What can I say about Training Camp? Training Camp was raw, real, rainy, exhausting, freeing, tearful, joy-filled, and utterly beautiful. It is hard to explain how all those emotions and experiences fit together, but believe me when I say that they do.
On Tuesday, June 4, I boarded a plane headed for Atlanta, GA. I love everything about flying. I love throwing my bag on the scale, and the somewhat prideful satisfaction I get from having a “light” checked bag. I love going through security, and seeing how quickly and efficiently I can breeze through the line (my fellow line-waiters don’t know that I am racing them, but I am). I love finding my seat on the airplane, and discovering who my neighbors will be in-flight, and making friends with them. I love traversing large airports, and get a thrill out of getting from one gate to the other in what I feel must be record time. I love that airports house bagels and coffee at all times of day, and I always make it a priority to pick up a skim latte for every major flight.
That Tuesday was no different. I got to Hector International Airport. I checked my bag with relative ease. I breezed through security. I stood in line at my gate. I found my seat on the plane, and made friends with the woman beside me (she was all excited for me and interested in my upcoming 11-month mission trip). I landed in MSP, quickly found Starbucks and had breakfast by my gate. Soon after, I boarded my plane for Atlanta.
Atlanta is a lovely airport. I could have taken the tram, but instead traversed from one side of the airport to the other on foot, and I don’t regret it. I got a lot of moving sidewalks and some pretty ceiling lights to look at as a result.
After a stop by the baggage claim, I found a group of World Racers, waiting to be picked up by our Adventures in Missions bus. We all piled into an oversized van, with our freshly purchased and packed backpacks following behind in a large trailer.
My first day at Training Camp was for a Storyteller Workshop. This was a special event that I and a couple dozen other racers attended. We learned about video blogging, photo taking, etc. as methods of sharing our stories from the field next year. It was a busy 24 hours of learning everything and anything related to sharing your story.
The next day, Wednesday, at around 4 PM the rest of our squads showed up. This was what I like to call pure bliss. There are few things I love more than meeting new family members, and I got to meet 37 of mine that afternoon. From the moment everyone arrived to the end of Training Camp, it was a whirlwind. It rained every single day, except for the last two. We were drenched. We smelled bad. We took many cold bucket showers. We used porta potties only, and therefore put off using the bathroom as much as possible. We ate food representative of the cultures we are going to be traveling to this next year (lots of rice and beans). We hiked through mud and steep hills with our packs. We startled at the site of black widow spiders. We brushed our teeth with Nalgene water by the light of headlamps. We simulated losing our luggage, buying supper in the market (complete with a mixed bag of currency), sleeping in the airport, and evangelizing in town. We attended more sessions than I can begin to count, and drank information from the firehose. We had worship together. We shared parts of our testimonies. And we encountered God.
In 11 short days, I went from knowing the still-frame images of maybe a dozen of my teammates, to deeply loving all 37 of them. God used Training Camp to knock down walls for many of us, myself included. The Holy Spirit showed up. We sang together. We prayed over each other. There was an outpouring of prophecy and encouragement. There was nothing preformatted about any of it. None of it was rehearsed or for show. It was out of love and as a result of prompting from The Holy Spirit. You didn’t have to ask for prayer; instead, people would just saddle up next to you and start praying over you. Wow! How incredible is that!?
Two days into knowing my squad, I poured out my heart to them. I shared with them one of my biggest wounds and greatest burdens, and asked that they pray with me. They didn’t even bat an eye before responding. They circled around me, laid hands on me, cried with me, and poured out prayers. My heart didn’t think it could be more blessed, but then as the days went on, my squadmates blessed me even more. They didn’t forget about me. They continued to show me love, and prayed over me throughout the rest of Training Camp. God used them to help heal me and give me freedom.
Yesterday, I sat in church for the first time after finishing Training Camp. It was as if a shroud that had been heavy over my eyes for years was at last lifted. My heart is lighter. God showed up for me at Training Camp. God called me to peace at Training Camp. The Holy Spirit helped me to lay down my burdens at Training Camp.
I am so grateful for that experience. I am so grateful for the staff who sacrificed their time to minister to us. I am so grateful for the ways in which God fought for me. I am grateful for my teammates, and for their selfless love for me. I am grateful for my donors who faithfully said “yes” when The Spirit prompted them to support me. I am grateful that I am only six weeks away from being reunited with my new family. I am grateful that August 1st is not that far away. I am grateful that ministry doesn’t have to wait until August, but instead that ministry starts now.
The World Race is founded on the principles of Intimacy, Community and Mission. Training Camp is the perfect expression of that mission. My team and I found intimacy with God. We formed a community together, and the natural response to the first two is mission. We are each starting our mission field now, here, at home. And we are excited to see how God uses the next six weeks prior to launch.
I’ll continue to keep you updated on my progress. (:
With love,
Liesl
I would like to introduce you to X Squad (my new family):
Here are the fab five women I will be spending the first months with on the World Race:
Here are few more gems from Training Camp (thank you to all the sqaudmates who shared photos with me!!!):
