#WRECKED : How Training Camp Wrecked Me.

1) showering – despite 40 degree weather, bucket showers aren’t quite so bad. Eventually your body gets numb to the cold. Plus being surrounded by so many warm hearts makes the cold seem a lot less cold.

 

2) hum (meal) ility  – Training camp taught me a lot about being humble and serving others with humility. We served each other at all meals and made sure everyone got the same portion despite realistically there not being ”enough” food for us, but my heart has never felt so full. I actually enjoyed eating with my fingers and crickets are pretty tasty.  

 

 

 

 

One night the men on our squad surprised us with a feet washing ceremony, to symbolize

servanthood and humility towards us. It was beautiful and I cried . These men are awesome ! Can’t wait to learn more from them as we work together next year ! 

 

 

 

 

3) SHAMELESSLY WORSHIP!!! – worship can be crazy, can be wild and even unharmonized. In fact, being in a room surrounded by people singing different songs / sounds / words at the same time is probably the most beautiful thing I’ve ever heard. Never be afraid to let the spirit move inside you and worship BOLDLY ! 

 

 

4) Provision – I saw the Lord provide in many ways at camp but one in particular was our first day at camp. We had only been there about 2 hours , when one of our leaders announced to our group that one of our members needed an epipen to stay at camp. Before she even finished her sentence , in 40 seconds over $300 was raised . WOW, if that ain’t provision then I don’t know what is. How encouraging it is to know that even though provision can come in different ways, ultimately our God will provide for us! YEAH , GO PAPA! 

 

5) Obedience and listening to the Holy Spirit – sometimes we are afraid to let the Spirit move us (myself included). One day we did door to door evangelizing. My group came across a house with a man working inside his garage . I felt the Spirit tell me to go to that house and I tried to ignore Him. I’m glad Em spoke up and asked if we wanted to go to that house because initially I was afraid to. So we went. When I asked him if we could pray over him , his wife came outside at that moment and said ,” you came to the right house .” We prayed over them and prayed for her mother who was in the near stages of death. How divine was the Lord’s timing because this couple was about to leave to go visit her mother in the hospital. With that being said , DON’T TUNE OUT THE HOLY SPIRIT. When He tells you to move , YOU MOVE. 

 

6) Forgiveness – a speaker one night spoke on this and boy did it hit home for me. The Lord revealed to me that I had forgiven others who had hurt me in my past but not myself . And listen , not forgiving yourself can be just as bad and hold you back. I learned that we don’t have to hang our head down in shame nor walk in bondage . STOP CALLING YOURSELF A SINNER WHEN YOU ARE A REDEEMED CHILD OF GOD. 

 

7) 3 minute testimonies and Fear- listen, fear is a liar . There is no place for fear in the shadow of our Father’s wings. BE FEARLESS. Don’t be afraid to share your story . Everyone has a story , and your story is beautiful . Sharing your story in a three minute testimony is much harder than you think , but be bold when you share yours ! Take advantage of every opportunity to share yours ! Do you know the average person hears about Christ 7 times before they ever act on it !  Don’t hold back! 

 

8) Privacy – first of all , what is privacy ? Being constantly surrounded by people really challenged me to be ok with not having ANY privacy. These people saw me. All of me. No makeup, breakouts , smelly clothes and feet.  I was stripped of all my masks and you know what , they still LOVED ME. I had more people ask me in 10 days , “ so what’s your story,” than I had asked to me in 25 years.  

 

9) No mirrors – not seeing my reflection in a mirror for 10 days surprisingly made me become SO comfortable in my own skin. Ladies we constantly (myself included ) spend too much time evaluating ourselves when looking at our reflection in the mirror . In fact , one of the first things I did when I got home was removing my mirror from my bathroom. You don’t need a mirror to validate your image or identity. YOU are wonderfully made , and made in GOD’S OWN IMAGE. Be unapologetically you and love yourself, flaws and all. 

 

10) UNITY , COMMISSION, and INTIMACY – I feel like these 3 go hand in hand.

 

 There are people out there who truly care to know you (intimacy) and ALL your layers. Who will love you unconditionally like our Father does. 

 

 

Our purpose as Christians is to live out one singular purpose : to go make disciples. (COmmission) And we don’t do this alone , we do it together , as the body of Christ. 

 

 

The Sojourners (my squad- pictured below) defines unity. One night half of our stuff went missing. It happened to be one of the coldest nights and we came together and shared what we had with each other (tents, clothing , sleeping bags/ pads). 

 

 

And YO check this out – our leadership team prayed over our squad prior to even meeting us at camp and the word they prayed for was … UNITY. How awesome is our Papa?! Shoot , HE ordained and appointed us to this moment before we ever came in to existence. Shoot, I don’t know about you but that gives me chills. 

 

Stripped of my old identity, the Lord gave me a new song. He broke down my walls and delivered me from my fears of vulnerability. I went in alone but left with 13 new brothers and 27 new sisters in Christ. In just 10 days , 40 strangers , each from unique backgrounds , with individual stories became my family.  Together as ONE, our mission is to proclaim the Gospel and bring universal glory to His name. 

 

Keep your eyes out for more blogs ! I will be sharing about my team, and the beautiful ladies I get to work with next year ! Click on the link below to watch our squad’s dance we did during squad wars ! We won first place !