Ok, so you all have been waiting to hear about training camp this past week. Let me tell you, it was the best/worst, most fun/most challenging and craziest experience of my life. 8 days, 74 bug bites, and 48 new friends later, God completely wrecked me and built me back up again. All in one week… and I'm headed out for a year in September. I can't wait.
To start out the week, we began by camping in tents in the wooded college campus of Tacoa Falls in the midst of Georgia. "Tent city" became one of my favorite sites, because it meant we got to sleep in our own tents- a luxury we came to appreciate throughout the week. We slept in tents, on the ground, in a school bus, in dorms, sharing small tents and family tents. We learned what close community looks like really quick.
We ate crazy foods. We ate beans and toritllas for breakfast. We ate a lot of rice. We ate with our hands. We ate with specifically our right hands. Ladies sat on the floor and served the men. Men held hands at meals. We bartered at the "market" for our food, a tasty mixture of frozen macaroni and meatballs.
They prepared us for every encounter we could possibly have that is different from our American dream. Over the next year we will encounter so many styles of life, and our goal is to enter into the story, to become a part of the way they do life and to love like Jesus.
Not only did training equip us for practical ministry and cultural encounters, but we met Jesus in a whole new way. Our squad, coming from all over the US and Canada as complete strangers, came together to experience the presence of The Lord like we have never seen before. People were freed from fears, past hurts, aches and pains and lies that they've been holding onto. The Lord absolutely wrecked our idea of Christianity, taking us deeper into relationship with Him and His people. We learned what community looks like, and got a taste of the fire and zeal to share the gospel that the early Acts church might have had. We came together- 48 strangers- to become a family with unbreakable bonds.
I have the special privilege to begin my journey with 5 incredible women!! We'll be serving together as a team for the first few months, and I couldn't be more excited. Be in prayer for our team, team Peculiar Treasures. We adopted it from the promise given by God in Exodus 19:5 "Now therefore, if you will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then you shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine."
Our challenge as a squad, and specifically for our team, is to learn to see God, to hear God and to listen to Him over this next year as we experience His presence and love around the world. We want to be the hands and feet of Jesus, carrying good news to those who've never heard about the Lord's love for them. We strive to become those peculiar treasures in this world.
**If you want to know more specifically about camp, I'd love to share so give me a call! 214-718-7048**
Team Peculiar Treasures: Kaylaynn, Lauren, Ericka, Kaitlin, Carolynn & Libby
