What:
World Race Training Camp – 10 days in small town Georgia, prepping ourselves for the next year. Included:
- preparing to eat the food from other countries
- eating grasshoppers (literally), and a century egg (look it up)
- preparing more logistically for when we leave and what to bring
- gaining an ability to quickly set up/take down a tent and pack your life in a backpack
- learning the difficult skill of bucket showers in 40 degree weather (not a mastered skill yet)
- the chance to meet and grow with the group of 21 people who will travel the next year with me
- group activities to get to know those 21 people
- some pretty wonderful baptisms
- some needed lessons on how to rely on the Lord, and what He promises us
- giving up my wishes and hopes for comfort
- a heck of a lot of joy
Where:
Gainesville, Georgia. (my two person tent in the woods)
When:
10 Days in mid-October.
Who:
All four of the teams leaving in January – and all of our leadership, as well as quite a number of speakers and talented worship leaders.
Why:
Required for leaving. Also, wonderful to experience.
What’s different?
Woof. If I’m being honest, my time at training camp was something I was not looking forward to. But once I got there, it only took two days for the Lord to change my perspective. Training camp created the space for me where I could not distract myself from what God was saying. It allowed me the time to sit in His presence and truly be surrounded by prayer and listen to what He had to say. Every day there were staff and leadership praying over us from before we woke up in the morning until after we had fallen asleep at night. Over those 10 days, I sat with the Lord to discuss shame, to receive healing from past hurts, and respond to His push to follow Him when He asks. The Lord also instilled in me, not only excitement, but INVESTMENT. Investment in fostering sisterhood within my team and my entire squad. Ultimately throughout those 10 days, the Lord showed me how to sit in His presence and simply look Him in the face. Learning to look up.
What now?
Preparing to leave in two months (exactly 60 days from today)!
I have more of an idea than ever before of how much is left to do practically. But I also have an increased assurance that I am moving in the direction that the Lord wants. I will continue to prepare for leaving and work full time until the end of December. I also will be continuing to fundraise for my next goal of $10,000 by December 21st!
If you are able to give or if you feel called, you can give by cash or check made out to Adventures in Missions that I will mail in. You can also give online by clicking the Orange “Donate!” button on the top of this blog page.
A huge THANK YOU to all who have given already! I am excited to share that I have met my first goal of $5,000 that I needed in order to be a part of training camp. I cannot thank you enough for partnering with me to make this all possible!
P.s. Prayers always accepted for:
- fundraising
- my squad’s fundraising
- the next two months as we prepare to leave in just 60 days!
Below are a couple of photos from Training Camp.
1. My favorite day of food: India!
2. My first team! “The Americanos” – Because we love coffee, and there was a coffee theme for some teams <3
