Last week I got back from some of the craziest 10 days of my life. It was only ten days but seriously it felt like 10 weeks. I flew down to Georgia and met the people that I would spend the next nine months of my life with. Training camp prepared us for the extreme situations, like losing luggage, sleeping in airports, and little food portions… very little food portions. I gave up a lot of things at training like, actual showers, air conditioning, a comfortable bed, and the biggest one, control.
I came into camp thinking that I could do it all, I mean I’m from Colorado, I love camping and I don’t mind being dirty, and I thought that I was physically ready. God wrecked that for me. Georgia dirt is more than dirt, it’s red and sticks to you and never comes off. I still have dirt on me after a week of actual showers. Camping every night takes a toll on you especially when you are only getting five hours of sleep a night, or when you have to share a sleeping bag, sleeping pad and pillow with three people. Each meal was shared with 8 people, community style, it was the style of everything.
Worship was unbelievable. For the first time I was in a room that was 100% filled with the Holy Spirit. People threw up their arms and danced like fools, and everyone was unashamed because it was purely for Jesus. People I didn’t even know came and laid their hands on me and prayed over me, at that moment I realized the boldness that Jesus carries. One night I remember coming into worship feeling exhausted, sweaty, and just wanting to go to bed, but He ignited a fire in my spirit. I started crying but not in a way that I normally do, this cry wasn’t because of my circumstances or my feelings, it was a cry from my soul, a cry that I could feel was the Holy Spirit. At that moment my fears were gone and all I knew is that Jesus is beautiful and will always be beautiful. A lot of my life the term “no matter what” has been thrown around like, “ I’m always here for you no matter what” , or “ whatever happens between us we will be friends, no matter what” but from humans a “ no matter what” is always temporary. During worship at training camp I realized the only person who can say “no matter what” is Jesus, He is my no matter what.
After that night of worship, I finally felt the yes in my spirit for the World Race, everything started to fall into place. I started to make deep connections with people, we started exchanging testimonies and man oh man we laughed a lot. I don’t think I’ve ever had friendships that are solely rooted in Jesus, or people my age speak so much truth over me. Something that I seem to struggle with is the idea of heaven, when my dad passed away I was devastated because he wasn’t a believer, well at least to my knowledge he wasn’t . Last summer my leader Ellie saw Jesus holding my dad in heaven but that seemed a little to sweet for me. A year later I still struggle with knowing if my dad is in Heaven or not but it happened again, slightly different though. My friend Ansley at camp saw a vision of a home in heaven with everyone I love in it. I was taken back, Jesus so evidently is telling me that my dad is with Him and hopefully one day I will be able to see my him again. I learned that Jesus speaks loudly and all I have to do is listen.
Another exciting thing I learned at camp was my team, My team is made up of 7 people including me and we will be living and serving together for at least the first 3 months. My team is me, Anna Redderson, Brielle Becker, Kyndal Cody, Evan Fisher, Joey Rhoden, and our team leader Nathan Taylor. Go check out their blogs because they are awesome people on fire for Jesus. I couldn’t be more excited to do life with these people.
In a 6 short weeks, my team and I will be heading to Antigua, Guatemala for the first few weeks and then heading down to Quiche Guatemala for the rest of the 3 months. I’m so excited to see what the Lord has in store for my team and I.
I still need your help with fundraising, if you feel called to help me on my journey with Jesus, please donate, remember anything helps!
In His Grip
Cara
