What makes those words so special when they are put together? Let me share with you a little insight into the words first:
*The word “super”— “a prefix occurring in loanwords from Latin, with the basic meaning “above, beyond.”
*The word “team”—“a group of people organized to work together”
When those words are put together literally meaning an organized group of people working together to go above and beyond, there is a very high expectation. That is the name we were given. The Super Team. For 15 days, we were the Super Team.
The words have a high expectation just standing alone, but when you put 9 women and between 1 and 3 men (depending on the day) together with the title of Super Team, just the name of the team can be a bit intimidating. We were not scared though. We were up to the challenges that were facing us in the south of Romania. We bonded, we loved, we shared life, we got to know each other, but most of all we prayed. We prayed so much that when we returned to Bucharest I had almost forgotten that not everyone on every team prays so much and it was a weird feeling. We prayed for everything we could imagine from weather, to vehicles, to homesickness, to broken hearts. We prayed for mountains in the hearts of kids and directors. We prayed for safety and health. We prayed for God’s love to overflow from each of our lives giving each of us more of ourselves to share and give away. We prayed for children by name. We had high expectations for God to move. When you get that many people together it can be hard to all be on the same page, it can be easy to respond with bitterness and anger as opposed to love and forgiveness. We prayed for unity. God was faithful, we were unified. During our whole time I can think of one time when our team was divided. It could have been a bad thing for us, but instead of siding with each other and holding grudges we talked through things and we prayed. It was not only for those 15 days that we were together though, the women on the team had been together for the girly camps that were for almost two weeks prior to this. Much of our time together was spent in laughter and joy.
Let me tell you what the Super Team physically did.
We started in Alexandria doing a program for the girls and continued the next week with the boy’s school in Rosiori. We did a points system so that at the end of the four days there would be a winning team. They got points for helping out, for winning games, for memorizing verses, for participation, and just random points. We started each day with music and a Bible skit that we had prepared for that day. Our theme for this summer was “When we act with courage, God responds with faithfulness.” We definitely not only taught this but also lived it out in our own lives. After our skits we would have a time of group discussion. We split into three teams (Red, Blue, and Yellow) and in our teams we would go through the story again, ask questions about the story, and do a memory verse. After that we would play a game until lunch time. During lunch we would have time to rest and regroup for the afternoon. In Alexandria we were very blessed to be able to use a room in the basement of the church there. It was a nice place to retreat to that was a nice cool place to get out of the heat. After lunch we would do crafts and play games and relay races and have some free time for the rest of the day. It really was a lot of fun to get to know the kids and talk to them After their four days of us going to their school, we had two days of carnivals at the boy’s transition house. We split them each into two groups so the first days the littler ones came and the second days the older ones came. The girls carnivals were really fun. In the morning we did music, carnival games, an obstacle course, and some group games, then lunch. After lunch we did a slip-n-slide and zipline. During those things towards the end of the day we took the girls and washed their hair. They all enjoyed it very much and it was so cute to see all of their faces as they were getting clean. With the boys it was a bit different, because it was raining and colder on both days. The first day we had to move everything inside, figure out how the day was going to run, and come up with skits that morning. But God was faithful and we got through that day without problems. We all crammed into the small dining room, I think there was about 34 of us that day. God was faithful in letting the rain stop just long enough for each boy to go down the zipline one time each before the rain started again. It was so much fun and just the kind of thing those boys needed. The second day of boys was amazing because even though it has stopped raining, we still couldn’t do a slip-n-slide, but they loved the zipline as well as just playing soccer out in the yard and making bracelets with us.
That is what we physically did as the summer ministry team, but what makes us the Super Team? Anyone could have done those things and had them go smoothly, but we were different, set apart. We blessed the older girls in Alexandria with groceries that they cannot afford and ice cream treats for the girls we worked with, we had pictures printed off so that each child could have something either to remember us or to give to someone else to remember them by, and I personally made more lanyards in one day at the boys school than I thought humanly possible. My team and I got along and we did not work as individuals from different states and walks of life but as brothers and sisters who came together, united in heart, in strength, in spirit, in joy, and in our goal. We are a family, a family that has different personalities and strengths and weaknesses, but where one lacks the others pick it up. We are a team of servants. We did not fight over things that would cause dissension, but we were so set on serving each other the only things we argued about was who was going to do dishes because too many people WANTED to. I could go on with my stories, but I won’t right now. God proved himself time and time again with our team and the way that we grew in love and in faith was leaps and bounds past anything I could have ever dreamed. I know that I can speak for my team members when I say that we were so blessed to be in each others lives and we are all thankful that God brought us here to be on this team, for this time with these people, working with these kids to bring himself glory this summer.
Ask us our stories and we will tell you.
Pace (Peace).
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