Each time I am asked how training camp was, the most genuine response I can muster to sum up the whole week is to pray and then pass out on the spot from exhaustion. Obviously I’m kidding… sort of. Training camp was boot camp, bible study, worship, summer camp, and Christian hazing all blended together and rolled up into one week.
After the Atlanta Chophouse atrium in the airport had been completely inundated with what seemed to be a convention for mountain backpacking enthusiasts but realistically was a mob of Christians answering Jesus’s call to be disciples, school buses arrived to haul over 200 world racers to the Adventures In Missions (AIM) headquarters to Gainesville, a hilly city in northern Georgia. As everyone was helping lift the monstrous backpacks (mine was a 37 pounder) onto each other’s backs, adjusting/tightening the straps, and buckling the belts of their own, I couldn’t help but realize that it looked like we were all being secured into the seats of a roller coaster. Looking back now, I realize how accurate that was.
After receiving our registration packets, K squad, my squad of 62 racers, hobbled uphill on a gravel trail until we came to a clearing with hay attempting to cover up an acre of red mud. The purpose of training camp is to prepare for the World Race, and I think God was readying us for monsoon season in Asia by providing a week of rain. The field quickly became a city of 62 tents as we set up what I assumed to be my home for the week. Well you know what they say happens when you assume…. I actually only slept in my tent the first and last night but consider myself a pro in setting it up.
The second night, the squad leaders ran a simulation in which the airline lost half of our luggage. Naturally, my bags were included in the half that was lost, so I quickly bonded with my squadmate Sarah who took me in for the night. In the wee hours of the morning, our rainfly came undone and I awoke from a nightmare in which I was getting water boarded to rain coming in the sides of our tent. Needless to say, Sarah and I got closer than ever that night.
The third night, we were placed in a scenario in which after a long day of travel, we arrived at the boarder crossing of a country that was closed and had to sleep in the school bus. All 62 of us. We had to sleep down the aisle, three to a seat, and underneath feet just to squeeze in. I spent 90% of the night praying and the remaining 10% of the night wanting to strangle people, deliriously laughing and being the person the rest of the bus wanted to strangle, and sleeping for about 30 minutes. One of my squadmates ended up jumping out of the bus window for some temporary sanity. I won’t continue in detail about every sleeping situation, but suffice it to say that each night brought along its own set of challenges and accomplishments. I pretty much slept for two days straight when I got home.
I wish I had the cyberspace to elaborate on each facet of training camp, such as how everyday we were in a different country and ate that country’s food/practiced their customs: In Africa, men sit at the table, and the women, after serving the men, ate on the floor. That custom FIRED up the females a tad. The worship band, Collective Outpour, was INCREDIBLE and facilitated a group connection with God by bringing the tangible energy of the Holy Spirit to the entire training camp through their music. I could describe the ice cold bucket showers (http://www.wikihow.com/Take-a-Bucket-Bath), the smell of the porta potties at the end of the week, or the team building activity involving countless burpees, squats, and lunges.
Instead, I will wrap up my summary of training camp by describing how a squad of 62 strangers became my family in one week. God spent half of the week breaking us down so that we could use Him and our squadmates to piece ourselves back together. Through training camp I realized that I struggle with perfection and learned from my squad that there is beauty in imperfection. There is something inherently refreshing about a relationship in which you can have sore abs from laughing in one moment and then have a heartfelt conversation about Jesus the next. Finally, because Christ is the sturdy foundation of each person on K squad, each relationship I built this week was stronger as a result: I know that no matter the circumstance, I can lean on them and they will be able to not only support me personally but also support and guide me on my walk with Jesus. In seven days, the same people whose names I couldn’t remember became family that I dreaded leaving behind for a month. I can’t wait to do life with my squad and be changed each day for the better by them and God in the year to come.
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