From October 15th to October 25th, I left behind my comfortable home in Wexford, PA to go to World Race training camp in Gainesville, GA. Ever since I was accepted to go on the World Race, I kept looking forward to these 10 days. With all of my bags packed, I was ready to begin this 10 day adventure. Training camp was just that…an adventure!
With so many emotions, events, and stories that took place, I want to focus on 10 highlights of my World Race training camp experience. Let’s get started!
Highlight #1. Meeting my whole squad.
Since being accepted in May, I had only communicated with my squad through WhatsApp chats and Google Hangouts. Training camp provided me with the opportunity to finally meet the brothers and sisters in Christ who I would be spending a year of my life with! It amazes me how over such a short period of time, 36 individuals can become like family. The multitude of personalities blended together and it became apparent that we were all put together to extend the Kingdom.
Highlight #2. Eating food from different countries.
Eating food at training camp is different than what I expected. Each day we ate food and practiced the customs of a different continent or region in the world. For example, one day the country was India. During mealtime, this translated to eating with our hands from a communal bowl. Oh, and I forgot something. In India, the left hand is considered “unclean”. This meant that the only lefty in the squad (this guy) had to practice eating curried chicken and rice with his right hand! 🙂
Highlight #3 Corporate Worship
One of the most emotional parts of training camp was corporate worship. Multiple times a day, we joined together as a squad and worshipped a loving, gracious, and perfect God. It was amazing to be apart of and witness the walls of our hearts being stripped away and filled with the Father’s love. There is truly nothing like a choir of voices being guided by the Holy Spirit to praise our Lord.
Highlight #4 Hiking part of the Appalachian Trail
One of my favorite memories of training camp was the “Man Hike”. The Man Hike was a two day trip where all of the men hiked 18 miles of the Appalachian Trail. There is nothing quite like being outside with your brothers in Christ enjoying God’s creation. The stories we shared and memories we created will certainly never leave me.
Highlight #5 Men’s acapella
After our first day of hiking the Appalachian Trail, the men set up camp. At night, all of the men from every squad met around a fire. For an hour, the men joined voices and sang worship songs completely acapella. In a moment of complete bliss, our voices united and we sang directly to the Father. It will be a moment I will never forget.
Highlight #6 Bucket showers
You might be wondering, “Spencer, how did you get yourself clean over the course of 10 days?” The answer is a 5 gallon bucket filled with cold water! With only a bucket of cold water, a bar of soap, and a measuring cup, we would take the most humbling shower I can think of. It definitely makes you appreciate a hot shower a lot more 😉
Highlight #7 Feedback
One thing that is common for the World Race is providing each individual Racer with feedback. Feedback is constructive criticism to help each Racer grow in whatever facet necessary. At times, it was difficult to take feedback without taking it personally. However, I quickly adopted the mentality that the World Race is an opportunity for me to transform my life. With this new mentality, I began to accept feedback more openly, knowing that it is coming out of love and desire for me to become a stronger man of God.
Highlight #8 Squad Wars
Squad Wars is a multidimensional event where each squad (A,B,C,D,E, and F) competes against each other. Some of these events include; swimming, running, puzzles/riddles, obstacle course, and teamwork. It was fantastic to witness how our squad cheered each other on and worked as a unite! We got third place 🙁
Highlight #9 God doing a breakthrough
It was Thursday night and I was talking with one of my leaders one-on-one. Over the course of 45 minutes, my leader talked to me about my health as a Christian and how I was enjoying training camp. It became very apparent that I was hiding from issues that I never wanted to express. So now, I want to share them with you. I like affirmation. Because of this, I strive to receive affirmation from others around me. When I do not receive affirmation, it brings me down. I realized how I struggle with insecurity. My leader opened my eyes to this very important fact, my affirmation comes from the Lord! I do not need to seek out the affirmation of others because my Father loves me unconditionally! I cried louder and harder than I ever had in my entire life. This breakthrough was a foundational building block that I am excited to develop more and more each day!
Highlight #10 Finding out my team!
My favorite highlight of training camp was finding out my team for my first month of ministry! My teammates for month one are Catherine, Kristina, Caitlin, Brittany, and Adam! Our team name is Parrhesia. Parrhesia means “to speak boldly”. I believe we are going to do just that! I could not be happier with the teammates that God has blessed me with. I know we are going to do wondering things for the Kingdom. God is so good!
I hope you enjoyed reading!
With much love,
Spencer James Belkot
