Launch And Flight Dets!

Launch was here and gone!  So here’s a quick update of what I’ve been up to:

You are given $10 to spend on lunch in dinner—what do you buy?  That’s the situation my team and I faced one day.  In a Hilton in Atlanta, you have to be wise with your money.  Most things in the little store were $6 or more.  I was able to get a cup of oatmeal for $4.85.  Then for lunch, some friends and I headed down the road to American Deli.  I looked at the menu and was shocked.  There were 2 items (with tax) that would have been in my $5 limit I had for lunch.  Granted, I could use my own money—but I want this to be real and authentic.  I ended up getting sweet chili wings (1/2 doz) for a little over $4. 

In reality, this is more than most people get for an entire day in other countries.  $10 might even buy meals for two days.  How lucky we are in America!  Our world race budget allows us about $5/day.  Our small teams will most likely be pooling our money together to buy food..

My logistics role is shaping up more than ever!  Last night and Friday we learned a lot more about our responsibilities.  As part of the logistics crew, I am privileged to serve my team in long distance transportation from one country to the next, minus air travel.  (Thank goodness we don’t have the hassle of booking flights!).  This includes bus or train transportation.  And if in budget, we might even be able to do something crazy like cross the border in hot air balloons (okay, well that was something a team had suggested in the past!)

I will most likely be taking one day out of ministry each week to work on figuring out how to get teams to the airport or debrief locations.  That also includes any lodging and food that must occur during that time.  Additionally, when we have debriefs, we have to schedule how to get team leaders, mentors, and coaches to our debrief location.  We also have to plan lodging and food for them. 

My role also includes prepping everyone for transportation.  That includes a detailed email with how each team is to get to the meeting spot, what time flights, buses, etc leave, what time we have to be at check in, and what time to be at the gate to board.  It includes informing the squad of culture standards and or expectations for within the country.

All of this also includes me having a credit card and paying for these items.  And being in constant communication with my fellow logistics crew, and squad admin in Atlanta.  That means we have to buy new SIM cards in each country for our squad.  The job als includes writing receipts for any transaction that has occurred and loading it into an expense report.  Each and every transaction must be recorded and put into a system through Gorilla.  Then, on the 28^th of each month we must submit our final expense report.  We have to be good steward to make sure our expenses stay within our budgets. 

Friday night we finally got to catch up with our parents for a bit.  We started off with a message from and Alumni Parent.  Then worship.  And of course lots of praying over each other.  Throw in a few tears and then, back to training and recapping on what we learned in our logistics trainings the past few days.  We said goodbye on Saturday after having lunch with our parents.  The night continued with worship and sessions.

Sunday included some more sessions, worship, a free journal, and ended with a nacho bar!  Not to mention only two hours of sleep because we had to leave for the airport by 3am.

Since then, we’ve spent hours upon hours in the airport.  Our first flight left at 6:45am and landed in FL (Ft. Lauderdale) around 8:30am.  Then we took a bus to Miami and arrived there around 10am.  1:49am on Tuesday morning we take a flight to Bogota, Colombia.  At 12pm we fly from Bogota to Medellin.  Then we take transportation from there to our host!  Whew!  We’ve been using our WR budget for food in the airport$10/day.  It’s been tricky, but doable. 

Can’t wait to post my next blog from Colombian soil! 

Thanks for your prayers!  We’ve only had one bag get lost, and it’s been found!