R Squad 2017
Training Camp is the 10 days that World Racers spend at Adventures in Missions headquarters. This is prep time set aside to help prepare and equip racers for the next 11 months of their lives. It’s challenging physically, emotionally, spiritually, and socially. It mirrors what life will look like by stripping away Western luxuries, pushing us into community, and addressing the mess in our lives. It was beautiful and overwhelming.
Life moves very quickly and if we don’t stop and look at what God and life is teaching us, we may miss the bigger pictures of the lessons. As I go along this World Race journey, I want to be intentional about really looking at what God is doing. So here are the things that God was teaching and revealing to me at training camp.
I am Exhausted
In one of the videos about Training Camp, the racers say a word that describes how they were when they arrived to training camp. What was my word? Exhausted. My life has left me exhausted. To the point that sleeping in a tent for 10 days, not showering, and having no access to the outside world looked like a vacation and relief to me.
I believe I have a balanced life in comparison to how I used to be, but it is full. And I continue to not know how to give myself boundaries. The time I dedicate to myself is always being overshadowed by responsibilities and obligations and it’s exhausting. I still haven’t figured out how to prioritize myself and my needs. And that HAS to change.
We Categorize People in One-Dimension
Humans like order and structure and predictability, which is ironic because that’s not life at all. God created us to be complex and multi-dimensional, with an array of passions and emotions and layers. However, we want to force people into a category. He is smart, she is quiet, he is athletic, she is smart, she is organized, he is wild, she is free-spirited. That’s not right. We are limiting people by trying to figure out “where they fit”.
I have so many layers and intricacies that God has knit together so beautifully, and I feel like they get torn apart. One group of people value my organization and administrative abilities. Another group of people value my wisdom and adventurous spirit. I am all of that, and I’m searching for the space where it can be put on display and valued as a whole.
Stop and Listen in Corporate Worship
First, training camp worship is on point. I wish everyone could experience corporate worship that happens at training camp. The beautiful thing about it is that training camp worship is a great example of true corporate worship. A bunch of messy individuals coming together, being real with God and everyone else, and joining together to sing, yell, and cry out to God as His army and His children. Worshiping in church or anywhere with others is not about just you and God. It’s about you, God, and everyone with you. It is joining forces and exalting His name in unison.
I encourage you the next time you are in corporate worship to close your eyes and listen. Not to the people on the mics, but the people around you. It’s a glorious thing that lifts your heart because it’s your brothers and sisters in Christ, and we are in this as one. So try it and listen to God’s Kingdom on Earth.
Go Where Your Heart will be Broken
I suggested to a friend that she should go on a mission trip to Haiti. She’s been waiting for God to show her what she is supposed to be doing, but hasn’t heard anything clear. So I suggested to just go. And her response was, “Oh no. My heart couldn’t handle seeing all those people hurting.” At the time, I understood it, but the more I thought about it and the more I was stretched at training camp, I realized that you need to let your heart be broken. You need to stare at those children who did absolutely nothing to deserve living half-naked on the streets. You need to sit with women who want to love themselves but sell their bodies to survive. You need to be in a position where you can do absolutely nothing but listen.
It’s when your heart is broken that you begin loving God’s people with passion and you live your life listening to God. It’s fear keeping people in their pews when God says go to the world. It’s knowing that once you see that face, you’ll never be able to live the same way again that stops people from doing what God has created them to do. But you must go. Your life is so much bigger and more important than you can imagine, but you must let your heart break by the things that break God’s heart.
I Still Operate in Fear
This year I am working on overcoming fear in my life. Training Camp showed me I’m still operating in fear when it comes to meeting people. My squad is amazing. Family is one of the words that everyone uses to describe us. And it shows in actions. Every meal time, people sat with different people. No one pushed people away or gossiped about another squad-mate.
And yet, I walked away knowing that I let fear of being rejected stop me from making deep connections like so many of my squad mates did. My irrational fears pushed up a wall that I desperately wanted to knock down.
I’ve still got work to do. Praise the Lord that I have 11 months and an amazing squad to help me push through that fear! I leave in January and head to Mozambique. Please pray for focus and favor and for all my finances to come in.
R Squad Leadership Team
