Wow! It’s hard to believe that this time last year, I was finishing up training camp for my first trip with Adventures in Missions— the World Race that I am currently on. Now, I’m just a few short weeks away from finishing! That’s incredible. But what’s more incredible is how the Lord called me to World Race America for next year. I say incredible because I would never have believed that I would be going back on the field so soon after finishing my Race. And yet, here we are!
The last few weeks, I was at training camp in Gainesville, Georgia. I call it “Round Two.” I got to meet my new squad mates and review some of the information I had learn during training camp last year. It was like a breath of fresh air. But what’s truly amazing is seeing how much progress I had made since last year.
For starters, I actually understood and had context for the material covered at training camp this time. I have had heathy and non-healthy examples of feedback. I have worked through conflict. I have seen visions and experienced God’s voice… and so many other powerful moves of God! I didn’t feel like any of the material was foreign. I finally felt like I was able to fully understand and appreciate the speakers because for once, I “got it.” I knew exactly what they were talking about and had some insight to share with first-time Racers as well. That was definitely a welcomed change.
Another one of the most obvious ways I noticed my growth was in my worship. I mentioned before that what I had asked the Lord for was a “breakthrough” in my worship. And He DELIVERED. At training camp last year, I finally began to understand what it meant to truly worship. But over the past 11 months, I learned to actually worship fully and with reckless abandon. I experienced new forms of worship (visual arts, imaginative prayer, corporate thankfulness prayers, and so many more) which greatly expanded my previously minimal view of what worship can look like.
Others notice the change in me as well! SO many people would say, “I want to learn to worship like you.” And even at this training camp, people were saying the same thing. But you know what? I want all of you to find YOUR true spiritual worship. And Romans 12 says it is to offer yourself as a living sacrifice to God. What that means is not up to me to decide. It’s between you and God. But all I can say is to explore different avenues and find out how else you can connect to God. You WILL realize more about what true worship means in the process. I know I did. Hopefully, it won’t take you a year like it did for me. But that’s entirely up to you.
Still, do you want to know what I think is probably the BIGGEST difference I have noticed in my own life?
My prayer life.
Wow. I love to pray. And that is NOT something I could have said 1 year ago. And I NEVER would have believed you if you had told me I would soon LOVE IT more than almost any other form of ministry.
I remember talking to some of my squad mates last year about prayer, and I was SO intimidated by them. They would all go up to pray over others without a second though. They prophesied over each other and prayed bold prayers for healing. I felt so unworthy to pray. I was still going through some of my own struggles and low self-esteem was one of the biggest ones! But that quickly changed.
Immediately after training camp, I began to pray for my squad like NOBODY’S BUSINESS. I really began to enjoy praying. I would pray for literally hours on end without getting tired. In Month 1 of the Race, I fell in love with intercession on a whole new level and learned that God really was speaking to me through visions, dreams, and the occasional word of knowledge and prophetic discernment. I had no idea of this at first, but it became abundantly clear whenever I would start interceding for my squad and people back home. By month 7, I spent sometimes hours doing nothing but sitting and praying. Not only did I not get tired but it actually ENERGIZED me in a new way that I had never experienced before. I actually had the thought, “Man, if I could get paid a survivable wage (just for necessities like food and lodging), I could literally do this forever and never stop.” If only…
This training camp, I was bold like I had never been before. I would just go up to random people and start praying the first thing on my mind. And sometimes, the accuracy of the words was so on point, it blew me away! For example, I prayed the lyrics of “No Longer Slaves” over a woman at training camp (just loud enough that only she could have heard me), and mere SECONDS after praying it, the worship team SANG IT. The Lord was confirming the words of the prayer, literally singing SONGS OF DELIVERANCE over her. What a powerful moment!
Training camp 2020 was nothing short of amazing. I loved every single minute of it. I had no jet lag but instead was full of energy and excitement for whatever was in front of me. In one of my next blog posts, I will share about my new team: F Squad, the second ever World Race America team! But more on them later!
In all things, be blessed!
AG
