11 days.
2 showers.
37 friends.
Endless rain.
& 1 WIN AT SQUAD WARS.
This about sums up my time at training camp at the Adventures in Missions (AIM) campus in Gainesville, Georgia.
What a joy it was to finally meet my squad and begin to get to know these people that I will spend the next 11 months of my life with.
So where do I even begin?! The beginning, I guess.
DISCLAIMER: I do not want to ruin training camp for future racers. If you are anything like I was before TC, you are scouring blogs for any and every last detail in order to somehow prepare yourself as well as get excited for all you’re about to experience.
Want my advice? STOP READING BLOGS. There, I said it. Training camp blogs, packing blogs, and any blogs that are trying to prepare you for the Race, stop reading them. You will never be prepared “enough”. You can never be fully prepared to step into foreign territory and witness all that the world has to offer; good or bad. Every Racer is different, has had different experiences, and has a unique walk with the Lord. Your Race will look nothing like theirs. So do yourself a favor and stop, in this preparation phase, trying to compare your journey to those who have gone before you.
Do you want some advice? Take it up with the Lord. Are you nervous? Pray about it. Worried you won’t pack everything you need? Pray that the Lord gives you peace that what you have will be more than enough. Scared of the unknown? Pray that God will walk with you through the challenges. Training camp is just the beginning of the unknowing and unexpected aspect of the Race. Some of my squadmates and I were laughing at TC about how when friends/family/supporters ask us questions about the Race, most of the time our answer is, “I have no idea”.
“What will you be doing?”
“Where will you be sleeping?”
“Will you be safe?”
“Will you have toilets?”
“What part of South Africa are you going to?”
“Will you have WiFi?”
“What are you doing when you come back?” (my favorite/least favorite question)
I HAVE NO IDEA!!!
And guess what?
I kinda love that. I think that is part of the beauty of the World Race. If we knew every detail of every second of every day of the Race, what fun would that be? Spontaneity is exciting, but more importantly, it leaves room for faith. Faith that my God will work out ALL of the details. I trust Him. And I also trust AIM. They’ve done this missionary thing for quite some time, and from what I can tell, it’s been pretty darn successful at bringing hope to the darkest places around the globe.
“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?”
Matthew 6:25-27
With all that being said, I do want to dive into some pretty cool God-moments I had at training camp, as well as give some advice from personal experience to those readers who REALLY NEED that insight from an “experienced” training camp-goer. 😉
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Meeting each and every person on my squad for the first time IN PERSON on day 1 was surreal and such an answered prayer. God has a specific plan and purpose for each of those souls this upcoming year and I am blessed to have been chosen to walk beside them through it, and to witness the work God will do in and through their lives.
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My leadership team is pretty freaking awesome. Jenn and AJ, my squad coaches, Jeremy, my squad mentor, and Amy, my squad leader, and the alumni team leaders who I haven’t met yet but have heard so much about are all incredible. They are Godly leaders, prayer warriors, and kind and trustworthy friends. How blessed our squad is to have them with us this year!
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The atmosphere that envelops the entire AIM campus is unlike anything I have experienced elsewhere. The Holy Spirit is heavy. The ambience is peaceful. The people exude Jesus. And His name is exalted constantly. It’s no wonder chains are broken, lives are transformed, and faith is strengthened here.
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Every day, twice a day, we worshipped for an hour. It got crazy. The Holy Spirit destroyed the enemy in that space. All inhibitions, cultural norms, and personal skepticism were thrown out the door. People worshipped like you’d never see in an American church. No holding back. Only Jesus. He is who we worship. Unapologetically, foolishly, and wholeheartedly. He deserves it all. People would receive insane prophetic words from the Lord and would pray for the people He intended them for. Big group prayers. So much love. So much encouragement. So much JESUS. This is the church.
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I want to share a personal story related to this. Night three, we had a session on forgiveness. At the end, we were told to ask the Lord who He had on His heart and ours to forgive in that moment. My instincts told me I had no one to forgive. In all honesty, in this season of my life, I hold no bitterness or unforgiveness in my heart. Praise the Lord! However, as I sat in silent prayer, my dad’s name kept playing in my head, over and over. I tried arguing with God. “But I’ve already forgiven him! Several times! I’ve been to counseling! I’ve finished the grieving process!” Never argue with God. He’s a l w a y s right. I finally complied with the idea of having a trainer pray for me, since I’d never had anyone else pray for this issue for me. As I walked to the back of the room, Jenn, one of my coaches, caught my eye. She was the first one I saw. The Lord told me to have her pray over me. After I explained to her that I wanted to forgive my dad for committing suicide, she looked me in the eyes, sincerely spoke the words, “I’m so sorry, Allison”, and gave me the greatest 5-minute hug I’ve ever had. Wow. The Lord knew exactly what I needed in the moment, and that was it. She continued to pray for me, and then said that God was giving her a vision of a dark-haired man with the biggest smile on his face, creating wrinkles like a smoker would have. *ahem* my dad. Tears. Jenn then pulled away, looked me in the eyes, and said the Lord wanted her to tell me a very personal story that she had never told anyone else. Out of respect for her, I will not tell that story here, but just know that every single detail empathized with my story and was exactly what I needed to hear from the Lord. Before she was finished praying for me she said, “Allison, God was with your dad in those last moments before he died. His presence surrounded him.” More tears. All I can say is, it was such a God-thing to have chosen Jenn to pray for me. I had no idea what she was going to say, but God did, and it was everything I needed to hear. By the way, later that night I showed Jenn the picture I thought of when she envisioned my dad, and she claimed that’s exactly what she pictured in her mind. God. Is. So. Cool.
So many other instances like the one above occurred throughout the week involving not only me, but my other squadmates as well. Our squad bonded like no other through these moments. How special these days were. I will remember them the rest of my life.
Future racers, here are some tips for you:
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Bring your sleeping bag. You might think that it will be 100 degrees day and night in Georgia during the summer, but I found out the hard way that is not the case. Trust me on this one. You’d rather add a few pounds to your pack than sleep 11 nights shivering under a paper thin sleeping bag liner 🙂
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Don’t forget your tent footprint. It will rain during TC (hopefully not 8/11 days you’re there like it did for us), and you don’t want to wake up in the morning with a soaking wet pillow and sleeping pad.
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Bring snacks!!!!!! Don’t fill your pack with them, but bring a few for emergencies. The food you are served is definitely not enough to sustain you all day, so you’ll probably want a little something to help you sleep without a gurgly stomach at night.
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Bring paracord or something of the like. I didn’t, but I regret it. A lot of items got wet in the rain, and it was super nice for those who brought something to hang things to dry.
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Don’t bring your laptop. Not worth it!
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Everything else you need to bring is on the training camp packlist. Take it seriously. Bring everything on the list. They know what they’re doing!!!
Last, but certainly not least, come to camp with 0 expectations. Not for what your squad will be like, not for what you will or will not be doing, not for the weather, not for your team formation, not for ANYTHING. Expect the unexpected. Because that’s exactly what you’ll get. And it will be more beautiful, joyful, and fulfilling than anything you could’ve ever imagined or prepared for. You’re in for an amazing adventure. Take it all in.
BE LOVED, BELOVED.
xoxo,
Allison
