons tried to pull the truck out with their ATVs. Many people from the neighborhood came to help as well. It was beautiful seeing so many people working together for the same goal. At one point I looked up from the rope and realized that my whole team was right next to me. Amongst all of the people helping, we still found each other. I heard Lauryn yell, “One, two, three pull” and we all listened. We worked together as a team even when we were within a much larger group.

We change teams around month 4, but I think that the Sol Sisters now have such a firm foundation as to what a team should be that however we disperse amongst the squad, we will be able to use this time as an example of how to coexist and co-labor with people so different from us. Thank You, God, for this time to learn how to be a team in so many various ways. Whether it be alone in Guatemala or with 4 other teams in Honduras, we are learning together. 

Thank You for this. Lord, let us be a team that is a light for You during this all squad month. It’s all for You. 
-K