“Um, Deborah…What do you actually do?”

“Um, Deborah… What do you actually do?”

This is the question one of my team leaders posed as we stood in the dinner line amongst the 50 new people I am leading, sweating in the heat and the humidity of Cambodia, anxiously awaiting our bowls of curry.

“I know there is so much you do when you aren’t on the field with us, but we don’t see most of that. I know you work really hard, but I’d love to have a deeper appreciation of what you do.”

This team leader was on my squad last year, and is now on my leadership team for three months. We’ve had over a year of working together. Surely, she must have some idea of what I do, I thought. But it makes sense. There is so much I do that people on the field don’t see, and so much of my job that people outside of Adventures community and culture would have trouble understanding. So I thought, why not just write a list? Post a blog? Send it to my supporters? To my squad?

After almost a year in this role, I am finally able to give the one-sentence version: I oversee the overall experience for one Gap Year squad from training camp through their return home, including discipleship, logistics, ministry, and the leadership team.

If that was enough for you, great! You saved yourself about 1,000 words of reading. That, however, doesn’t mean much to people, so I figured I could break it down for you. If you’re actually interested in what being a squad mentor means, here you go!

A day/week/year in the life of

Deborah Jones, Squad Mentor.

The Events

• Training Camp: This is my first interaction with a squad. We spend 10 days in July meeting the squad, building relationship, and giving the squad vision for the next year. We train them for life on the field and to walk in intimacy with the Father, true community, and to live missionally.

• Launch: The second weekend in September, we meet our squads in Atlanta for launch! This is a four day event immediately preceding the squad flying to their first country. This allows us a little more time to train, give vision, and prepare. As a Gap Year mentor, we also launch with them for the first month.

• Debriefs: Debriefs happen 3 times a year for a Gap Year squad – Month 1, Midpoint, and Final. These are times for the squad to rest, reflect, and gain vision for moving forward. I fly to whatever country the squad is in, and with the help of the rest of the leadership team, plan and run this 5-day event. This includes team meetings, squad teachings, worship, fun nights, etc.

• Parent Vision Trip: Each racer has the opportunity to invite their parents to do one week of ministry with them (usually during month 6 of their Race). I fly to the country the squad is in to help lead this week of ministry.

• Squad Leader Debrief: After the bold and beautiful squad leaders come home from 9 months of leading Gap Year Racers, we want to help them re-enter well. We set up a 3 day retreat where we focus on processing, encouragement, and vision for life at home (or whatever is next).

• Project Searchlight: This is the last, formal event with a squad. About a month after the Race, we host PSL in Gainesville, GA, and racers have the option of attending. The focus here is transitioning to life back home and how to continue living missionally, sustaining intimacy with the Father, and cultivating community.

Dad and I at PVT in Cambodia

 The field time

In addition to debriefs, I spend time on the field doing ministry with the squad. In total, I usually spend around 12 weeks on the field with each squad. While on the field, I have a few main things to focus on:

• Supporting and leading the squad and team leaders

• Teaching and training the squad

• Casting and carrying out vision

• Building relationship with people on the squad: this looks like intentional conversations, adventure days, doing ministry side-by-side with them, being goofy and silly and having fun, having hard conversations, being available to them face-to-face, and just living life with them. It makes it easier to disciple people when you are with them, and the relationship I build with them on the field allows me to continue relationship with them via technology.

With Gap N in Colombia

The Meetings

• Monday morning worship: as an organization, we begin our week in worship and learning about the Lord from the leaders of the organization.

• Monday morning meeting: as a Gap Year Department, we follow worship with connection. We meet as a team to update each other on life, on how our squads on the field are doing, and how we can be praying for each other.

• Tuesday Mentor Meetings: on Tuesdays, all of the squad mentors gather to connect, learn, and have fun! This two hour meeting includes a time of fellowship and a time of training. Right now, we are covering our 6 critical tasks (performance goals) as squad mentors and working on becoming certified in our jobs.

• Weekly Check-in: Each week, I sit down with the director of Gap Year for a check-in on the squad and how things are going. This is a great time for her to disciple me in leading the squad well.

• Call with coaches: Coaches serve as the elders for a squad. They are volunteers who are passionate about the World Race. My coaches this year are Drew and Marie Petersen. Their son did World Race: Gap Year two years ago. Drew and Marie are partners in leading Gap S with me. They help me cast and carry the vision as well as make critical decisions for the squad. Each week, I call them to discuss the squad.

• Leadership Calls: Every week, I host a video call with the leadership team for my squad. The coaches, squad leaders, and myself all come together via computer screen from wherever and whenever we are in the world. We spend the 2 hours (usually) updating each other personally, praying for each other, discussing each team, going over squad business, and planning how to continue driving the squad towards the vision the Lord has given us.

Gap Year Mentors

The Weekly Tasks

• Squad leader and team leader check ins: each week, the coaches and I call each field leader to check in and disciple them.

• Reading Journey Markers: Journey Markers are a weekly Bible Study the squad goes through together. Each week, they answer questions based on the JM and what the Lord is currently doing in their life. Once these responses are culminated, I read through each of the 53 people’s processing.

• Following up with Journey Markers: After we read them, we respond to each person!

• Weekly update: Each week, I type up my own processing and weekly update on the squad happenings for my leadership! This is what we discuss in the weekly check-in meeting.

• Email the squad: Each week, I try to send one email to the squad. This is often casting vision, sharing what the Lord is teaching me, or some word from God for them.

• Intercede for the squad: Each week, I have an hour set aside to pray and intercede for the squad. I pray about things that are going on, ministry, and where the Lord wants to take them.

The Daily in-betweens

• All the emails: In the average day I get anywhere from 10 to 50 emails. The goal is always to end the day with zero. This goal often eludes me.

• Squad logistics: I work with the squad administrator to oversee the logistics and finances of the squad.

• Ministry maintenance: Alongside the regional director, I help maintain relationship with the ministry hosts the squad is serving.

• Incident Reports: When things happen on the field (security, illness, injury, etc), we have a system for reporting. These incident reports are maintained, monitored, and followed-up-with by the Risk Management team and yours truly.

• Evaluations: Team leaders and ministry hosts have to fill out evaluations throughout their time together. Each Gap Year racer fills out evaluations at debrief. And every racer fills out evaluations during training camp. I make sure everyone fills these out and manage the results.

• Reading Blogs: Racers are expected to post blogs once a week, which means every week I have 53 blogs to read.

• Take a few too many trips to the desk of one Austin David Ulsh.

A smattering of other things I do

• On -call: From September to June, my phone is pretty much always on me. I am one phone call away should any kind of situation arise on the field for my squad.

• Raise $12,000 in support yearly for Adventures in Missions

• Ministry updates and blogs for supporters

• Oversee the fundraising for the squad leaders, team leaders, and racers

• Interview future squad and trip leaders

• Recruit alumni team leaders

• Teach at World Race training camps

• Oversee financial reimbursements for the Gap Year department

• Help create and write surveys for the Gap Year department.

• Emergency line – a few times a week, I spend one-week as the emergency contact for all of the World Race, should anything happen and racers need to be contacted or an emergency arise on the field.

• Follow-up with racers after they come home and continue relationship with them, if they choose to.

Gap N praying over me at final debrief

The relationships

This list encompasses much, but still not all, of what I do. This is the administrative view  – not the relational. On the other side of each of these tasks are 53 beautiful humans that I get to spend the next 9 months building relationships with. Every task and minute away from home and late night phone call is worth it.

I get to see the Lord move in each person’s life. I get to see them grow in their identity in Christ. I get to see them share the gospel and heal people in the name of Jesus and set people free and bring the Kingdom. I get to watch 53 strangers become church and family.

Gap N at Final Debrief – May 2018

Gap S at launch – September 2018

 

So what do I actually do?

I build the Kingdom.

And I love every second of it.