I haven’t really talked about debrief since way back when I was in Albania! That was all the way back in my 2nd month on the race and man does that feel like 10 years ago. The main purpose of debrief is to reflect on the past few months, process what everyone went/is going through, and to rest up to prepare us for the next few months. This debrief was in Istanbul, Turkey. The whole squad, including our squad mentor Ari, all travelled from Amman, Jordan to Istanbul. We had an interesting bus ride from the airport to our debrief location (there were moments when some of us got motion sick and nearly made a mess on the bus.) But when we got to settle in we were ready to be together as a squad again.
Debrief is always an interesting time. When you put 30 people in a room together interesting things are bound to happen. We had so many times over the week that we got to pray over and with each other, worship together, and invite people into reconciliation.
Every debrief we create a space for everyone to share things with the whole group whether it be a huge praise or an answered prayer or if we have been holding hurt feelings towards the squad. It can be so freeing and this squad is so good at receiving feedback from one another so that we can move forward into the next season of our race with unity and love. We also create spaces for people to resolve any conflict with individuals. We give people time to talk things over in private so that they can continue that friendship in a healthy and loving way. Matthew 18: 15 says, “ If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his faults, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained a brother.” This is the verse we listen to during this time. It is amazing to see how people are after these times of healthy conflict resolution.
Another amazing part of debrief is all of the times we get to pray over each other. We prayed over our alumni squad leaders Hannah and Josiah who were leaving the field, we got to pray over those who were going through emotional or physical pains, and then we got to pray over those who were already thriving. These were moments I was praying I would get to experience when I was imagining my world race experience would be before I left. Getting to pour into my squad mates is so fulfilling and wonderful to be a part of.
One thing that was unexpected was on the second to last day of debrief (January 18th, side note yes this was my birthday) we found out someone had tested positive for Covid. So our second round of quarantine began! Only 2 people on the squad tested positive this time. While this was not expected and many of us were bummed to have to quarantine for a week it ended up being some welcomed rest. The room full of ladies I was a part of was so fun! We were in the full lockdown room since we either had symptoms or we were very close with those who had tested positive. So, what that meant was we weren’t allowed to leave. We were confined in our room and we had some other squad mates bring us groceries (thanks John for putting up with all of our requests.) The room I was in would listen to worship in the morning while some of us painted and others were just enjoying a quiet morning and then on quarantine day 2 we started a Harry Potter marathon and we watched every movie by the end of the week.
This time was not easy, nor is it supposed to be easy. It can be spiritually tiring but it was still good. We saw so much fruit from this debrief and quarantine. While the following month was not easy (you’ll hear about that later) this time together as a squad was so special. I love this squad! Each person was uniquely chosen by the Lord to be on this squad for a purpose and I love how the Lord is working through this squad and unifying us. In James 1:19-20 it says, “Know my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger, for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.” This squad is so good and I am so excited to see what the Lord does with us for the rest of this race.
