Coronavirus Craziness

Wow! I made it to Guatemala! And man was it one crazy thing after another to get here! In a matter of days I went from not know if I would be able to launch with my squad to being the only leader on the field with my squad. 

The original plan was to leave on January 3rd to go to leader training. Then the participants would come on January 8 and we would all leave for Guatemala together on January 12. I say that was the original plan because that is not at all what actually happened. God changed plan after plan after plan over the next week. 

I needed to get a COVID test according to Georgia regulations so I could go on the Adventures in Missions campus. I was so sure I would get a negative and when my test results came back positive I was very disappointed and honestly questioning God and asking, “Why?”. 

Over the next week of quarantining, I realized one of the reasons was to put me in a place where I could really rest and prepare for this trip. When they had sessions at leader training, I video called in and was still able to participate. 

Once my mild symptoms completely went away and my quarantine time was finished, I went and got another COVID test and waited for my results. I knew if the results came back positive I would have to wait in Texas for a while longer, but if they came back negative I could quickly buy a plane ticket and get to Georgia for the participants training. 

On the morning of the 8th, I woke up and checked it. At 8:15am, I finally didn’t have to read the word “pending” anymore but instead read “negative.” My heart leapt with excitement. I was going to make it to training and be able to launch with my squad. 

By 9am I had bought my plane ticket. At 2:30pm we loaded in the car to drive to the airport. My plane left at 6:15 that evening and I was on the AIM campus by 11:30 that night. It all happened so fast but I was happy to be there! 

We had a great several days of training with the squad. It was full of so much goodness from the Lord as well as hard things we had to navigate through. For example one of my co-leaders, Ari, had an unexpected surgery and we found out that not only would she not make it to any of the training she also would not be able to launch with us onto the field. Along with that we had several participants including a team leader that also tested positive for COVID and would not be able to join us at training or in Guatemala until they tested negative. 

On the first day everyone who was able to attend training went together to get the exact type of COVID test we would need to be accepted into Guatemala. The night before we left we got back the results and everyone tested negative except my only other co-leader, Brandon. He immediately went into quarantine and because of all the restrictions we had put in place with the squad the only person who we needed to be worried about exposure was my mentor, Stephanie. 

Through all of this, we ended up leaving for the airport at 10pm on the 11th with me as the only Squad Leader. I immediately felt a weight on me. How in the world would I be able to lead 26 people out of the country in the middle of a pandemic by myself? After spending some time with the Lord, I felt differently. He helped give me the confidence to know that everything would work out okay. He also helped me realize that I for sure wasn’t alone. Not only did I have the support of my leadership team from afar, I also had the full support of my participants. I felt so loved and encouraged over the next several days traveling the whole way to Guatemala until I sent my teams all off to their different locations. 

WE DID IT. We made it to our hosts in Guatemala! Wow! 

So now I’m sitting here able to just sit in God’s amazing goodness. I’m able to see that one of the reasons why I had the coronavirus when I did was so that the squad could have a leader to help them get to where God was calling them to go. I can appreciate all the ways God moved and blessed us as we traveled. And I can not wait until Ari, Brandon, and all the participants we left behind are able to make it here and be united with us in serving these communities. 

The past 10 days have been CRAZY. Many times I operated in task mode with my check lists to make sure everything got done. But now I have so much freedom to sit in JOY knowing God has his plans in the unknowns, the hard things, and the chaos of life.