Hello everyone! I’m so glad you stopped by to read this update. So seriously, what just happened? These past few weeks have been insane! First off, I apologize in advance if this blog seems like I’m just rambling. My brain and my heart feel like they have been on the worlds longest and scariest roller-coaster imaginable. In a very concentrated form, here’s a list of what I have been up to over the past few weeks: I had my parents visit me in Cedaredge, resigned my position where I have been for the past 5 years in Cedaredge, packed my things, cleaned, sold vehicles, visited people, made arrangements for travel, said many goodbyes (more like see you laters!), moved states, traveled across the country and back, trained for training camp, had my world rocked at training camp, hiked 12 miles on the Appalachian Trail, made new friends, I saw people experience freedom, I saw perseverance and character, I saw community, I witnessed people get excited about living a life on mission, I have seen provision in ways I never thought I would….. in short (haha) so much has happened that it will be a challenge for me to fit it all in this blog, but I will do my best!
So over the past week I have been trying to process training camp and all the transition I experienced before it. “What just happened?”, That question has flashed through my brain so many times this week, and I’m sure a few of my teammates know what I’m talking about. I definitely walked into training camp at a strange place in my life. Just finished my last Sunday in Cedaredge a few days before, moved in with my parents in Utah, and I was definitely still grieving the thought that I would not be returning to Colorado for a little while. In a lot of ways, I am still processing a ton of what is happening in my life, and I will probably write more about that later. But in this blog, I would love to share how God showed up and did incredible things at training camp!
First off, I have to introduce you to the best squad the world has ever seen…..
T-SQUAD!!!!
(Ironically I was looking for a photo of all of us together and I couldn’t find one, so just pretend there is one right here for now (and that we all look awesome in a mid air jump pose). You can see their faces and read all their blogs when you click the link “Meet My Squad” But seriously, we are the best squad ever!)
I also have to give one more shout out. We have the best training team ever. From our coaches, to our mentor, to our squad logistics, to our mobilizer, to our leadership team we had at camp, we are BLESSED to have these incredible people around us! They poured into us constantly, and even though some of them only were with us for camp, they invested in us like they were going to be with us for the next year!
So training camp. There’s so much to talk about, so I’ll hit the highlights. I’ll break down what I can right now into three sections. I’ll call this first section the Real World Scenario section. Then we are going to pop into the Vision and Mission section. And then finally go to the Community section.
Real World Scenarios
For future racers, I’m going to be very vague in this section, but if you are thinking about doing the World Race please skip this section because these are supposed to be surprises for training camp.
At training camp, they were very purposeful to give us scenarios that we would have to live through and figure out that could very well happen in the field. Like losing half of your squads luggage, or having to fit everyone in a small tent for the night, or having to spend a night in a busy and well lit airport, or even having to go shop at a local market(complete with vehicles running through, thieves, beggars, money changers, and hagglers). We also had some fitness requirements we had to meet. We had to hike 4 miles within an hour with our gear on. We also had to hike 12 miles on the Appalachian Trail. These scenarios really put things into perspective for how much we should pack and what is really necessary to bring.
But the big scenarios weren’t the only things they did to prepare us. Preparing us was found in all the details as well: like having cultural theme’s for each meal and eating in community for each meal, or working together in teams, or eating bugs/unusual food, or even ice cold bucket showers while the satanic Georgia breeze was blowing all the “stalls” open. The whole time at training camp we were challenged to be uncomfortable and flexible. Adventures in Missions did an excellent job preparing us for those real world scenarios in all the details of training camp.
Vision and Mission
When I signed up for the World Race, I knew what the Lord was calling me to, but training camp helped me put it into words. It’s really a call to come and die to myself more. It’s a call to be uncomfortable and grow in areas I never knew I needed to grow in. It’s a call to serve, no matter what it looks like.
First thing is first when we begin to talk about what the World Race is. The World Race is not an eleven month journey. It is not a chance for you to go to different countries and continents. It is not even a missions trip when you get down to the heart of the issue. The World Race IS a chance for you to see God’s heart for all His children. It IS a chance for you to die to your self and live to bring the Kingdom to Earth. And it IS a chance to walk in authority and identity of who you are, a child of God. The World Race is not an 11 month missions trip, it’s a chance for you to live how you were made to live, and that doesn’t stop in 11 months.
So with that said, none of us need the World Race to live like that. Each one of us can bring the Kingdom right were we are. Saying “Yes” to the World Race wasn’t about the World Race. It was saying “Yes” to what the Lord is calling us to do. The Lord has called us to go and let the light of Jesus shine through us in these dark places. I believe the Lord has called this specific group together because we have chosen to live out the call in Matthew 10. The Lord has individually called each one of us for this time, to go and be His hands and feet. Which means we have to be doing that right now, even before we leave.
At training camp, we were given opportunities to live out that mission right there in Gainsville. I will expand more on these experiences in another blog, but they were to awesome to not give you a sneak preview. A couple days we just went into town to love people, just to be with them and hope that the Lord would open the door for us to speak life into them. Many of those opportunities led to people being prayed for and the Lord showing up! We met up after each time we went out and shared the stories of how God had used us, and it was such and incredible time to share those victories. Personally it was so exciting to me to see people experience being used by God in that way for the first time. And even more so to see that they wanted to go out and do it more!
Community
This is the section I will be expanding much more into another blog or two. During those 10 days together, we got a sneak preview of what living in community will look like over the next year starting in January. Being able to live with each other, laugh, grow, be intentional, be vulnerable, encourage, challenge, so many other things come to mind that we just experienced in just those 10 days together. We saw teammates lift up other ones in the hard times. We saw everyone come together to cheer on those who struggled on the fitness requirements. We saw teammates get baptized for the first time, or in a recommitment in this new walk with Christ. We saw teammates say “Yes” to this next journey with the Lord. We saw the body coming together as a team, everyone offering something different for the benefit of this squad. Every time I think about life together over this next year with these teammates, I get excited because they are such incredible people and I cannot wait to see the community built between us.
Community wasn’t just something we experienced as a team, we saw how our leadership has built and lived in community around them. One of the days we went out to pray, we went into a neighborhood where one of our leaders, Sandra, was invested in. Everywhere we went, the people knew her, and they knew that she was there for them if they ever needed anything. More on that later. Also we were invited to another one of our leader’s (Clint) neighborhood. He has a house church in his neighborhood and he invited us to come and stay in our tents on his street and to get to meet all his neighbors. So we hung out, ate, played yard games and then something incredible happened. Earlier that week, one of Clint’s neighbors was talking with him and Clint had mentioned they were looking for a fire pit for us to be able to gather around that evening when we were staying in the neighborhood. That neighbor offered for us to be able to use his fire pit. Clint went in to explain that we would be playing worship songs and having someone speak the Word. That neighbor still continued to offer his fire pit. Why is that amazing? Clint’s neighbor is an atheist. And I’ll be writing more about this story soon, but that neighbor hosted us that night. He stayed for the whole thing, worship, Word, and even offered us delicious pumpkin desserts before we started. How did that happen? Clint is living in community, and has built a great relationship with that man despite difference in their beliefs. Much more on that story later!
Again, so many things have happened before training camp, during, and after that I will have to be playing catch up for a while on the blogs. But God is so good. I cannot wait to see what He is already preparing for us. Over the next couple months as I am here in Utah, I will continue to post updates and share these stories of what God has done and what He is still doing! Please stay tuned for those next blog posts and thank you all again for your continued support and prayers as this next season continues to unfold. Love you all!
– Eric
