The Dream Team

Before we made the trek halfway across the globe to Africa, Mrs. McGoo and I signed up to be part of a team. Now, having the football background that we both do, we're no strangers to team play. That being said, neither one of us knew most any of the other members of the team we were joining. About half the team was comprised of another Sunday school, so they had the advantage of knowing one another beforehand. Anyone that has ever joined an "existing team" knows that it can be rather difficult.

I must admit, and Mrs. McGoo will attest, I was a little concerned after we had a few of our meetings. Number one, we were behind a bit in training because Joe, our trip leader, was still in Africa and had not yet moved back to the States. When we finally did meet, it was a little bit of a get to know you session for some of us and what I saw, I wasn't crazy about. What we had was, what I perceived to be, a clique of folks that knew each other and others that appeared to me to demand a lot of time and energy.

Once we finally got to get to know one another one the trip, my tune changed quite a bit. Here's our team and some of my thoughts:

The Scatterbrain:
Our fearless leader, Joe. Joe took on the unenviable task of trying to take this rag-tag group of folks and mesh them into a well oiled machine. All without the help of his better half. Poor Joe had to deal with travel, organization, introducing us to the culture and city, all the while trying to get some business done while there. And I haven't even mentioned having to miss his family while doing so. I found Joe to be a lot like me. We both operate better when we've got our brides by our side. I wasn't sure things were going to go off well when I first met him because we were a bit behind in training because of him being in Ethiopia, but it turned out just perfect. I hate that the Bridges are moving away in Aug, because Mrs. McGoo and I have talked about how much we would like to spend more time with them. For what it's worth, I am glad my first ever trip was led by this guy.



The Trekkie:
KC and I have a mutual friend, so I knew a little bit about him before we left for the trip. I was lucky enough to leave early for Addis and KC was one of the ones that was with us. It allowed us to get to know one another before the hustle and bustle of the trip and stop having all our conversations revolve around Steve Riser. I wasn't sure what to expect with KC at first because it seemed like in our early meetings that he had a sarcasm that was similar to mine, yet when I tried to playfully jab, it fell on deaf ears. So it wasn't really until I found his "cross to bear" (He's a Star Trek fan) that we started to connect. I somehow got blamed for my wife teaching the kids the Vulcan Death Grip....I swear it wasn't me. All that said, I bonded the most with KC during our trip. He reminds me a bit of myself in that he's very hard on himself and doesn't seem to like people to help him. ;) In the end, he reluctantly let up, but his heart for these kids was something to be seen. I always tell Mrs. McGoo that I'm not a very good "group prayer" and after this trip, I think I want to be like KC. He's good.


The Clumsy Jamaican:
I don't believe I've ever met someone that drops more things than Liz. I'm serious...she drops something all the time. Walking to the bus, she drops her glasses. Teaching a lesson to the kids, she drops her pencil. Putting her purse down for the evening, her phone drops out of it. She seriously needs a bungee cord for everything in her hands. I told Liz after the trip was over that I was worried initially about how I would get along with her. There were many things about us that are just different in the way we do things. However, the more the days went by, the more I saw her heart and how much love she has. I also witnessed a missionary (South African) that was horribly rude to Liz one night while watching football. Seeing how Liz "tamed" her tongue with that situation when she could have gone "Jamaican" on her, was very impressive to me. Taught me a lot about how to handle conflict. In the end, we had a lot more in common than I had anticipated.



The Unsuspecting Comedian:
Kara was the one familiar face that I knew of on the trip. She and her husband lead the Sunday school class that Mrs. McGoo and I attended a few times when we started going to Central. We decided to not stay with that class and join another one only because we felt like the idea of starting a new class instead of going into an existing one with established relationships would be better for both of us. Because of that, I was never really able to get to know Kara. I wasn't sure what to think of her at first because she seemed to be very quiet, so somehow I got the impression that she didn't care for me. Be that as it may, as the trip went on, I got to interact with her more and more. She's got this poker face sometimes and then out of no where she'd pop this joke that was incredibly funny. I felt like it took her a couple of days to adjust to the trip, but once she did, I got to know a lot more about her. Her heart for Christ is unmatched. That says a lot in my book.



The Muscle-Bound Nurse:
Take Jillian Michaels and make her a nurse and you've got Bonnie. Or should I say, "Nurse Boonie" which is what most of the kids called her. The girl has some guns on her and she wasn't ashamed to show them off. Then again, I wouldn't either if I had those guns. I remember telling one of our team members in the airport, don't make fun of Bonnie, I think she can take us both. I had a good conversation with Bonnie at lunch one day that helped me get to know her more. However, it wasn't until our evening devotions that I realized how alike we are. Like me, she wore her emotions on her sleeve and it was easy to see who was bothered the most by leaving. I think her fears are a lot like mine...once we get back to America, what then? Aside from being the Nursinator, she has a laugh like Betty Rubble.







The Other Kelly:
I'm beginning to learn that the name Kelly comes with responsibilities. Annoy people, make people laugh, say what everyone else is thinking but won't say, and cry. These are pretty much my characteristics to a T and I kinda think that "Teeth Kelly" has some of these as well. At any moment she's got something witty to say or cracks a joke to lighten the mood. I didn't see "Teeth Kelly" too much during the day because she was busy working on the kids teeth and giving them hygiene lessons, but when I did, she never seemed too tired to lighten the mood. I was also amazed at her passion for the kids. While you'd never see it during the day, she would really allow herself to be vulnerable during our devotions and really talk about the things that were affecting her the most.


The Dancin' World Traveler:
Tom was the one guy I didn't get to know much of until the end of the trip. All I knew of him was that he was the guy that works for a company that takes him all over the world. He's very soft spoken and made it clear early on that he wanted to assist Kelly with the dental screenings. A couple of things you should know about Tom. One...he traveled with four women all the way across the globe...and NEVER complained. Two...he's a ham. He got up on stage one night and danced an Ethiopian dance with some performers and we were all like, "WOAH, where did that come from." As I wrote, I didn't get to know Tom as well on the trip, but it was on our ride back to the states that I got a chance to visit with him and learned a lot about his heart and his life. While he is 15 years my senior, I told Mrs. McGoo that I would love to be able to hang out with him some more. Maybe he'll make me feel younger than I do now.


So there you have it. The Dream Team of our trip. I can honestly say that in the beginning I was a bit worried about our trip. As I said before, I felt like people had their own agendas and it seemed like we had a hard time coming together to get things done. However, it has become very apparently to me that God blessed those children with the perfect mix of disciples to bring on the trip. We had a steady blend of Leaders, Administrators, Healthcare, Athletics, Teachers, and Counselors that followed God's plan accordingly. It was an incredible trip and a great group.


I heard this somewhere the other day and it resonated to me with this group....

"Some times you've got to dive deep into the barrel to find the juiciest apple."

God picked a good harvest with this group.