Wow. I don’t even know where to begin. I want to begin by saying thank you! Thank you for all of your prayers, & every kind word or thought sent my way this past week or so. I cannot fully express how much your support has meant to me.
Throughout my journey I am hoping to give you an idea of what our days & nights look like, while on the field & so I am beginning with training camp. Please let me know if you have any questions or would like to know anything else. I am excited to share with you all I have learned & experienced of God, myself & my community.
Below is the dining patio. About 100 of us racers gathered here three times per day to share our meals. One great way training camp prepares us for life on the field is by creating thematic days that mimic what life in a certain country or region might actually be like. This means our food, clothing, gestures to greet, & cultural norms must be followed. We had Asia, India, Africa, South American, Central American, Eastern Europe, “adventure” & “travel” days. For example, On Africa day, we could not show our shoulders, knees, or ankles – so pants & shirts in 92 degrees & 70% humidity. The food at each of our meals was also ethnic – similar to what we will be eating in those parts of the world. Some examples of food are below 🙂
Asia day!
Eastern Europe day!
Our “coming home day” 🙂
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Pictured below is the training center. This is the space we worshiped, listened to speakers, signed our commitment, prayed, cried, & learned a bit about what the next year is going to hold.
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Each morning we broke down our tents & supplies & then set them up almost every afternoon around 4 or 5.
We had a night of community sleeping where our ginormous 12 person tent leaked & most of our gear was SOAKED. Naturally, we used dirty clothes of mop it up, because community.
We spent a night in a simulated airport. We slept with only what we had in our day packs, on the hard floor. All night airport noise (people talking, traffic & plane sounds) reverberated through the training center, while we were trying to sleep. OH – also, the lights were on all night. That was fun 🙂
Here is our campsite. Everything literally couldn’t have gone better except for the last night. We got SOAKED. It started to pour rain around 2am & many of us woke up with puddles in the bottom of our tent & no dry clothes. That was messy.
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There was one morning I was awake & decided to get up to watch the sunrise. It was beautiful!
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Here is my SQUAD!!!!
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Here is my team: “moreamor” {translated: more love}. Left to right, bottom row to top: Maddie, Katie, Sara, Courtney, Bre, & Elizabeth (top).
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We got to have some fun too. We spent an afternoon & evening out in a neighborhood evangelizing {I felt so uncomfortable! But I am learning we need to get used to doing uncomfortable things for the Kingdom}. We got to eat dinner at chick-fil-a, minister to a couple who was dealing with a lot of life things & my friend Katie & I got to share our adventure of the WorldRace with a wonderful lady sitting in the park.
This same night we got to pop in a local coffee shop {my favorite!!} & I enjoyed an iced lavender latte – it was delicious!
arm wrestling fun!
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I am looking forward to sharing more specific stories about how the Lord moved at training camp in the coming weeks. One thing I do know: this next year is going to be nothing short of spectacular. It will be hard & good. Sad & exciting. My heart will be broken over & over again & I am going to be challenged in ways I never would have imagined. The one thing I do know: the Lord has never ceased in His faithfulness & provision for me. I am stoked you are journeying with me.
Love,
Maddie
