Hey readers, as many of you have probably heard, I just returned from a two-week World Race training camp near Atlanta, Georgia. To explain the ways God worked in my heart over that short period of time would take weeks to write. To make the information more accessible, I will be splitting the blog up into 3 parts. How training camp impacted me Physically, Emotionally, and spiritually. So here is a short summary of what happened, and how training camp was without doubt the most transformative two weeks in my life.
PART 1: Physical
This is probably the part that most people have asked about, so I will put it first. Training camp was significantly more demanding than I was expecting. The next three paragraphs will sound like incessant complaining, but just hang on until the end. I promise it’s worth it.
My experience started when I looked at the weather forecast before packing and saw that temperatures for the week hovered around 80 degrees. Coming from the Rocky Mountains, I was excited to camp and lounge in such high temperatures. I joyfully packed my bag with things I assumed I would need, and left out anything that I thought would add extra weight to my backpack.
Pants? Don’t need ‘em.
Jacket? Nope. Gotta get my tan on.
Temp-rated sleeping bag? In 80 degrees?! How dumb would bringing that be?!
As it turns out, Georgia nights are cold. REALLY cold. I was not properly equipped at all. To make matters more fun, the World Race training staff thought it would be fun to temporarily steal my backpack, and make me….share. This included my tent, sleeping bag, sleeping pad (which later popped), and any extra clothes I could use for layering. I shared items with generous squad mates, and shared a tent with a couple other guys. As the temperature dropped, a sudden realization swept across my fellow racers and myself. What did we just get ourselves into?
I assumed the tough parts of training camp would mostly revolve around me camping and sleeping in tents. I didn’t expect that sleeping in a tent would be an absolute luxury. Sleeping conditions changed every other night. Without ruining the surprises for other racers, let me just say that sleeping conditions were always a surprise. Luckily I had a wonderfully warm shower to wake up to… just kidding. Nothing makes a bunch of grown Christian men scream and swear like freezing cold bucket water.
Now onto the food! Honestly the food wasn’t as bad as I was expecting. Ok, so there was one day where the best thing I ate were crickets. And yes, the portion size was small, and people were trading rights to their first-born child for snacks. But hey, I don’t like kids that much anyway.
So you may be asking, “Kevin, why put yourself through all that for a year?”
BECAUSE IT WAS A BLAST!
I got to hike 12 miles on the Appalachian Trail, camp under the stars, cook over an open fire, and a whole lot more. I was forced into this amazing community with this new family. We had no option but to depend on each other and love each other. It was amazing. None of us slept well, and we bonded over that. We shared laughs over people trying to eat fermented egg, and then promptly puking it up. We shared each other’s pain in freezing cold bucket showers. Every moment of discomfort was met by generosity and care. Having that unequivocal bond, made me fall in love with 50 strangers! And that’s really freaking weird! It made me depend on God in ways I never have before! (More on all that later)
So, from a physical standpoint, why am I going on the race?
I want to live in community. I want to stop taking from life and give into it. I want to help those that are in desperate need. I can’t do that without living amongst them. I want to live with people that are hungry for the word. Simply put, I want to live like Jesus.
Part 2: “The Emotional Impact” will be posted tomorrow Nov 10, 2016
If you feel called to donate to my missions trip, please go to keivncrow.theworldrace.org Anything is appreciated. Thanks!
