The team

One of the best parts for me was getting to bond with the team during the trip. I know, it seems kind of funny – we all live in the same area and could have hung out any time, so what’s the big deal about being together in Africa? But, of course, there’s something about going through a unique experience together that forms a different kind of bond. Shared experience is a big part of forming any kind of relationship, I think, and unlike the other ones we formed in Namibia (it wasn't easy having to say goodbye to the Streets and their baby and Pastor Volker and Eckhart and Georine and Mark and Aina and Twelli and everyone else) – we have the opportunity to keep them going once we get back. Hopefully we will, and won’t let the memories fade too quickly.

We had an early start. Jeff and Elisa met at my house, and Jessica came with her mom to pick us up in a truck and take us to the airport. On the way, we talked about the Lion King and Britney Spears and several other things that would sound really odd out of context (ok, maybe in context, too.) By the time we reached the airport we were all laughing at ourselves and feeling loose and ready. We met up with Brianna and Lauren (who had arranged their own rides) and flew through security, ready to get moving on the first leg of our journey.

It was an interesting group. Not to brag on them too much, but everyone really brought their best for the trip. Everyone contributed ideas; everyone did what was needed in the moment; everyone volunteered for things that stretched their comfort and experience; no one backed down or fell apart. It felt God-assembled. We all clicked spiritually and emotionally, and we all played games and cracked jokes and gave each other a hard time without going too far. I was proud of us.

Of the people on the trip, I probably knew Jessica and Brianna the least. Beyond a handful of conversations here and there, and one recent trip to the Salt River with Jessica and some other friends, I didn’t really know them all that well. I knew Jeff better, having hung out with him much more over the last year and a half or so. But I still couldn’t say we were that close – Jeff is very outgoing and talkative, but he isn’t always forthcoming about deeper emotions or his personal history (and neither am I, for that matter), so there was a barrier of quasi-purposeful aloofness maintained between us. Before the trip, that is.

I had a much closer connection with Elisa and Lauren, comparatively. Lauren and I were both on the trip to Nepal nearly two years ago (see above for shared experiences), so that already set a foundation of understanding and trust between us. Plus, we worked together as co-leaders for the months leading up to the trip. I don’t mean co-leaders in that we did everything equally – she was the main leader on the trip, the spiritual leader who had the dream and vision and motivation that made the trip happen. I was more of a behind the scenes helper, support, and leader of certain areas that fell more naturally into my personality type, like managing the money and helping wrangle everyone together when needed. We knew we could count on each other. I felt in a similar place with Elisa – she’d been around our group of young adults at Two Rivers Church for a long time, and we gradually got to know each other better through shared events and side conversations and just being in the same places often. We never met one on one for coffee or had a three-hour heart to heart or anything; nevertheless, similar to Lauren, I felt like we knew and trusted who the other person was. I think it says a lot about someone when you’d pretty much trust them with your life without being able to give a cogent, experiential reason why.

Some moments that really brought us all together:

• Staying the A-frame in Swakopmund – sharing personal things, playing cards, overhearing embarrassing stories; at first it seemed odd to have our downtime at the beginning of the trip, but now I think it was incredibly helpful to speed up the process of becoming a closer group.
• The drive to and from Swakop – singing worship songs, talking about our dreams, telling stories of how parents met.
• Going to the orphanages and playing with the kids – everyone participated, and no one had an ego or reservation.
• Hanging with Paul and Auguste – learning from them, learning about them, doing things together as friends and partners in ministry. I think Paul appreciated the rare chance to spend time around a bunch of goofy people from his home country.
• Nights with the host families – swapping stories with them, seeing the juxtaposition within a culture that’s influenced by both Western Europe and Southern Africa. Interacting with them as if we were already a cohesive group, which we were, which should have seemed novel or strange, but didn’t because we were moving too fast to notice that we should have needed more time to feel comfortable in that way. It was nice.

We didn’t fight. When someone felt bothered or offended by something, they explained it and we talked it out and things were okay. When someone was tired or feeling irritable, they said exactly that – and then distanced themselves to get needed rest. No one was blamed, or pushed, or put down. When one of us wasn’t feeling well and needed to skip an event to rest, we encouraged them to rest. When we needed to split up into smaller groups to do things, we worked just as well in pairs and threes as we did as a whole.

Maybe I’m painting a picture that it was all rainbows and sunshine and unicorns with little bows tied around their horn that sneeze Care Bears and have endless supplies of candy. Or maybe you never would have imagined that picture before now. Either way, I’m not trying to gloss over anything or say that everyone was perfect – I’m sure people had private fears or internal issues or felt annoyed with someone else at some point. Maybe there was some confrontation I never knew about. Maybe it would have been more difficult if we had been there another two weeks. But I don’t really think so – my point is that when people did have to deal with something, they dealt with it well. They responded with love and patience. We avoided high stress and low emotions, or at least we didn’t stay in those states for very long. A big part of that was the help and guidance of Paul and Auguste (more on that later), but I’m really proud of our team for the way they did what was needed, shared the gospel, and ended strong. I’d be happy to go on another trip with any of them, and I think that means a lot.