Training Camp! There are many words to explain one of the greatest and most challenging weeks of my life. Spirit-filled, exhausting, exciting, unpredictable, joyful, frustrating and life giving but that does not even describe a tenth of what Training Camp was. So after reading a bunch about training camp trying to figure out the best way is to say 11 things that I learned to try to give you a picture of my experience.
What I learned
- Expect the Unexpected. I went into Training Camp with little ideas what to expect yet I still found myself with ideas of what the World Race will be like, how they will train us, who will be on my team etc. Yet God went into my character, my soul and completely changed my perspective and started a process of working in and through me, refining me to be more and more like Him each day!
- God’s love never fails. This week I found that I viewed God’s love as conditional based on my actions. But through the lectures, prayers of others and intense struggle I realized the need to see God for who He is. A loving father that wants to be in relationship with me and will love me no matter what I do.
- I am so excited to explore all the different cultures on the race. Every day at Training Camp we were “placed” in a different culture with different cultural rules. So on Thursday we were in Africa! The women had to serve the men and sit separately from them while the men had to walk around holding hands as men that are friends do in Africa.
- Spiritual Warfare is REAL and the Holy Spirit is alive in us! Though I have had a little experience in spiritual warfare before, this week just confirmed that there is a battle going on around us all the time and the Lord knows exactly what we need to do and experience to prepare ourselves for this battle once we get abroad. This week I got to see people become alive with the Holy Spirit, a fellow teammate was delivered from a demonic spirit and the joy of the Lord filled every single one of my squad mates was an amazing and inspiring experience.
- Sleeping in a tent is a luxury. After trying to sleep the night on the bus with my 50 amazing squadmates, I have decided that I would rather sleep almost anywhere except on a bus. So that next night when we got to sleep in a tent, I could not imagine a better place to sleep!
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- We are Worthy! We are sons and daughters of the King and the Lord has handpicked us to serve him . We are heirs to his throne and God has already blessed us with more gifts than we deserve! Under the blood of Jesus we are made clean, new and called Worthy!
- Dance Parties relieve all stress! Being apart of U Squad I know that dance parties are inevitable, spontaneous and amazing.
- Serving others is an important part of the process. After the teams were formed and I become part of Team Throne Unveiled (more about them later) I began to realize the importance of service. We as women talked a lot about serving the men and what that means. But I found that it is a lot easier for me to serve other people that be served. The Lord showed me that I need to let the men of my team serve me and honor me as I try to serve and honor them.
- Community is amazing! Though our night on the bus was challenging, our squad came together in a dramatic way, forming a close knit family. Having 50 random people come together and support one another through a challenging situation, becoming United as one unit ready to serve the Lord.
- You can become best friends with 50 people over night. I never thought I would walk away with such a deep rooted bond to people who I have only known for a week!
- THE LORD IS ABOUT TO ROCK US THIS YEAR and do amazing things through us!!!!!! If Training Camp is just a glimpse of what the World Race is going o be like, I can’t wait to see how God is going to use U Squad this next year!
