Lisa and I just returned from a World Race Debrief in Nicaragua, Central America… it took us 19 hours of straight travel to make it back; we are a little road weary, but incredibly excited about what God is doing with this next generation!
Just to give you an idea of what debriefs are like; we landed in Managua, Nicaragua at around 6:00 pm – drove about two hours to Granada, (it should only be a 30 min trip, but the roads, animals and people everywhere slow you way down). Went to dinner with some of our “Spiritual kids” and fell into bed!
Here was are schedule – Breakfast at 7:30 – team debriefs at 8:30; we break each world race team into teams of 5 to 7 people. Done with team debriefs at around 5:00 pm, off to dinner with the leaders of each team to see how they are doing… after dinner out with a few of the guys to sit and talk about life; in bed around midnight.
Next morning, start debriefs with each individual; 7:30 am, every 30 minutes, until 5:30 pm – sitting, listening, praying, crying, laughing, planning the next season of life. Next day the same; preach at night. This goes on for 5 straight days – Lisa and I are exhausted, overwhelmed about the stories, trails and joys of the past 11 months. These are our spiritual children and we give them as much energy, love and attention as we do our own… it is a privilege.
These young people have been in 11 countries this past 11 months – they spent their lives on serving people from many tongues, tribes and nations… they are exhausted, worn out, emotional; many excited to go home, just as many wanting more!
Now we are bringing many here that were on this “race” to Colorado to take them even deeper. Life together, birthing what God has done in their lives – taking a few of our kids from each World Race squad and making them even greater.
At the end of the debrief time, Lisa and I rented this motorcycle for $18 and drove around Nicaragua. Volcano’s, jungles, breathtaking lakes… but, as we were leaving the racers some of them handed me letters of what it meant for us to “father and mother” them through this past year of their journey around the world; Lisa looked at me with tears and said – “there’s your paycheck.” I couldn’t be any richer!
