Training camp was a little bit insane. I am still processing much of what I learned. However, I have gone back through my notes to try to soak it all in. The days were so jam-packed full of information and exercises, briefings and preaching sessions; it was difficult to retain everything so I am thankful that I took lots of notes. On average, we had about one to one and a half hours of free time each day. That time was typically utilized for showering, refreshing oneself through the Word and prayer, or playing games with squad mates or just taking a while to relax and unwind. The last option was common for me. It was not laziness, but a smart strategy which was necessary for myself and many others in order to remain awake during the late afternoon sessions and activities. Each of the eleven days was very mentally taxing; physically as well, but I would say that most of the weariness I experienced was that of the mind, even though my body suffered as well in the Georgia heat. It was morbidly humid and I sweat a lot, so a ridiculous amount of water was the largest portion of my diet.
We did have to complete a 2.2-mile hike in under thirty-eight minutes with all our gear on our backs. My bag weighed about forty pounds, so that was fun! Then all the guys had a “man hike,” which was about fourteen miles and took several hours. It was awesome! We talked about what it means to be a man of God, how we are to treat women – in particular the women on our squads while on the field, but also in general – and how we can represent Christ in leading with right motives, with true respect and humility, being servant leaders as Jesus taught us through his own life on Earth. He is the ultimate example of what a son of God should behave like, without a doubt. That is a “duh” statement, but it never hurts to be reminded. We did condense our packs since we did not need much extra clothing and we had to make room to carry our three meals for the day. The campfire dinner that night was surprisingly good. Then again, I was famished. That brings me to another aspect of training camp that I both loved and hated: the food.
The meals were never the same and always less than what I am accustomed to eating at home. Even if I did take advantage of some left overs that the girls did not have room for, I usually eat probably five to six times a day and at training camp it was three square meals; no more, no less. Needless to say, I ran out of my protein bar snacks by the fourth day. I had like ten of them to begin with and did not do well with rationing them. Each day we assumed the cultural norms, table manners, and diets of a different part of the world. For example, there was an Africa day, a Latin American day, an Eastern Europe day, an India day, a Southeast Asian day, and a few others which I have forgotten. I could not tell you which was my favorite because they each had at least one tasty item during the day and at least a few that I was not so fond of. However, India day was a good laugh since many of the girls did not have bandannas or hats, so they covered their heads with either t-shirts, jackets, or whatever else they came up with. I especially enjoyed Latin America day because I was already somewhat adjusted to some of the foods they have in those countries. Everyone loved the rice bowls we got that day. There was something else in them that I cannot remember; I remember that it was mildly spicy and very yummy, though.
I mentioned showering earlier. So no, we were not as stinky and nasty as we might have thought going into camp. Do not be deceived, though. There was no such thing as a hot shower. In fact, there was no such thing as running water. Except, of course, the water spout which you would use to fill up your bucket. We all took bucket showers. This is a method of bathing that I had never heard of before training camp, but it is still an effective one and simple to accomplish. First, fill up your bucket with freezing cold water from the spout. On second thought, if you chose to take a shower during the middle of the day, the water was lukewarm. To me, though, it felt nasty, almost like washing off my sweat with more sweat. Probably too much information there, but at least I give you the raw truth. Anyway, after filling up the bucket, you just go inside the showers, pull the curtain, soap up, and use a measuring cup to dip the water and rinse yourself off. After the first three or four dips with the measuring cup, the cold water was quite refreshing. I also know that cold showers are a healthier option than hot ones in most cases, so there is that.
Now, getting to the deep stuff. I learned very much at training camp about myself, about my teammates, and about people in general. I also learned many great Godly principles to live by. One of the things that I can say was a life changing lesson was this: listening prayer. I never knew much about that beforehand; in fact, I had never heard of it. It is the part of prayer in which we politely close our mouths and relax our minds to listen for what God wants to speak to us. I experienced this aspect of prayer the very first day at training camp, and since then, I cannot believe I ever lived without it! It is wonderful to talk to God, thanking Him and worshiping Him for who He is, all the good that He has done and all that He is doing and will do for us in the future. However, you tell me if two people have a healthy relationship with one another if only one of them ever talks. Interesting, huh? I was shocked at this revelation of my own prayer life. I hardly ever listened! Imagine if I called you up, talked to you about my day, told you how awesome you were, thanked you for how good of a friend you are to me and asked you to a few things for me, and then I just hung up the phone. You may be glad that I trust you with all of that and that I think so highly of you, but would you not have a few things you wanted to say to me as well? You would probably feel quite unappreciated and undervalued for the fact that I did not have even one second to listen to you, regardless of all the nice things I had to say. I do not have much more to say about why listening prayer is necessary and awesome. I would say now that it is by far the best part of prayer.
If you feel that you cannot hear God speaking, just listen. If you feel you have trouble discerning His voice, tell Him so and keep asking questions and attempting to hear Him. Take authority over your own mind in Jesus’ name, and forbid that the enemy or your own flesh get in the way of you hearing clearly from God. Another thing, test the word that you are hearing! Is what you are hearing uplifting? If not, it is NOT from God. It just is not. He did not come to condemn you or forsake you. The enemy comes only to steal, kill and destroy, but Jesus came that you may have life, and life more abundantly! It is just simple, do not listen to negative, degrading voices. Sure, God will convict you about things that need to change in your life if necessary, but He is always kind and gentle about it, like a good Father. He loves you! He will not scold you or make you feel degraded. Also, you need to be rooted and grounded in His Word. Is what you are hearing scriptural? He will never say anything to you or about you that contradicts what He has already said in His Word. What kind of fruit is that word that you heard producing in your life? Good or bad? If good, it is God! If bad, it is not. He only has good plans for you, not to harm you, but to give you a hope and a future. The last way I have found that you can test a word is this: fulfillment. If you think you heard something about your future or someone else’s, did it come to pass? Whatever God tells you will happen, will happen. Period.
Believe me, it is not as hard as you think to understand the things that He has for you and what direction He wants you to take. You may have to wait on Him sometimes, but never give up. If He makes you wait, remember that it is somehow for your benefit. He is not limited by time and He is not too busy to get back to you. He will answer you. Always remember that He is Almighty God, literally, Almighty! Another valuable lesson that goes along with this one is incredibly simple and may even seem elementary, but I believe many of us struggle with it and therefore it is worth mentioning: when you pray, be conscious of who you are talking to. He is the Creator and God of the universe and He loves you. He created you with His bare hands and in His own image. HE LOVES YOU!
Moving on, I would love to share another practical thing I learned to do at training camp. If you struggle feeling “connected” with God, or you feel you are running low on peace lately, or you just feel tired, I would encourage you to try this. In fact, if you are feeling any less than amazing or even if you feel great it would do nothing but add to your joy. Simply breathe in deeply while saying to the Lord in your heart, “Abba.” Then, as you breathe out slowly, say to the Lord in your mind, “I am yours.” It is so incredibly refreshing and peaceful, you have no idea! You could opt to do this out loud instead of in your mind if you wish, but I find it a little bit difficult to do if I actually take good, deep breaths. Abba means “Daddy,” not Father. Yes, they both refer to the same heavenly father that we all know and love, but I believe it is significant that Paul tells us in Romans 8:15, “For you did not receive the spirit of bandage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by which we cry out, ‘Abba, Father.’” That verse is amazing! I could talk about it all day, but maybe another day since I am trying to get this blog finished. So, getting back to my point about Abba. Since Holy Spirit lives inside of us as believers, He bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God – also in the Bible, the very next verse. We are God’s kids! He is our Daddy! Yay! Now, I know that some may see this as a name that does not give the right respect or reverence to God Almighty, the Name above all names, the Most High, and so on. I used to think that way too a few years ago. Believe me, brother or sister, God is okay with it and in fact wants to be called that. He gave Himself that name! To each their own though, I suppose, if you do not agree. I have friends who do not. We are no less friends for that.
I could say a lot more about training camp. For instance, one day the staff set up a foreign outdoor market – the ones where you bargain with people who speak different languages than you – and they acted out all the parts themselves; there were beggars, drunks, thieves, crazy people swerving through in their cars and honking the horns, all that good stuff. They did an awesome job! I found it to be quite realistic. I could also tell you about the first night, when I hardly slept through a torrential downpour and woke up with a nice little puddle of water in my tent down by my feet – I did not stretch my rainfly out wide enough, lesson learned. I had a lot of wet clothes after that, but I did not get wet myself so praise the Lord! Sleeping was generally a tough thing to master at training camp, even though I have an awesome sleeping pad and sleeping bag, thank God. I spent at least five nights in a friend’s hammock with my pillow and sleeping bag. I found that to be much more comfortable and convenient than my tent. Thanks Megan! And Kaitlyn, and I think I borrowed someone else’s too one night, but I do not recall whose. Anyway, love y’all! I realize that is not proper grammar; it is intended to invoke greater affection, since I am southern.
Speaking of sleeping, almost every night we got a new “sleeping scenario.” One night, the luggage of half of our squad members had been “lost at the airport,” so we all had to share tents, sleeping bags, toothpaste, etc. Do not worry, though. All the guys slept in hammocks because all of us had “lost our bags at the airport.” At least three of us preferred the hammocks anyway, as long as it did not rain super hard. Another night, we had to sleep “in the airport,” where all the lights were on all night and there was a loud recording saying that flight seventeen was boarding, or something like that. That plane must have boarded a million times. I slept surprisingly well that night, though. At least we were inside, right?! Another night was called “community living.” This is the idea that your squad arrives to a host facility in whatever country and they happen to have one big (or small) room for the whole squad to share. They replicated this at training camp by using 10 person tents and putting however many could fit in each one, with their gear and everything. Another night, I do not remember what it was called, but the squad had to pray and worship throughout the night. From eleven p.m. until six a.m., I think it was, we had to have at least three people down in the pavilion praying and worshipping, so we took shifts. I have never heard of that except at training camp, but they told us that every scenario was taken from actual situations that have arisen out on the mission field.
I learned so much in those ten days, so much. I am still processing. I am sure something that I did not mention here will probably come up in another blog down the road. I feel much more prepared for the trip now. I am thankful for the staff at Adventures in Missions and all the hard work and planning they do to equip racers the best that they can before the Race. Questions, comments, concerns, etcetera are welcome! Please subscribe!
With love, until next time. -Reece
