World Race Training Camp
Ya’ll. 8 days in the woods of Georgia felt like 40 years in the desert.
There was no schedule given to us of when lunch was or where we would be sleeping every night. We knew things were going to happen that were out of our control but we never knew when and we never knew what was going to come our way.
You would think that because all of us chose to sign up for the World Race, our idea of fun is not taking showers for an entire week, wearing the same clothing till it has a permanent odor, getting chiggers, sharing one plate of food with 8 other people, washing eaten off of dishes with our hands, sleeping on busses and in the rain and sharing our clothes, toiletries, sleeping materials and snacks with 45 other people. Reality. We THOUGHT it was going to be fun. I THOUGHT it was going to be “fun”. It was not all that fun.
The first couple days were alright as, in my mind, this was all still a simulation of what the mission field would look like. I could survive if I knew it would eventually end in a few days. But on night 3 after two nights of only 5 hours of sleep, exhausted, and in a bit of pain from sleeping on the hard, cold, damp ground it started to become reality. We were told to pack all of our things and hike to a school bus parked in a field. This would be where the 45 of us slept that night. It was so so hot. I had been able to maintain my composure up until this point. My back hurt so bad and now I had to sit at a 90 degree angle for the next 8 hours. I leaned my head on the seat in front of me and silently began to cry and fight internally with myself – Wondering if I would really ever be able to survive out there in the third world. My mind traveled forward in time to our first month on the field. If I followed through with this journey, I couldn’t convince myself to make it through the night because it would all be over in 8 more days. This is the way my life will be every single day on the race. Every moment depending on God for enough energy to listen to a speaker for 7 hours a day. Enough will power to carry my backpack up and down hilly terrain. Enough faith to believe God will grant me with the ability to sleep through a rain storm or on a bus in the scorching heat with 45 other people. Praying and trusting that I wouldn’t get sick from the food served and the water we had to drink out of a spout in a wall.
It wasn’t slowly that it hit me. The weight of it all fell on me at once. On the night we slept 45 people to one old rickety yellow school bus.
During points of my short life I have felt it fair to compare my life with the homeless and deprived overseas. Ive been homeless before. Ive been so ill I couldn’t lift my head and had no one to advocate for me as I lay there unable to speak. I had to leave my family at a young age and pray night after night I would have a place to sleep the next evening. But that night on the bus, the sheer weight of the world came pressing down on me. My chest felt heavy, my eyes filled with tears, and my soul grieved. The poverty Ive experience in my own life is absolutely nothing in comparison to the poverty of third world countries. Yet, they exude joy as they squat to use the bathroom which is but a hole in the ground. They laugh as they wash dishes in contaminated water. They sing as they hold their dying child in their arms.
And I thought I was going to bring His love to THEM.
I have forever been changed by but a taste of the third world. For they may be stricken with disease, homeless and fatherless but God shows His love and power through the least of us. They HAVE to depend on something greater every second of their life. Praying that the one meal they’ve gotten all week isn’t filled with parasites. Praying God sends a missionary to show them that they aren’t crazy for risking their life to serve a God they aren’t sure is real.
Its so hard to wrap up in one blog how my spirit is being pruned to understand the Fathers love for His people. He loves ME enough to allow me to experience His love through the hardship and poverty of His children. Even getting rid of everything but what I think I need and only keeping the bare minimum, I still have a pile of worthless “things”. My heavenly Father is teaching me that I am not going to bring them the good news, the good news is already IN them. He wants me to understand that His love is greater than religion. You’re not saved if your a Baptist, a catholic, or a Jew. Your materials and money don’t earn you a spot on Gods most loved list, and just because you smell good and have 3 large meals a day and go to church once a week doesn’t mean you are content , joyful, and succeeding at being a “good Christian”. His love is enough to make you dance in the rain after 7 nights of no food. His love is enough to allow you to rest on a bus with 45 other people. His love is enough that He allows you to feel his arms wrapped around you when your lonely after not seeing your family for 2 years. His love is enough to fill you with the energy you need to serve your team after nights of no sleep. His love is enough to clothe you, feed you, and comfort you.
This journey God has asked and allowed me to take is not just about changing other people. He wants to change me. To change my heart to resemble His. How can we share His love and what He has done for us with others if they cant see it in our lifes story?
Training camp served as a week that prepared me to accept the changes God wants to do in my life. Change hurts as God uses His pruning sheers to cut away what shouldn’t belong. Ive learned through training camp that our life is a continual song of praise, bowing before the Lord and allowing Him to use us as fruit to feed His hungry children.
As I wrap up this blog, don’t hesitate to contact me and ask me more questions about training camp. Im still processing all that God is doing in my heart and so I will continue to update more blogs as I feel Him revealing new truths. In the meantime here is a prayer from my heart for me, for you, over us all.
“I have tasted and seen that the Lord is Good. He hath provided me with everything I need to sustain life with joy, contentment and peace. Father cover me with grace and mercy as I learn to allow you to use my weaknesses so You can be made known as Strong and Mighty across the nations.”
*** Check out my Pictures section on my blog to see what training camp was all about 🙂
