Training Camp Recap!

 

The last 10 days I have been at training camp in Gainesville, GA. Training camp has felt 100 days long and also at the same time it flew by. I’m going to try and put into words what God has done at training camp (TC).

 

The first day we arrived at TC it was raining. And it continued to rain for about 7 days. As I have only set up my tent a handful of times, setting it up in the rain was a bit of a challenge. But I got better at it as we had to take down and set up our tent several times over the last week or so. I adopted the motto “everything is damp and that’s ok”. Or at least most days that was my attitude. 

TC days were long and packed with activities. A typical day looked like this:

0700 up and at em!

0815 breakfast (could be African food, could be bugs…)

0900 worship/session

1200 lunch (can we use forks? Or is it culturally appropriate to eat with hands?)

1300 session

1500 (maybe free time. Most likely team building/squad time)

1700 dinner

1800 worship/session

2100 bedtime. (Minus the fact most nights I didn’t get to bed til about 11. And one epic night we all went to bed at 2am. But more on that later)

 

So as you can see. TC days were full of feeding our bellies and feeding our spirit. There were 4 squads total at TC. We would all sit together for meals in tables of 8 and ate community style. Every day we would celebrate a different culture and learn about their meal specifics as well as try the foods we will typically have in those regions. As someone who mostly eats Chick-fil-A, I was worried about this. However I surprised myself and at least tried everything- and even really liked a lot of it! I ate a cricket and ya know what? It actually wasn’t too bad. 

 

This week (and a half) was also designed to create our teams. My whole squad (36 of us) will go to each country together. When we get there, we will be in teams for ministry. And not every team will be at the same ministry. During team building exercises, our squad leaders observed how we interacted and prayerfully chose our teams. We have 6 teams total and I’m so pumped for how God is going to use everyone the next 11 months! Here is a picture of my amazing team! 

 

 

As fun as TC has been, I can’t end this blog without talking about what God has shown me. With at least 3 sessions a day, it was a bit of information overload. But it was all so so good. I was given a prophetic key at launch with the word “loved” stamped on it. I have had a personal relationship with God through Jesus since I was a child. My relationship with God has had its ups and downs but has generally been down the last 4 or 5 years. I definitely did not feel loved by Him. I mostly just saw following him as a chore to earn His love. The last 10 days I have seen that God gives His love freely and I have access to Him through the Holy Spirit not because of my works but because He WANTS a relationship with me. We were born to be loved by the Creator of the universe. That means I am worthy. Not because of who I am but because of who Jesus is. 

 

When I first signed up for the World Race, I think I saw it as another opportunity to “help the poor” and “serve others”. Which isn’t a bad thing. But I was completely missing the point. And that point is that my purpose is to bring the kingdom of God to everyone around me. Whether in Nicaragua, India, or back home in the States when I return. So this year and beyond my only goal is to say “Yes!” to God. To lay down my “self” and see people the way Jesus did. To serve the way he served.

 

 

I could probably write much more on training camp. I have half a notebook full of notes, but there are more blogs to come. 

 

In the meantime, please keep praying for me and my squad. Specific prayer requests for this week:

-safe travels to Nicaragua tonight

-all our bags make it there

-unity between the squad and teams despite being tired 

-for our ministry host