Training Camp!
The past three days I have been in Georgia at the Adventures in Missions base for “training camp”. It is here that we meet our team for the first time, prepare spiritually and emotionally before being launched out on the mission field, and learn more about the most effective ways of communicating across cultures. This has been an incredible experience to say the least, despite the porta potties and cold bucket showers!
The weekend focused on 3 essential ideas that are part of the Kingdom of God: intimacy with the Lord, community with others, and living on mission. In this blog, I want to walk through what I learned and experienced in each of these areas these past few days.
Intimacy with the Lord
I learned so much about God’s desire to have a relationship with us on a deep and personal level. He is not some distant, apathetic deity in the sky, but rather a loving Father who wants to walk daily with His children. He wants what is best for us and will provide what we need each day. This trip, I have already seen Him provide exactly what I need when I needed it.
I have always felt connected to God and Jesus, but I have never quite felt as close to the Holy Spirit. This week I learned more about the Holy Spirit. Everyone who has accepted Jesus into their life has the Holy Spirit living inside of them. He guides us, convicts us, helps us, and comforts us. Seeing the power of the Holy Spirit manifested within my teammates and I this weekend has really expanded my view of all that He is capable of. I encourage you to learn more about the Holy Spirit, when He is guiding your life, everything changes for the better!
Community with Others
There are 12 other people on my team with me that will be heading to Swaziland today. Before training camp, we were total strangers with each other. We come from so many different places–Texas, Iowa, Missouri, Alabama, North/South Carolina, Michigan, Indiana, Canada, and more, but we have all come together with one goal, to serve God humbly and faithfully. We instantly have hit it off which was so cool!
I have already seen how crucial having a community is, even just in a span of 72 hours. My team and I have prayed together multiple times, crying out to God for healing, praising Him for the baptism of one of our teammates, and asking Him for strength, safety, and discernment. Also, conversations about each other’s pasts, struggles, and path to find God has really inspired me and helped me realize that I am not the only one who has gone through certain things. Sharing your story with others is a powerful way to connect on a deeper level with those around you, as I have experienced firsthand this weekend.
Living on Mission
A phrase that was repeated multiple times throughout the weekend was “mission is life, life is mission.” This means that in our day to day life, the way we love and serve those around us points others to Jesus. We do not necessarily have to go overseas to shine the light of Jesus with someone; we can do it simply by taking time to talk to someone in a random aisle in Walmart!
Today as we have been in the airport we have had the opportunity to talk to so many people. There are already so many amazing stories from the past few hours. What is incredible is that we were not even supposed to be at the airport today, our plane was supposed to leave at 5:45 AM; yet God has used something as undesirable as a flight change to 8 PM to open up the opportunity to talk to so many people about the love of Jesus. We have not necessarily been actively seeking these conversations with people, but God in His sovereignty put them in our path. Although I may not have chosen to spend 20 hours sitting in an airport, God has given me so many cool experiences that I will never forget while here!
