“Your plane has crashed, and you have 30 minutes to get 50 yards away from the scene of the crash to safety. You and each of your team mates has some form of injury or disability, including paralysis, unconsciousness, missing arms and/or legs, blindness, inability to speak, or a contagious disease that prevents you from touching others. You must work together to get every single one of you up this mountain to safety. Go.”
As a survivor with the fairly insignificant injury of just one missing arm, I immediately join forces with other capable survivors to figure out how to make this happen. Two of our girls are lying on the ground, unconscious. Several others have no legs, no arms, or are blind. Some of our most physically strong and natural-born leaders are deemed “contagious” and can do little more than watch.
The 50 yards are torture, but we keep our focus without losing our sense of humor. We can not figure out how to most effectively carry the legless and unconscious victims, all the while shouting instructions at the blind and mute…legs and arms and heads and torsos are flopping all over everywhere, banging into those of us trying to move others. We are straining and sweating, half-carrying, half-dragging along our girls, when we are told that we have developed new injuries, and now will have even WORSE handicaps.
Thinking that 50 yards is the goal, we arrive to be told that in fact we will now be going straight up the side of the mountain for an unspecified amount of time. Our determination wanes, and we stare in disbelief at the task ahead. We push forward, teaming up to carry and drag and hoist and sweat and grunt and cuss and haul each other up the mountain before the plane blows up. With so few of us able to help and so many with injuries, the steep mountain slope feels like Everest.
Everyone finally makes it to the top, dirty and breathless. Those of us who have been dragging and carrying the others are exhausted, unable to lift our arms, with pain in our backs and cramps in our hands and legs. The victims are guiltily massaging our pains and apologizing, even though we reassure them that there is no need to…we would've done whatever it took.
Us girls showing off our unbelievable strength.
This was just one of many scenarios (most of which were from actual World Race experiences…this one, fortunately, was not) given to us over the course of the week at camp. We were constantly being put into scenarios that mimicked what life will really be like on the field. This one, in particular, was undoubtedly physically grueling, but also incredibly bonding and inspired us to try to do things that may initially sound too difficult.
Each aspect of camp served some purpose, and was given much thought and attention to deliberately help train us: the food, the sleeping arrangements, the spiritual examinations of ourselves, the technical details, the team-building exercises, the chores, practicing ministry….everything.
To make it simple…
The best:
-being led in worship by the incredible Jonathan David Helser….the most authentic, soul-wrenching worship I have ever participated in.
-taking pictures on the dock with my awesome new team.
-laughing hysterically during squad wars.
-feeling so bonded with my new brothers and sisters (E Squad family, love them!) as we all experienced this craziness together.
-hearing the AIM staff and WR alumni tell stories and share testimonies
The was-definitely-good-for-me-but-wasn’t-fun:
-being cold. ALL. WEEK. LONG.
-crawling out of my sleeping bag into the freezing cold every morning before sunrise for squad exercise.
-eating anchovie soup for breakfast, and various other strange cultural foods (and thats all…no “here’s a granola bar to hold you over.”)
-sleeping on a cold, rain-pounded school bus with 22 other adults and their packs.
-being freaked out by some of the stories of what may be seen, heard, or experienced.
-the terrified, depressed, overwhelmed, helpless feeling I had while crying after a refugee-escape simulation.
I have to say…it was the most wild, fun, scary, exciting, terrifying, exhausting, hungry, freezing, hilarious, ridiculous, reality-shocking, eye-opening…blessing of a week I have ever experienced. I am so ready to abandon worldly possessions and obsessions and further the Kingdom Of God with these crazy new people!
AND THAT WAS JUST THE TRAINING CAMP!
There is a really awesome synopsis written by a camper that was a part of another squad but trained with me the same week. She did a really awesome job of capturing the experience and the sentiment we all had afterwards….I hope you will read it!
Also, here is just one of the incredible songs we sang with Jonathan:
