So there we were, one long road trip and a speeding ticket later, standing in the driveway of Adventures in Missions with our newly-united teammates, none of us really knowing what we were in for. We signed in and trudged down to our campsite with our gear-laden packs, each man claiming his own patch of ground, and set up camp.
Sessions, team building activities, ethnic food, morning workouts, simulations, and more sessions. This is what took up the majority of our days, and we did it all together. Each day presented a different culture, and it was by that culture that our meals were determined; no silverware. We also had to follow that culture’s customs during our meals. For instance, on India Day, we couldn’t eat with our left hand. On Africa Day, the men had to hold hands to and from meals, and the women had to serve us and eat on the floor.
Then there were the sleeping simulations. From 12-hour layovers in airports to hotel rooms that were too small, we had to make it work. It was through all this that our team became a little more like a family. I would say the epitome of this was the Man Hike. There’s just something about taking nature head on with other men that speaks to a man’s spirit.
We hiked the Appalachian Trail, laughing, swapping stories, and testing our bush skills all the way. I’m pretty sure our chest hair grew a little thicker over those two days. I can testify to the stand-up leadership that resides at AIM. These men were with us the whole way, showing us where to go and talking with us when we needed it. Even the president, Seth Barnes, was out there leggin’ it with us down the trails just so he could get to know us and be there for us.
Yes sir. Every step we took made us a little more like brothers.
As camp progressed, I began to see a core lesson God was teaching me. He began really talking to me about my anxiety and my self-identity. He tested them, too. There was a point when I thought I may have to switch routes. That really forced me to deal with my anxiety. Then He tested my confidence in my own God-given identity, and He set me free from the lies I was believing.
For most of my life, I have felt like there was a social taboo around me that I could just not overcome, and therefore I felt rejected most of the time. One night I was sitting in session, and I prayed, “God choose me,” and through a friend, He did. Empowered by the Holy Spirit, he spoke many things of freedom over me, and some of the things he would’ve had no way of knowing. I was given an invitation to share with the camp what the Spirit had spoken to me. So tearfully, I poured my heart out to the camp, and after stepping off the stage to cheers of affirmation, my entire squad came around me and embraced me. I have never felt so loved or accepted. It was the most powerful night of camp for me, and I think that I will always remember it. For the next day or so, I continually had people coming up to me and sharing how my story had touched them. Sometimes when God touches someone, he touches many other people too. I just happened to be that person this time.
It was so awesome watching God clear the junk out of my life so that I would really be ready for the race. Seeing God move to this degree already just gets me so excited because this was only training camp. What is gonna happen when it’s the real thing? I am sure I don’t know, but what I do know, is that the best is yet to come.
