Waves of corn fields, tall green grass, and lazy cows zoomed past the car windows as we rolled through state after state. Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, and finally Georgia. We drove for two days, stayed with friends, and felt loved and cared for in both Kansas and Tennessee. Being on the receiving end of hospitality was a highlight of my trip. As I enjoyed seeing the body of Christ loving, caring for one another and being more than hospitable. Alas, Training Camp began…
There were many repetitive activities we did each day. We broke down camp every morning, had three meals, devotionals, squad time, personal time, solo processing, field scenarios and team time.
On Tuesday the 10th I arrived at Training Camp. I meandered to the Check-In area. As soon as I was all checked in, I headed to set up camp in the woods by the lodge. My whole squad continued to trickle in as tents, sleeping bags, sleeping pads, and back packs began to find a home. Once all forty-seven of us had arrived we headed down to dinner and soon after had a short introduction to Training Camp which was accompanied by worship. Goodness, worship was fantastic! Finally, after what seemed like a split second, we headed off to bed with our headlamps fully functioning.
All the sudden, I blinked, and it was Wednesday the 11th. The first morning of the first full day at training camp. First, I want to introduce you to my team: Kae(lan) Blowers, Gracie Cottrill, Kirsten Caswell, Elena De La Paz, Margee San Martino, and Jaynna Strong. Each of these girls are absolutely amazing and I get to spend 9 months with them! Also, I can’t forget our fearless and gentle leader/mentor/friend we had for the two weeks at TC, Kierstin Foltz. Later in the day during squad time, Deborah had all of us get our Bibles out and read some scripture. While some people were still reading I looked around and I got a picture. What I saw was all of us preparing for war like they did in medieval times. In the woods, at camp, sharpening our swords and gearing up for what lies ahead. Cause, in reality, that’s what we were and are doing. After that we got a few quick notes from our leaders and received our first field scenario. All 47 of us had to fit into 3 tents. Now, this wouldn’t have been a problem except for the fact that the guys got one tent and that meant that 40 girls had to fit into 2 tents. Luckily for me, I didn’t jump into the tents right away and was able to call dibs on the third tent they opened for the girls. This scenario taught our whole squad to communicate better and how to adapt to tight situations. Once we had gotten our gear and other belongings into the larger tents, we had personal time. Throughout the two weeks this time was spent either hanging out with your team, squad members, Jesus, or just chilling. I spent most of my personal time trying to get to know my team and squad more throughout the week. Next was the evening meal and worship. Wow, wow, wow. I cannot express how AWEsome the worship was. Absolutely, Amazing. Concluding a great time of worship, we sat down to our first session The Cost of Discipleship. The question we were told to ask ourselves was “Did I Count the Cost?” Have I counted the cost of what I means to be a disciple and follower of Jesus? What is my cost? My answer? I have counted the cost and believe that Jesus is worth more then my comfort, sleep, food, shelter, water, belongings, family, friends, health, and wants/desires. Those are my costs. To me Jesus out weighs them all. Now, with these new thoughts floating around in my head, I drifted off into an uncomfortable sleep.
Once my ears caught the sounds of everyone moving around in the big tent, I opened my eyes and shuffled out. It was Thursday the 12th, after packing up and placing my big pack in the “burrito” I headed to devos and breakfast. The first session of the day was What is Missions? Is it sharing the gospel with anyone, at any time, anywhere? Is it helping the sick, feeding the poor, or caring for the widows and orphans? Yes, it is all those things but what did I learned? I’ve learned that there is One Mission with the Body of Christ, Universal Reconciliation, for Universal Worship of the King of Kings. That is what I have been called to do. The session following that was Approaching Cultural Differences. Finally, we had a lunch break and then headed right into World Religion Rotations which were three sessions. During these sessions we learned more about Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism. I was amazed at how many similarities there were compared to Christianity. Not only that I learned how to build bridges. How to do that? Highlight similarities, show interest, point to Jesus, and promote Jesus. Lastly, the final session of the day was: Walk Through the Bible. Throughout this session we learned the hand motions for characters and events that took place throughout the entire old testament. Now with heavy eye lids and my brain yet again tumbling around information I drifted off into another restless night of sleep.
Beep, beep, beep, beep. My alarm went off as I rolled out of my sleeping bag and began to pack up yet again. It was Friday morning the 13th. After breakfast our Walk Though the Bible session continued. Then were taught how to use the God Tools App. Proceeding an informative morning, we dove into sessions on Evangelism and Discipleship. For evangelism we learned how to share the gospel through the three circles method. For discipleship we learned 1. We are who God says we are. 2. We have authority. 3. We are called to make disciples, baptize, teach, and obey. 4. We are understudy’s of Jesus, called to action and to engage. From there we had more team building, squad time, personal time, dinner, and worship. Our last session of the day was on Grace. What I learned from that session was the law focuses on your actions while grace focuses on your heart. I also “stole” Deon’s life goal which is to be, a Daughter of the King, a Servant of People, and a Master of Satan.
Tired, I rubbed my eyes realizing it was morning. It was also Saturday morning the 14th. Our first session of the day was Beauty from Ashes. After that we had a session on Blogging. Then the activity of the day, Exercise. Now when I say exercise there were many choices, ultimate Frisbee, yoga, cardio, etc… I chose the “dance party” which consisted of kick boxing, zumba, and other cardio workouts mixed into one. Afterwards, exhausted, yet refreshed, we received another field scenario. Another highlight from my trip was when we prayed over our countries/routes. I got a really cool picture while praying. The picture was of the world and all the continents were pitch black with an inky black smoke rolling off of them into the ocean. We racers, including all other squads, were on brightly lit boats in the middle of the ocean. Then we began to drift all over the globe. Once our feet hit the ground of our countries the darkness began to fold back. Little lights began to pop up where we walked. Eventually, all the darkness was broken. Laying down after dinner and singing Happy Birthday to my mom, all I could think about was what God had in store for the rest of the week and the next 9 months.
To Be Continued…
