There are no words to describe how training camp was. I cried, laughed, slept on the floor, ate food from five different continents, used a port a potty, and built some really great relationships with the people on my squad.
Training camp taught me two things, the first being vulnerability. During my time at raining camp I was available and vulnerable not only with people on my squad, but also with God. I learned to talk with God instead of just praying and asking Him for things. I’m no saying prayer is bad, but I realized I wasn’t treating my relationship with God as a relationship. God wants me to tell Him things and be open with Him. I told God my fears, worries, things I was excited for, and things I wasn’t so excited for. And you know what, I received no answers, and I was ok with that. It felt wonderful to get these things off my chest and by telling these things to God I could finally let go of my fears. And that was an amazing feeling. I also go the chance to open up about things from my past and present to my team and this was wonderful, but also scary. I didn’t have a mask, people saw me for who I truly was, and that was terrifying. But by being open I found that people were struggling with the same things I was. This caused me to become more connected to people. I made friends with people in just a few shorts days and not just any kind of friendships, but deep ones.
The second thing I learned was to be present. I need to be present not only on the Race but also home before the race. I need to dig deep into relationships at home before I leave for a whole year. And I don’t need to wait until I leave the country to spread the gospel. I’m so excited to start this adventure, but I am just as excited to be home these next few weeks loving family in a deeper way.
I also received my team for the world race! I will be traveling with five other girls for the beginning part of my trip. Here is a picture of us!
(left to right) Alexa from Florida, Jen from Virginia, Hannah from British Columbia, Debbie from Pennsylvania, and Ashley from Illinois. Our team name is Liora which means God’s light to me in Hebrew.
I’m really excited to live life with these ladies! Our first ministry contact is in Rukungiri Uganda and is called Cherished Life Ministries. We will be doing many different things at this ministry such as VBS, door to door ministry, hospital ministry, and youth ministry.
My official launch date is September 6th. and my next deadline is August 21st, I will need to have $10,000 raised by then. Currently I need around $5,900. Please help me reach this goal by August 21st! Thanks for reading and for your support. Love you all!!
