I have dreamed of this moment for so long. The moment when I could be back with The World Race community and culture. God didn’t lead me to the land of AIM and Gainesville after my Race, not that I didn’t pray for it, but now after nearly two years I am returning to be with an organization that I love. An organization that provided me with an opportunity that I still can’t believe I experienced. 11 countries in 11 months … who gets to be blessed enough to experience that journey with some of the most amazing people … we do and in my case, we did. We are blessed beyond measure.
Now here I am … almost three years ago this month, I was in your shoes, gathering the last of the supplies I just knew I needed for the Race, and trying to imagine how on earth it would all fit in my pack. I was trying to read every blog that had the word Training Camp in the title, sure that I could learn just a little bit more to prepare me for the week to come. So right now, in my first return to blogging on this site in over a year, I would like to share with you a letter that I feel you should read as you are preparing to join us this weekend.
Dear Training Camp-er,
Let me begin with a spoiler alert, this is not going to be the letter that tells you about every experience you are going to have at Training Camp before you have it. There are three reasons for this:
1. I promise my words will never do justice to what you will experience, plus there is a freedom found in not knowing all the details, because then you are free to truly experience all that the Lord has, rather than waiting in anticipation for what is next. This way you just live in the present.
2. I don’t even know everything that goes on at Training Camp anymore, because everyone’s experience is going to be different.
3. The World Race says I can’t, you’ll understand in about two weeks, on the other side of your camp.
Now that I have told you what I can’t tell you, hopefully you are still with me because there is some stuff I can tell you. For example, a water bottle is going to be your friend … don’t skimp and run into the dollar store for the pretty pink one on your way to camp because you forgot. I am only telling you from experience because you don’t want to be the one with the leaky water bottle, you will need every drop of water in the hot Georgia sun, trust me. Oh you don’t like water? Me either, get over it, you are going to want it, I promise.
I know you have probably heard it a million times but pack just like you would for launch because you truly need to know how it feels to haul all of that junk, I mean most important stuff that you could never live without, around for a week. I promise you will reconsider what you take after that and it is much cheaper to drive/fly with your stuff back home at the end of the week than it will be to mail it back from overseas. I mean what if you have to choose between rafting the Nile or sending home all that stuff you just had to have? I’m just saying, learning to live with less starts with feeling the weight of what it’s like to live with more. So please, bring everything, weigh that pack down, because this is the week to try it out and to see what it’s like, this will be a judge free zone when it comes to the amount of stuff you bring, but do at least limit it to your pack and day pack because you only have so many arms to carry stuff on.
I’m sure you have already “connected” with your squad through the Facebook. That’s cool, but remember, nothing compares to the actual physical being there together connection you will make at camp. If you are at all like me, which many of you are not, but for the few, the internet was my safety. I could be supportive and silly and fun and talkative and share my heart, all from the confines of my cozy home with a screen that still kept me at arms length. That was my comfort zone, I was sure that level of comfort would translate to our time when we met in person, but it didn’t. Being real, raw, and vulnerable from a distance is one thing but you are going to be living with these people for almost a year, so you are going to have to learn how to be present in person. With that being said, in my opinion, I would disconnect from everyone back home for the week of Training Camp … you are returning to them, and being present with the people at camp is something you are not going to want to miss because bonding will happen either way. You just need to decide now if you are going to put yourself in the position to get the most out of being with the people who are going to be your family for the next year of your life. I was scared at Camp, scared of being with people I didn’t know and I lost opportunities to bond when I put myself on the outside looking in. So buy in to the experience, you have nothing to lose, except that wall you have built to keep yourself from getting hurt, but trust God with your heart and you will be amazed at how this community can love you and support you in ways that you have never known.
Finally, be willing to let the Holy Spirit work in you and through you. I don’t say this to bash on any denomination, but I grew up Baptist and I was not used to some of the things I saw at camp in the way of worship. I saw people running around, dancing, shouting out, speaking in tongues, prophesying … I saw things I had not seen before within the church and I kept telling myself that wasn’t me. I tried to do the side to side sway so I could kind of fit in to what was happening, but to be honest, I was overwhelmed. Now let me tell you something, if I knew then what I know now, I would have surrendered that week to the Lord and to the freedom found in worship rather than worrying about how I must have looked. Be free at camp. If free to you is raising your hands because you have never done that, then be free in that. If being free to you is dancing, jumping, shouting and running about, then be free. Training Camp is a place of freedom. Just let the Lord speak to you and let the Spirit wash over you as you seek His heart. Be free. Be bold. Be confident in who He has created you to be and in how He has designed you to worship Him.
I don’t know you guys yet, but I love you. I love who God has created you to be, and I will be on my own new journey learning what it looks like to experience training camp as a member of the serve team. But please, know this now, when you see me at camp, if you need anything, I am there for you. If there is anything I can pray with you about before camp, just let me know. I want you to know that camp is your time to begin the journey of a lifetime with God and with others, live it up, experience everything fully.
In Christ,
Jessica Walton
Feel free to comment on here or message me if you need anything or have any questions! I love you guys, seriously.
