Last Saturday, August 18th, I came back from an intense 10-day training camp in Gainesville, Georgia. It was to prepare me for the 11-month missionary trip I will embark on to 11 countries. What did I do, you wonder? It was a 10-day beautiful experience of building relationships while working on our hearts, minds, souls, and bodies. How can we go out into the world to serve others if we haven’t evaluated and helped ourselves?
On top of that, we learned what it would be like to take showers out of a bucket, sleep outside in tents, to sleep in an airport if we had a layover and what to do if our luggage got lost for a few days. We also learned what it would be like to dress conservatively in clothes covering all parts of our body to honor the cultures around the world. We ate food from around the world to train our stomach to different flavors. We also trained our physical bodies to make sure we can carry our 70L backpacks up hills for 2.2 miles within 38 minutes. We also met our team and who we will be doing life with for the next 11 months.
We learned the importance of going out to the world to understand people, their culture, remove barriers, build bridges, get to the heart and ask what does God mean to this person? Our rules of thumb is to learn more about the country before we get there, observe, ask questions, honor and respect them, be humble and authentic, get to the heart, and serve in the best ways they want to be served while getting the opportunity to talk about hope, love, reconciliation, and freedom through God. I learned so much. But to be real, I came into training as a wreck.
I came in with so much subliminal worry that I didn’t realize that I was actually stressed about. I didn’t express that with others, because “God gots me, right?” However, I believe I had internally worried about meeting my fundraising goal, making/saving money, the price of vaccinations I still have not got, and bills I still need to cover before I leave. I only have 6 weeks left. Will I get all this done before I leave? I felt I didn’t have time to do it if I have to spend 10 days in the middle of nowhere Georgia with people I didn’t know. I wasn’t ready for this training.
I confess I came in so uncertain too. For those who know me as this bubbly, positive, smiley person all the time – welllllllllllll I definitely was not like that the first few days of camp. I right away compared myself to these people. I understand people who call themselves Christian sometimes have a negative stereotype to the rest of the world. People are often hesitant to be around Christians because they fear these Christian people will appear superior or judgmental or condescending to them. I am thankful that I’ve never belonged to a Christian community who did that, however, I do know there are Christian people who do act like that, and I didn’t know for sure who these Christian people were. I came in quite hesitant of the leaders and my peers around me. I compared myself to them too. I thought they were more “Christian” than I was – whatever that means. I figured they all had deeper relationships with Jesus and “had it all together.” Boy, I was super wrong to assume things. My experience at training camp was transforming me and enlightening me each day.
We had sessions 5-8 times a day training us on the truth about God, inspiring us to reflect on ourselves, our relationship with Him, and where we stand with our intentions to the world. We basically went through therapy trying to uncover and break down the walls we created around our own shame, those that caused rejection in our hearts from our childhood, and trying to find the roadblocks to intimacy with God. We learned the truth about spiritual warfare, and why we may still choose to do something wrong even though we know it is not good for our mind, body or soul. We learned how to overcome that with God. We also reflected on the people who have hurt us in the past and how to forgive them. While we all evaluated ourselves individually, we all did this together.
Life is tough, not just for me, or for those we will serve around the globe, but it is tough for every person we see each day. We were able to work through life’s toughness by being vulnerable with each other. We shared our shames, our fears, our worries, and hearts with one another. I learned the stories of the strangers around me. I heard stories of people who were sexually, emotionally abused, stories of people who fought disorders, depression, addictions, and trauma and even those who were close to attempting suicide. I heard their testimonies of why they chose God first above anyone else and how He saved them. Yet, even though He saved them, they still fought demons everyday taunting them about their past. However, somehow, that week I witnessed healing among my new friends. Strongholds that they have carried for years were broken in just a matter of days that week. Sick hearts were mended. Lies that believed about themselves were completely shattered after they learned how completely loved and worthy they were by God. Tears streamed from my face when I saw God’s goodness redeem and heal these new friends of mine. I realized how wrong I was to assume these people at training camp had it all together just because they called themselves Christian. I saw them as human. Humans who had weaknesses, strengths, flaws, fears, struggles, and so much hope and love to be the change they want to see in their lives and in this world. They are all so beautifully created in their unique differences and backgrounds- even through all the brokenness and pain they had to or have to go through. They each have a purpose in this world with assets and skills that will make a huge impact through the nations we will set foot in, and they are all so wonderfully worthy of God’s love and grace. I want to thank them for their vulnerability and openness to share their lives with us. I have learned a lot from them, and it makes me more confident to on the 11-month journey knowing they will be alongside me.
I learned that I had unintentionally put God in a box and didn’t realize how BIG he actually is. The way he interacts with me is different than how He engages with the person next to me. Yet, God is the same. He never changes. He loves each of us the same – including those who were at the camp, those reading this, those who don’t even know Him or don’t even like Him. I learned even more fervently that God is real and His love is overwhelmingly deep for every human being that exists in this world and I am in awe of His power. I was honored to witness physical and emotional healing from my peers this past week, and how faith in Him can really help us overcome our fears, worries, and issues.
Coming into camp, I had all this worry about all the things I need to get done before I leave for 11 months and all this fear that I won’t get it done. The Bible verses that I reflected on this week was:
Psalm 46:10 He says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” Exodus 14:14 “The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.”
I had to learn what it means to Be Still, and through that, I had this pressing question in my head asking me “Do you trust me?” It’s easier to say, “Yes, I trust you, God,” but it is harder to actually do it and trust Him. After I realized it must be Him asking me to trust him, I had this overwhelming peace within me, and I decided I will trust Him. Somehow somewhere I will receive all the funds I need to go on The World Race, to get the money I need to receive my vaccinations, to get all my supplies for this trip, and to have everything I need before I leave. If God wants me to go, then He will provide. I believe in Him more than ever.
I’m so excited to see what God has in store for me these next few months. If you would like to follow my journey, I plan to write once a week. Please subscribe to my blog and follow me! If you would like to support me through this journey to reach out to others, please consider donating toward this cause. I am available to answer any questions you may have.
Thank you so much for reading this! 🙂
Jasmine Jaurigue
