I am back!! The infamous question, “How was training camp?”… And my simple answer, “There are no words to describe it.”
But if you don’t want the simple answer, then keep reading 
We were truly broken down: mentally, physically, and spiritually. I think I can speak for a lot of us when I say, by day 3, we were wondering how we could possibly make it through all 10 days of this training. I am still working full-time, and considering my move a week before, I arrived at training camp not well rested. It was a 7+ hour drive from Tampa to Gainesville, Georgia which was tiring in itself. Squads arrived Wednesday night, checked in, and were handed lunch meat sandwiches and a bag of chips for dinner. Then they told us to set up camp!
We filed our tents in lines across the campgrounds and grabbed our journals for our first night of worship and welcome message. The days following were filled with informative sessions, spiritual lessons, and many set-up/tear downs of our gear and tents. I put up and took down my tent so many times, I think I can do it with my eyes closed (which we sort of, actually practiced).
We learned lessons about forgiveness, dealing with shame and guilt, how to live and work well in community, and so much more to prepare us for spiritual growth. They shared helpful hints on long term impact on short term missions, having an understanding for orphans and women in trafficking.
One of my favorite lessons was about developing a love for women in general. Our culture has created such a stigma of judgement and comparison toward one another. But the leaders at World Race helped us see that sometimes what we dislike in another person, might actually be something deeper we dislike in ourselves. Or facing the fact that we will be living in close quarters with our sisters and might easily become frustrated. To combat this we must adapt a heart of appreciation to see the skills God blessed them with and how they can be used together for a greater impact.
Our training included a variety of sleeping scenarios such as: half the team’s luggage getting “lost” and working together to provide comfortable sleeping arrangements for everyone, sleeping on a 12 hour airport layover, sleeping under the stars on a tarp, and cramping like sardines in a confined ministry space.
We were introduced to Asian, African, Eastern European, and Latin cuisines. Praise God I am not a picky eater. Some of my squad mates really had a hard time trying new foods, but the Lord blessed me with a curious pallet and tough stomach!
Lastly, our squad of 50+ was broken town in to teams of 6-7 people each. A few days in a row, we were put in “team building” actives. Our leaders carefully observed our interactions and prayed over the best matches they could make for success in the field. I am thrilled with the team of beautiful women God has placed me with and I get to begin my journey serving alongside.
Aside from all this, God taught me the biggest lesson. That is to give up expectations and release my anxieties to Him, really, “Let it go.” I’ve tried to hold tightly to ideas of what the year will look like and how it will go, or what life will be waiting for me when I return. But this week I learned the most in times that I surrendered it all to Him.
The details of this week were only a glimpse of what I might experience around the world. It is nearly impossible for them to perfectly prepare us for unseen scenarios but I feel confident the training this week has opened my eyes and better prepared me for a little bit of what the year ahead has to offer.
“Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that testing of your faith produces steadfastness.” James 1:2-3
