Here is a little bit more about the 10 days of training camp!
First off, meet my squad!
These are the 50+ people (plus some training camp trainers) that I will be doing life with this next year! I had no idea that a group of people this size, with such a variety of backgrounds, could become family in such a short amount of time. God has blessed me with all of these amazing people.
Now let me introduce my team!
This is the group that I will start off doing ministry with on a day-to-day basis. It has been fun to already see how well we work as a team. Starting on the left there is John, Josh (our team leader), me, Kat, Johnny, Katy, and Carlyn. You can see their blogs and read more about them on the left of this page.
Training camp was all about prep for the field, and one way they prepared us was through scenarios. Just about every night our leaders would run through a “scenario” that affected our squad for the night. For example, one night we were told we had a 12 hour layover in the Seoul airport. So that night our squad and another squad spent the night in the training center. The chairs were set up like airport seating, the lights were left on all night, and they even had airport sounds going over the speakers. To be honest, I slept better that night than I did most other nights while out in the cold tent.
The food made for us each day was also a form of preparation for the field. Each day the food was from a different country or continent. One of the last days the theme of the day was adventure, which meant crickets for breakfast and cow stomach for lunch. Dinner was a market simulation put on by the training camp staff. It was crazy and a bit stressful with so many people and noises.
Each day consisted of multiple sessions geared to prepare each racer in three different ways. The first section of sessions were focused on intimacy with God. Topics like forgiveness and shame, and quiet time to spend with the Lord made for some very powerful first days. It was obvious day one that the Holy Spirit was present and moving in each squad. The next couple of sessions were about community. Speakers talked about what the next 11 months should look like living while living with our squad. And the last days were spent on ministry. Breakout sessions involved preaching, teaching, and evangelism as well as women’s and orphan ministry.
I hope this gives you a little bit of insight into the time I had in Georgia. God was doing amazing work in each of the racers and I am so ready for this January and the beginning of 11 months dedicated to the Lord.
