June 8th I arrived at World Race Training camp with a ton of other people from all over north America to spend 10 days preparing for the World Race. For the first time I got to meet my squad, about 50 young people ages 17 to 21 who I will be living with for nine months. These strangers will be my family as we go through an incredible time of growing like we’ve never seen before. Knowing this I was super exited to finally meet my brothers and sisters, but also a tiny bit nervous.
Most people when they think of a Bible training camp they either think of something like a summer camp or a VBS (Vacation Bible School), But Adventures in Missions don’t mess around. Every day they would put us in situations that we might find ourselves in while on the race. For instance, one of the days they took half of our squad’s stuff away, this was to simulate an airline losing our stuff. This lasted for a night and most of the next day. We also had to prove that we were physically fit enough for the race by walking 3 miles with all of our stuff in under 50 minutes. The guys also took a day to walk 12 miles of the Appalachian trail with our packs. The meals were also part of the training. Every day was a new culture at meals, in both what we ate and how we ate it. This meant that on east Asia day we did not eat with our left hands, on Africa day the women sat on the floor and served the men, and so on and so forth. We also ate everything in groups of 8 all sharing off of one plate. This usually meant we did not get a whole lot to eat, one day for lunch we had some fruit and 1 sandwich per table.
After about half way through the camp the focus shifted from individually growing spiritually to growing as a team, this is also when they started figuring out what the teams would be. Before this the sessions would be praise and worship followed by some teaching (usually about the Holy Spirit) and then lots of prayer and some more music, after they shifted focus a session would mostly be teaching more practical things like teaching a classroom or evangelizing.
One of the most amazing things I saw through this whole experience was how the Holy Spirit spoke to people. Lots of Christians, specifically in America, seem to think that the Holy Spirit does not really talk to people any more but is mostly just kinda there. This is very wrong; the Holy Spirit speaks clearly to people. I heard Him speak clearly in an almost audible voice! The Holy Spirit is with us and in us, he teaches us and helps us understand. Truly in Him we can do anything! (John 14:26, Romans 8:26, Acts 2:38, 1 Corinthians 6:19)
Now it is just 1 month before I leave for Albania! I AM SO EXITED!!! At training camp we also found out what our teams will be doing for the first 2 weeks; the whole squad will be in Lezhe, Albania working at a Bible camp!
Also, I just want to say how awesome my team is (team Edifly)! You should go check out their blogs because they are amazing people (and better writers).
