I recently spent 10 days in Georgia at my World Race training camp. These 10 days were some of the best days of my life, full of lots of tears, unexplainable joy, and so much laughter. The love I felt from Jesus, these amazing humans that I get to travel the world with, and Adventures in Missions incredible staff, was beyond my expectations.
Physically, we were given many challenges throughout the week, all with the intent to prepare us for the 11 months to come. Some of those challenges included a 2 mile hike with our packs on in 40 minutes or less. The airlines “losing half of our packs” one evening, requiring us to come together as a squad and utilize what gear we did have for the night. We camped for 24 hours in a torrential downpour, only being given tarps, rope, water, and food. We also slept in an “airport” for the night to prepare us for the many hour layovers we may encounter along the way from country to country.
Though the physical challenges were expected and necessary to prepare us for this journey, the best thing they did for us as a squad and individually, was give us 10 days to spend with each other in such an emotionally challenging setting. Our campsite was just big enough to set all of our tents up directly next to each other. We woke up together, fell asleep under the stars together, we poured our hearts out to each other, had daily dance parties, and listened to life changing presentations that really made us all understand the components of ministry on a much deeper level.
Individually, we all worked through a lot of “stuff”. We shared our fears with each other, past and current struggles, excitements for what’s to come. We learned things about ourselves that we maybe didn’t know, and overall came to the understanding that this is our community; this is our family for the next year. I have already felt so much genuine love and joy from this group of individuals, it is amazing. No matter what is happening, the good the bad, the highs and the lows, we are there for each other and are working together to accomplish the same goal: spread Jesus’ love around the world and bring as many people to His kingdom that we can.
I have never felt this much grace, transformation or love from Jesus in my entire life, and I know it was only a glimpse of the year to come. With that being said, I could go on and on about the change I felt in my heart. Instead I will share a few key components of training camp that I walked away with.
Abandonment is Necessary
— In order to be obedient to God and his calling for more, we have to be willing to abandon a lot of the things that have allowed us to live so comfortably. We have to be willing to leave what we’ve always known. I am the first to admit that I stay near what makes me feel “normal”. I like to wear makeup and be dressed in the cutest outfit. I always have my cell phone with me, and have the most updated technology. I have lived my life in the comfort of staying near my family and working at the same job for going on seven years. Abandoning old habits and ways of living does not mean you are changing who are and always have been, it means you are recognizing what has consumed you and your false self. This allows spiritual fruit to grow and Jesus to have more space to work in your life.
It’s Okay to be Vulnerable
— I have always tried to be as self-sufficient as possible and appear as though I have it all together. I am beginning to understand that it is okay to have to rely on others, but most of all to rely on God. It’s okay to not be the best at everything, to not know how to do something. Pride is going to have to be eliminated. There are going to be so many scenarios throughout this upcoming 11 months, where we want to help someone, but will be helpless. Situations where we expect ourselves to have a solution to someone’s struggles, but we wont. God is in control, one hundred percent.
He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.
Colossians 1:17
God doesn’t call the equipped, He equips the Called
— So many of us have felt unworthy of this journey to come, of spreading Jesus’ love around the world. That we aren’t adequate because we cannot pour our hearts out in fluent prayer, or recite scripture as easily as others. We are forgetting one of the biggest understandings of this journey to come, God will provide. We don’t need to rely on our own abilities to serve God, we can’t. All we have to do as followers of Christ is fully commit ourselves to Him and place our trust in him completely. The best way to be a witness for Jesus is to live a life of sympathy, mercy, and love for all people, regardless of there circumstances.
Who are you living for?
— You can only give away what you have within you. We are messy people that struggle with comparison, guilt and shame, and a constant fear of what others think of us. Why is it that we have become more concerned with what others think of how we live our lives, than what God thinks? We must let the Word of God be enough for us, not the words and opinions of others. Jesus payed way to much of a price for our lives to live a life of uncertainty; of who we are and what we want to live by.
I hope that through reading my thoughts about my experience at training camp, you will begin to see the work that God is doing in my life. How incredible this experience to come is going to be, as I begin to understand what it means to live a life truly committed to Jesus, and this is only the beginning. I will be sharing in a blog to come what my actual ministry team looks like and how it was formed. I am serving around the world with 6 amazing women of God that will I will learn so much from, be challenged by, and constantly loved on through.
