“The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion—to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendor.”- Isaiah 61:1-3
Today is the last day of training camp and tomorrow at 3am my team will board a plane to South Africa. We will fly through Washington and then on to a 16-hour flight to Johannesburg, South Africa. We will spend the first night there and then drive about 6 hours the next day into Swaziland. It has been a long but very good week. I first went through three days of leader training with 5 other amazing people who will be leading trips to Peru and the Philippines. We have had so much fun together. There has been a lot to learn, but we have all done our best to intake it all. 
Most of those three days were spent sitting in a room going over all the possible issues that may come up on the field. We also had some fun doing team building activities involving water balloons. Let’s just say I got wet! The girls all stayed at my house which was fun and the guys all stayed at the camp. It was a lot of information to take in but it was definitely needed. Last Thursday all of the leaders headed to the airport to pick up our teams. We were all so excited. After months of emailing, seeing pictures and talking on the phone, it was finally time to meet our kids. We spent most of the day at the airport and finally when everyone was there we all loaded a big yellow school bus and headed back to Gainesville.
The first day of training camp is always interesting because everyone is nervous and still trying to figure out how to act in a group of strangers. My team is amazing. They are talented, funny and a genuine bunch of go-getters. It has almost been unreal to see how quickly they have bonded. Throughout the week we have had different team building activities to draw us together and help us know each other better. One team builder involved going “Army boot camp” style through a maze in the woods. Now, let’s pause at this point in the story because anyone who knows me is thinking right now, “You went in the woods?” I absolutely never go in the woods because I am highly allergic to poison ivy. It has become a phobia of mine because I have had such bad experiences from it in the past. So, when I heard my team was going to have to do this I panicked. I went back and forth on what I should do in my mind, but when it came down to it I knew I would regret not giving my everything for my team. So, I cried a little, 
prayed and then headed in ready to take it on. The whole time I was just thinking, “It’s all for Jesus.” It ended up being an awesome time for my team and we even set a new record on the fastest time to get through the maze. Our next big team builder was the obstacle course. Now, this is the event that I had worked as a staff member for over the last 6 weeks so I know it inside and out. I also knew that the AIM staff was going to silence me from talking so I couldn’t give my team any hints. We all know that is not an easy thing for me to do. Because our team had done so well at the other team builders they put extra constraints on the course to try and make it harder for us. I was still trying to give directions with my hands so they ended up tying my hands together so I couldn’t move them. I learned that lesson the hard way (ha). It was very hard not to be able to lead, but my team has so many amazing people that are there ready to step up and lead the team. We ended up getting through the course under our goal time while having a ton of fun in the process. Other team times included a dance off, a strategic mind game and different pole and ball games. It has been really neat to see each of them find their role and comfort level on this team.
Tonight we had our commissioning service where Sean and I were prayed over by staff members and then we had the opportunity to pray over each of our team members and take communion together. Now I am finishing packing and will hopefully get a few hours of sleep before heading to the airport at 3am. I must say I am exhausted and need sleep desperately, but I am trusting the Lord for energy, strength and good health since good sleep is not in my sight right now. Please pray for my team while we are gone. Also, please leave comments on my blog while I am gone because they will be a great encouragement to me when I am able to get on the Internet. I hopefully will be able to blog once a week while I am gone even though pictures may have to wait until I am home due to the extremely slow Internet in Swazi. We also have a team blog where the kids will be telling their stories while we are gone: http://08sw0626amb1.myadventures.org/.
Team Members: Rachel, Kayla, Skye, Noah, Nia, Jordan, Gaby, Alison and Kayleen
Prayer Requests: Good health, wisdom as I guide this team, team unity, good attitudes, personal direction and that God would prepare our paths and show up in big ways!
I love you all and can’t wait to share all that God does over this next month. Keep in touch and please keep us in your prayers! Next stop…Africa!!
For His Glory,
Caroline
Ps. 56:3
