I Was Not Prepared For Training Camp

 

I was not prepared for Training Camp

 

 

 

 

I am a pretty proactive person. So as far as materialistic things, I was more than prepared. My big pack, tent and sleeping bag all worked great. I had more than enough clothes. My daypack and toiletry bag were effective. And I loved having my nice camera ready to capture any moment. I checked and double checked absolutely everything off the packing list, but I WAS NOT PREPARED FOR TRAINING CAMP.

 

 

I was not prepared physically, emotionally or spiritually.

 

 

When preparing to go on a mission trip you genuinely try to set yourself up for success by pursuing physical, emotional and spiritual health.

Before I arrived at training camp, I thought I had prepared myself and was ready to jump right into the mission field. 

 

BOY WAS I WRONG!

 

 

 

In the past 10 days at training camp the Lord has broken me, built me up, uprooted, planted, convicted, healed, redeemed and broken chains. I have been freed, renewed and set on fire through the Holy Spirit.

  

Because of the greatness of God and the way He worked in my life, it is incredibly hard to explain the extent of everything that happened at training camp.

BUT I WILL TRY MY BEST!

 

 

 

Here is just a snapshot of what the Lord taught me through training camp:

 

·      We are called to surrender. The World Race provides a very practical way to surrender because we are leaving behind our homes, beds, clothes, comfort, friends and family. However, we are also called to surrender control of our lives, the secret sin that keeps us living in darkness, our selfishness and our emotions.

Mark 10:21

 

·      Abandonment and to live counter culturally. The world has a very skewed image of how we should live and we have to be willing to go against the current. Choosing to leave our old lives behind to ACTUALLY follow Christ. To stop sitting on the sidelines, watching from a distance and to FULLY commit and have a “Yes Lord” relationship.

Matthew 4:18-22

 

 

·      We are the church. Church is not a building we go to, to be spectators. The church is the body of Christ coming together to live out biblical principles. It is growing in intimacy with Christ, building each other up in love and truth and living missionally in our every day lives, not just on Sundays.

Hebrews 10:24-25

 

 

·      We have to choose forgiveness. The Lord, in His grace and mercy, has forgiven us of our past, present and future. Because of His forgiveness to us, we are then called to forgive those who harm us. When we walk in unforgiveness we empower the lies spoken over us and allow it to ruin our lives. We allow feelings of bitterness, anxiousness, and rejection to give Satan a foothold over our lives. Jesus died so that grace and forgiveness can rein.

Matthew 18:21-35

 

·      We are called to Wholistic living. Not only being healthy in our emotions and spirit but also in our physical being. Our bodies are where the Spirit of Christ abides. He knit us together in our mothers’ womb, He has healed and fed the physical body on many occasions and He chose us to carry around His Spirit. He cares about our bodies and we have to find the same value that God sees in us. We have to get to a place where we look in the mirror and see the Temple of God.

1 Corinthians 6:19-20

 

·      Emotional maturity is a choice. You can have feelings without truth; they feel true but lead to confusion, disbelief and anxiety. You can have feelings with truth; they give a deepened conviction, clarity of call and peace. We cannot allow our emotions to take complete control yet we cannot compartmentalize them, acting as if they don’t exist. Emotions can guide you to where God wants to heal you.

1 Corinthians 2:10-16

 

·      God speaks. The Lord speaks through many ways but mainly through His Word, Spirit and people. The Word was with God and the Word was God. God did not give us the Bible so that we could know it well and memorize it. God gave us His word so that we may know Him through the Bible. God speaks through His Spirit to build a deeper intimacy with us. And God speaks through His people so that we may encourage each other, building each other up in Christ. All we have to do is listen.

1 Corinthians 14:1-3

 

·      BEING A WOMAN IS AWESOME! God created us with intention and purpose for relationship. We were made from man’s rib, created to walk along side man, not in front or behind. We are man’s helper. Helper; not meaning inferior to but one that brings strength where there is lacking. God is referred to as being man’s helper. We are different than men but not less than men. We are image bearers.

1 Corinthians 54:4

 

·      Shame and guilt are NOT the same thing. Guilt is an uneasy feeling you get after doing something wrong and out of character until confessing it to God. Guilt walks us into right relationship with God. Shame is a feeling as though you are bad, unworthy, unlovely or not good enough. Shame leads to shame and makes you want to hide, walking out of right relationship with God. Shame is an attack on our identity not our behavior. Shame is Satan’s way of keeping our sins hidden in darkness instead of bringing them out into the light. God wants all of us; the good, the bad, the ugly. Jesus says to the Pharisees, “let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” Just as no one could be the first to throw a stone, the adulterous women could not stone herself. We are not in charge of judging our own sin and shame. We are to confess our sins to one another, bringing it out into the light so that we may be healed, redeemed and free from the bondage of sin and shame. 

John 8:3-11

 

·      Lastly, Georgia has WAY MORE hills than Texas and no matter how hard I trained I could never be fully prepared for the physical training hike!!

 

 

 

 

 

In the past 10 days of training camp, I have experience God and the Holy Spirit in ways I never have. I have genuinely experienced the love of God and how good of a Father He is. I have experienced miraculous healing through the Holy Spirit. And I have had a renewal in my Spirit for the Gospel of Christ.

 

 

This week God not only set me on fire to go love on His people and spread His Gospel but He also revealed that He is sending me so that my faith may be saved, revived and made real in Jesus Christ.