The day had finally come. I was flying out to Georgia to go to training camp for 10 days for the World Race. I packed up my hiking pack on my back and stuffed a backpack full of more things on my front, and off I went. I had heard training camp was full of weird foods, unconventional sleeping situations, and a lot of conviction from Jesus. Honestly, I wanted these next 10 days to go as quickly as possible.
Fast forward through early morning flights, long layovers, and a funny conversation with a business man trying to convince me to turn around because the World Race sounded crazy, and I finally made it to Atlanta. I bee-lined towards baggage claim still just wanting to get it all over with, but when I turned the corner everything about my attitude changed.
Amidst all the crowds, I saw this group of people all standing in a circle with giant burrito-like packs on the front and back with the biggest, friendliest, most heavenly smiles ever. Without even talking to them yet, I got a little giddy and my insides were screaming, “OH MY GOSH. THOSE ARE MY PEOPLE!”
I spent the next 10 days learning unimaginable things about Jesus, my teammates, and myself. I LOVE bullet point lists, don’t you? Something about the simplicity of a little dot just gets me. Here’s a little bullet point summary of some of the things I learned:
- Bringing 43 crazy, diverse, and passionate people together results in some seriously beautiful Kingdom building
- Jesus likes to speak to me through little pictures he mails to my imagination
- Sharing your guilt and shame with your sisters’ in Christ leads to joy not pain
- Crickets sorta taste like burnt french fries
- Spiritual warfare is real, but Jesus always shows up
- God knows me better than I know myself, but He is kind enough to reveal it gently
- If everyone just lets themselves smell, then no one really smells anymore
- Every time I get comfortable this year, Jesus places more responsibility in my lap
- Jesus answered my prayers and isn’t going to let me be lonely when I travel this time
- I AM SO STINKIN EXCITED FOR LAUNCH IN 45 DAYS!
I could elaborate and tell you a billion more things about training camp, so if you want to hear it, message me, call me, come get coffee with me. But for real. I just want to tell everyone everything!
Also, EXCITING UPDATES ABOUT ROUTE CHANGES:
Due to various reasons, our route has changed just a little bit. Here’s our new route, I’ll bold the countries that have switched:
Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria, Malaysia, Thailand, MYANMAR, Lesotho, South Africa, NAMIBIA, HAITI, Domincan Republic
Stay tuned for some exciting, artsy, fundraising news in the next couple of days! Love you all!
