a quick (+exciting) announcement: i officially am $6,096 away from being fully funded!!
THANK YOU for all support and prayers!!
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training camp: a wild, Jesus-packed, crazy, hard, fun 10 days of camping.
and i survived!!
training camp was so many things. so many, i decided to make a list of (almost) everything i experienced:
–camping. 10 days. not a big outdoors gal. but by day 3 i chose to like it, now i would probably go willingly for more than one night haha
–the silence. getting away from phones, social media, etc.. showed me how much it clutters your mind. our culture is always go go go without break. being taken out of that rhythm relieved me of anxiety i didn’t even know i was experiencing, anxiety + stress to a depth you probably don’t know you experience.
–the holy spirit. i found out when you get out of the distractions + noise, you can hear the holy spirit clearly. i learned the holy spirit will never not respond to you.
–i was born to be loved. because even in my best hour, my actions will still be but dirty rags to the Creator. He made us to be loved by Him in a radical, counter-cultural way. and it is because of the love and grace and transformation within us by God that we want to go out and share with everyone the hope we have found.
1 john 4:7-8
dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.
– i was baptized(!!). seven months ago, jesus got me. he chased me down, it didn’t matter how far i ran. and he brought me here, so as a declaration to jesus, myself, my squad, and everyone else, i will live my life to bring glory to god.
– when you go camping, make sure your tent is water proof. learned this the hard way.
–stay! in! dress! code! this was a weird one for me. how we dress should be the last thing to keep us from sharing the gospel, but learning how to die to myself and say goodbye to leggings and nike shorts as been a real heartbreaker:'(
–WORSHIP. there are so may things i learned, from my heart posture to worshipping the lord with everything i do. did you guys know there are 7 different words for worship in hebrew?? halal, tehillah, zamar, hallelujah, yodah, todah, and sabah. crazy right!! i am so excited to meditate on those 7 words alone. then there’s painting, nature, even eating and drinking to worship god. i feel like i have entered a whole new depth with the father in all these forms
–bucket showers. not as bad as they sound, but no matter how good that cold water feels in the georgia heat, that georgia humidity still has you feeling sticky about 10 minutes afterwards. but those 10 minutes were totally worth it. also, i learned to not fear bugs in those showers. there was noooo way i was going to let a lizard, bee, centipede, or other mystery bug scare me out of rinsing my shampoo out.
–the silence(pt. 2). getting out of greensboro and the noise was so nice. at night, being able to hear the roar of the cicadas, not cars, fans, or electricity, was refreshing. there is a release in nature that allows your body to relax in the warmth.
–the 5 am alarms. without fail, someone’s alarm would go off at 5 am every morning, sometimes for atleast 5 minutes. enough said.
–the food. every day, the food was based on a region/specific country. sometimes the food was so good.. sometimes it was ugali on africa day:-) sometimes we got to eat with forks, sometimes we got plates, most of the time we had to eat with our hands. you best believe i was strapped with hand sanitizer all day every day.
–dress! code!(pt. 2). depending on the country of the day, we had to dress according to the specific dress code of the culture, so ankles became a lil scandalous towards the end of camp.
–rely on knowing, not feeling, god’s presence. this was a tough one the first few days. i learned i am not a feeler, and even if i was, i need to know god is there with me even when i really don’t feel him.
–god is undeniable. i will praise before my breakthrough. even in knowing god is there, but not yet knowing how to discern the holy spirit, i will praise him because he has transformed my mind, heart, and spirit completely since i said yes to him.
–i am his light. so many people spoke this over me one night. i am still prosessing, praising him, and asking him more about what this means. but i do know, he is mine.
–buy in. probably one of the top 5 pieces of advice i have recieved in my life. buy in to adventures in missions, buy in to missions, buy in to the people god is surounding you with. now is the time to choose love, to choose to have an open mind + heart to where the lord is taking you. (THANK YOU CLARISSA FOR IMPARTING YO WISDOM<3)
–spiritual warfare. to know my father’s voice, i need to know the enemy’s voice, the difference between truth and lies. also, knowing there are angel armies fighting unseen battles for me. realising how many lies were embedded in my soul has been tough to come to terms with. but god is redeeming me through this all, and it is so so exciting to know Truth. (1 john 4:18
–the power of god. he has moved before, and he will move again
–i am ready. honestly, after everything we learned (an overview of the entire bible, the gospel, studied missions, culture appreciation, culture + the gospel, teaching english, children’s misitry, wroship, feedback, world religions, recieving and giving forgiveness, and intimacy with the holy spirit to name a few topics) i still feel unprepared. i took over half a notebook full of notes and i am still feeling unprepared. but god is so taking me striaght down this path(pslam 23!!). god is doing things within my spirit to ready me for my next season, and i am learning to (+ praying for an increase in) [have] faith and trust. also, perfect love drives out fear (1 john 4:18)
–be encouraged. the kingdom is growing and expanding!! take heart, god has already overcome this world.
if you made it this far, thank you for your time lol. also, i leave in just over 6 weeks.. time is flying. as i prepare to leave, please keep me in your prayers!!
