“There is absolutely no way
I would be sleeping under this tarp without
Jesus and without my squad mates. No way…”
Something I remember saying to myself Thursday night as I fell asleep in the middle of nowhere, Georgia. (Literally, I was in the middle of nowhere. Adventures in Missions staff loaded us up, drove for about 15 minutes, dropped us off, and said they’d be back to get us in the morning.)
I was tired, I was cold and I was having one of those “I can’t believe I’m doing this” moments. As I laid there, tucked under a tarp with 30 of my fellow squad mates my mind was racing. On one hand I was stoked for my squad, we had officially completed yet another “field scenario.” We were surviving in the wilderness; we built our own shelter, we started our fire, we successfully cooked dinner and even roasted marshmallows for dessert. But on the other hand, I laid there in disbelief thinking about all 2016 has in store for me. “Is this really my life?” I kept saying to myself.
Training Camp made things more real than ever. If sleeping in a tent for 10 days, packing and re-packing your gear almost everyday, bucket showers, and early morning workouts don’t get you ready for the World Race I don’t know what will.
My squad getting ready for a teaching session.
Over the last two weeks I have had the incredible experience of getting to know my squadmates, my squad leaders, my squad mentor, my squad coaches and lots of other really awesome people. I’ve also had the incredible experience to go places with Jesus I’ve never been.
At Training Camp we spent a lot of time in session; listening to Adventures in Mission staff talk about the Kingdom. We spent time talking about our identities, our past shame and guilt, listening prayer, prophecy, healing, processing pain and emotion, community, teamwork and the list goes on. In a room full of future racers, it was silent; everyone eager to soak in as much information as possible before we hit the ground running in January. All week long the AIM staff kept saying, “You’ve been taking sips of water from a fire hose,” and I’m slowly starting to figure out what they meant.
Team Tharseo: My first team assignment. These are the lovely ladies I will be spending the first few months on the Race with.
I’m keeping this blog vague for a couple reasons:
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For all you future world racers, you’ll survive Training Camp & no I’m not going to give away all the secrets. Is it spectacular and complete madness? Absolutely. Will you be challenged in ways that make you super uncomfortable? You betcha. So stop reading all of those “training camp horror story” blogs and go in with an expectancy to be changed.
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I honestly can’t sum up 10 days full of revelations and Jesus moments in one blog; it’s nearly impossible. Plus, I am still pressing into a lot of what the Lord taught me while I was gone.
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Lastly, I’d much rather just talk with you about it. Call me, FaceTime me, better yet let’s go grab a cup of coffee. Simply reading this blog will not accurately explain my 2 weeks at Training Camp. PS: I’m free Saturday! 😉
Just a quick tour of my new house. 🙂 This was day 10, so please excuse the mess!
But until said coffee date, here are a couple excerpts from my journal about things that unfolded for me while I was at Training Camp:
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Comparison: Kills unity, kills creativity, craps on how God made you, and gives you a poverty mentality.
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Jesus treats you according to your destiny, not your history.
- I feel safe when I think of myself the way my Papa God sees me. I feel content in who I am and who He is when I see myself the way He sees me.
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And my biggest take away happened as I boarded the plane back to reality:
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“Daughter, I see more in you than you see in yourself. I see beyond the doubts and boundaries you have placed on yourself; you are more than you think you are. I believe in you.”
As always thanks for checking in, thanks for supporting me, and thanks for being a constant encouragement. Not only are you an answer to prayer, you too are making a difference for the Kingdom.
Victoria Kuhlman
C Squad
#C4
Team Tharseo
C-Squad/Green Squad getting ready for Squad Wars!
