Hey!
I have something to tell you! But first, let me invite you into my life living at the Adventure in Missions base in Gainesville Georgia.
For the past 3 weeks, I have been living in (now) a two-person tent, with my squad, Gap C, at our campsite! It looks like a boujee version of an igloo village. Every day, Monday through Friday, my squad wakes up at 7 (or as close to 8 as possible) to make it to breakfast in the dining pavilion at 8 a.m.! The kitchen staff cooks 3 amazing meals a day for all 4 squads here on campus, and I am convinced they’re superhuman by the way their food tastes.
Then, from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m., we have devotions. They look different every day, but every Friday morning we do a deep-dive into the Word as a group. For the next few months, we’re looking into the book of James! After devos, Gap C goes to the squad meeting point for sessions! Sessions are about hour-long teachings (based on the speaker), which gives us a better understanding of specific topics related to living more like Jesus did. We then have temperature checks at 12 p.m., and lunch at 12:30 p.m.!
After lunch, we go back to our squad meeting points for squad rotations. There are a few different rotations, which can look like cleaning the campus, showers, laundry, squad time, or squad exercise depending on the day. This week we played mat-ball and extreme duck-duck-goose out in the field! After rotations, which last around 2 hours, we have free time until dinner. Lately, my free time looks like a board game called Settlers of Catan or reading the book of Exodus (which is great, by the way. Call me and I’ll tell you about it.)
Dinner starts at 5:30 p.m., and at 6:30 p.m., we go back to our squad meeting points again for team time! Our squad is divided up into 5 teams, each with a different team leader who helps us get used to life on the race and loves on us like crazy. Team times look different every day, with Mondays having us dive deeper into parts of the Bible, Tuesdays being fun team times, Wednesdays being focused on gratuity and thankfulness, Thursdays having us give each other feedback, and Fridays having us debrief our week! Team time is super fruitful and it brings the unity & trust of the team to a deeper level.
Then, from 7:30 p.m. to 9:45 p.m., we have free time! We can hang out, call our fam or friends, play music, really whatever we’re feeling! Then, by 10:00 p.m., we are back in our tents for the night. Seems early to any teenager out there, but I have absolutely come to appreciate it because if it weren’t for quiet hour, I would be an actor in the Walking Dead.
That is what my life looks like during the week! On weekends, we have solitude from 10-12, and squad church at the same time the next day. Other than those two events and meals, we’re free to rest and get ready for what the next week has for us.
Ok. Here’s what I have to tell you:
MY SQUAD IS HEADING TO DEQUINCY LOUISIANA!!!
From October 3rd to October 10th, Gap C is going to do hurricane relief ministry in Louisiana, partnering with the organization called Samaritan’s Purse! It’s a 12-hour road trip from here to there, and our squad is so so excited.
WOOHOO!
Thanks for reading! Oh and stay tuned for my next blogs. I have something really special coming.
-Elijah
