Meet Team Ember: World Race This or That

We are approaching the beginning of month 9 and currently on the way to Eswatini (formerly Swaziland) for our first month of ministry in Africa. At our most recent debrief, the squad was mixed onto new teams once again! It was the last team change of the year, so I’ll be on team Ember until we hit the ground back in the States for final debrief. 

So far, I love my sweet new team, and I’m excited for the ways we will grow together in fellowship and the Word over the next 3 months. I’m expectant for a lot of good things to come. 

So I am happy to introduce you to my new team: Ember 

Team Ember — from left to right: Liz, Jamie, Emily, and Sarah

Sarah Badgett – Team Leader 

previously on team Selah and team Zeal

• Chacos or Birkenstocks? “I have chacos, but I would have brought Birkenstocks if given the chance.” 
• Creamy or crunchy peanut butter? “Creamy.” 
• Hot bucket shower or cold running shower? “Hot bucket shower alllll the way.”
• Rice or beans? “Beans?”  
• Tenting or living in a house too small for your team? “Living in a house too small for my team, that’s just comical.” 
• Evangelism or kids ministry? “Oh gosh… neither… are… my forte. But kids ministry.” 
• Overnight bus ride or overnight in the airport? “Airport.” 
• Travel day snacks: salty or sweet? “Salty.” 
• Coffee or tea? “I’ve started to become a coffee snob on the race, so I’m really down for either.” 
• Debrief: hostel or Airbnb style? “Airbnb, family style. All the way.”
• Early morning or late night ministry? “Late night.”
• Hot or cold weather? “Cold.”
• Essential oils or ibuprofen? “*laughs* neither.”
• All squad month or ATL month? “All squad.”
• You have to be one: treasurer or logistics? “*thinks deeply* logistics. I’m not good with numbers.”
• No wifi or no laundry? “No wifi.”

Jamie McPherson – Treasurer

• Chacos or Birkenstocks? “Neither, flip flops, but slides are cool too”
• Creamy or crunchy peanut butter? “Creamy”
• Hot bucket shower or cold running shower? “Ohhh cold running shower if it’s with a hose so you can get the spots you need.”
• Rice or beans? “*cries* beans … ugh.”
• Tenting or living in a house too small for your team? “Tenting for sure.”
• Evangelism or kids ministry? “Evangelism, hands down.”
• Overnight bus ride or overnight in the airport? “Airport.”
• Travel day snacks: salty or sweet? “Fruit, and banana eggs.”
• Coffee or tea? “Water.”
• Debrief: hostel or Airbnb style? “Ohhh hostel that has a kitchen. Whichever one has a kitchen, is what I’m choosing.”
• Early morning or late night ministry? “Ummm just for ministry? Probably late night.”
• Hot or cold weather? “Hot.”
• Essential oils or ibuprofen? “Neither, I don’t really do either. I just learned about essential oils on this race. They’re kinda cool though.”
• All squad month or ATL month? “*cringes* prolly all squad, but our ATL was really good? If I had my ATL again, I’d be good.”
• You have to be one: treasurer or logistics? “*rolls eyes* treasurer. Actually no, I wanna be logistics, cause I wanna learn everything you guys do.”
• No wifi or no laundry? “No wifi, easy.”

Liz Skinner – Squad Logistics  
previously on team Zeal 

• Chacos or Birkenstocks? “Birkenstocks”
• Creamy or crunchy peanut butter? “Creamy”
• Hot bucket shower or cold running shower? “Hot bucket, I would prefer, honestly. Cause I feel cleaner when it’s hot water, cause when it’s cold water I’m like *flails arms around* and I never get my back.”
• Rice or beans? “I would definitely choose beans” 
• Tenting or living in a house too small for your team? “Oh yeah, tenting. I honestly love it.”
• Evangelism or kids ministry? “Kids ministry.”
• Overnight bus ride or overnight in the airport? “Overnight in airport, that bus ride was so bad.”
• Travel day snacks: salty or sweet? “Salty, but yeah that’s tough. Cause like bananas and peanut butter? I’d say salty though.”
• Coffee or tea? “Coffee, easy”
• Debrief: hostel or Airbnb style? “Hostel”
• Early morning or late night ministry? “I feel like early morning, I’d prefer to have the night off”
• Hot or cold weather? “Cold”
• Essential oils or ibuprofen? “Ibuprofen *laughs*”
• All squad month or ATL month? “All squad *laughs again*”
• You have to be one: treasurer or logistics? “Logistics.”
• No wifi or no laundry? “No laundry, hands down, every day. I will wear dirty clothes. I will take the wifi every single day.”

Emily Riggs – Squad Logistics 

• Chacos or Birkenstocks? “Birks (or Tevas). I am a changed person.”
• Creamy or crunchy peanut butter? “Creamy all day”
• Hot bucket shower or cold running shower? “Hot bucket — worth the effort!”
• Rice or beans? “Rice, sadly.” 
• Tenting or living in a house too small for your team? “Tenting, yikes.”
• Evangelism or kids ministry? “Evangelism (with translators, Lord please).” 
• Overnight bus ride or overnight in the airport? “Absolutely the airport. Bathrooms AND snacks on demand? Priceless (actually… overpriced, but still).”
• Travel day snacks: salty or sweet? “A little bit of both… balance, ya know?” 
• Coffee or tea? “Coffee first, tea second.” 
• Debrief: hostel or Airbnb style? “Hostel for sure.”
• Early morning or late night ministry? “How about a nice mid afternoon?”
• Hot or cold weather? “Cold!! Bring on the hot drinks and layers.” 
• Essential oils or ibuprofen? “Ibuprofen is common grace.”
• All squad month or ATL month? “Neither? Just kidding… all squad.” 
• You have to be one: treasurer or logistics? “Logistics babyyyy
• No wifi or no laundry? “No laundry, no one can smell you through the internet anyways.”

And there you have team Ember! We’re heading into months 9, 10, and 11 together across the southern part of Africa. 

Please pray for: 

• our team to be people who love God first and each other second. That we would burn hot and bright for the kingdom now and forever. 
• our upcoming hosts and ministries, that we’d be able to love and serve well and build relationships quickly. 
• our squad as we travel over the next 5 days to get to Eswatini! We have bus rides, layovers, and long haul flights coming our way. Pray for health and safety and traveling mercies (and positive attitudes and grace upon grace).