Training camp was one of the hardest experiences I’ve ever had in my life! Honestly! In all aspects of my life; spiritually, mentally, physically, emotionally. It was hard!! But it was also one of the most rewarding and amazing experiences in my life! And if I had to do it again, I would gladly do it! God completely worked in me and transformed me! I can honestly say that I am not the same person that I was when I first went in.
SORRY THIS BLOG IS SO LONG! BUT PLEASE BARE WITH ME….HERE ARE MY HONEST FEELINGS AND SOME OF MY EXPERIENCES OF TRAINING CAMP!
I honestly went to training camp without any expectations, and that’s because I truly did’t know what to expect! I had heard things about it, but nothing was concrete. And I am thankful that AIM (Adventures In Missions) keeps it that way because it gave us the opportunity to have an open heart about it all. That is one thing that I did asked God before I went into it. I asked God to give me an open heart to receive what He would have in store for me during this week! And boy….. did he worked in my life! God worked in my life in so many ways! He showed His magnificent power over me, over O squad!
I finally got to meet these amazing people! I am more than ever sure that God put us together for His purpose. Each and every one of us are so different, but through God’s love our differences are put aside and we became one body through Christ’s love! God united us and made us into a family! These amazing 50 strangers quickly became my friends and family and now I could not imagine my life without them!
Training camp was hard for me! The first night that I got to finally sleep in my tent I got woken up by the rain! And I would love to tell you that it was by the sound of the soothing rain! But that was not the case! hahahaha the raindrops that fell on my head woke me up!! Hahahahaha! Somehow the rain got through the rainfly and it got the tent, and than it got to me! I was a bit scared because it was raining hard and it was around 4 AM! All I could do at that moment was try to move myself to another place on my tent where the rain wasn’t falling there and pray to God that the rain stopped! It finally did! And by the time I was settled and ready to get back to sleep, it was time to get up and do our morning work out! That morning we had to pack up everything, take our back packs and do a small hike for about 30 minuets with all of our stuff! For some of my squad mates, this must had been like whatever, but for someone like me that is starting to work out, it was a lot! A lot to carry my 40 LBS of my main back pack and the other 20 LBS of my small back pack! But God helped me through it!
By the second day, God continued to speak to my life through the different situations that were given to us. One situation was that AIM wanted to show us what is like to not have your stuff and have to depend on your other team mates in case your back pack gets lost in the airport while you are traveling. And of course, I happen to be one of the lucky ones who’s bag was lost in “the Philippines.”
That night I spend the night with my friend Megan. She was so sweet because she was kind enough to sacrifice her comfort in order for me to sleep with her in her tent. Of course she only had one sleeping bag and one sleeping pad. We slept sharing those two things and with nothing to cover us since we slept on top of the sleeping bag to not sleep on the floor! I only had my friend’s sweater to cover my feet and thankfully I was wearing my sweater and rain jacket. But that night happen to be one of the coldest nights that I felt. My friend and I were shivering and freezing all night! It was so freezing cold and I could’t sleep because of how cold it was. And for a while, I was mad, I was frustrated, I was tired. But than, that’s when God convicted me and reminded me of how many people do sleep on the streets day in and day out without any shelter! Without any blankets! And in the middle of my discomfort, God spoke to me to be grateful! Be grateful that this is just an exercise and not my daily life! And most of all, to have compassion for those who do suffer because they don’t have a place to sleep! God truly spoke to my heart on that freezing night! I thank Him because He speaks to our hearts when we need it the most!
On our third day, God was continuing to work in my life in so many ways. Wednesday was a day to grieve what was lost on our life, or what we would lose or have to let go in order to go to the World Race with an open heart. I thought that I had already worked out so many things in my life with Jesus already! But than He surprised me once again, bringing back some stuff from my past that I thought were dealt with already! And Jesus wanted me to really really let go, and truly forgive! Which at times is hard. But Jesus helped me heal, helped me to let go! I was listed too, and I was prayed over! It was a day of spiritual healing! It was a day full of crazy emotions.
That day too, was a day where we had a women’s bootcamp! It was hard!! We had to depend on one another physically! Some girls are stronger than others physically speaking, and we had to support one another! The work outs were hard, and were under the rain of course! We were wet, sweaty, stinky, tired, overwhelmed physically and mentally! It was a though day! After the work outs we were told to just grab our basics out of our back packs. Sleeping bag and sleeping pad, and a change of clothes for the next day, and yeah… we didn’t have time to change or shower! So we grabbed our stuff and packed what we could on our day packs. Put all of our stuff along with all of us in one bus! It was crazy how that poor bus was sooo full! Which is most likely how it will be once we’ll have those long 20 hour bus rides in the future!
That night we were taken to some near by forest area, which was really pretty. And we had to figure out how we would set up our sleeping arrangements. Some people were so awesome to quickly help set up the fire, others set up some kind of shelter to cover us in case of rain. And everyone got to work. Once we were getting ready to set up our sleeping bags, I noticed that mine was lost! Hahahahaaha I laugh now, but I wasn’t laughing at that moment! I was honestly praying to God to keep a good attitude about it, but I was honestly worried and a bit frustrated. I had friends offering me their sleeping bags, but I truly didn’t want to take them because I didn’t want them to suffer for me.
I believe this night was the hardest for me, I cried myself to sleep because I was cold, still wet, sweaty still, stinky, and freezing! Thankfully I had one small blanket that I carried with me all the time, which it did help, but that night I prayed myself to sleep. I prayed to God to help me to get through the night. I felt like I broke down and that I couldn’t do it anymore, and on top of all of this I was getting really sick! Thankfully around 5 AM I started to hear people and I thank God with all my heart that I made it! I thank God that the night was over! This night was such a blessing for many, while it was horrible for me. I am being completely honest and vulnerable as I write this. My heart felt overwhelmed and almost broken for some reason on that morning. After we were all packed up and were waiting for the buss, I was feeling horrible physically and emotionally. And I finally dropped whatever barriers I had and I asked 2 amazing team mates that happen to be standing near me to please pray for me because otherwise I would not make it through the day. And Ashley and Dorien hugged me and embraced me with so much love and prayed over me, they prayed that the Holy Spirit would manifest into my life and to provide me with the strength and healing that I needed in all areas of my life!
That prayer meant the world to me!! It turned my day around! It changed my attitude completely! God wanted to break me down completely and to trust on Him and not my own strength as I’ve done before! Looking back at this experience now, I realize why I had such a horrible night that day. It was because I was prideful. I didn’t want to be weak, or have to ask for help as I should have. I don’t know why I didn’t do it since I have such amazing team mates. But that’s what God wanted for me to experience that night. Again, He wanted to break me down and to trust in Him, to trust my team mates! After I surrendered and asked for prayers my day changed completely.
“Blessed are those who have regard for the weak; the Lord delivers them in times of trouble.” Psalm 41:1
The rest of that day I was still not feeling well physically because I got sick really badly but God continued to work in my heart which was the most important! God continued to speak to my life and break chains that were holding me back from my past and continued to freed me! As the day went by, another amazing brother prayed for healing over my body and I felt so much better! And my day continued to be hard, but so much better with God’s strength and not my own!
Training camp was amazing! it was hard, but it was amazing! The Holy Spirit spoke into my life in many many different times! These are just some of my hardest yet amazing experiences of training camp. I am truly grateful to God for my amazing brother and sisters from O squad. I am truly thankful for their love and support when I was weak and for loving and accepting me for who I am! I am looking forward to spending next year with you all!
And I am once again, truly thankful for all of your support and prayers! They were truly felt during those hard times at camp! Your support means the world to me! I can honestly tell you that training camp was hard, but sooo rewarding! I am not the same person that first went in. I am stronger and I am a loved and blessed daughter of the High Mighty God!
I love you all and I than you for reading my long long blogs! I will do my best to condense my thoughts into smaller blogs! And I have so much more to tell you about training camp! Soon to come!
Thank you once again and God bless you!
