For 10 days I lived life with W squad out in Gainesville, Georgia. We slept in tents, took bucket showers, tried new food, bonded as a team, worshiped, and experienced God in a new way. It’s hard to put all 10 days at training camp into words. The mark it left transformed me on a personal and spiritual level. After the first team devotion, we were already crying together. I have never felt more safe to be vulnerable in my whole entire life. I realized there was so much I was holding in and to get to cry and talk about it was freeing. In the moments training camp made me feel weak, worship with my squad was a time of rejuvenation. There is something so powerful about a room full of people worshiping together. The worship leader’s voice was drowned out by the sounds of all of us singing together. After worship we heard from different speakers. Our speakers were powerful and my pen could hardly keep up with their words of wisdom. Below I shared a few of the thoughts I took away from their sessions.
1. Salvation is given to us freely, but living in the Kingdom will cost you everything
–> Once we devote our life to the Lord, our journey does not stop there. Each day forward we put His calling at the forefront of our life. Sometimes that looks like sacrificing popularity, money, or a year at college. It’s not easy to give up everything, but whatever you give up you gain a million times through Christ.
2. The Bible is about Reconciliation
–> The Bible is a way for us to come back and reconcile with God. God is love and that is what we are taking to the nations.
3. The ability of God to transcend cultures
–> Don’t judge others based off our beliefs and value system and don’t generalize a population. Instead, focus on learning about the individual and understanding their values and beliefs. God has the ability to transcend cultural barriers and is just as powerful.
4. You do not just receive honor, you give it
–> God never limits his goodness, so we should never limit ours. Everyone is worth dignity and respect even if our human-selves think otherwise. Maturity in this discernment is not a number but a choice.
5. We don’t see the full effect of our YES
–> Sometimes we don’t see the full picture, but we must trust that God does. All He asks is that we are obedient in our Yes to his plans. Even if the Yes is small, it may be part of a bigger corporate picture. Perhaps to change a life 7 seeds need to be planted and you planted the 5th seed. You may not have seen the change happen, but because you were obedient to the Yes that person is one step closer to finding the Lord. Therefore, do not be disappointed or discouraged if your Yes does not immediately seem to be fruitful. We can’t always see the full picture of actions, but the Lord will honor your obedience in the small Yes.
Now a huge part of these past 10 transforming days was the women and men I got to walk with. During training camp, I have never felt more reassured about God’s plan for me. I saw him tell me yes in so many ways. The way my squad instantly bonded reassured me that he put me with a group of people that would help me stay strong these next nine months. The spirit my squad has gave me spirit on the days I simply just felt exhausted and then there were little things like getting to be the first to hike in the cool morning air and therefore putting us first in the shower lines. The five ladies I was teamed up with became some of my best friends within the first day. We instantly created a safe environment for us to be vulnerable in. It is a team of gentle, patient, compassionate, honest, and funny women. The communication is so intentional and effective. The most crazy part about this is that everyone that is on my squad and my team are from all over the country. You can’t call it a coincidence when 43 men and women from all over the world (Costa Rica and Australia) come together and effortlessly form a family of brothers and sisters who are ready to sacrifice their control on the future and are willing to say yes to the unknown. As I sit here writing this, I am still blown away by God’s intentional and perfect timing in each of our lives. I could not imagine living life without one of these people now that I know them.
I’ve been throwing a lot of terminology around so before I continue here’s some clarification…
– SQUAD: 43 people I am traveling to the countries with and living with
– TEAM: 5 people I will be doing ministry with on a daily basis
So let me introduce you to the five wonderful women I’m going to be living life with…
INTRODUCING: TEAM EKKLESIA
Ekklesia is Greek for the Church; the ones called out. We chose this name to be a reminder of our mission each day we wake up and begin ministry. We were all called to this season and we wanted to be reminded of our obedience to follow His calling. As a team and individuals, we are an extension of the church and the way we live our lives and minister to others reflects it. It’s a reminder of our calling to love and that together we have a like minded mission to drive us through each day.
BRI MOORE, 19
From: Fort Collins, Colorado
Why the World Race? : “God wrecked my life in such an amazing way this last year and I want others to feel his reckless and endless love like I did and do.”
What country are you most excited for and why? : “Thailand because I love the temples and elephants and I’m really excited to evangelize to the Thai people.”
Favorite training camp memory: “Love, love, love worship! There is something truly amazing about 200 people screaming and singing at the top of their lungs all just to praise the Lord.”
Favorite Bible verse: Psalm 18:33
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Sadie Reese, 18
From: Miami, Florida
Why the World Race? : “I chose the World Race because I seek to obey God in everything I do even if it means losing a lot. Also I love and have such a passion for MISSIONS, travel, different cultures, religions, and people.”
What country are you most excited for and why? : “Thailand and I am most excited because a big ministry there is to love on individuals who have been made victims of sex trafficking and i am incredibly passionate about that. I pray God will use us to remind the women how worthy, how loved, and how deserving they are.”
Favorite training camp memory: “Dancing!! W squad loves, loves, loves to dance and I absolutely adore that!”
Favorite Bible verse: John 8:32
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Shelby Jenkins, 19
From: Texas but now lives in Alaska!
Why the World Race? : “Because God said he had something better for my life.”
What country are you most excited for and why? : “I am most excited for Thailand because of the culture.”
Favorite training camp memory: “Bucket Showers!!!”
Favorite Bible verse: 1 Corinthians 16:14
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Anna Bearrs, 18
From: Buena Vista, Colorado
Why the World Race? : “A few years ago a really good family friend did the World Race and came back and it was so evident that it changed her life. Her testimony is something that has always stuck with me. As the years went on, the World Race continued to be brought up to me. As I was trying to decide what was next for me after high school, I felt like God had just put this on my heart and as much as I tried to run from it God kept bringing it back. So I decided to finally say yes and I am so ready to say yes to God for the rest of my life because he has my future planned out way better than I could ever. God moves in mysterious ways and pushes us out of our comfort zone, only to make us so much stronger than we could ever do on our own. The Lord has been preparing me for this for so many years and it’s a beautiful thing to look back at the last few years and to understand why. God has put a fire in my heart for missions and I can’t wait to live that out.”
What country are you most excited for and why? : “I am most excited for Thailand, mostly because I love Thai food and I can’t wait to experience their culture!”
Favorite training camp memory: “Helping Kaya get over her fear of insects, smashing one bug at a time and bucket showers, definitely mentionable.”
Favorite Bible verse: Jeremiah 29:11
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Ellie Miller, 17
From: College Station, Texas
Why the World Race? : “I chose the World Race out of an overflow of love for the one who gave it all for me, Jesus. I also chose the Race because our whole lives we live selfishly (going to school getting grades, college, and then having a family, having a job to support them, etc) and going on the Race allows me to be focused on nothing but serving others.”
What country are you most excited for and why? : “I am most excited for Thailand because my uncle grew up going to Thailand and is fluent in the language and always talks about the people and the culture and how amazing it is!! Also because of the high percentage of sex trafficking which is something I’m a big advocate to try to bring to light and work towards a solution.”
Favorite training camp memory: “When we finished our 2 mile hike, we made it a priority to finish as a team and got to walk across the finish line all holding hands!! I was so triumphant and proud of my team in that moment and it’s something I’ll remember to get through hard days on the race.”
Favorite Bible verse: Romans 12:2
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More Camp pictures 🙂
