Howdy!!

There’s so much I could say and want to say, but for the sake of your interest and attention span, I will try my darnedest to keep it short!

Our last week of training camp was tough to say the least, but so incredibly valuable. We were given multiple “scenarios” that typically meant something went wrong and we had to work through it as a team. This, if you can imagine, got a little uncomfortable at times but definitely taught us how to work together as a team. Some of our scenarios included our luggage getting “lost” and having to make due with our day packs, packing in and packing out to go backpacking a day later, and team challenges where some people miraculously lost their hearing, sight, or voice. While at points it was incredibly frustrating or uncomfortable (and definitely not pretty), Ive taken some very unique and valuable lessons from them. Things such as learning how to purely lean on God, express the ugly things I’m feeling, or how to ask for help when Im struggling. I know that these things will be incredibly useful on the field for me personally and my team as a whole!

During our last week of training, some people on our team were given a role to play to encourage and empower our team in different areas! I was given the storyteller role!! I would be lying if I said I was excited to hear that this was my role from the get go. I mean, c’mon. What’s a storyteller anyway? That couldn’t be further from the truth now. Jesus, himself, was a storyteller, using captivating words and experiences to share the gospel in a unique way! I get to do the same thing in a different form! Throughout our adventure my teammate Maddie and I will be using the skills our leaders recognized in us, to motivate our team to share our stories. We believe that the way to defeat the enemy and his lies is “through the blood of the lamb and the word of our testimony” (Revelation 12:11). We have created an instagram account to capture the fun and memorable times of our trip in picture form, and will continue posting blogs for storytelling along with collections of testimonies! I can honestly say now that I feel HONORED to have this role!

For the exciting part of my blog… I’m currently writing to you from Nicaragua! I’m beyond grateful to say that we made it here safely and thoroughly enjoyed a GREAT night of sleep after 24 hours of travel. God was so kind and gracious to us in our travels helping us by providing more time for layovers (so we didn’t have to sprint from opposite terminals) and helping us get through customs! We are proud and very grateful to say that O squad is the first squad to visit Nicaragua again since Covid and are so excited to see how God moves in this beautiful country! We start our Ministry outreach tomorrow and look forward to experiencing the faith of a different culture throughout the month!!

Well I hope you were able to stick it out to the end! Be on the lookout for my next blog update or instagram post!

Instagram: @osquad24

I love and miss you all dearly!!

Yours,

Em :)