“And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come” -Matthew 24:15
Arriving at training camp was one of the most surreal experiences of my life. The event that I had been anticipating for the last 8 months of my life had finally happened, and somehow it still didn’t feel real. I finally met all of the people on my team who I only knew through social media platforms and text messages. It was filled with new experiences and deep encounters with the Lord. Training camp was something I had been so anxious for, and it had finally arrived.
Going into training camp, I wasn’t expecting to get much out of the training and the sessions that had been prepared for us. I thought that since I am in the middle of my youth ministries studies, it would just be a bunch of information I already knew, and we would just be going over the basics of ministry that I had already been taught. I was not looking forward to my four days of training camp and just wanted to get to Africa as soon as possible. Side note: you can ask anyone on my team, and they would tell you training camp felt like two weeks and not four days. Let me tell you I could not have been more wrong about what I was expecting to happen at training camp. There was so much that I learned about my teammates and myself at training camp. But most importantly, I learned so much more about who God is. Subconsciously, I had always but God in a box and dismissed the fact that He truly is all powerful. Of course I have always believed in the trinity, but never really thought about or recognized the power of the Holy Spirit. I realized that I had put more emphasis on God the Father and Jesus the Son of God than I ever put on the Holy Spirit. I had a stronger relationship with the Father and with Jesus than the Holy Spirit, which made it easier for me to put god in a box and “limit” his power. In reality, I was only neglecting the power that I had within me through the Holy Spirit. I didn’t realize or truly believe that all authority in heaven and earth had been given to me and that God wanted to use me to do the powerful things that He can do. At training camp I witnessed physical healing and prophecy, two things that I personally thought were not possible and couldn’t truly be done. I thought those things were reserved for Jesus and the prophets of the Old Testament. It was at training camp that I truly recognized and believed that God was omnipotent.
After four days of intense training, one military shower, dirty clothes, and an overwhelming amount of new experiences with God, the time had come. It was launch day. The day we had all been waiting for and anticipating for so long. It was time to leave for Africa for the next three months. The travel day was long, 35 and half hours to be exact from the time we left training camp to the time we arrived at our first stop at Impact Africa in South Africa. The next three months of ministry are sure to be incredible. I know that my team and I will grow with each other, with God, and with those we meet through ministry. My prayer for my team for the next three months is that God will use us to further His kingdom and that we may be His hands and feet to everyone we come in contact with. He doesn’t need us to reach the nations, but he choses to partner with us to reach people so that our relationship may grow even deeper with Him. My team and I would love if you would join us in this prayer, that his Kingdom may be flooded with new believers.
