I thought I was an easy going girl. I thought that I like to rough it. I thought I would like different foods and maybe less food. I thought I could handle being dirty all the time. What I thought was wrong. This week wrecked the perceptions I had of me. It changed how I view myself, others and more importantly God. All I can say is that I cannot turn back to way I was living before. I don’t want to be like Lot’s wife who turned back and turned into a pillar of salt because she disobeyed the Lord (Genies 19). God has placed a call on my life and I am tired of ignoring Him and pretending I never heard Him talking to me.
Remember when you were a kid and you stuck your fingers in your ears and said, “na na na na na na I can’t hear you.” Well sometimes we do that with God. I know I do! I stick my fingers in my ears and bluntly say to God, ” I refuse to hear you because what you’re asking of me to do is absolutely nuts. No “normal Christian” in their right mind would ever attempt what I am doing”. Then the loving gentle Father we have takes the fingers out of my ears and say, “you’re not normal, nor will you ever be. Stop running away and run towards your destiny.”
So here I am listening to the Lord in the middle of Georgia’s woods, with cold showers, cold weather (sometimes rainy) and with the most amazing, profound, loving people I’ve ever had the privilege to meet. God was teaching me what it means to live by faith and not by sight, to abandon all for more life, to take risks, to love deeply and serve without expecting anything in return. When I think about what God did in my life in 10 days I can’t help but smile. If God can break me in such a short time, what is it going to be like when it’s 10.5 months of true life altering living?
I want to talk about community. Community is defined as, “a feeling of fellowship with others, as a result of sharing common attitudes, interests, and goals.” At the World Race Training Camp there were 116 passionate, crazy, godly, young people who came together for this predominant purpose… to know God intimately, yearn for Him above all else and forsake ourselves within the process of pursuing . We stood together to proclaim Jesus name. We broke down walls of injustice, cancelled out sin, stormed into the realms of glory and soar above our circumstances; we lived, breathed, and saw abundant life and what it means to give all. Within the sacrifice there is a blessing that no man can take from you and a power that is unnatural and that can only be defined as you become less so Christ can and will become more. You are straightforwardly being stripped away and completely out of the equation!
I lived in intense and meaningful community these 10 days. We did ACTS. We sang together, we proclaimed freedom, we broke down walls, we prayed intentionally for each other, we spread the gospel of Jesus Christ, we walked in each other’s shoes, we cried for each other, we became less, and we laughed and danced. We were ONE!!!
I want to say that without these people that God forcefully placed in my life. I probably would be going back home with some garbage still in my life. But God put me in a place where I could share my hurts and my past. And God just said it’s time to let go. So this week I let go of my insecurities, fears and desires. And began a new journey with the Lord, one that I have feeling is going to change my thinking, worldview and life.
Training camp was not what I expected. I thought I was going to learn how to pack my backpack, and where exactly will I be going and all the tiny logistics of it all. Instead I was asked to face the biggest giant in my life. Me!
If you are thinking about the World Race and wondering is this for me? I want to encourage you. God is calling our generation and He is saying, “Rise up my beloved
and and take your place. You will conquer armies and dominions; you will soar upon wings of eagles. You will move mountains, you, will proclaim jubilee, you, will dance upon injustice. Will take your place among the least? For the last shall be first. And the first shall be last. I am the Lord, the Alpha Omega, beginning and end. I have called you to my side, to be my hands and feet and bear my name. You daughter, you son are made in my image. You daughter will sing new songs. You son will shout out in victory. I am calling the watchmen, the intercessors, the pro-claimers, the prophets/prophetess, the warriors, and worshippers. You shall be great because of my name and you will defeat the strongholds upon the nations. Don’t be afraid because I am the Lord thy God and I am with you. Be still and know that I am God.”
In a nutshell training camp rocked my world! You will laugh uncontrollably, you will be confused sometimes, you will get annoyed with some people, you will always have to endure rough conditions and get used to less, your exceptions will be shattered, you will love your new family and you will see God! Say yes! Dip your feet in, you will never be the same and you will love not knowing. Around the corner there is an adventure with your name on it, waiting for you. This is your invitation!
