Goodbye Los Mensajeros

So my last blog got us caught up through Month 4 in Cote D’Ivoire. What I want to do in this blog is help you to know the teammates that I was with for the first 4 months of the World Race. Our team name was Los Mensajeros, or “The Messengers” in English. Our team was very diverse and had a lot of different personalities, but wow did I learn a lot from them! Of course we got on each other’s nerves sometimes, but I am so thankful for how wonderful this team was as a group and individually! I love each and every one of them, and I am thankful to have had the opportunity to spend my first 4 months of the Race with them!

Introducing Los Mensajeros (In alphabetical order according to last name)……….

Caleb Estrada: What a fun person to be around! His joy just brings everyone else up around him. If you are in a mood, Caleb is sure to get you out of your funk. However, he is excellent at knowing when to be serious too. If you need advice or someone to talk to, Caleb is a wonderful counselor, and he is excellent at putting things in simple terms that are very easy to understand. Sometimes I feel like he knows me better than I know myself, and he just always provides the words you need at the right times. He is also just authentically himself which is an amazing thing to watch! If I’m being honest, one of my biggest fears coming on the Race was that I would be surrounded by “stuffy Christians”, for lack of a better term, that I wouldn’t be able to relate to. Caleb put that worry to rest really quickly as we had a lot of fun together!

Dara Kolar: I was able to talk to Dara a decent amount at training camp and so I was very excited to be placed on a team with her! Dara’s faith in the Lord is unparalleled! She is willing to do whatever she can in order to know God better and to do his will! Dara and I come from very different church backgrounds and so it is cool how we were and are able to challenge each other to grow in different areas that may not come naturally to us. Dara is always willing to have deep conversations which was one of my favorite things about being on a team with her! Dara is also a great listener and she really pays attention to what you are saying. She is incredibly loyal and protective of the ones she loves and would do anything for them! Her desire to know and experience God in new ways challenges the people around her to not put limits on who God is or what he can do.

Luis Lam: From the very first day of training camp, God seemingly intertwined Luis’s and my paths. That very first day, Luis could tell that I wasn’t used to the worship and other things that I was experiencing, and so he just talked with me through it and said that he felt like God wanted him to be a mentor for me. A few days later and what do you know? I was placed on this team with Luis as my team leader. I couldn’t have asked for a better leader than Luis. He is tons of fun to be around, he is someone who will challenge you and call you higher constantly, he is willing to have conversations about anything and everything, and he always brings God into the situation when you forget to. He is just an exceptional model of boldly walking out his faith as a loving servant of God. I learned so much from him whether by conversation or just observation, and I am so thankful that the Lord put me on a team with such an exceptional and dynamic leader! The personal and spiritual growth that I experienced in the first 4 months of my Race was exponential, and a lot of that just comes from Luis’s ability to disciple and mentor those around him. I am confident in saying that wherever God takes me in the future, I owe a lot to Luis for the spiritual foundation that he helped me to lay over the first 4 months!

Cristen Page: The first word that always comes to mind when I think of Cristen is just the word “free”. Cristen is just freely and uniquely herself, but not only that, she inspires those around her to just be comfortable with who they are as well. Cristen probably won’t like me sharing this, but while we were on a team together we didn’t always get along that well. I think we were both similar in the sense that we had some growing and maturing to do in terms of being accepting of people who are different than us. Now that we have both done some of that and grown in relationship with the Lord, we get along great! Cristen is now one of my absolute favorite people on the squad! I think this just goes to show the power that seeking after God wholeheartedly has in the unification of brothers and sisters in Christ! Anyways, Cristen is someone who really pays attention to the people around her. She makes them feel valued and loved in ways that few others can! Being around Cristen has definitely helped me to be more authentically myself and spending time with Cristen is always a blessing! 

Darlin Ventura: As I write this post, I am in Thailand, Month 10, and it will be my only month without Darlin due to it being the month where all the guys do ministry together separate from the women. We have made it through 3 team changes together and are still going strong. Darlin has become my older sister that I love to pick on, and we have a lot of fun together! From the very first month that we were on a team together, I realized that Darlin is the most loving and compassionate person I have ever met! The level of empathy she has for the people around her is just off the charts! However, I have also gotten to see a few moments where the fiery side of Darlin came out, and I never let her forget it! I love that Darlin is such a good sport about the constant teasing that I throw her way, and she isn’t afraid to give it back either. Darlin is an incredibly strong woman and the things she has overcome in her lifetime make her an inspiration to me. I couldn’t have hand-picked a better teammate to do the World Race with!

Yep, so that was my team for the first 4 months. What an amazing collection of individuals! Just a quick update, as I mentioned above, I am currently in Month 10 in Thailand. I will make sure to post at least one blog about each country, even if it means finishing them when I get home. I am excited to finish out this season strong, but I also look forward to seeing you all when I get home! Thanks for reading and God Bless!