So a little over ten days ago, I jumped in my car and drove down to GA with a tent, a bible, and a backpack. Adventures in Missions’s hqs are in Gainesville, so I was headed there to meet the 45 other kids my age whose names I only vaguely knew, along with 250 more racers on top of that doing other gap year routes. My favorite thing ever is going new places and meeting new people, but when I headed south knowing I was about to meet my new family, for a lot of reasons, I was still nervous.
So I could make everything I learned and experienced over this past week into a book, but ima skip to the end…and, wow, spoiler !!! it was awesome.
We did normal camp things like frisbee tournaments, stack enos, intensive hikes, eat crickets (which actually just taste like bacon), and take bucket showers, but we spent most of our time learning with and growing into each other.
The very first day, I met my team. Our squad, k squad, was split into probably around 8 smaller ministry groups. Mine consists of me and 6 other girls my age, all extremely fun and strong in their faith. They’re the best and they will be the people I spend the most time with on the field next year !
So the adventures staff broke down next year for us into a triple ven diagram, and gave us all three focuses, three circles: the first one is intimacy with the lord, vital for foundations of life and the most important part of a missionary. We spent time talking with God and learning to hear him through listening prayer, a way that led us to connect with him on deeper levels.
The second circle was mission, where we spent time learning about what exactly sharing the gospel will look like for us next year along with different ways to minister to women, children, and even how to write sermons, bc ya never know.
The third circle was community and we really just spent time with each other, our squad, learning to encourage one another. It was great.
Something I’ve learned since starting my walk with the lord is that seeking relationships with people who you already know will support you spirituality and love you as you is such an easy thing. Condemnation does not exist in the kingdom, so you can be yourself with faith that acceptance will come after that. Friends that are uplifting are the best kind y’all.
I left Georgia feeling dirty, tired, sore, but so happy and fulfilled. As scary as everything is, the more real it becomes, the more exciting the idea of next year is to me. 8 weeks until launch, that ain’t nothing !
I am so thankful for donations and all the help I have received but guys, as racers, our need for funds is still a huge thing. God provides, and he can do that through you. If you feel that you would like to help, please reach out to me ! I have so much more to share if you are interested. Prayers are also equally as important and appreciated for my endeavor.
Moral of the story, of my entire WR experience so far: I can’t do it alone. And I wouldn’t want to do it alone. None of us can. We were created together and meant to live in reflection of that.
Well, I’ll keep you guys updated And I’m sending love. Thanks for reading 🙂
ikh
~ Isaiah 52:7 ~
