Well, training camp was almost a month ago, lasting from October 15 to October 24. There were 6 squads preparing to launch in January, which included 250+ new World Racers. For some context, my training camp only had 4 squads lasting 7 days rather than 10. The World Race is rapidly growing.
To be honest, I’m not entirely sure how to go about describing what it was like to be on the training end of training camp. I ended that week feeling more exhausted than I did as a participant, in a good way! You don’t realize how quickly you can become invested in the lives of others. I think the best way to describe it in detail is to let some pictures assist in the process.
This is C Squad. They were the smallest squad at training camp, but the unity and love that they have for each other already is incredible. We had the squad break into groups to do a dance-off. It came down to a tie in the end that we wanted the entire squad to vote on for the winner. They fought us on that and refused to take sides against their fellow squadmates so the squad leaders did a dance-off instead. Such unity.
From left to right: Molly Fae (squad leader), Kevin (squad leader), Ben (squad mentor), Matt (extra eyes), Kate (squad leader), me (extra eyes), Doug and Kris (coaches). Not pictured: Austin (mobilizer), Melinda (logistics), Larisa (squad leader), and Ashley (support squad mentor for training camp).
Each training team is composed of several roles. Squad leaders actually go on the field with the squad, the squad mentor is responsible for the spiritual health of the squad and works from the office, the coaches are more like squad parents and come out for debriefs, the mobilizer walks through the process from acceptance to the field and also helps with Parent Vision Trips, the logistics person interacts from the office with the logistics coordinators, treasurers, and financial coordinator on the squads, and then, the extra sets of eyes help in the team formation process. Training camp is such a unique experience, particularly from the training side, and it’s a gift to be able to work with an incredible group on a training team.
One of the exceptionally fun parts of being on a training team is that you get to participate in simulating an international market. Everyone dresses up as a role from vendors, to a king, to American tourists, to beggars, to street children, to fake policemen, and so on. All of the participants have to crowd into a small space and barter with currency to get their dinner for the evening. I got to be a vendor with Molly Fae (pictured on the left). We served as a mother/daughter team for one of the food stations. Our cuisine was Mama J’s chicken and we yelled to the racers about the fact that our chicken was so good it would get you a boyfriend. While many of the roles were somewhat exaggerated, the overwhelming chaos of the “market” was surprisingly accurate for real-life. In the middle picture, you can see some of the vendors and Dillon, who was playing a homeless person. On the right, Esther and Bella were street women. Ben, behind us, was the “king.”
After all of the training, the talks, break-out sessions, sleeping scenarios (lost luggage, airport, community tents, etc), the port-a-potties, the bucket showers, the weird cuisines, and all of the insane personal growth, training camp ends with squad wars. This is a fun time of chants (C squad had the best according to the judges), dance-offs, athletic events, tug-o-wars (C squad women represented), and just plain fun. It’s a cool way to end because everyone has reached their capacity for what they can take in. They have gone through team formations, know who their first teams will be, who their team leaders are, and have had many of the questions answered while more arose. I loved being able to watch squad wars unfold because it’s such a great release for everyone before heading home.
I truly felt like it was a privilege to be on a training team. We, as leadership track apprentices got cleared to take part in this incredible process. It feels like such a big tasks to get to know people quickly in order to figure out who can lead well, who pairs well, and dynamics in order to create teams that will be both safe and places to grow. So much discussion and prayer goes into the process that I couldn’t fully appreciate until being on this side. Above all, I was blown away by the unity of the squad and equally as shocked by my capacity to love a group of people so fast…my heart grew three sizes that week.
C Squad, it was an honor to be with you during not only that part of your World Race journey, but also, your lives. You loved me well and know you have someone in the States who will be cheering you on!
