I am currently enjoying a week of rest and relaxation at the beach after 9 months of pure craziness. I had two days at home after returning from Squad Leading Gap J before I had to be in Georgia to start my journey as a mentor. When I flew out of Africa, I let go of Gap J and the goodness that was Squad Leading. When I stepped into Georgia I grabbed hold of the goodness that is Gap L and Mentoring.
A lot of you are wondering what in the world Mentoring actually is. Last week Gap L, who will be launching in September, came to Georgia for 10 days of training camp. This means that they sat in sessions that taught them all about living life on mission, building intimacy with God and diving into community and doing it well. They also had sleeping scenarios and days that were designated as things such as Africa and India where they had to have their ankles and shoulders covered while eating that type of food for meals. Training Camp is also a time for the squad to begin to build relationships with each other and their leadership team. They get to know me as their mentor and their squad leaders stay the whole ten days with them in tents while doing all of the sleeping scenarios with them. As their mentor, I lead the leadership team. I stand in front of the squad and cast vision for what this year will be and what kind of squad we want to be. Picture this: the racers of Gap L are all of their own gardens. Collectively they are a Botanical Garden. This year they will uproot things in their lives, they will plant seeds, they will tend to the things that are already growing that are good and they will replant some things in the place of what isn’t. They will water their gardens and their gardens will be quite beautiful by the end of this thing. If they are gardens then their squad leaders, coaches and I are getting to co-labor with Jesus in the gardening process. We get to help dig up some things and we get to help plant and water some others but God is in charge of all of the growth that will be happening.
What is my role as a mentor once Gap L is out on the field? My squad leaders are on the field with Gap L the whole 9 months. They will be on the ground with them and having all the conversations with everyone as they are walking through their growth with the Lord and sharing the Gospel with people of the world. As their mentor, I will be in Gainesville, GA. I will check in with them via phone calls and emails. I will check in with their squad leaders at least once a week on how things are going with teams and individuals. I will also call and check in with the racers and how their journey with the Lord is going. Ultimately, I am discipling them and that is beyond exciting. I will be gauging on whether or not the squad is running after the things we said we want to run after at training camp. At camp we said that we will be a squad of honor and family. One that is intentional with each other and the world. We will walk in high integrity and we will be one that will sharpen each other like iron sharpening iron even when it’s hard and not fun at all. My job? To help garden them into those people that they say they want to become. To help forge the path for them to run down. To give them the direction to run to integrity and family. I facilitate but it is up to them to choose whether or not they will actually become those people.
While I do all of that over the phone and email, I also facilitate those things happening by flying out to the field with Gap L a few times throughout their journey. I will be in charge of running debriefs which means that the whole squad will come together for a few days on the field in one place and they will have sessions, worship and opportunities to have one on ones with me, their coaches and squad leaders. We will dive into more of living life on mission, intimacy with Jesus and talking about how to do community well. We will re-evaluate whether or not people are chasing after who they want to become while telling the world about Jesus.
The fun news is that in September when Gap L launches to Romania, I WILL GO WITH THEM! I get to be with Gap L on the field all of their first month and then I will run their month 1 debrief before flying back to the States. I am so, so excited to get back out into the world and this time in Europe.
A lot of you want to know exactly where your money goes that you donate. It goes directly to Adventures in Missions and all of the work that they are doing. This includes flying my coaches and I out to the field to do all of those things listed above. In order for me to be a mentor for Adventures in Missions and Gap L, I am required to support raise $1,000 per month. That looks like 13 people joining my monthly support team to make this happen. I also love one-time donations and they help SIGNIFICANTLY! The amount of people that have given to me over the last two years is mindblowing and it gives me faith to trust Him with this amount, as well. I ask that you would prayerfully consider being one of these donors so that I can continue to mentor Gap L for the next year.
2- $200/month
3- $100/month
4- $50/month
4- $25/month
Gap L is in for an incredible year with the Lord. This coming week I will be in Gainesville and so will most of Gap J as they have a week of sessions to help them navigate being back in America after their 9 months on the field. Re-entry is real overwhelming and this week will help them sort through all that it has been so far. I can’t believe that I get to be part of the journey for these 18-22 year olds. I can’t believe that the Lord has trusted me to lead Gap J and now He is trusting me to mentor Gap L. I know that He is going to be so, so faithful this year to bring freedom to their lives while they tell this world about the love He has for them and what He did to save them.
If you feel led to donate any amount or join my monthly support team, click that Support Me button. If you are choosing to give monthly, make sure to check the monthly box. Also, make sure my name is listed.
