HI FRIENDS! I have so much to share and I am so glad you have decided to pop in on that!
This past week I was in Gainesville, Georgia at training camp for the race. For those of you that don’t know, gap year participants are required to participate in 10 days of training in order to ensure we are well prepared for the race! We slept in our tents for the duration of the camp, trained physically, and learned allll about what the next 9 months will look like. I am so thankful that Adventures in Missions has implemented this because ooof… I would be A MESS on the race for real.
TC is usually known to be really hard and many past racers say it is even harder than the race, but I have lived to tell the tale. AMEN. PRAISE JESUS.
But yes now that it is over and I have survived, I want to share with you some things I learned!
1. I learned of the FREEDOM found in Christ!- I know that seems like a basic one but the Lord truly and genuinely freed me from so much emotional baggage. I learned so much about forgiveness and was able to see Jesus’s desire for me to be free from bitterness and a hurt heart. From this, I am able to live the life of abundance that is talked about in the Word. Praise be!
2. I got… MY TEAM!!!- OK so this one is actually such a big deal and I am HYPE TO THE MAX. For those of you that don’t know, here is a breakdown of teams v squads and so on:
Route 5 is the route that I chose to go on- which includes the countries South Africa, Ecuador, and Cambodia. Everyone that chose that route is on my squad. There are approximately 35 of us, and we will all go to each country! We are now called A squad instead of route 5.
But within that squad of 35, we have teams of 5-7. We are guaranteed to be with our team the whole 9 months, but not our squad.
For example, although we are all going to South Africa one team could be in Johannesburg and one team could be in Cape Town. It just kinda depends!
I hope that makes sense! But yeah I just wanted to share that I got my sista sisters for the next 9 months! The ones I will be doing life with! The women I have prayed for! Team Wildflowers forever. Please be praying for our team dynamic as the next 9 months are going to test and try us as a team and as individuals. THANKS IN ADVANCE.
3. WE ARE GOING TO JEFFREYS BAY AHHH- Going off that last point, I am so so so excited to share that we, as a squad, will be spending the first month ALL TOGETHER IN JEFFREYS BAY. It is such a big deal to even know that because usually squads don’t know where they are going until they board the plane..Jesus is loving on my planner heart. Although ministry may be different from team to team I will get to go home to my whole squad and do adventure days with them! How beautiful is that! Please be praying for that town and the plans that Jesus has for it. Also please pray for the 18 hour bus ride we have to take to get there. Ooof.
4. I learned how to stake down a rainfly- with the help of my trusty friend Sarah Barnes. So yes- It rained really hard one of the nights and we were permitted to sleep inside (A BLESSING) but upon my arrival back to my tent in the morning I realized I most definitely did something wrong because all my packing cubes were SOAKED! To future racers- get a good tent and a good friend because Georgia weather shows no mercy.
5. Bucket showers are really not that bad..unless.. We took bucket showers during camp, and honestly they were not that bad. I think I could have done them for a little longer. The cold water felt so good in the heat of Georgia and it was really sweet bonding time with the girls.. even though half the time you had no idea who you were talking to! There was only one time that I could think of that I DID NOT ENJOY MY SHOWER. I was minding my business trying to hurry so other girls could get a chance to shower as well when I smelled something not right. And I really did not want to know where it was coming from or what it was, but then…UH UH. I SAW IT. There was legit human poop under my shower floor. AND I HAD TO FINISH MY SHOWER WITH IT JUST THERE HAHHAA
Luckily on my way out a leader was in line to shower so I told her- but y’all..serve team had to clean it up and that was not their mess to clean. THANK YOU SERVE TEAM and I hope that next time the porta potty can be used <3
6. Not my will, but His alone.– I am not the most physically fit person, and so the hike was really stressing me out. To fill you in, we had to do a 2 mile hike in 38 minutes with our packs on. As mentioned in a previous blog, I practiced for this thing so I really thought I was ready to go! But WHEW that hike was LEGIT. As I was walking it though I realized that that was what Jesus asked of me. He called me to be uncomfortable- and testing my physical limits was about as bad as it could get for me. So I prayed during it, and luckily had a girl from my team right next to me QUOTING SCRIPTURE! Like.. these are the people I will be living with..blessed. Shoutout to my girl Braeden, could not have done it without her. But anyways I finished the hike with 5 minutes to spare and that was Jesus saying job well done my good and faithful servant. Except I knew in my heart that no amount of practice I did could have pushed me over the finish line- it was all Him. He made a way for me. Big Philippians 4:13 moment. Christ gave me strength unlike I had ever had before in order to allow me to embark on this journey! His promises are yes and amen!
7. Food. Each day had a “theme” and so we went through many different types of foods and many different ways of eating them. Here are some things I learned.
– Crickets taste like sunflower seeds.
– Do not ever eat with your left hand in India, they believe that hand is unclean (because you wipe with it HAHA)
– I look like a fool trying to use chopsticks. I really wanna get better but yeah as of right now..its a no from me.
-I am however really good at eating with my hands and picked up the technique they use in Africa and India pretty quickly! We will see if that stays true- will be judged by locals so stay tuned.
-The food in Ecuador is going to SLAP. South America day was so good. My tummy was feeling the love.
-Future Racers- it is not as bad as you think. I am a picky eater and I had something to eat everyday. But also if you like to snack a lot bring snacks!!! I eat when I get bored or tired or anything like that and so having all my fav snacks really helped me over the 10 days. But yeah do not be scared of the food or anything, I promise you will get substantial meals and will not go hungry or anything like that!
8. I love my squad. Like so much.- When I say I have the best squad…I cannot make these things up. I never have to be a watered down version of myself for them. I am consistently being called higher. I am welcomed and loved. Not to mention they are all the cutest people I ever did see!! My family forever. Thank you A squad for loving me so well. It does not go unnoticed.
9. IM!!! READY!!! TO!!! GO!!!- everyone keeps asking me if TC made me more nervous or excited….and I will be honest…EXCITED. I learned so much that I am ready to bring to the nations and meeting my squad just was the cherry on top. That being said I am also learning a lot about being where my feet are so I need to cool it….but yes..IM SO HAPPY. THANK YOU JESUS FOR KNOWING THE DESIRES OF MY HEART.
And thank YOU for reading! Please feel free to drop a comment if you want to know any more or have any specific questions. I love hearing from you guys and speaking on this! You are all so awesome and I wish you well.
