So it’s been some time since I began telling you of my Training Camp experiences…I’ve had a lot more time to share my story personally, and think over the details of the trials we endured as well as the growth I experienced.
If I tried to sit here and write out day by day everything that took place I wouldn’t finish in time for Launch in January. So I will sum up the week in Gainesville, Georgia, a little shorter and a little sweeter than my last blog.
I ended with my sleeping situation on night 1 (Saturday, October 11th)…so I will continue from there.
Mornings are not my favorite thing at home in my warm, comfy bed, so they were also my least favorite at camp…most of the nights I got 3-5 hours of sleep (if that). So when we woke early mornings and knew the first thing on the agenda was to pack up our soaking wet tents and stuff everything back in our packs, I for one, wasn’t the most joyful of racers. Next up, exercise! We didn’t exercise every morning, but when we did we had squad hikes with intense incline and wogs (walking/jogging) in misty rain. And each of these times I cried and or threw up.
Meals were a part of learning community. 1 plate. 8 racers. Maybe you had utensils to eat with on a good day, otherwise, fingers were used. We ate ethnic food ranging from Asia, to Eastern Europe, to Africa and some Indian and South American food thrown in. There were days we quite literally had no idea what we were eating, and other days where a PB&J sandwich was heaven on earth. Quantity should also be mentioned…8 people shared what would feed here in America 3-4 people.
We had sleeping situations ranging from, lost luggage and sharing tents, to airports with bright lights, roaring noise and close to 200 people sleeping in the same area, we experienced building our own shelter outdoors with tarps and rope and snuggling with each other to stay warm (or falling off the edge of the tarp and sleeping on the ground…yep, this was me).
We had team building and formations, putting up and taking down our tent blind folded while 2 teammates directed us by voice… exercise in which we had to use our mind to beat a scenario or use or hands to put a puzzle together, line up on a beam in alphabetical order and then stay on the beam without falling off and organize ourselves by height. These tasks were fun and trying and they let us find the leaders in our group and helped form bonds with our would-be teams.
We had what has come to be known as, ‘boot camp’ day, women and men divided for separate physical endurance tasks…women first experienced what it would be like to be in a plane crash while traveling, everyone survived, but with extensive injuries and having to hike through the forest supporting one another. Injuries ranged from blind and deaf to unconscious and broken limbs. A teammate and I traded off carrying our unconscious friend (who played a very good dead person…even when being dropped in the mud…sorry Dani!)
When finished with this exercise, we were faced with an assortment of cardio exercises…burpees, lunges, sit-ups, all synchronized and when one team member was out of sync, 5 of whatever we were doing was added. This day was most exhausting…emotionally and physically. I was on an awesome team of ladies who were so encouraging and we had great team work to get through the experience together. So thankful for them.
We had incredible Spirit-led worship, teaching on what our mission will be in different countries, teaching on healing from spiritual, physical and emotional pain, dancing and karaoke and card games. We had great conversation and got to know the pet peeves, and favorite foods, movies, music of our teammates. We got to hear life stories, backgrounds, and how we each were led to The World Race… and lots and lots of laughter.
Another experience was market day. This was where we divided ourselves up into teams, were given fake money to barter for our dinner and sardined with 4 other squads in a ‘market’ with booths set up to sell food, homeless people pulling on our clothes begging, thieves taking our belongings, and everyone shouting. I was the barterer for my group of 6-7…leading the team through this hectic crowd and having vehicles drive in the middle of the sea of people. We made our way and ended up with a small assortment of food. Overwhelming doesn’t even begin to describe this simulation.
Did I mention bucket showers? Let me just say I took one of these for the entire week. 45 degrees outside and freezing water wasn’t exactly the ideal shower for me. Thank God for baby wipes!
The thing is everyone was in the same position, everyone stunk, everyone was hungry, everyone was exhausted, we were a community of stinky, hungry, sleep deprived people who ended up being a giant family by Saturday, October 18th.
I don’t really know how God dealt with my complaining throughout the week…I don’t know how my squad mates dealt with my tears and whining when I was just over it. I’m not sure how I made it through these 7 days without quitting.
I can tell you one thing, God used these trials and experiences to mold me. He picked up all my messy pieces and used my brokenness to form me into His image. He showed me that there is strength in my weakness; that brokenness can be beautiful. I found strength I didn’t know I had. I found trust in nearly complete strangers. I let the Spirit lead me when I didn’t think I could go any longer, I had teammates come to my side and literally help carry the load, I cried on their shoulders and prayed in the dark at 2am with sweet sisters in Christ, and it was the most terrible, painful, intense, emotional, incredible, beautiful, freeing and rewarding experience of my entire life.
