As I drove onto the Adventures In Missions site, the staff stood on both sides of the driveway dancing, singing and shouting. They were so excited for my arrival. I felt so welcome. This is where I belong and they made that known to me. These people were complete strangers, but it was as if we had all come together for a family reunion. I wondered if this is what heaven will be like.
I began walking down the asphalt pathway to the office with my 65liter pack strapped to my back and my daypack strapped to the front of me. Hundreds of packs similar to mine lay in piles outside of the main office.
Each squad is assigned a color and instructed to wear that color shirt to check in on the first day of training camp. A flood of purple t-shirts that matched the one I was wearing embraced me. Faces I’ve become familiar with from stalking instagrams and facebooks were now coming to life as I was finally meeting them in person! These are the people I’m going to spend the next 9 months of my life with. It’s possible some of these girls could be my best friends and bridesmaids in my wedding one day. This is the beginning of relationships that will last forever.
After checking in, the swarm of purple shirts took on the short trek to our campsite. It was there that we spent the next few hours setting up our tents. I’ve found that setting up 50 tents (some for the first time ever) is a pretty great ice-breaker.
After the whole squad had set up camp, we went to the first session.
Training camp is scheduled by sessions. Usually there is one in the morning, afternoon and one in the evening. Sessions can look very different. Some are informative, talking about the logistics of the race. Sometimes a speaker comes in to share words of wisdom and encouragement. Many sessions were kind of like classes on how to do ministry and prepare yourself for ministry. Some sessions were focused on team building exercises with the focus of forming teams for the race.There were also worship sessions. These were my favorite. Worship sessions usually lasted around two hours but only felt like a total of ten minutes. Worship at training camp is like no other worship I have ever experienced before. There is an atmosphere that is nothing of this world. I cannot explain it other than in a sense you leave this world and enter the presence of the Holy Spirit.
Our first session was a worship session. It was beautiful to see all these nervous strangers come together as sons and daughters to worship our Papa.
The first half of training camp really focused on yourself. Your identity in Christ. Your struggles were brought into the light. God’s love was declared over you. I walked into that training camp thinking I had my life together when in reality I’m a mess. I brought in a lot of struggles and by the grace of God I walked out free from them.
Training camp taught me that Abigail Mullis cannot do anything on her own effort. Anything and everything that is done in my life is by the will of God. I choose to give my life to Him and I control nothing. But He has me right where I belong and I am good with that.
