Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. That is the word that I would use to sum up my feelings and thoughts about training camp. James and I experienced much in the 10 days we were there, we were challenged, we were stretched, and we definitely grew.
1. You have to abandon something in order to gain something.
Peter and Andrew could not become Jesus’ disciples while staying in their boats. They had to abandon them in order to gain discipleship.
2. Discipleship is not just about us being disciples.
To truly be a disciple we must be creating disciples. This does not mean that you have to travel the world, but we should all be working at creating disciples where we are at. We should have someone who is helping us to grow in our faith and we should be helping someone else grow as well.
Photo Credit: Ashley Spriggs
3. It is okay to be hungry.
The food we ate at training camp was . . . satisfying. It usually filled me up about 3/4 of the way and by the time the next meal rolled around my tummy was rumbling and ready. But I also learned that we need to be hungry spiritually as well. I often get caught feeling content at where I am at spiritually, and I start to think that I am done growing. That this is as good as it is going to get. During training camp I felt hungry physically and spiritually. I wanted more of a relationship with my God. I truly wanted to feel like His daughter. Every time we lined up outside of the doors for our next training session or talk my soul was ready and hungry for more.
4. Bucket showers are cold!!! Even on the hottest of days.
Hose water = cold shower. What else do I need to say?
5. We are not heading out across the world to do God’s work for Him. We are heading out to see where God is doing work and we are to join Him in it.
God does not need our help, but as His sons and daughters it is our privilege to make disciples, feed the hungry, defend the fatherless, and pray for the broken. I have to drop the mentality that I am helping these people and that they are being blessed through me. I can really only do so much, it is our reliance on God that makes this work worth doing.
6. We are armed and dangerous with the Holy Spirit.
One speaker took out his water bottle, cap still on it, and pretended to “splash” the audience with it. No one moved. Obviously with the cap on the bottle we were not going to get wet. He then took the cap off and took a step towards us. Everyone tensed. He asked us what had changed. We replied that it is that he took off the cap. He replied that it was really our expectations that changed. When it comes to the Holy Spirit we should be leading uncapped lives. Our expectations have to change. We must live armed and dangerous, ready to go out and overflow with the Holy Spirit. We must be ready for God to show up and change everything.
7. If you are filled with the Holy Spirit it should change your walk.
Same speaker. Same water. Different analogy. He held up a cup with just a little bit of water in it. He walked around. No, he staggered around. He handled the cup carelessly. But because the water was low in the cup none splashed out. He gradually added more water and walked around. Then more. Then the cup was full. He had to walk carefully. Hold the cup steady. He told us that if we just walk around with a little bit of the Holy Spirit we will feel like we can act however we want. We will not feel, or see, a difference. But if we have God fill us to the brim with Himself it will force us to change our walk and our actions. People will see a difference.
8. Women are influential. I am influential.
What do I have that other people need? What do you have that other people need? When we flow into and encourage other peoples lives that is when we are the most influential.
9. We need to stop talking about Jesus, and start talking like Jesus.
Most of the staff members have gone on the world race before. One of them was there because he came to Christ when some Racer’s found him working in a hostel. He said that they never mentioned Jesus or the Bible to him, but they were the only people who had stayed at the hostel that remembered his name, asked him how his day was and stayed for an answer, and who truly treated him like a human. It was the love he was shown and the relationship that was built that won him over, not any sort of “christianese” that was thrown at him. Showing the love of God to others can be a powerful thing.
10. God speaks through whispers.
I’ll talk more about this thought in my next blog . . .
11. The American dream is too small for us. We have kingdom dreams now.
As our newly formed team sat around a table eating pizza we all realized that that message had really hit home for all of us. Many of us were “older”, meaning we were not 22, just fresh out of college. Most of us had left jobs and careers to come on the race. We opted out of the American dream for a bigger and better one.
So we came up with the name, Kingdom217. Acts 2:17 talks about how the son’s and daughter’s of our God will prophesy, the young men will see visions, and the old men will dream dreams. We want to go out to our ministry with kingdom dreams.
This is our team!!
Starting from the top, left to right:
James, Derek, Brooks (our team leader!)
Me (Kristin), Carson,
Amanda, Annaka.
And this is our first ministry!!
We will be working alongside a ministry called Macerudet (pronounced: mack-a-rue-det, I think) in Kampala, Uganda. We will get to see what African life is like big city style. Through this ministry we will love on orphans, help the medical staff, and work with students. You can learn a lot about this ministry at their website http://imacerudet.wix.com/macerudet. Check it out!
A big thank you to everyone who has supported us so far! You have helped us hit the halfway point! We are over 50% funded!! Our next financial deadline is August 21st and we have to have $20,000 in our donor account by then.
To help this happen we are selling a second batch of our awesome t-shirts. They are $20 each. Feel free to contact us with questions and to place your order! We truly appreciate your support.
