I just read Kim Daniels (World Race Jan 2008 Alum) blog sharing her perspective about what happened during our training camp with our brother, Taylor. Thank you Kim for your perspective and of course thank you Taylor for your willingness to openly share of your story.
I‘m on the other side of Training Camp now… Instead of going through it, I get to help facilitate it. I just returned home to Michigan from Georgia on Sunday night after spending 10 days with the June 2009 World Race Squad. They will launch out of Guatemala in a couple of months.
Eighteen years ago I became ensnared by the attractive web of hardcore porn. I was a six year old Christian and the 18 years that followed have been full of many different struggles. I mean, I’m sure we can all attest to having mommy and daddy issues, issues of self-worth, loneliness, insecurity, and hopelessness. I experienced all of these and more. It was all big stuff, but the porn, that eventually grew into a drive for sex, continued to be a CRUSHING burden with no escape in sight. I did experience growth and success in areas of my life and even bared fruit in the name of Christ, but I never experienced deliverance, deliverance that we all read so much about in the Bible. That is until this Thursday, April 2nd, on AIM’s training grounds.
From Kim Daniels(http://kimberlydaniels.theworldrace.org)
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On September 5th, 2007, I found myself on the grounds of The World Race Training Camp in Gainesville, Georgia, feeling like my entire world was being turned upside down. I was changing at such a rapid pace that my head was spinning… and yet in the midst of all the spinning, I had more freedom than I had ever known in my life. All of a sudden I came face to face with words I had been spouting off for years: “God is so much bigger than we think! And He doesn’t live in a box! And He isn’t TAME! And He can do ANYTHING!”
So… He showed up in a ‘new’ way that day, and I began to ask: “Does God really work like THAT? Do miracles STILL happen? Do the blind still see? Do the lame walk? Do the dead really rise?? I mean really… And do demons still get cast out?”
Big questions… and some very satisfying answers, but mostly more questions. I left Training Camp feeling like I’d experienced something out of the book of Acts… like I’d peered into a glimpse of heaven’s eternity… like I’d swallowed the red pill from the Matrix. My paradigm was officially shifted.
Three months later, on January 5th, 2008, I boarded a plane that took myself and 26 other ordinary radicals to Peru on the start of our very own pilgrimage that we affectionately call, The World Race. We saw all kinds of crazy Acts-like things that blew our minds. Legs that grew before our eyes. Ears that were opened up. Broken limbs that mended. Demons that got thrown back to hell.
But it all started for us at Training Camp— an intense 10 days designed to equip and prepare Racers with what they’ll need to thrive amidst the difficult spiritual, emotional, physical, and mental challenges they’ll face out in the nations over 11 months. After completing The Race, I know now more than ever just how imperative it was that God did what He did in me and my squad back in 2007.
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I‘m on the other side of Training Camp now… Instead of going through it, I get to help facilitate it. I just returned home to Michigan from Georgia on Sunday night after spending 10 days with the June 2009 World Race Squad. They will launch out of Guatemala in a couple of months.
There’s no easy way to say this, but… crazy things happen at World Race training camps. It’s almost as if the book of Acts is resurrected back to life. The Holy Spirit falls, it breaks people, heals people, delivers people, and It uses us as a vessel (at times) to see change come in others’ lives.
In the following blog, June 2009 Racer Taylor Griffith, talks OPENLY about his experiences at training camp.
Theology and doctrine BEWARE…
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Eighteen years ago I became ensnared by the attractive web of hardcore porn. I was a six year old Christian and the 18 years that followed have been full of many different struggles. I mean, I’m sure we can all attest to having mommy and daddy issues, issues of self-worth, loneliness, insecurity, and hopelessness. I experienced all of these and more. It was all big stuff, but the porn, that eventually grew into a drive for sex, continued to be a CRUSHING burden with no escape in sight. I did experience growth and success in areas of my life and even bared fruit in the name of Christ, but I never experienced deliverance, deliverance that we all read so much about in the Bible. That is until this Thursday, April 2nd, on AIM’s training grounds.
After five days of experiencing freedom from my generational family sin, feelings of worthlessness, hopelessness, the need for female attention, and a laundry list of others, we began talking about spiritual gifts like: prophecy, healing, visions, and intercession. After Pastor Mark finished speaking, he invited any member of our 34 person team, who wanted more of what God had to offer, even if we weren’t sure about all this stuff, to come up and be prayed for. I knew that I wanted to receive any gifts that God would give me, so I walked up, trying the whole time to fight off the doubts that continued to grow in my mind. You see, after experiencing days full of emotional freedom, and a pouring and softening of my heart, it was strange that on this night I didn’t feel a thing, nothing at all. As I’m standing there, waiting, Matt, one of our leaders, looks up at me from praying over a friend. He gives me a huge smile and points at me while mouthing the word, “You!” At this point I knew it was time to get down to bitness.
Continue reading at your own “religious” risk, because I’m about to blow the top off that box you’ve kept God in all these years! I’m not really sure why I fell, but as Matt and Pastor Mark began praying over me, I lost my footing and Matt slowly lowered me to the ground. They never stopped praying, even for a second. Pastor Mark walked off to tend to others, while my brother Will walked over to replace him. At this point I had begun to shake sporadically . I would experience short bursts of intense shaking, or a long sting of gentle shaking. My left hand began to take on the form like that of a stroke victim and my mouth was locked in some form a “O” shape. I began to feel something moving in my arm and mouth as well. It was as if my body were numb and asleep, without the needling pain that usually accompanies such sensations. As my convulsions grew bigger and more intense, I started sputtering. The men praying over me were encouraging me to speak in tongues and inviting the Holy Spirit to work through me. All the while I was thinking, “Hmm, this is getting pretty weird, but I guess I’m starting to speak in tongues!”
Matt heard my sputters and urged me to speak louder. Will was beginning to praise God, but his heart was telling him to, “Rebuke!” Will was confused, “No God, this is a good thing! He’s speaking in tongues and your Spirit is on him. This can’t be bad!” But his heart continued to shout, “Rebuke!” He was getting frustrated, so he opened his eyes. When he did this, what he saw and did after his eyes were open confirmed what his heart was saying. At the base of my throat was a giant lump and when Will put his hand on the lump, I think we all knew at that moment it wasn’t the Holy Spirit I was manifesting, but a demon! “Holy s–t…it’s a demon,” I remember thinking. The intensity of Matt’s prayers increased and I could literally feel the air around me growing thicker as my convulsions and their prayers grew in paralleled unison. Once Matt felt that it was a demon, he began asking God to give him its name. He prayed louder and harder! “Give me a name Lord! I need the name!” That was all Will needed to hear and he finally confirmed his heart with his mouth and shouted, “I rebuke you!” Matt immediately followed that with the demon’s name, “Sexual shame!”
My eyes shot open! My body took on a mind of its own! I had no control, but I felt everything. Anger, so much anger! Their hands had been on me, but they lost their grip as I tried to pull away. I started for the left side of the room, but by this time they had tackled me back to the ground. I was clawing the ground and screaming, “Nooo! Nooo! Nooo!” With a guttural scream that came from something deeper than myself. It was full of fear, power, and hate. I was literally dragging the two of them across the room. They never stopped praying! Time seemed to slow down and the two to three minutes after the demon manifested itself seem much longer now as I’m remembering it. By this time two more guys on our team joined Matt and Will in holding me down and praying over me. I remember seeing Warren and AJ with their faces taking on intense forms of prayer as the demon was trying to fight them off. Four men were trying to hold me down and I was still dragging them as I fought. I was so strong! Then there came the turning point…
I literally felt a weight come over me, that was so heavy, I can only assume was the hand of God. The demon was powerless, but I could still feel the intense hatred! Somehow during this time they flipped me onto my back and Matt had begun praying into my face as loudly and powerfully as he could muster. The demon looked him square in the face and the hate grew more intense! It was hard to believe! My screams of, “Nooo!”, turned to curses of, “F— you! F— you! F— you!” They never stopped praying. The process climaxed and the Spirit of God was upon me. The demon had no choice, but to flee, he was beaten.
I immediately felt an incredible peace. I was sweating, hoarse, and exhausted beyond measure, but there was a giant smile on my face. I knew and felt God’s love in the deepest parts of my soul. I had been given freedom, a word that has become the theme of my life these past days. I finally recognized the power of God’s people and the strength he’s put in all us Christians! The box of religion that I’ve always put him in was laying pieces around me. “Thank you Father,” I breathed.
— If you have any questions, I encourage you to ask! This is pretty big stuff for most of us. It is big for me! But I believe that our God is capable of anything! He loves you and wants you to know that He sent His son to set you free!
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Free indeed.
