I learned so much at training camp (like I said in my last blog, it was life changing) that I’ve been feeling the need to write a second blog about some things I learned/realized that really stuck out to me! So here they are:
1) 52% of the world is still unreached or only minimally reached. The definition of an unreached people group is “a group without large enough, self-propagating indigenous evangelical population to adequately spread the gospel throughout the people group”. I had no idea this much of the world did not know about Jesus. It was shocking to me.
2) Complete freedom in Christ is possible! The world is just used to living with so much baggage (depression, addictions, anxiety, etc.), that a lot of people don’t even realize this. The thing is though, this is a process to wipe away the dirt in your life (I’m still in this process and am allowing God to shape me to be more and more like Him every day). If you want to be free in Christ and have joy, excitement, love, grace, etc. flowing out of you, then you need to be filled with those things! Whatever your heart is filled with is what will flow out of you. If you’re filled with self hatred, rejection, unworthiness, etc., then it will be extremely difficult to be loving others with your whole heart, because those negative feelings will be consuming you.
3) Physical healing is real! It’s not just something you read was done by Jesus and His disciples in the bible. God gives us this authority through the Holy Spirit. We just have to have genuine faith that the healing will be completed. I witnessed multiple people get healed in front of my eyes at training camp. One girl was healed from non-stop migraines she had for 7 years straight. She fell to her knees in thankfulness once she was healed. One of my squadmates was healed from back pain that she endured every day as a result of a bad car accident. Another one of my squadmates was healed from the torment in her head about an eating disorder that she had since she was eleven years old (she’s now 24). This might all sound crazy and if someone told me this before I left for training camp, I would have had a hard time believing it myself. But it’s real and it happened.
4) Kingdom leadership is countercultural. I touched on this a bit in my last blog. Our world makes the leaders out to be the loudest, most extroverted people in the room. Some characteristics of biblical leadership are humbleness, serving others, and always putting yourself last to allow others to rise up.
5) “When it comes to God’s character, He is completely predictable. When it comes to the way He does stuff, He is completely unpredictable.” This basically means that everything that is of God is good. We don’t have to ever question His intentionality, so this makes Him predictable. In contrast, the WAY in which God goes about completing His work is so unpredictable. Our God is so creative! You never know the way in which He is planning to teach you something.
6) I feel like we all hear this question a lot: “If God is real, why is there pain and suffering in the world?” I never knew exactly how to put this answer into words, but one of our speakers answered it like this: “God has more of a right to be asking that same question to us! We have the ability to fix the problems of the world, but we are the broken ones.” We are the sinners, the ones creating the problems. God gives us free will.
7) Don’t put pressure on yourself to hear from God in one certain way. I kept waiting to hear a word from God while we would worship at camp or when a speaker would ask us to ask God about something. During the first two days of camp, I was getting upset over why I wasn’t hearing anything. Then I talked to a few of my leaders and I realized I was putting God in a box (expecting Him to speak to me in one certain way). The reality is that God speaks in so many different ways- through scripture, through people, through songs, through a feeling of peace, and more. I definitely realize one of the main ways God speaks to me is through a feeling of peace. Once I was able to let go of the expectations I was putting on the Lord, I was able to relax and let God lead and speak to me how He wants to (something I’m still learning).
8) Heaven can be on earth too! “The Kingdom of God is a present reality that is happening now!”
9) Bucket showers really weren’t too bad. When I got home and was able to take a real shower, it felt nice but it didn’t compare to the joy I felt at training camp. I realized I will happily give up the comforts of America to experience more of God <3
Thanks for reading! 🙂
