Training camp stretched and prepared me for my upcoming mission trip!
In a little over two months, my eleven month mission trip will begin. Training camp showed me how much more intentional I need to be with my time before the Lord and resting in Him. During the camp, we went through situations that we might face during our trip, we worshiped God, we learned even more information about our trip and the 10/40 window, and of course the best part was meeting my new family that I get to travel with for 11 months. The time at camp also pushed me out of my comfort zone, from sleeping in my tent in the freezing cold (which is a big deal for a girl from Texas), taking bucket showers in the cold, re-packing almost every day, and jogging with my backpack for a 3-mile hike. Through it all God showed me His strength, love, faithfulness and grace.
During one of our services, there was a statement made that has continued to stand out to me. It was: “Are you so full of the Holy Spirit that when people bump into you they experience Christ?” This is so powerful! I want every person that I encounter to experience Christ just by bumping into me even if I don’t get to talk to them. I also want to be so full of Him that the power of God comes out of me and touches every person I talk to. Some of the people we will encounter on this trip may never hear the gospel after we leave so I must make the most of every moment with each person while I am there.
In addition, I received training in story telling. This training, included how to use blogging, vlogging, and photography in story telling, At the end of this training, the leaders had us take a moment and ask God why He had us take this training and what kind of stories he had for us to tell. We sat there in silence and God begin to flash faces before me of women and children. Faces full of sadness, joy, pain, laughter, and crying. I began to weep at the many faces of people from around the world. People who will hear what God did for them on the cross and of their stories that are waiting to be told. This trip is way bigger than me and I want to take this time at home to finish preparing myself to reach God’s children with the redemption hope of the Father’s love.
Training camp was a time to come together with my team and to build relationships. It was a time to seek and worship God. It was a time to receive instruction and to be trained in different situations that we could face on the trip. I was pushed physical, emotional, and spiritual, but in a good way. It left me feeling even more excited to see what God is going to do in the lives of the people we encounter and the increasing trust I have in God.
