After a long day of sessions that blew our minds (God is seriously so good), God decided to gift us a torrential downpour. That precipitation quickly mingled with the gritty, red dirt in Georgia. Soon enough (meaning about 4 minutes after the rain started because weather in Georgia is ridiculous) massive rivers of red mud were flowing around campus! Our tents were surely no match for the power of the crashing rain, so we were all (275 missionaries-in-training) directed to sprint to our sites to grab the essentials for the night and somehow keep them dry in our mad dashes back to the training center where we slept on the floor. Now despite the awe-inspiring maturity of all 18-20 year olds, an executive decision was made that we would all make the journey down the hill to the collection pond… where we proceeded to have an epic mud fight. T’was glorious. The picture you see above is my team – I will be living with these crazy, wild, intentional, beautiful, faithful young women for the next nine months, and I can’t wait! From the left to the right they are Madison Caster, Me, Payson Rigsbee, Zahli Hayden, Amanda Hopkins, and Emma Dollyhigh. Aren’t they so cool!!?? Oh, also, this is what Madison and I look like after a few days of bucket showers:
Okay.. I know what you’re thinking: “Laura, you just went to missionary training. Why are you telling me about mud fights and girls I don’t know?”.
Well, here it is: I have attended church camp every summer and truly believed that I’d experienced a great deal of the power of God, but these past 11 days reconstructed my minimal comprehension of Christ and His power, goodness, presence, glory, love, and movement. My understanding of the Church was demolished and reconstructed in truth. My thoughts about service were dissolved and then built up through Scripture. My faith was tested, reassured, and strengthened so many different times. I experienced the feeling of freedom (guys, I didn’t even realize that freedom could be a feeling. I really just thought of it as a concept.) and joy like never before and many times I felt beautifully compelled by God’s own hand. I felt anxiety and frustration and questioned so many of my beliefs throughout the training, but ultimately, even with my limited understanding of just how BIG and incredible my God really is, I found so much peace in the fact that God can use anyone and everyone to bring His love to the world.
The very first session of the week was about the Church. To me, the Church meant the building and the message and Sunday mornings and various leaders giving sermons of things they’d learned in their walks with Christ, but Matthew 18:20 says “For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.” The Church isn’t my denomination, it isn’t my pastor, it isn’t the building on the corner of 5th and Maine, it’s us. WE are the Church. We are the bride of Christ. When we gather in His name, His power and presence is so very tangible. (Now insert lots of lightbulbs going off and goosebumps emerging and you have my experience with the very first session of training camp.)
The small group of five girls that God has blessed me with to minister with is the Church. We will function as the hands and feet of Christ. We will spread love and testament and truth to all those willing to listen. We will be fearless of the unknown because God is a big God, capable of all things. He is our protector, our passion, our light, our joy, our stronghold, and our comforter. His Word stands alone, His words will be spoken through our mouths, and His body will move through us. We are His hands and feet.
Training camp was hard in more ways than I can explain, but I have already grown so much in Jesus, and this mission hasn’t even truly begun yet! Here is a short list of some of the most impactful messages I received these past eleven days:
-Success is being and bringing the Kingdom.
-The Gospel is summed up to reconciliation.
-The Gospel is God’s greatest response to our biggest problem.
-It is impossible for love not to respond to need.
-I don’t have to know every tiny detail to believe – it’s called faith.
-Vulnerability is terrifying but so necessary to ministry.
-I love writing sermons.
-Frustration is not the same as devastation.
-God is still moving in miraculous ways today!
– We are not leaving for a mission trip, we are beginning to live the rest of our lives missionally.
I could go on for pages and pages about this, but I think I’ll end with this: I do not know everything about Christianity nor God, but what I know is insignificant when compared to God’s power. He used a donkey to redirect someone’s path, He can certainly use me.
On the last full day of training camp I said “yes”, and I feel that it is only fitting for me to tell you all what that means and for me to tell you all yes.
I’m telling you yes, I will live with abandonment to further the reach of God’s Kingdom. Telling you yes, I will remain steadfast in Christ’s presence. Yes, I will stay committed to this missional living for the rest of my life. Yes to letting God transform me. Yes to being all things to all people in order to extend the love of Jesus. Telling you yes, I am in this and I hold all of you so closely to my heart for being right beside me in support.
This sunrise was beautiful, but I think what it means is breathtaking: the sun is rising on a life of intentional living, intentional loving, and intentional extension of my hands as the hands of Christ. That.. That is what training camp taught me.
Thanks for all of the prayers and support thus far <3
-Laura 7.18.17
