I realize I am lagging with the updates. To be honest, I have written this blog 3 times now. Each time it was about a 1500 word count post and I still felt like I wasn’t able to communicate my experience at training camp well. So, in practicing some of what I learned with this blog, gonna try and let go of my control and perfectionist tendencies.
I got back from training camp August 20th and I still feel like I am processing everything I learned while I was there. It was seriously incredible.
To answer a few FAQ: Yes, we slept in our tents the entire 10 days (except one night where it was an airport scenario but SIKE! It was actually the worst night of sleep the entire time)
Yes, it was physically challenging (I was a puddle of sweat from 7am-11pm and probably even between those hours but I was dead to the world so it didn’t matter)
Yes, I took bucket showers (which was usually one of my favorite times of day)
Yes, we ate some interesting meals that I couldn’t identify and others I wished I couldn’t.
and no, it wasn’t at all what I was expecting but not for any of the above reasons.
I was not expecting to experience God’s presence so real and undeniably living in all of us. I wasn’t expecting to experience so much healing and transformation in just 10 short days. I wasn’t expecting to grow so close to 42 other people and feel like we know each others souls better than people we’ve known our entire lives. I definitely wasn’t expecting to be unified through the spirit and pray over and with one another for healing and liberation and for the Kingdom of God to be seen here on earth. I shared things with these people that I have never shared before. I can’t even put into words what it feels like to stand in a room of 350 people who are all stepping out in faith and saying yes to God’s call on their life. Y’all, there was some POWER up in that room. We examined our hearts BIG time and asked God to search as well and reveal to us any parts that we were still keeping from Him. As He was faithful to answer that prayer, we could see the change in us. As God continued to ask just a little bit more of us, guess what happened. We began to walk in true freedom. We began to understand what it means to be forgiven and to live BECAUSE of His grace. And the crazy thing is, is that when you start letting God have all of you you begin getting into the mindset of living a LIFE on mission because of what Christ has done instead of just going on a mission trip to show your faithfulness to God. It’s a game changer. You begin to really and truly believe these crazy promises that God makes in scripture. You begin to truly believe that God’s primary goal is to love you NOT just make you into a better christian. You begin to truly believe that the creator of the world, the performer of miraculous miracles that you’ve read about and may have even seen, the healer of the sick, the Father, the Son, and the Holy spirit, yeah that weird 3 person but 1 ruler of all character; yeah, Him. The power that He has, actually is living inside of you.
I’ve spent a lot of time memorizing and learning about God’s character but whoa, to actually believe that that kind of power and love and spirit lives inside of me is a little bit harder to swallow.
To sum it up, I am so so excited for this next 11 months. I can’t wait to see Him move. He has always been able to move but now I am opening my eyes and believing it is true. I am just 3 short weeks away from launch. Y’all pray for us. I love you all and thank you again for your support and believing even when I did not.
And he called to him his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every affliction.
Matthew 10:1
