I have been home from training camp for four days now, and I have been reading all of my squad’s blogs and trying to process the craziness that was my ten days of training. I could sit for days and try to create the most appealing blog or the most well written blog but I want for my blog to become simply an outpouring of my journey as unedited as will still be legible.
Having gone through training camps for previous mission trips I thought that surely I was prepared for the extended version. God has this funny way of bursting my pride though, so of course I was not ready. Day 1 the airport misplaces my hiking backpack with most of my important supplies (tent, airmat, clothes, coffee…). How do you make someone with a pride issue pay attention? Make them fully dependent on others. Going through the first 2 full days of training camp sleeping on the floor of @Andrew Serumgard’s tent, and wearing my same clothes that I had landed in Georgia in, I of course was getting the same rigorous schedule as my squad, sweating from the humid Georgia air, but I was also spending a great deal of time in prayer: praying that in my time of forced ascetism I would be more dependent on Christ, that I would learn to lean on my community, that I might use my time of discomfort to seek the great comforter. Day 3 my bag makes it to the training camp grounds just before I go to bed. At about 10pm, I held a mini-praisefest as I thanked God for the time of reflection and for the faithful deliverance of my stuff.
Not having my things was only a small part of my time at TC. The rest of my days were spent building community specifically with my team (the only 9 males on my squad: counting myself), with my squad, and growing in my relationship with the Father as AIM staff poured scripture and field knowledge into me. I grew to appreciate how hungry for the Father I will have to stay over the next year and into my life if I truly seek to surrender myself to Him. My brothers in Christ will provide a constant push towards Him, and I am without words about my excitement for the Relentless community that’s singular goal is to seek and serve the maker of the universe. Matthew 5:6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.”
I have come to a point in my relationship with Christ that my soul yearns to be in His presence, that I desire for my heart to run after Christ as hard and as fast as is possible. I know that over the coming 9-months I will have the amazing opportunity to partner with God in the works that He has already been at work in throughout the nations. I am unceasingly thankful for the support from my community that has been building me up, that has been sending me out to take a part in the Kingdom work. I ask that you pray for my team, pray for my squad, pray for me. I ask that you pray for the nations, pray for the locations my team will be in, pray for the people I will interact with. I ask that as you pray that you would pray audaciously. If you can comprehend how your prayer may be answered then I challenge that you are not praying big enough. Hunger for the Kingdom and you will find yourself filled.
