Training camp was held in Gainsville, GA – with hot temperatures, humidity, rain, and red Georgia dirt that stains everything. Training camp was hard, challenging, and exhausting. I tried not to have any expectations going into training camp. Some parts were harder then I thought and some were easier. I have never been camping before, so I was concerned about the whole sleeping outside thing. It turns camping was one of my favorite parts, I loved it! Unfortunately, I got plenty of practice setting up my tent – we had to take them down each morning and pack up everything in our packs (when we did sleep in our tents) before the morning exercises began at 7:00 a.m.
I have been describing training camp as similar to pledge week from my college sorority:
– Not knowing what was going to happen next. We were not given a schedule at training camp for the entire week.
– Being pushed and stretched outside of your comfort zone (sleeping in a school bus, taking bucket showers, carrying a heavy pack for 30 min. for exercise, and eating unusual food to name a few.)
– Being emotionally and physically exhausted.
– Relying on others. We had to totally rely on our squad. My squad is made up of 55 people. We were given unusual “world race” scenarios and sleeping arrangements to prepare us for life on the race. The World Race is not for the faint of heart. We would not have survived the week if we didn’t have each other.
God was at work during training camp. Through all of the uncomfortable sleepless nights, amazing worship, excellent teaching, praying over each other, and getting to know my squad, it was a crazy unforgettable week.
One big part of training camp is finding out who is on your team. The squad of 55 people is divided up into smaller groups of six to seven people per team. The squad travels to the countries together and we then split up into teams when we arrive in the country. I will be serving and living with my team day to day. They will be a big part of my growth and experience on the race. By living in real community, we will encourage and challenge each other to be the most effective in our ministry by becoming more like Christ.
My team is called Relentless Hope and is made up of seven people – two men and five women. I am excited to serve along side them and are looking forward to what God has planned for us on the race!
I will be flying to launch in Atlanta on September 2nd to complete our final preparation with all of the September squads before we leave. Then I will fly to Guatemala September 8th! Please keep my team and squad in your prayers as we prepare to leave for the World Race. Packing, saying final goodbyes, and still fundraising can get overwhelming. Please pray for safe travels to launch and to our first country, Guatemala!
