Simulation Weekend...

If you travel to India on a GCC India Team, we'll do our best to make sure that you have a LOT of preparation ahead of time. In addition to extensive DVD-based curriculum for "general preparation", a lot of team specific time with your team and team leader, and a high degree of individualized interaction, we also do a series of "simulations" to help you get an idea for what India, travel and Indian culture will be like. Our current teams participated in their "simulation weekend" last weekend, and it encompassed the following items:

Sleep Simulation - Each team member slept on their floor for two nights. That meant that they slept on their floor Friday night, spent all day Saturday with us, then slept on their floor again on Saturday night before spending all day Sunday with us as well.

"India for a Day" Simulation - On Saturday,

we took both teams to

"Little India" in Chicago to spend the day with our partners at the South Asian Friendship Center on Devon St. After arriving, we heard from Sunitha (one of the SAFC's teachers, and a native Indian who immigrated to the US after growing up in India) about the challenges and delights of Indian culture and some of its specifics for us as Americans as we begin to interact with it. After that, we ate an authentic Indian meal (hands only... no silverware or utensils!), and then spent 2 hours on a "cultural scavenger hunt" around Devon St. This hunt requires team members to interact directly with Devon St.'s dense Indian and Pakistani immigrant community to learn as much as they can about the culture, and see, smell and hear as much of it as they can while still in the US.

Work Simulation - After sleeping on their floor again on Saturday night, the team gathered at GCC to worship together on Sunday morning, and then took off to Feed the Children in Elkhart, where we spent 2 hours working alongside one another packing food and Avon boxes in the FtC warehouse. The goal of this time is to help team members begin to experience and simulate the kind of physical exhaustion that is unavoidable with long-range travel, as well as begin to "gel" as a team in a physical way as they work shoulder to shoulder with one another.

Luggage Simulation - After a quick lunch (pizza...mmmm!!!), the teams met again at GCC for the final part of the simulation: The Luggage Simulation. This involved a 2.5 mile rapid hike around the GCC campus (both inside and outside) with all their gear packed as they think they will take it to the field. After going up stairs and down, through the grass,

up the hills, around the pond, through some mud, and a variety of other fun exercises along the way (i.e. sharing a water bottle "Indian style", sharing each other's luggage and packs, etc), most people get a pretty good idea of whether or not their luggage (and the items they're packing) will make the trip. Additionally, this exercise seeks to simulate the stress and speed of navigating airports and train stations, as well as for team members to have an opportunity to re-think (and potentially re-pack) their gear if it doesn't work well during the simulation.

The teams did great! Everyone navigated all elements with grace for one another and an increasing committment to what God is calling them to do on the field!