It is usually very difficult to prepare for something in your life that you haven’t experienced yet. So going into training camp, I tried to tell myself to have an open mind and expect anything to happen. It was a good thing I told myself that because I still wasn’t fully prepared physically, mentally, or spiritually at the beginning of the week. By the end of the week, I felt God’s presence move both through me and my team and this is what I learned.
We all came into camp as 34 complete strangers from nearly every part of the United States and Canada. The only thing we knew about each other were a few fun facts and a few simple pictures of each other, but we left camp closer than ever because we were family. Family is a term we usually associate with those who are blood related to us, but if we take a step back and look at the big picture of life we realize we are all family through Christ. We are all sons and daughters to the one Father who created us. He knew that the 34 of us would meet at October 2015 Training Camp to embark on a journey that’s way bigger than ourselves. He chose this particular family to be the hands and feet of God and spread His Word through the 10/40 window. He also chose 200 other racers to embark on their journeys as well to various parts of world where Jesus Christ’s name will be heard. What I learned was that it’s not about me and it’s never been about me. It has always been about God and how He can use us to build His kingdom.
At camp, we continued to become family and began realized our own identity in ourselves, with each other, and through Christ. We hung out together, ate every meal together, slept outside in tents together (froze together), and through that we began to share each other’s stories together. It was through this training camp experienced I learned that our identities make us who we are and our stories need to be told. God didn’t give us stories to lock away inside ourselves, make us ashamed or punish us. He gave us stories to be proud of. He gave us stories of our lives to share with everyone you meet so that God’s name can be glorified and put on high. What I learned is that God created 34 beautiful humans with 34 powerful stories to move mountains so His name will be heard!
At camp, it’s also the small things that I look back on and smile just as much as the big things. Training Camp was very physically demanding with mandatory workouts most mornings, a four mile run with our 35 pound packs, and an 18 mile hike on the Appalachian Trail in a two day span. I don’t remember the physical pain as much as I do the laughing attacks and jokes that were told while doing all of these physically exhausting activities. I cherish the laughing, story telling around fires, and heart to heart talks because that’s what life is all about.
Throughout the week we ate food from specific parts of the world in which we would be traveling. Needless to say they did not supply us with the dollar menu from McDonalds. We ate food from places such as Southeast Asia, India, Africa, and Central/South America. What I learned was that it opened up my mind to what we will eat on the World Race both in taste aspects and in portion sizes (small).
What I learned was that God moves in miraculous ways because how else to you explain 34 different walks of life coming to together at this moment in time? I know the answer. God has a calling for literally every creation that he puts on this earth. He didn’t just have a calling for our Expedition Squad. God has a calling for each and every one of you reading this article. He gave you all a story not to be ashamed of, but to proud of so that you can spread God’s Word and send love to the nations. God has blessed me more ways than I can explain, to be able to share the Gospel with people don’t even know yet. I ask for your continued support and to keep both my TEAM, my brothers & sisters, my FAMILY and I your prayers. GOD BLESS
