Guys. I just got home from ten-day World Race training camp and it was crazy. We’re talkin’ people-getting-healed-Holy-Spirit-moving-I-never-want-to-go-back-home kind of crazy. On the first morning at training camp I wrote in my journal:
“These people are home. I am sweaty and disgusting and gross, but I’ve never been happier in any place with any group of people. Everyone has such a beautiful heart and they’re so excited and so ready to share the gospel and to just go love people. I feel like I’ve been looking for them my whole life.”
After ten days of waking up with the sun and going to sleep when the spirit stopped moving in our conversation (aka sometimes 2am), I loved these people even more. The first day our wonderful squad leader, Anika, shared that as she had been praying for us God gave her the word “wild.” At first she was nervous for obvious reasons. But then she looked up the dictionary definition and found this: “living or growing in the natural environment.” In other words, in a group of people we hardly knew yet, in a foreign state, preparing to travel to foreign countries, we had somehow found our natural habitats. And it. was. wild.
When we woke up the first morning we were super stoked for breakfast. Our spirits fell slightly as each table of eight hungry Racers was handed a large bowl with a card over it that read “Southeast Asia.” That morning we feasted on some kind of noodle soup with vegetables and it only got weirder from there. We never really had individual plates or bowls, and often didn’t have utensils. As the week went on the hungrier we were, and the crazier the mealtimes became. Really, we just looked like a bunch of monkeys on the last bushel of bananas by the end of it. I would say we talk about God 70% of the time, food and God 25% of the time, and the other 5% we talk about poop. Which I never thought I would write, but it’s true. If any future Racer is reading this…bring snacks to training camp. You will need them.
The bathroom arrangements were Porta Potties and showers were taken by dumping water over your head from a bucket. We spent almost our entire time outdoors, usually sweating. We hiked with or packs, did push ups, sit ups, lunges, etc. and a lot of team bonding games. We had dance offs and tug-of-war games with eighty people, and ridiculously heated card games. We also had the opportunity to hear a few incredible speakers whose topics ranged from the gifts of the Holy Spirit, to ministering specifically to orphans.
Worship was hands down my favorite part of the experience though. I wrote in my journal on the second day that I felt “uninhibited” during worship time. I was free to jump and dance and honestly I was more screaming than singing. It was so wild that after one night my friend Ryan said, “Man, worship tonight was like P90X.” And that summed it up perfectly. Usually when I worship I close my eyes to focus on God better. On the fourth night God just said, “open your eyes.” I did and that’s where I saw God. His hand is all over my squad and the Holy Spirit flows from their hearts. It was beautiful.
And the aforementioned healings! Those happened! On the first day of camp my friend Will Powers left his shoes in the car. He had to run across the blazing Georgia asphalt to get them and his feet got 2nd degree burns along the way. He was prescribed painkillers and crutches, and was essentially exempt from all the hiking, teambuilding, etc. of training camp. So we did the logical thing and prayed that he would be healed. And guess what!? He WAS. He woke up the next morning ready to take his painkillers and get his blisters redressed when he looked down to find no blisters and feel no pain! It was incredible. A torn ligament and lower back were also healed that week. It was an incredible experience and that was in only ten days of being with these wild humans.
One last story: I got some words from the Lord this past week. One day during worship I was simply crying because of how great and mighty he is and I was truly wondering why he came and made himself to live in me. I wrote this in my journal:
“God, you told me that you are mine and that is so amazing. I have this vision of something so giant and magnificent like the galaxies being minimized to come down into my heart. But then, God, you spoke. You said that in me, you are still the giant, awesome, great presence because you want ME to become a bigger, bolder, and greater presence in your world. Father, that scares me. I don’t know if I’m ready to be that but God, make me strong.”
He is so good. This blog post is crazy long already, but I could write forever. If you have any questions or want to know anything else feel free to contact me! My email is [email protected] or just leave a comment. To all those who are supporting me in this journey thank you again. It’s because of you that I get to experience God in all these new and wonderful ways with new and wild people. I leave for launch on September 5th, so hit me up if you want to meet and talk!
