And by “a little” I mean several days sweating in the Georgia heat and humidity without showers and a good chance of reusing the same t shirt… multiple times (pit stains are the new tye dye right?!) But don’t be alarmed! Giant spiders and centipedes will still greet you in your tent each morning regardless of how bad you smell or how long your leg hair has grown!! Just one of the many perks of being at TRAINING CAMP ! ! !
Yep, this girl can officially say she survived 10 days of “worst case scenarios” and still cannot wait to get out on the mission field! Now, I realize many of you have no idea why I’m so eager to tell you about my lack of personal hygiene and relationship with oversized bugs (most of which I named Ferdinand or Gerald)… so I’m about to spill all the juicy details of what went down over the past two weeks. (nows the part where you grab some popcorn and get cozy) HERE WE GOOOOOO ! ! !
I arrive bright eyed and bushy tailed, ready to conquer the world with pillow pet in hand! Suddenly an unfamiliar smiling face hands me a sandwich… I’m cautious but thankful because I’m a very hungry girl. She also gives me a tiny slip of paper with several names of people I’ve never met and says that its my new team, I anxiously wait to meet them; they will be my family for the next 9 months! However, we don’t get much mingling time after session before we’re told to set up our tents and hit the hay in preparation for the wild adventures to come!
First lesson learned: take the time to pull your sleeping bag and pad out of your pack before you go to bed,, sleeping on just a towel on the floor of your tent may seem like a great idea at first but after waking up freezing with wood chips stabbing into your back for the fifty third time that first night… I vowed never to make that mistake again. With the excitement of meeting the 50 other peeps sleeping in their tents all around me, I decide to give up on sleep and chill in my tent until time for team devos at 7:30.
I FINALLY GET TO MEET MY TEAM!! I fall in love with them immediately. Their hearts for Jesus are pure and beautiful, in all they do I can see them relentlessly perusing Christ and seeking his plans above all else… second lesson learned: sometimes the Lord calls us in a different direction than the one we plan, Proverbs 16: 9 “In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps.” this can be a very VERY difficult concept to cling to, especially when our hearts are set on the plans we make. I am telling you this because over the next three days of camp, three girls on my team felt the call to go another direction. As hard as it was to say goodbye and watch them go home, I was able to rejoice with them in their obedience to the Father as he called them to other aspects of ministry back in their communities.
Now my team was down to only four people which meant we had to be split up and shuffled into the other teams. this was very hard. BUT GOD KNOWS WHATS BEST FOR HIS CHILDREN!! ALWAYS!! IN EVERY CIRCUMSTANCE!! NO MATTER WHAT!! Me and one other girl who I had become very close with got put on the same team which was more of a blessing than I could ever tell you, and I am so extremely excited to announce that I am now part of an unstoppable band of ladies who love King Jesus more than peanut butter and ice-cream cake! They love each other fervently and will stop at nothing to see the kingdom advanced here on earth!!
The next few days of camp were wild, our squad of 47 radical Jesus lovers came together and AMAZING things happened. We danced and had worship in the pouring rain… twice! We got our packs stolen and shared tents, deodorant, and peanut butter jars. Bucket showers and porta potties became a luxury and pooping became a main topic in both prayers and conversations at dinner (sorry mom).Bugs were eaten (on several occasions), multiple times the ambulance and firetruck were called, we went from being strangers to becoming a church of believers from all different denominations and walks of life. Together we learned how to forgive and point each other to Christ. Worship and dance parties got all kinds of crazy. Prayers were answered, people were healed, chains were broken… and we haven’t even left the country yet!!
God has done so much in me these past two weeks that I never thought was possible. He is so good. HE IS SO SO GOOD ! ! !
There really is no way to sum up all that has happened in a simple blog post without turning it into a book, but I can say that it was one of the best things I have EVER been a part of and filled with experiences I will never ever forget. Countless times I looked around at the people surrounding me, pouring their hearts out to Jesus and I couldn’t stop marveling at the fact that this is my reality. Yeah, its really, really messy at times. There are tears and uncomfortable circumstances and seriously bad smells… But there is restoration, and wild love, and fiery passion that cannot be put into words. And the mess is absolutely beautiful.
To all my sponsors and prayer warriors: I genuinely cannot and never will be able to thank you enough. Your generosity is changing lives!!! Please reach out to me if you have any questions or anything at all you would like me to be in prayer for!! (that goes for everyone not just sponsors!! 
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This post was very long so congrats if you made it all the way through!! I love each and every one of you with all my heart, please share some sprinkles of Jesus with those around you today and remind yourself that you are BLESSED REDEEMED LOVED CHOSEN ACCEPTED ADOPTED BEAUTIFUL AND SIGNIFICANT ! ! !
