What can I say…. my squad and I (P-Squad) couldn’t be more excited at this time for our journey starting in just 6 weeks. Just a week ago we all got home from training camp, which for me personally has been the best 11 days I’ve had in a long time… God worked SO powerfully there… EVERY DAY. Some of my brothers and sisters were physically healed, set free from different lies they believed/didn’t know they believed, and identities were transformed in Jesus’s name! We got to try all different kinds of foods we may come across during this missions trip, and we also have gone through different scenarios of things that may occur as well… such as having to sleep over at an airport, having some of our bags lost, and having to sleep with many others in one spot (One large tent rather than our usual individual tents – guys in one, girls in the other) The teachings were super awesome, and we received a LOT of helpful information. Throughout our time there we got to meet not only those in our squad but many others from other squads as well. Friendships and bonds were formed and our faith and beliefs strengthened. We are now more excited than ever for what is to come during this next year. Some things that I personally have learned during this training:
1. With God we are able to do far more than we may think. In this case for me it would be physical. The men had to do a hike that was about 12 miles which took about 7 hours with a pack strapped to our backs. Mine was about 37 pounds. Only by God’s grace was I able to complete it, having been sore from 2 days before on top of that. Previously, the longest I had ever hiked was maybe 2-3 miles… without a pack. During this time God helped me to have a bit better understanding of what it looks like to be a man of God, and also the blessing of learning to rejoice in suffering – knowing and believing that God uses all things together for good. The Bible also mentions that when Jesus went to the cross to die, He had a joy that was set before Him – knowing that by His death many would come to know God and be saved.
2. I have also come to realize that when a person gets saved God does not just give that person a new heart, but He gives that person HIS heart. Indeed those who are in Christ Jesus have been made a new creation, and the old has passed away. If Jesus is your Lord and Savior, you have no reason to believe the LIE – that you have not changed. Believe what God says about you, not what the enemy says!
During training, our squad was prayerfully split into smaller teams. Please pray for them. My team, named ‘Team Grit’ has 6 total: Isaac, Rashad, Maggie, Raquel, Michelle, and myself. Pray for us all as we spend this next month fundraising and getting the final details in order as we prepare to leave the life and it’s comforts we have here for 11 months onto the missions field around the world to spread the love of Jesus 😀
