Hey Beautiful People!!
It has been a few days since I said goodbye to my Sojourner Family. A few days since Training Camp (TC) ended. It was both the longest 10 days of my life but it also ended in the blink of an eye. I wanted to write sooner but honestly putting my Training Camp experience into words is harder than I thought. I decided that I will write in pieces for different topics about TC.
Here is an overview of 11 things I experienced at TC (not including field scenarios, our 2.2 mile hike we had to pass, community washing dishes, dance parties, women’s day and so much more!)
1. My squad is amazing and filled with so much love and quirkiness (if thats a word) and we have the best leaders, mentor and coaches to guide us on this journey (we also won Squad wars-make sure you check out our dance off video)
2. We became pro at putting up and taking down our tents almost every night and morning- eventually we became smarter and decided to share tents for half the work and for body heat to keep us warm
3. Showers are overrated when you only have a bucket of cold water and the weather outside is also cold. A 2in1 Shampoo and Conditioner saved me. Also, it might have been because we were used to it but I don’t think we smelled that bad.
4. If you go to TC hopefully you love being around people because there is little to no alone time or time to even just relax or process anything. So much amazing information and times of growing deeper in your faith so it is worth it. It honestly feels weird not being around my people 24/7. (I Miss you all and can’t wait to see you in January)
5. We cannot unsee what we saw in the Porta Potties. These were our bathrooms the whole time and lets just say they were not cleaned out as often as they should’ve. Pray that you have a light when it is dark to make sure you are in the clear. On the plus side, it brought a lot of jokes and laughs.
6. Trying new foods and learning about different cultures was so fun and entertaining to watch people experience some foods for the first time. Every meal was a fun surprise. I could live without eating a “century” egg ever again but I think I mastered eating with no utensils. It also made me excited to try all the new food in different countries.
7. Snacks are Everything!
8. Not having a mirror was actually a blessing. There is a sense of freedom when you don’t worry about what you look like and still feel love and accepted by just being yourself. We went days without wearing any makeup, not showering and wearing the same clothes throughout the 10 days and I felt beautiful in my own skin. My identity is in Christ and not in my outward appearance.
9. God shows us his love in so many ways. Like so so so many ways! One way is through the Godly men he put on our squad. One night they surprised us women with a washing feet ceremony. They wanted to show us how much they love and respect us and how they are honored to serve alongside us this year. As they washed our feet (our dirty feet from camping all week), they spoke truth into each one of us, making us feel so special. Bring on the tears seriously. This was such beautiful act of love and friendship.
10. Worship is so powerful! So many special moments while we all gathered to worship God together through music. The Holy Spirit filled that room constantly and I felt like I was HOME and where I belonged.
11. I am going to write more about this in another post but I learned that I am not defined by my past! Jesus died for my sins and does not hold onto anything that I may have done in my past. I was free’d of my shame. His love is so much greater than anything I could ever compare to. He chose me, I am worthy, I am loved, I am forgiven. THIS IS REAL LOVE!
THIS IS MY TEAM: Team Valor
We will be serving together for the first couple of months
More to come about my beautiful sisters
There is so much I could write and will write but here is a nugget of my Training Camp experience.
I am working on putting all my pictures and videos together to give you guys more of a visual.
Also if you want to know more about what I learned at TC and/or more about The World Race I would love to meet up with you and talk more about it! Just let me know 🙂
#781-535-7548
email: [email protected]
Thank you so much for reading this, for supporting me and believing in me!
Love,
Kristen
