To all my future world racers out there, this is a spoiler alert so proceed with caution.
I’ve written so many drafts of this blog post and have just ended up deleting all of them. But I have had some time to process and I have so much to share so here we go…
Training camp. Wow. Where do I even begin??
For the last few months, I spent a lot of my time in fear of training camp. I had the same fearful thoughts as I did before bid night and pledging. Honestly, I thought they were out to get us haha. About two weeks before camp though, something happened that completely changed everything.
The Lord spoke to me so clearly one night as I was packing.
He said, “You were made for this, Lene. Everything that you have been through has equipped you, you are ready and I have SO MUCH for you.”
My false fears were gone and I was free to be excited and ready.
At the first worship night, the Lord told me that I was exactly where I was supposed to be and that he was proud of me. I had chills the entire time!
From that moment on, I prayed every day that God would give me everything he had for me each day. I realized how big of a gift it was to be there and wanted to soak up every single moment. I felt 100% present and also felt His presence from the moment I stepped onto the Adventures in Missions campus. I had so many intimate moments with the Lord and I’m really looking forward to sharing those with you in some upcoming blogs.
So, what is training camp?
It’s 11 amazing days with Jesus. 11 days of stretching, growing, laughing, crying and laughing till you cry. You are an onion, and camp is designed to peel back as many layers of your onion as possible.
We were faced with field scenarios that are likely to happen to us on the race. One day half of our squads’ gear got “lost”, so we had to partner up with a buddy and share. It actually turned out to be a lot of fun and definitely warmer! Another night we had a 12-hour layover in the “airport” with lights on and airport sounds blasting on the speakers.
Meals were done family style, 8 to a table and sharing what was served. Not gonna lie, after a few meals we laughed and said “well that was a nice appetizer” haha! (PACK CLIFF BARS, you can thank me later). Each day the meal was a different country’s food and we were instructed on each country’s customs. On Africa day, all the men ate at the tables in the middle of the room as the women served the men and sat on the floor. On India day, the women covered their heads and we ate with our hands.
Each day we went to sessions where speakers taught some of the most amazing lessons. Some of the topics that were covered include abandonment, discipleship, identity, intimacy, vulnerability and forgiveness. Many more blog posts to come from these!
We did lots of team building exercises that taught us to communicate well, to trust and see how each person works in a group. They were challenging but a lot of fun. I have the extreme privilege of being group leader for the first few months on the race! I am so humbled by this opportunity and pray that the Holy Spirit will lead me every step of the way.
We took ice cold bucket showers, brushed our teeth in the woods, got up really early, worked out, played lots of volleyball, used porta potties, sat around campfires, played charades, told our stories, star gazed, prayed and danced together. We became family.
So much happened in my heart and in my relationship with the Lord!
It was 11 Holy Spirit filled days. I didn’t want to leave. I loved every minute of it.
I was made for this! THANK YOU JESUS for showing me that and for the huge gift of going to training camp and the race!
If you’re a future racer, there’s nothing to be afraid of! Enjoy every second of it and let go of all of your expectations. Let go and let God.
Here is my training camp video.
It’s only a highlight of happened.
What you don’t see is people truly bonding, becoming totally vulnerable, letting go of the chains of sin in their lives, worshipping with full abandonment and growing DEEP in their relationships with the Lord. God moved in huge ways and this video doesn’t even begin to scratch the surface of how amazing it was. Enjoy:)
