Hey there folks! Totally my bad I haven’t written in a hot minute but my excuse is that I’ve been at training camp with my new peeps! I’d like to count that as a valid excuse. Okay but seriously training camp was such a blessing! So I’d like to hit you up with some details on what this “training camp” was all about.
First of all check out the above picture of my squad. I’ve gotten to know them for a good solid 10 days. On my life, I feel closer to these guys in 10 short days than some people that I’ve been around for years. It’s wild how God has just accelerated both the relationships I’ve built and what He has already been trying to teach me!
So first of all, we are training for what it could look like out on the mission field at any given moment as the most unexpected can and most likely may very well happen. Such as oh, by the way, your luggage just got lost by the airport. Good luck figuring out 7 dudes, a 1-person tent, a 2-person tent, and a hammock… Or how about you have a 12 hour layover throughout the middle of the night so you’re sleeping in the airport. Let me lay out the scene for you. Tons of people yelling and playing games, airplanes taking off, extremely loud music playing, BRIGHT LIGHTS, and then good ole Zach is as unprepared as he possibly could be. Here I am in shorts and a light jacket and the most flimsy pillow I could find. I always bragged about how I could sleep anywhere but I made a good lie out of it all by the end of that night. On the bright side though I have awesome friends and one gave me a blanket, and the other gave me a sleeping pad. So kudos to you guys for turning the dread into a heavenly bed.
These are a mere two of the scenarios we got to play out but it was far more than just these scenarios. Among sleeping in tents and sleeping bags we learned how to live in a true Christ centered community. I’ve honestly never experienced the encouragement, love, and appreciation as much and as consistently as I did daily while at training camp. By day 2 or 3 I knew that these were lifelong friends in the making. It’s hard to express the freedom that you feel when you know, regardless of what you share about your past or present struggles, that you will be met with people speaking life into you, no condemnation, and hugs. Hugs are the real deal y’all.
That’s honestly just a very small part of the whole rundown of what happened at training camp but I’m planning on making several posts about the experience at training camp so stay tuned and subscribe so you don’t miss what Father is doing on this journey that we’re embarking on starting today. I’m not waiting to start the mission until we get on the plane. Nah folks, God’s mission doesn’t have a start and end point. Contrary to popular belief it’s the here and it’s the now in which Holy Spirit wants to use you in your very situation. You don’t have to be going all over the world, you just have to listen and be obedient to what He’s telling you to do and actually do it.
As I end I’d love to thank each and every one of you that is supporting whether through prayer, financially, or just coming along for the ride! Please pray for our squad as we head into our final couple months before we leave America. First, that we would continue to press into what God has revealed to us during training camp, and that we would continue to seek Holy Spirit becoming acutely attuned to hearing His voice. Also, I’ve got a huge special request for my prayer warriors out there. Please be praying for Allie on my team as she broke her ankle at the end of camp. So let’s get together and go to war against that injury! No injury can stop what God has begun. And I end here, thank you and I love you all dearly! Peace!
