I’ve been home from training camp for 2 days now and a few people have asked about it—what it was like and what I’ve learned. I entered training camp with very little awareness of what I ought to expect. In fact, most blogs I had read told me to go in without expectations. The only expectations I had coming into training camp came from horror stories—stories about an unbearable fitness hike, about setting up tents in torrential downpour, about eating fish head soup and getting sick. But that wasn’t my experience. Training camp was challenging, but truly amazing. I left the week exhausted, but my spirit was refreshed. And now, I’ve had many people asking what we did at training camp. I’ll be posting another blog soon about what I actually learned, but overall our daily routine focused on preparing us spiritually, physically, and emotionally for life as a missionary.
Our mornings usually saw us waking up a little before 7 to get ready for the day. Most days we would set up our tents and unpack during the day, spend the night, and then repack everything the next morning. This was tedious at times but made us familiar with our packs—what should go where, how to distribute weight, and what to leave at home altogether (about half the clothing I brought and didn’t touch). So, even though devotionals weren’t until 7:30, the day usually started around 6:45.
Our devotionals were broken down by team. My team, who I’ll be doing ministry with and living with for the next nine months, consists of all the men on my squad—Joe, Will, Ethan, Nick, Noah, myself, Blake, and Blake (there are two Blakes on the team). For the first few days, our mentors led devotionals, but about halfway through they left it to us to decide what we talked about. It was surprising and refreshing to be surrounded by men who knew scripture well and were willing to be vulnerable. This vulnerability quickly led to a sense of brotherhood among us and we hung pretty close together after the first day.
Following devotionals, we ate breakfast together with the other squads. Hundreds of people crowded around tables under a pavilion at the base of a large hill. Eight people sat at each table and the food was rationed accordingly. The first day my team sat together. After a few meals, however, we realized that by having all the men sitting at one table we inevitably found that our stomachs were empty, and we stalked the other tables like vultures looking for leftover food. So, after the first day, we didn’t sit in groups of more than four guys to a table. Our stomachs were fuller after this. To prepare us for the field, the staff prepared common meals from each continent we would be visiting. We had Africa day, Asia day, and South America day, each with its respective food and spices. Aside from an oatmeal drink that tasted like chunky saltwater that we had for one breakfast, and a plate of rice paste and lintels that we had for a lunch, the food was really good. It definitely reignited my excitement for street food in Thailand and Malaysia.
After breakfast one of the squads would clean up (we rotated through cleaning breakfast, lunch, and dinner dishes) while the rest of us made the long climb up the hill to the training center. It was a nice, air-conditioned room that became muggy as 280 people packed shoulder to shoulder in the small room (usually by now many of us were sweating from the Georgia sun and humidity, making the room seem much, much smaller). When everyone had found their seat, our speaker came to the stage. Morning sessions usually consisted of theology or bible history. We walked through the Old Testament over several morning sessions and talked about the Old Covenant, the Prophets and their Prophecies, and read about the examples set by Abraham, Moses, David, Esther, and Daniel. Morning session was dismissed, and we were released to our squad meeting points. I already love the Old Testament, so a lot of this was recap, but it was really cool to see how Old Testament prophecies and covenants were fulfilled in Christ and the Church.
Each day our squad made the walk back down to the pavilion for team debriefs. During this time we discussed what we’d gone over during session and did team building activities (which usually meant some sort of game that required all of us to complete). Team debriefs only lasted for a little while before we ate lunch. Lunch was much the same as breakfast—foreign foods and finishing the plates of the women at our tables.
After lunch we had another lecture. During this we usually talked more about evangelism and missional living. This was really interesting to me and the information will be invaluable when I’m actually on the field. I left these sessions with my notebook full. I’m writing another blog with more of the actual things we learned, but most of it showed us ways to break cultural barriers or gave tools to simplify the gospel to be shared with almost anyone—if not through words, then through pictures, prayer, and actions. After this session we had circuits to let us practice what we’d learned. We put sharing the gospel into practice and went over real-world barriers to sharing Christ with others.
We had free time following this. During free time groups were spread out all across the campus. There were three distinct groups, one playing cards and other games, others playing music in a circle filled with guitars and ukuleles, and others sat and talked at the pavilion. I spent time with each group, but generally used this as a quiet time to read and be alone with the Lord. It was a really refreshing time. After quiet time we ate dinner, often the only meal with any meat—and sometimes even this meal was without. Dinners were really good and usually filling after finishing the leftover noodles and rice, but there were a few nights that I left the table hungry and ate a jar of peanut butter like it was ice cream. I think I’ll bring some with me on the Race.
Our last session for the night began around 6:30 and opened with worship. It was a really sweet time with genuine praise. Worship was one of my favorite times at camp. It ended with prayer and we had another speaker enter. The evening lectures usually had to do with some form of intimacy with God or the Church. I took notes over forgiveness, discipleship, and how to study the word. The lectures we got at night really were life-giving and I left them with both conviction about what to change when I came home, as well as the empowerment to see those changes through. We were dismissed after a final team debrief that usually went deeper than the others since it was over the entire day’s teaching. There was about an hour of free time before lights out at 11. During this free time, we were sometimes given emergency scenarios (things like losing half of our luggage and being forced to live out of half the squad’s bags for the day) to prepare us for some worst-case scenarios on the field. My team and squad did really well through these. It was encouraging to see everyone come together through discomfort.
And that was life during training camp. We lived in tents, showered out of buckets, tasted foreign foods, and learned how to share our faith with people from entirely different cultures. It was a challenging 10 days, but it was incredibly affirming of the decision to go on the World Race. I can’t wait to spread the gospel with the awesome people of T-Squad!
