I jolt up from a deep sleep in a pitch black room, anxious, and sweating. Starring at the dim, lime green glow of my alarm clock. Waiting for my eyes to adjust, I nervously await to see how behind schedule I was. 2:58 am. Perfect! For once I didn’t hit the snooze button on my iPhone, 7 times before actually making some sort of sad attempt to get up. No, this day was different. This day, I was going to World Race Training Camp.
I was off to a good start. I packed the car, left the house, and was on the road to Gainesville, GA by 4:30 am. This would put me in Atlanta to pick up my buddy at the airport by 2 o’clock and at AIM Headquarters by 4pm. Not bad, Especially after only 4 hours of sleep. I was so excited for all the things that we were going to be doing, and to finally meet all the people I had spent countless time talking to on Facebook and ZoomChat. I had so many expectations and plans made up in my head. Little did I know how drastically all of those would change.
For the sake of future racers (and to not write a 300 page novel) I will NOT be giving the details of what happens at Training Camp. You will just have to wait and experience it for yourself. What I will share is the series of unfortunate events that lead to the hardest, most taxing, (mentally, physically, emotionally, and spiritually) eye opening, fun, and overall most amazing 11 days that I have ever had. The frustration started when I was about 15 minutes outside the Atlanta airport, where I was supposed to pick up Brandon. All of the sudden my car dies and I end up at the side of a VERY busy I75. As I’m sweating profusely due to the heat in my car and trying to get a hold of my insurance company after determining that I have NO CLUE what the heck happened to Skeeter, (yes, that’s the name of my car. ‘90s kids say, what!) a roadside assistance vehicle pulls up behind me. He fiddles with it a minute and says “looks like the timing belt went out and that’s usually pretty expensive.” He was right. $1275, to be exact. I then called a slew of people to somehow get me to camp, which was still over an hour away. Thanks to some awesome friends and a lot of teamwork, we all made it to training camp. We were late. But we were there. Soon followed a conversation toward the men of our squad about how 11 members from our squad had to switch to another due to our high numbers. It was made very clear to us that if no one volunteered that names would be drawn out of a hat. “It was good enough to decide the 12th apostle, so it’s good enough for us.” They said. This wasn’t news to us since we had gotten a few emails about this particular situation over the past few weeks. No one wanted to switch. We all had invested a lot of time and sacrificed sleep to get to know each other, so naturally no one was about to volunteer to leave the community we had established. I know for myself and a few others, we had gone to bed that night thinking, “No way in hell, I’m switching squads!” The next thing I knew I was packing up my wet tent in the dark, loading up my 35Lb pack, and heading to the bus for what I didn’t know at the time, was going to be a truly exhausting 2 day hiking trip on the Appalachian Trail. Despite the rain, one of our guys passing out due to hypoglycemia and dehydration, the muscle aches, and the hernia I got as a parting gift, it was a pretty go 2 days. I met a lot of solid men and got even closer to those I had already known. The excitement of training camp was about to begin.
We were all so excited as the droves of people started pouring into the registration lodge, but for “N squad” there was also an undertone of angst as the looming departure of close friends grew closer and closer. After a few hours of hugs, handshakes, and time spent trying to figure out how to set up 50 tents in an area that was meant for 30, “N Squad” was called to a private meeting. We all saw this coming, but the meeting was to address the switch and a beckoning for those who may have felt called to go to “O”or “Q” squad to do so and “Know that it would be so much better for them” and “God would bless it 10 fold.” No one argued that, but it was still hard to let go of something we held so close. That was the first lesson I learned that week. Don’t hold anything about the race too closely. Not, your route, not your team, not the ministry you will be doing, because it all could change and in all likelihood it will. After this meeting we went into a time of worship and I remember feeling the presence of The Lord all around me. It had been a feeling that I hadn’t experienced in that degree for awhile. I was thinking about what they had said about the switching business. I had invested more than most into “N Squad”. The only one who I knew for sure wanted to be on “N Squad” more than I did was Brandon. He made it very clear to many that he was in N squad or No Squad, especially on the man hike. I had a pit in my stomach since they sent the first emails. I wasn’t sure if it was the sadness of knowing we were going to lose people or if it was The Lord trying to get me to switch. All I knew was that it wasn’t going away and my heart was already aching for the people we were about to lose.
The time came. They sent the other squads away and called us into a short time of prayer and for those who knew God was calling them to switch to see Bill who is the Director of the World Race. I watched as 2 of our guys and 4 of our girls volunteered. We still needed 2 men and 3 women to switch. I remember watching Brandon get up to pray for the ones who volunteered and sit back in his seat. I had been earnestly praying that it were God’s will for me to switch, then “Let my name be pulled from the hat and I will go with no bitterness, no hesitation, and no question.” Bill started to draw names. One by one we watched as 3 very influential girl’s names were drawn from the hat and made to switch. Then came the boys. Almost in slow motion I watched Bill put his hand in the hat and grab a name. He read it and immediately a look of heartbreak came onto his face….“Brandon.” The room was silent. Without even a second thought I stand up and hear myself say “I’ll go! I’ll go, too…I’ll go.” And that was it. The switches had been made and no other names needed to be drawn. Tears started pouring like waterfalls from both the men and the women on our squad. People’s hearts were breaking and it was visible to anyone with eyes in the room. We all stood huddled around each other with some sobbing, others praying, and others, like myself, were still in such shock they were left speechless. I will never forget that night or the things that were said to me by the new family I had and was now leaving. The next few days were rough! Brandon had made up his mind that if he couldn’t get back on N Squad, he would defer and I was struggling with whether I had made the right call myself. I prayed incessantly for peace and the will of my Father to be apparent, but at every turn the enemy was there to throw doubt at me. I remember sitting in a debrief session with some of the guys of my new squad and our squad mentor Deon. I was verbally processing the switch and my shattered expectations and when I had finished, Deon said something I didn’t understand until towards the end of the week. He said, “You spent 7 months developing something with N Squad that O Squad doesn’t have, but they need. You are bringing that to this squad.” At that moment I had felt the first true glimpse of peace that I had made the right decision and was being obedient to The Lord and His will. I then said to myself, “Well, I’m not deferring. I know that this is what God has for me in this season and I can’t go back to N Squad, so my only option is to give this new squad my all and dive in head first to who they are and what God has for me to do and be amongst them.” I still hung out with the N Squad family I had grew to love but I also started investing in the people of my new squad and seeing who the were as my new family. After all I would be spending the next year of my life eating, sleeping, serving, traveling, and living with them. I’ll have to admit I was reluctant at first, but I am generally able and willing to adapt to new situations pretty easily. Brandon, however was not. For most of the week I was convinced I was going to lose another one of the guys I had become closest with. Thankfully by the end of the week his heart was all in too. I cannot tell you how excited and proud I was for that.
We had spent several hours doing team building exercises and working in different groups to start to form what would be teams of 6 or 7. These would be our teams for months at a time so the leaders of the World Race take this selection process very seriously and spend a significant amount of time in prayer and deliberation over them. Some of the exercises were silly and fun, (I thrived in those, and sincerely hope someone took videos of the dance off because hello!) others were challenging and honestly even a little frustrating. The next day we were put in one more group and we were told that this was most likely going to be our team but they needed to see how we worked together first. I didn’t have Brandon or anyone I had already been close to in my group, but I was still ecstatic about the people I did have. We were a powerhouse and I was so ready for it to be a thing. Before one of the sessions one of the squad leaders asked me to meet with some other people in the training center. I was terrified! I thought “Oh crap, they are sending me home.” I look around the room at all the other people and it was obvious that they all had the same thought as I did. Then Bill comes in, sits down, and says “So do you all know why you are here?” A collective head shake occurs and heart rates start to quicken. “We want to invite you to LEAD your teams.” He replies. I was truly shocked. Just as much if not more so than when I had volunteered myself to switch squads. Grins from ear to ear were worn on the squad leaders faces as we all take this information in. I was so humbled and in awe at that moment. I never thought that what The Lord had for me was to leave one squad and be asked to lead a team on another. A flashback to what Deon had said to me in our debrief washes over my mind and I smile in amazement and gratefulness. I accepted the invitation as did everyone else in the room. I was especially grateful and surprised given the circumstances and the fact that the other guy on my team was obviously an incredible leader himself. In fact, my whole team was made up of natural leaders. I know that my leadership for this team will only be for a season, and that the others will get the chance to step up as leaders and when it is time, I will gladly follow them, but for now I am going to praise The Lord for such an honor and do my best to serve my team and Him as well as I can. It’s nothing short of entertaining to step back and watch how The Lord works, isn’t it? That was definitely a high of the week for me, but soon more lows came to follow.
As the week came to an end we started to have to say goodbye to our new families. I don’t think anyone really wanted to leave. The general consensus was that if we could get one good nights sleep and a hot shower that we could do another week of the little to no sleep, one handful of food per meal, constantly wet and rainy days that was World Race Training Camp. The day I left was particularly frustrating. I had turned on my phone to discover that the screen was completely busted and not working. I then got to the airport to be informed that the rental car I had booked was going to cost me $440. After arguing with the counter clerk about how it could possibly cost that much I finally agreed to pay only to find out that my card had some issues that couldn’t be resolved until the following Tuesday, which did nothing for me at the time. As the frustrations grew, I decided to just book a flight. That cost me $350…..one stinkin way!!! This meant that I would still have to figure out how to get BACK to Atlanta to pick up my car after it’s finally up and running again. I then had to go to the shop and give a $500 cash deposit for my car to be fixed. This day was not looking good for me. My flight wasn’t until almost 10pm so I had to say goodbye one by one to all the now close friends I had made from this week untilI was the last one.
I finally board the plane and as I go to put my headphones in I remember the sessions about electronics being an escape from social interaction and the heavy burden that The Lord had placed on my heart to be present and aware of what’s going on around me. Suddenly the flight attendant rushed to my row and asks the woman in the window seat if there is anything she can get her. I turned from the flight attendant, surprised by the urgency, to see the woman crying. I urgently put away the Skymall magazine that I was looking at and asking myself “Who would buy this useless, overpriced crap?” and then focused my attention back on the women. She politely declined and thanked the flight attendant for the offer. As the flight attendant was walking away she looked at me and the older gentlemen in middle seat and said “My father died today.” Both the other gentlemen and myself start asking the typical questions that are warranted following a statement like that and out of nowhere I was overwhelmed with desire to pray with her. I asked if she would be ok with that and she smiled and sincerely agreed. This was a little awkward, mostly because I was in the aisle seat and the woman was in the window seat so I had to pray directly on top of the man in between us and he was clearly a Grumpasuarus Rex about it but oh well, she was more important in that moment and I felt The Holy Spirit calling me to do it, so I did. The woman thanked me and I could see that there was at least the slightest bit of comfort on her face and peace in her mind. I then go back to my business and begin to reflect on the week I had.
As I sit there, beginning to write the rough draft of this blog post down in my note book with handwriting that is somewhere between ancient aztec chicken-scratch and cursive, I start to think of all the negative and unfortunate things that have happened to me over the course of the week. My car broke down and was going to cost me a small fortune, I got a hernia from the man hike, had to switch squads and start all over with an entire new group of people, got punched in the face by one of my squad leaders, (That’s a REALLY funny story for another time!) found out my credit card wasn’t working, discovered my cell phone was rendered useless, and had to drop close to $1000 in one day that I was planning on spending elsewhere. I was quickly reminded of all the blessings I had gotten over the course of the week as well. I made tons of new friends and got really close to some, was asked to lead a team for a season, hiked more miles than I ever thought possible for me, gained a new trust in The Lord, was reminded by Him of exactly who I am and what I am here to do, grew deeper in my relationship with and felt the presence of The Lord more than I had in a long time, got to pray with someone who was hurting and got to be home earlier than I thought without having to drive 9 hours by myself. I have to say, that’s a lot! But if I’m gonna be honest. I wouldn’t want it any other way.
Maybe I should retitle this post.
Training Camp: A series of Unforgettable Events.
