Hey! So, I’m at training camp.
Actually, I’m almost back from training camp. Tomorrow is our last
day – sigh. It has been an amazing experience in so many ways! God
has definitely stretched me and opened my eyes to many things while
here. It’s been wet, cold, sunny and warm – just about everything
as far as weather goes. I’ve met so many awesome people from around
the United States and Canada! I’m so excited for our January 2010
squad!
So, to begin with, training camp
focuses on us. After all, we can’t be very effective reaching the
world for Christ when we have things in our life holding us back. So,
we take a good look at our own spiritual health. For the most part, I
feel I’m at a good place. I know God has worked in my life and
brought me to this World Race journey for a reason.
At first I was a little frustrated.
There are people from all different religious backgrounds here, which
is both eye-opening and encouraging. I’ll admit I felt a little left
out to begin with because I didn’t “feel” the Holy Spirit like
some people. I’m from a conservative Christian background so speaking
in tongues, prophecy and healing are definitely new things for me.
It’s awesome to realize that God still works in that way. Many times
we think that was only in Bible times, but I truly believe he still
uses those spiritual gifts.
So, I struggled at first because I
didn’t have these gifts. I prayed for God to speak to me through the
Holy Spirit, but I still wasn’t feeling much of anything. Then we had
a time of reflection where we carried a log on a difficult hike
through the woods. On this log, we wrote things we needed to
surrender to God before the Race. I had a few things, but my main one
was jealousy and comparison to other people. I needed to focus on the
gifts God had given me like serving, administration and
encouragement, rather than the gifts I didn’t have like prophecy and
healing. I’m still going to desire those gifts and ask God to give
them to me, but I’m leaving that to him on when will be the proper
time.
In the meantime, I will praise God for
how he uses those gifts in others. I know I will experience God
working in many supernatural ways next year. I’m very excited about
that! So, whether it is through me or one of my teammates, I know God
will make an impact.
The rest of camp, has been spent
preparing us for community and broadening our view of the world.
We’ve discussed how we will need to live and relate with our
teammates who will be our family next year. Then we’ve also done
exercises to help us relate to different cultures and be prepared for
sharing God’s love and salvation. It has been challenging but fun!
So, that’s a very broad overview of
training camp so far. We were also put into our teams yesterday, and
that is exciting! I will introduce you to my teammates soon! Thanks
for the prayers!
