Week 5
Start, Stop, Keep on Doing
Hello family, friends and readers, as we write this blog we are preparing to enter our last week on OTG, but first we would like to share the week that has gone by and everything that has come with it.
During the last couple of weeks, we have had numerous leadership training opportunities. This week our challenge was to step into our area of weakness within our own leadership profiles. For some of us, this was a challenge as it was unnatural to step into a role that wasn’t necessarily part of our nature. This helped us to understand why we worked so well together as a team and explained some of our misunderstandings in the past. Being a team that is well-rounded has shaped our journey together so far.
With a new understanding and role in our leadership profile, we set out for our last 3-day hike. One of the girls had the role of motivating the team. But one moment during the hike, we asked for some motivation, and her response was ‘Oh not now, maybe later…’ (haha) But this was something all of us went through as it was harder to be something that we normally aren’t. And at the end of it all, we had a better understanding of ourselves and each other. Through all of this learning, we are able to take this with us into the world around us, outside of OTG, so that we can understand people better and therefore, lead others more effectively.
Hilde was our ‘detailer’ for the week. For her, she had to pay attention – a lot. She had to focus on the small things because the whole day she would get questions from us regarding how long, how far, are we almost there, how much elevation will we do etc. For Hilde, she usually is the motivator and enjoys the excitement of things so focusing on small details went against her normal character.
Sum and Katie were ‘drivers’. It was more of a challenge as we were unsure as to what that role looked like and had to ask everyone else what we had to do. Sometimes we would lead the group on the hike but forget to tell everyone to move and so we left everyone behind. Most of the time it was more comfortable to step back, but our teammates would remind us that we needed to be in front. Lots of the time the question was asked, where are our ‘drivers’? Some say they are still looking for them.
On the last day of our hike, we finally had the opportunity to test our rain gear that we have been hauling around for 5 weeks. God has really blessed us with amazing weather, and even then, we only had to walk in the rain for an hour. We heard from people that we met on the trail and the weather reports that came each morning told us that the weather was bad even with some snow, but the whole time we had God’s ‘umbrella’ above and around us, staying dry and even seeing the sun. Our leaders prepared us each morning for rain, rain and rain, but it was more like sun, sun and sun. When we came to the end, we had a funny challenge to complete. Some of us decided to wet our boots and our leaders taught us how to properly cross a river when its raging. The most important thing is teamwork and communication as we couldn’t do it alone in hard circumstances. It was a cool learning experience, and we squished our way back to the van.
This week we have continued to go into depth of who we are and how we will step back into life outside of OTG. We have had the time and space to really think about our life and what we stand for, where we want to grow in, and our purpose in life. This has been heavy on our hearts as we enter our last days together. But as we are reminded, we still have the glass a little full and everything before it was delicious.
Funny Moments:
- One of the girls doesn’t like BEE-ing around bees. She also wished they would BEE-have themselves and leave her BEE. The thing that really gets her angry is bad BEE-haviour. At one stage she was running away from the bees and the whole team started running too without knowing why they were running!
- One of us took having more faith literally and put that to the test when she tried to walk through the glass door rather than opening it, not only once but twice!
- In the middle of the night, we have snoring orchestra performances, we are sorry to those who must sleep in the huts with us!
- As a team we have an ongoing scone debate. So – is a scone round or square? Answer carefully!
- Our Kiwi from the group taught some of the ladies how to rugby scrum with a soccer ball and most of us ended up on the floor!
Prayer Requests:
· Please pray for peace and strength of heart as we draw closer to God and to the end of OTG, as the enemy wants to drag us back and we want to go forward.
· Safety in travel and activity
· Fruitful conversations
· For our leaders as they continue to lead and guide us, especially dealing with 7 girls!
Written by Katie (New Zealand), Sum Sum (Hong Kong) & Hilde (Netherlands) on behalf of the entire OTG Team