Wow! Training camp is tough. For the past ten days I attended a training camp for the World Race. You may be asking, “What is training camp”? It was a time where we were able to meet our squad mates, be put into possible scenarios that we could encounter on the race, and most importantly dive deep into our relationship with God.
My squad mates! Oh my gosh! I don’t think I have met such a strong group of people! Going into training camp I was really nervous. I wasn’t sure what to expect or what kind of personalities I would be around. I was actually really nervous that I wasn’t going to be accepted by them, but we will talk about that later.
I first met my squad mates over social media. We all messaged, snap chatted, liked instagram posts, and read each other’s blogs. There is only so much you can learn from social media. I am the type of person who likes to get to know people in person. When I first met my squad in person I was overwhelmed and had to take a step back. As the week went on I became closer and closer to them because of the different challenges we had throughout the week. We went through a lot emotionally, spiritually, and physically with each other. We are a team. We became extremely unified. There was also much laughter and memories made. I know God has blessed me with lasting relationships through this squad. I can’t wait to see how God is going to use all of us for His glory.
Lets now talk about the different scenarios we were put into. Oh man… We spent a lot of time unpacking our bags and packing our bags. Every night we had a different thing we had to do whether it was sharing your tent, your luggage got lost, packing thirteen girls into a ten man tent with your day packs, or staying in a fake airport. Lets just say we got close and all up in each other’s business real quick. It was a bit uncomfortable at times. Mealtime was also interesting. Every day we had a new theme. Our themes were different countries. I don’t want to go into too much detail because I don’t want to give it away for future World Racers. Lets just say training camp isn’t always rainbows and unicorns. That is why they call it TRAINING camp.
This next part will probably be my most favorite part of this blog. Jesus and I time. Mann… Words can’t even fully describe how incredible it was. Let’s start with worship. I have never worshipped the way I did at training camp. At first I held back. As times went on I became more open. I started feeling God’s presence in my life. Feeling His presence is so honoring. It is totally different when it’s just you and Jesus. We also had amazing messages. I have half a notebook of notes. I probably would have had more if I could of written faster! All of the messages surrounded our brokenness and insecurities. I was able to look into my life and see the things that I needed healing from. Some things I thought I was healed from, some things I didn’t think I needed healing from, or some things I needed to let go of. Let’s just say that God worked in my life to help me become whole again.
Here is one of things God healed me from. I have always been extremely insecure about how people think about me. Aha told you that I would talk about it later on in this blog. It always would tear me to pieces when someone didn’t like me. I was always told that I shouldn’t care what anyone thought. I buried everything and acted like that was exactly how I thought, when deep down inside I didn’t believe it. Finally something clicked. I felt God’s presence and really realized that I believed a lie that Satan was telling me. I am so much more. I am worthy. God finds me worthy. It shouldn’t matter what other people think or say about me because I have a big God who loves me more than anyone ever will. I finally was able to break away from that bondage and become free! I know its going to be tough at times but I know that through lots of prayer and looking to Him that I can overcome it!!
Another huge thing happened while I was gone at training camp. Story time with Victoria! Yay! So lets talk about prophecy. We had a night where we would prophesied over each others lives and told each other what God wanted them to hear. Let’s just say that night made me a little uncomfortable. I have never done anything like that before or even been prophesied over. We had to find a partner. My squad mate Ashlie approached me. We sat down and started the process of inviting the spirit into the conversation. I couldn’t envision anything. Then it came her turn. She told me normal things that I’ve heard. “You are beautiful, worthy, and that He (God) is going to use you for amazing things.” We then sat a few seconds in silence. Then she got excited and told me she had a vision. I was like “Well let’s hear it!” She then went into what she saw. I don’t remember exactly word for word but she started explaining how she saw a blurred figure next to me. It was my husband and I was so happy. She then saw little kids running around me and him and they were of different ethnicities. I started bawling like a baby because that always has been my dream. I never put it up on Facebook or even told my squad mates so I knew it was real. That was huge for me because now I have confirmed that my dream of a family of different ethnicities will come true! Sometimes God shows up in ways you never would imagine He would. You just have to be open to it.
Training camp was such an amazing experience. I only have two months left till I leave for Cape Town, South Africa. I am asking for prayers. Please be praying for my small squad of girls that I will be in ministry with. Please be praying for our hearts as we spend these last two months with our families and loved ones. It’s going to be a rough time saying goodbye to them. Please be praying that we will no longer believe the lies of this world/ Satan. Please be praying for those who we will be in ministry with. Pray that their hearts will be softened and open to the gospel.
My Squad! ^^^^
Thank you so much for taking the time to read my blog! If you feel lead to donate towards my trip just click the support me button!!!!
Blessings,
Victoria Finlay
