I recently got back from my 10 days of training camp in Gainesville, Georgia. It was summarized best by one of my squad mates as “The most fun 10 days that you never want to do again.” The week included meeting my new squad of 38 AMAZING people, a three mile hike in 50 minutes with my 40 lb pack, the Man Hike (11.1 miles on the Appalachian trail), and endless mental, emotional, and spiritual exercise. It is safe to say that it was the most physically and spiritually exhausting 10 days of my life. Although I loved the 90 degree weather everyday and the Georgia red clay, I’m glad to be done with it.
My camp experience was filled with every scenario one could imagine. A majority of the nights we had different “sleeping situations” including, sharing tents because half our bags were lost at the airport, and staying overnight in an airport which was set up in the training center with loud plane noises all night long. Then we had my personal favorite, everyone’s bags were taken and all we had was a tarp.
Almost everyday was themed after a different country. We had to eat the native food of that country as well as participate in their customs. For example, on Africa day, the woman had to serve the men and the men were all encouraged to hold hands with each other. We were also served with one dish in the center of an eight person table for every meal and everyone was required to eat with their hands. This became very interesting when we were served mashed potatoes, rice, and beans.
During this ten day period, we were also pushed spiritually and emotionally. This involved being in constant prayer and being completely open with our squad and leaders.
We practiced many skills at camp that we will use on the World Race, including preaching, teaching, evangelism, and using media. I was required to write a sermon for a “conservative Romanian church” in one of my sessions. Others were given different scenarios to write a sermon for.
On day 7 of camp we were finally given our teams (group of 7 people that we will live with.) I am so blessed to be given such a great group of people and I am looking forward to spending my first three months with them.
Overall, training camp was one of the most challenging weeks of my life but it has given me so much comfort and peace about the whole trip. I am looking forward to leaving on August fifth for Launch in Georgia. Also I have raised $12,211!! This means that I only have roughly $1500 left until I am fully funded!
