After being back from training camp for about a month, I’ve finally been able to unwind, catch up on all my school work, and process what all went down during those ten days in the woods. My go-to response to everyone that has asked me about TC has been, “uhhhhh intense.” But each conversation has helped me to unpack all the information and process a little more each time. (Sorry for such a delayed post!)
It was pretty easy to let go of most of the materialistic things: clean clothes, large portions of food, a secure shelter, social media, a comfy bed, coffee, warm showers…. ok, the bucket showers were pretty rough, but I eventually learned to embrace it. The hardest thing to overcome was being away from family and friends. I was reminded how much I’ve been blessed with some pretty amazing people in my life, but my eyes were also open to how much I depend on people when I could be seeking the Lord more. This was one of many great lessons I learned during my time at camp. I know that limited communication with people from back home will be a huge challenge for me after I leave but I’m also excited to see the ways God works through it during the race.
Adventures In Missions did a great job setting up training camp to help prepare us for the race mentally, physically, and spiritually. Strangers quickly became family. I learned to carry more than I can handle- Day Two I reached down to pick up my travel backpack and throw it over my shoulder, except I’m the one being thrown to the ground as my backpack weighs me down.. yup, butt in the dirt feet in the air. My squad mates ran over to pull me up off the ground and picked up my backpack for me to stick my arms through the straps. Note to self: maybe I don’t need to bring as much as I thought I did. One of my favorite things about TC was learning about the different cultures. Each day during meal time we would get a sheet of paper explaining the culture and traditions of a particular country and we were served a popular meal from that country. We went through many practical field scenarios and team building activities to help prepare us for what’s to come. I have stories for days about training camp, but I don’t want to spoil too many surprises for potential racers who may be searching through blogs. If ya wanna hear more shoot me a message!
At training camp we learned more about these World Race terms that are often thrown around. I’ll define a few of them for y’all for future reference.
Squads: a group of about 40-50 people who are on the same route. Squads will be traveling together from country to country and then dispersing into teams once they reach the new country. (I am on A Squad–January 2016 Route 1!) At TC my squad got the awards for most spirited squad and best chants! I mean, that wasn’t like an official thing but I think everyone else would agree. (:
Teams: groups of about 6-7 people who serve in the same ministry together, live in raw community, and just do life together over the next year. Sometimes teams change throughout the course of the race.
Squad Leaders: 3 people who have already been on the race and going out on the field again to lead our squad in the race.
Squad Coaches: a couple that will watch over us, pray for us, and simply just be there for us during the race. They will be living in the United States but come visit us on the field during debriefs. I like to call them my World Race Parents! They have already shared so much love, encouragement, and wisdom with us and I’m so excited to grow closer to them.
Mentor, Mobilizer, and Logistics: Sooo to be honest, I’m not 100% sure what the specific roles of each of these people are but they’re all awesome and do so much for our squad and definitely deserve a shout out! They will be doing a lot of behind the scenes work to make sure everything runs as smoothly as possible for us while we are on the race.
As I get closer to launch {38 days!} here is an update of what all is going on:
- Newsletters: I will be sending out monthly newsletters to give an overview of all of the experiences from each month. If you would like to receive these comment below or send me a message with your email!
- T-shirts: I still have lots of t-shirts left! All sizes (s-xxl) in the red and only smalls left in gray. The shirts are $20. If you are interested in reppin’ a WHHFHG t-shirt send me a message!
- Fundraising: my next goal to reach is $10,000 by December 18th. This means there is about $5,000 left until this goal is met! After this I will have two more deadlines to meet when I am on the field. With that being said, it will be really difficult for me to run fundraisers when I am gone so I’m looking for monthly donors as well. I am aiming to be fully funded ($16,962) by April 30th.
I really would like to thank everyone that has been supporting me so much along the way. Whether it’s been in prayer, encouragement, sharing your stories with me, giving me reassurance, donating $5 or donating $1,000… each and every way that people have shown that they believe in me and they believe in the work God is going to be doing in this journey literally leaves me speechless. My whole life I’ve had plenty of people that believed in me, but this FRIENDraising process has revealed that in a whole new way and has completely wrecked me in the best way. It’s such a great feeling to have so many people show you how much they believe in you and support you. I am so grateful beyond measure. I could never put enough emphasis on how thankful I am for y’all and that I would not be able to do this without y’all.
Meet my squad: SQUAD A!
Meet my team: Kingdom Shakers!
