The past ten days have been focused on preparing me and hundreds of other world racers how to be active in bringing the kingdom of God to others. Training camp looked a lot like sleeping in tents in the unpredictable heat/monsoon weather of Gainesville Georgia, bucket showers (legit), eating some odd, authentic, cultural foods & crickets, hiking… and all while worshiping the Lord.
These three circles are so incredibly unique but so connected at the same time. Lacking in one has an impact on the others, and when these three circles unite, that is kingdom living.
The first couple of days of camp, we practiced missional living. We were posed with the question, “What am I going to do with the extraordinary love the father has given me?” We learned how to serve and what it looks like to effectively invest in people.
Ministry: simply participating in the advancement of God’s kingdom all around us.
This looks different for each and every one of us. However, we are all called to live on mission daily.
Intimacy with the Lord:
Deep intimacy with the Lord results in an overflow of his love and joy everywhere we step.
“Abide in me and I in you, as a branch cannot bear fruit apart from the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. “ John 15:4
The word abide can mean dwell, remain, endure. The speaker defined the word abide as “to cleanse the home that the Holy Spirit lives in.”
The Lord is stretching my comforts and growing me like never before. I have learned so much about myself in such a short time period and am learning to be still and enjoy quality time with the Lord.
Community:
I have never experienced community like this in my entire life, and I absolutely love it. I met 50 new squad mates and many strangers that now feel like family. We learned how to encourage and pour into one another. We hiked together, shared tents, ate odd foods with our hands, ran in the rain, dove in mud puddles, and most of all we worshiped the Father together.
This is M squad. Green team forever!!
This is the group of people I will be traveling and living in community with.
This is my team: Emma, Laura, Madi, Payson, and Zahli. These are the girls I will be living with and doing ministry with.
Thanks so, so incredibly much to the people who have supported me, loved on me, and prayed for me since this journey began. I am constantly blown away by people’s generosity and servant hearts. Thinking about it puts the biggest smile on my face and I can’t begin to express my gratitude!!
Thank y’all for reading and feel free to subscribe to my blog for more updates throughout this journey.
SO much love,
Amanda Hopkins
