What makes training camp memorable? Is it doing things you never thought you would do? Sleeping in tight spaces? Seeing the biggest spiders you have ever seen in your life? Or is it the people who you met as strangers and said goodbye to as family? Or growing in your faith and your love for others?
The first day of training camp I was nervous, excited, and anxious to see what the week had in store. I put my name tag on and began trying to learn the names of my fellow O-squaders. I began the task of setting up my tent, which was much more difficult than I thought it would be but thankfully some girls on my squad were more than willing to help me conquer this tent setting up process.
As I began to talk to more people and hear their stories about what made them decide to do the world race I began to relax and realize that we all had one thing in common. We were there to do something bigger than ourselves. We were there because God had called us to minister to the nations. We were there because we weren’t satisfied working 9-5 and waiting for the weekend.
Training camp is a powerful environment that you can’t help but be affected by. There is an environment of honesty and openness. Giving honest feedback to each other was something I am not used to doing. Looking someone in the eye and telling them how you perceive them is not always easy but is a way to grow closer to one another and closer to God. One thing I was working on during camp was giving up control and giving it to God. Once I began surrendering my control and started to let God take control of my life I felt peace that God was going to take care of me and I no longer had to worry about doing everything on my own because God is big enough to provide for all of my needs.
I am so excited to have an incredible team. Our team of 6 will be together throughout the 11 months of ministry and work alongside each other and support one another along the way. I could not have asked for a more wonderful group of people to have as a support system. We are all very different but complement each other’s differences. We are team GPS- God’s Powerful Servants. We will be looking to God as our GPS to give us direction and guidance throughout this next year and with God we are going to make an incredible difference all around the world.
