Well guys, training camp is done. It was a 10 day period of camaraderie, team building, camping in in-climate weather, and heavy, heavy ministry. IT. WAS. DOPE.
For starters, the squad is great. We bonded super well immediately. We have 18 racers on the squad, then in terms of support staff, we have 4 team leaders, 2 squad leaders, 2 coaches and 1 squad mentor. I’ll outline information about my team, the squad, and leadership in the next post.
Training camp was a pretty tough experience. Victoria and I had expectations of what camp would be like, and it turned out they were completely wrong. We anticipated arriving to what would be a 10 day instructional period on camping, field work, and ministry. wrong. so wrong. Instead, we showed up emotionally unprepared to get wrecked for 10 days. The best way I can explain it is with a poor comparison to a weekend youth or college retreat – the Saturday night experience is typically a hard-hitting message followed by emotionally, spiritually intense worship, followed by joy and general revelry. This is what camp was like. All day. Every day. For ten days. There was some deviation, which looked like gender specific training, backpacking a section of the Appalachian Trail, team oriented workouts, time trial hiking under load, and cultural training (to include food, which was awesome), but each of these had a tie-in to the Great Commission, our ministry work, or challenging ourselves to have open hearts to the Holy Spirit. It was the most in-depth ministry I’ve ever received.
How foolish was it to attend a ministry training camp without the expectation to be ministered to in such a way?
The level of maturity in the group meant there weren’t any weird or awkward moments diving straight into a vulnerable environment together, but Victoria and I definitely experienced some frustration with each other. Over the next ten days, we would be ministered to independently of each other. It took a while to understand the necessary growth each of us would have to endure and accomplish before we could be ministered to as a couple, and eventually serve together as a couple. This was, after all, the first time we’ve attempted to do ministry together (more to come on this).
John’s Experience:
My experience at camp comes down to two significant realizations. I have waaaay more to share on these and many more topics from camp, but I’ll save those for future posts and conversations. If you feel inclined, please share your thoughts or questions with me. I love talking about these things.
1. Shaping perspective needs to happen on a Biblical scale.
– One of our training staff members asked me what I want my legacy to be. I wasn’t sure. Over the ten days, this became more clear and I came to understand God has called me to be an advocate for perspective on a Biblical scale (or global scale, but Biblical is my focus right now). I want to help “public concern” focus on things that matter. How do I do this though? Well, maintaining a blog while I continue ministry will definitely be one method, but what about discernment of what really matters? Well, that, my friends, isn’t my call at all. If I try to push what matters to me, it makes me no different than anyone else trolling the internet, social media, or “news” forums. But faith in God to guide and direct my efforts will identify the needs to be highlighted. Most recently, its statistics. I’m bad at math. I don’t pretend to be good at it, but let me explain.
– Of 3 billion people living in the 10/40 Window, 82% live on less than $500 per year and 84% are categorized as having the “lowest quality of life”. This is typical information used to “raise awareness” of the 10/40 Window. While I agree in that these are shocking and disheartening numbers, this type of awareness is based on Western, Capitalist, Individualist societal perspectives. It’s judgement. We as Americans receive information like this and compare it to our understanding of a “comfortable life”. That’s how we assign meaning to these numbers. In a collective society like most of what is found in the 10/40 Window, it’s highly likely that dwellings are comprised of extended families with multiple incomes. This is not out of necessity, but because that’s how collective societies work. They emphasize relationships rather than individualism. Similarly, $500 compared to the American Dream is miserably low, but local economies aren’t based on monetary exchange in most cases. Barter, trade and exchange of goods and services is a common system of currency – so perhaps that $500 carries farther than what we assume it would, or perhaps that $500 is less valuable than we understand. I’m oversimplifying the comparison to make a point, but hopefully you understand. I’m not saying improvements in economy, education and medical care are unnecessary, I’m only saying the way we perceive the needs of the 10/40 Window are usually limited to a Western perspective.
– Here’s a comparison of ministry opportunities to point out a more stable identification of needs in the 10/40 Window. To provide some context, there are 0 unreached people groups in the US, and 2,200 in India alone. A people group is defined as a community of shared ethno-linguistic characteristics; a reached people group is one with availability and opportunity to access Biblical resources while an unreached people group is one without. Only 3% of the world’s ministry strength is in the 10/40 Window, which is home to 97% of unreached people groups. Last year, 32,000 missionaries came to work in the US – a population of 300 million with a ministry to populace ratio of 1:3. The 10/40 window received 13,000 missionaries – a population of over 3 billion in 55 countries with a ministry to populace ratio of 1:300,000. There is a gross imbalance of ministry work. It’s justifiable – limited mobility because of terrain, difficult travel because of limited infrastructure, political instability, and an overwhelming number of languages, cultures, and ethnicities – but there are more than 450 English versions of the Bible and thousands of languages that don’t have a Bible at all. In general, there is a poor allocation of ministry access and opportunities. “Go and make disciplines of all nations”. I understand there is ministry that needs to be done in the US, but answering the Great Commission to reach all people groups (nations) would require redistribution of ministry strength. This is the Task Remaining (to be addressed in a later blog post).
2. My attitude and self-concept in this arena have been horrible.
– Going into training camp, I felt that my contribution to the squad would be my experience in the outdoors, physical work capacity, and security/logistics mindset (read this post to understand why). Super wrong. Again. Through a series of prayers, face-to-face interactions, and conversations with God, I’ve come to realize I have a lot to offer. Anyone does. It’s a function of obedience and willingness to serve God, not a resume, work experience or passing a test. Everyone’s story, life experience and testimony is unique and we are called to serve for this reason. There is a misconception that we have mistakes that keep us from knowing God as intimately as others may, or that we shouldn’t or can’t be ministers; that no matter how hard we work in-spite of our mistakes and trespasses, that we can’t be as holy or as loved by God. There is no “in-spite of our mistakes”, only experiences. All of my experiences make me uniquely able to minister to people that maybe the rest of our team or squad can’t. Not to suggest anyone is better or worse at ministry, but there is an abundance of personal needs that need to be met and God may use me differently than anyone else because my story serves particular needs better. The end.
Victoria’s Experience:
Wow. Training camp, like John said, was completely different from what we expected. For some reason it hadn’t occurred to me that so much would be invested in us. I’m going to dive into some significant moments that impacted me during those 10 days spent in Georgia.
– One of the biggest things the World Race staff promotes is: Life is Ministry, Ministry is Life. Ministry is not something that happens at a certain time or place, but it’s how we should be living every day because we’re God’s children. We learned a lot about listening to the Holy Spirit and being obedient to what He tells us. During the race, we’ll have a lot of down time (the time that won’t be spent doing scheduled ministry work with an organization). This time will be a wonderful opportunity to practice the life is ministry, ministry is life concept. Some people may think being in one country for a month may not be enough time to make an impact, but we believe that if we’re willing to ask God what He wants us to do, we could make an eternal impact. This could look like sharing the Gospel with someone at the market where we get our groceries, or someone we’re sitting next to on a 30 hour bus ride (Oh yeah, that’s definitely going to be a reality). If we live with our eyes open, searching for people to love like Jesus did, willing to move when the Holy Spirit asks us, there’s no limit to what can happen.
– As much as I don’t like to admit it, I’m a pretty anxious person who worries a lot. However, I know God has a peace that surpasses all understanding, and I know He likes to share things with us. During the first night of worship at training camp I prayed that God would give me that peace. Although I didn’t feel at peace right away, the word “peace” stuck with me throughout all of training camp and by the end of it I really did feel a newfound sense of peace! Hallelujah!
– Community has always been a struggle for me, and this next year we are going to be forced into a very intimate community. Like John said, our squad is awesome, but that didn’t stop the lies of the enemy telling me that no one wanted me there or cared that I was there. After struggling with that for a few days, I talked to John about it, which led to an argument (because he’s tried to help me with community/friendships before, but I don’t always take his advice), but ultimately led to positive takeaways for both of us. Being married poses some interesting challenges because being part of a larger community when you already have your best friend with you takes intentionality, which John is very good at, but something I’m still working on. Throughout the rest of the week, not knowing about my struggle, multiple people on our squad told me they were happy I was there, and that they look forward to getting to know me more. The lies of the enemy can feel so strong sometimes, but I can’t forget that they’re LIES and they have NO power over me in Jesus’ name.
– There is so much more I could share, but I think this gives a good overview of what we experienced at training camp and what God’s doing in our lives. And like John said, we’d love to share more if you’re interested. Our goal for this trip and for the rest of our lives is to join God in His mission for His purpose FOREVER.
With Love,
John and Victoria Quinata
