Alright. My ten days of training camp were a blur, so I’m going to apologize in advance if this blog is all over the place.
I was able to get a ride to training camp from my buddy who is a world race alumni, and he answered some of the questions I had about training camp, but his answer to some were “you’ll just have to see.” This bothered me, due to the fact that I’ve always known what to expect in 95% of what I’ve done in my life. I’ve gotten into a different routine I follow in each chapter of my life.
When we arrived at training camp, I awkwardly introduced myself to some of the 44 people I’ll be spending nine months of my life with. I went and checked in, and they told us they had our teams ready for us (on the race, my squad of 45 is split up into six or seven teams, who do ministry sometimes only in their team, or with one other team in the country we are in). I was excited to see who was on my team, until I looked at my list and saw I hadn’t talked to any of these people prior to training camp. Shortly after, I walked down to my campsite, and with some assistance, set up my tent.
That night, in our first of many sessions where all our brains were overflowed with information, the speaker explained the goal of the World Race: To be and bring the kingdom of God. Being and bringing the Kingdom of God was split up into three different categories that are all intertwined with each other:
1. Intimacy with God
2. Missional living
3. Community
At training camp these three things were our main focus.
When it came to intimacy with God, I experienced God in an entirely different way than I was used to. A speaker from South Africa named Deon (who is the best speaker I have ever heard), told us stories from his life and things he has experienced where the Holy Spirit was active. This was new to me. I had of course heard of the Holy Spirit, and know that I have the Holy Spirit inside of me since I’m a believer. But Deon told us in the beginning of his sermon that he didn’t want anyone leaving that room without knowing who the Holy Spirit truly is, and I believe that his goal was met. In my mind and in my life I’ve always placed God in this little box. Yeah God is great, yeah God created the universe, cool beans. But sometimes we need to see the Holy Spirit be so present in a room that people are overwhelmed and brought to tears by it. I saw more people cry at training camp then I’ve probably seen in most of my life. I know that due to what I experienced over these ten days, I’ll never view God like I used to. I grew so much in intimacy with the Lord.
When I heard them begin to talk about missional living, in my head I defined it as being a missionary, and doing ministry on the race. But they quickly threw aside my definition of both missional living, and ministry. They began to explain that missional living isn’t just done while you’re doing ministry, and ministry isn’t just while I’m caring for sex trafficking victims and orphans, or doing construction in poverty stricken areas, or bringing food to the hungry. Ministry is a way of life, and they explained that ministry is done both on the race, and at home. Even on my off days on the race, showing people the love of Christ is ministry. Being compassionate to family, friends, or strangers at home is ministry. This way of life is something that all christians should adapt to whether they are in Africa, or just going about their lives at home.
Community. I have never grown so close to people so quickly. This community of people who all want to further God’s kingdom, and all have a heart for the nations, became a family. My team of strangers quickly bonded with each other, while also bonding with everyone else on our squad. We bonded through worship, talking to each other (whether it was about Jesus and life, or about crazy stories we had), hiking, praying, and many other things. All of the people involved with the World Race care so deeply for each other, and as I’m typing this blog on my laptop in Starbucks, with my venti caramel iced coffee and my phone sitting next to me, I’m wishing I was still sleeping in a tent and taking bucket showers (which I guess I could still do by myself but it wouldn’t be as fun).
I’m going to focus on ministry at home with my family and friends before I leave. I want to keep the fire in my heart that was ignited at training camp, and spread it to others.
But, I am SO ready to leave on September 8th for Cambodia with my new fam.
