Let’s Begin with Camp Highlights:
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We are C Squad and have established a new squad name – C-STERS!
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Monica’s excitement for Zaxby’s and bucket showers.
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Each day was a different culture day – (I got to eat with my hands on India and Africa day!)
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I ate a fried cricket, which tastes like dried snap peas.
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Everybody on my team passed their fitness tests!
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We worshiped under the stars after being dropped off at a campsite with only a few hammocks, 3 tarps, and ten sleeping bags (There were 21 of us that night. No tents either.)
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Finding out a wild boar was snooping around our campsite. Staying awake all night… we all swear we heard it.
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The teaching was solid, challenging us to be disciplined and selfless in the way of the Lord, rather than submitting to the ways of our culture.
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We won the dance contest portion of Squad Wars, featuring a haka led by a former C Squad member from New Zealand.
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Our leadership team are incredible role models.
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Several people were baptized at training camp, including one who was baptized on his birthday!
Only the Beginning:
“Freedom.”
This word haunted me as I stepped out of an old van onto the gravel driveway of Adventures in Missions, my home for the next 10 days. I looked around, smelling the Georgia mountain air and admiring the sky that seemed a little closer than it was in Kansas.
I began to walk so quickly toward my destination that I forgot to hug the family member that drove me. There was a mixture of nervousness, excitement, anticipation, and confusion. Ashlyn Hermann and I had been traveling for 3 days and we were ready to see what God had in store for us. We walked to the circle drive and registered, feeling the mutual weight of what’s to come. Soon after, we picked up our large packs and daypacks, wished each other luck and parted ways to go find our respective squads. As I walked down the road, I wondered if I would recognize everyone’s face, for we had only spoken over the internet and FaceTime in the last year.
As soon as I got there, I was welcomed by the beautiful voices exclaiming “Mary Beth! It’s you!!!” Even though I had a giant bag on my back and a daypack on my front, I hugged everyone in the circle (which was extremely comical, but somehow they managed to get their arms around me). I went to set up my tent beside a line of trees, thinking “I haven’t camped in years and now I’m living off the land for 10 days. This will be exciting!” Just as I was lost in thought three women followed me. “Do you need any help?”
I was surprised. “Sure!” I replied.
As these women stayed and talked with me, immediately I knew this squad was different. These women were unlike any other. There was a reigning peace and understanding shared between us, something only knit together by the Holy Spirit.
We sat in a circle and asked those fun “get to know you” questions that seem silly, yet inviting in order to understand one another. There was laughter, joy, and questioning going on in all of us. “These are the people I am going to spend a year with. Who are they? How do they work?” I found myself analyzing and admiring the beautiful characteristics of each individual, hoping and praying that I would be enough for them.
“Freedom,” my heart whispered.
The next few days were spent in worship, prayer, and team activities with one another, attending speaking sessions and squad meetings. Each of us coming alongside each other, pulling our own weight and working together in the activities they had for us. I recognized instantly that our squad was full of women with a selfless and servant heart. I couldn’t wait to get to know them, they were already amazing role models to me.
Every day, we had 2 worships sessions, but one morning was particularly special. We had been chewing on the words of one of our speakers, who gave a talk about the Holy Spirit. I never understood the consistency of this part of the Trinity, thinking its appearance was solely dependent on my righteousness and perfection. My ideas shattered that morning, breaking the silence of the guilt that I held onto for years. Something occurred to me that never has – the Holy Spirit lives IN us. Not above, beside, or below. INSIDE our bodies, our very temples that invite it to dwell. This changed me that morning, breaking down one more wall surrounding my heart. When I looked around, I saw the same was happening to all squads. As the worship leaders stepped up to the microphone, I noticed the painting behind them that said “Praise” with all of the words of the doxology written below:
“Praise God from whom all blessings flow Praise Him all creatures here below Praise Him above ye Heavenly hosts Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.”The woman at the mic invited us to speak these words: “Father… I belong to you.” I breathed in “Father,” but what I breathed out hit the depths of my soul – “I belong.” As I said this over and over again, the weight of the Lord’s glory and majesty filled my soul. These words hit the depth of of my heart and reigned over the chains to be broken and the lies that were filling my head. His Spirit has been here the whole time and even at my worst these last few years, he never left. Though I was slain, weary, wounded, and sinful, God NEVER abandoned me, though I believed He had. The capacity of the Holy Spirit welling in me grew and I recognized what was happening. I have been praying the last few months for God to break me at training camp. He was answering my prayers. As I was deep in thought, the whole congregation broke out into the doxology. It rang more beautifully to my ears than it ever had, even more beautiful than my college choir, the Singing Quakers. It was this moment when I realized the newness I was about to step into, the beauty and new beginnings of service that were to come. The new brokenness and trials I would face, and the incredible growth that would happen with the Lord.
“Freedom.” He was still whispering to me through all of this.
This hour set the tone of the rest of my time at camp. My ears heard all things through spiritual ears, my eyes seeing with spiritual eyes… something I had not participated in for years. The lies of emotions slowly rolled away and the eyes of the Holy Spirit filled my vision. My time at camp was becoming peaceful and my heart at ease.
One day, we met our leadership team, the people residing over our squad. They spoke many prophecies and visions over us. One mentioned freedom. My heart jumped! She felt like God was going to use our squad to set free those we minister to, our fellow squad mates, ourselves, and our families. Our squad was already beginning in an anointed manner, as it was made known that we are the first all-female squad in World Race history.
Our squad mentor came the next day, sharing God told her we are “small but mighty” and “anointed.” He gave her a picture of David and Goliath, stating we would conquer many Goliaths in the year to come. God could have chosen Ruth, Naomi, Esther, Mary… nope. He chose David. Why? David was a man with a sensitive heart, he was a man after God’s own heart, and he was anointed. Through his trials and iniquities he never ceased to go back to the Lord and fall on His face before Him. He was a great man, looking out for his kingdom and always honest with the Lord concerning his emotions. The story of David has heavily been on my mind the last few years. Everything I have been intrigued by, everything the Lord has told me, and everything I have prayed about is a puzzle that is beginning to look like a picture, and the framework has been put together at training camp. God has been faithful to the things He has told me, and I cannot wait to see Him fulfill more of His promises that are still awaiting.
“Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” Mark 11:23-24
A Life for A Life, A Short Story of Ministry at Camp:
God really does answer prayer. He enjoys leading us down paths of righteousness. This was so evident when we drove to Clarmount, Georgia with no plan, but only an instruction – to find what ministry the Lord had for us there.
My team and I gathered in a circle and asked God to tell us where He needed us. As we prayed, someone received a picture of a flag, one a white picket fence and white pillars, another saw a white door with a black frame and a red doorknob. I saw the letter B. I was sure I was just imagining things and that this would not be significant on our search. Low and behold, we turned around and found our house, with a bold letter B on the front. The only difference was the door was red with a black frame. Nervous and a little baffled, we went to see what the Lord had for us there. As we walked up the steps, I saw a sign “Welcome to the Blacks.” “No way,” we all muttered to ourselves. After knocking, a man appeared between his doorway, wearing all white. Even his hair was white. His ring finger was decorated with a black wedding band. We were in awe that God fulfilled this part of the vision! Studdering through her amazement, my team leader began speaking to him, asking if he needed prayer. The man was on guard for a bit, but as we started praying, he was deeply moved. He had a friend who just had surgery regarding cancer, when the doctors found a heart problem and were able to fix it. As we began praying with him, he softened. His stature became at peace, knowing the Father had it all in his hands. When we were done, I looked up and into his eyes, which were getting a little watery. “Thank you ladies. Good luck with everything!” He was so grateful.
We walked away, humbled. When God calls us out of our comfort zone, we MUST respond. It is our duty to do so. No matter how uncomfortable it may be, He calls you equipped, that you may be a light for those walking in darkness. I pray the encouragement the man received from God that day caused him to go home praising the Lord, so that he may encourage someone else later on.
Jesus gave his life so that we may have life. He then calls us to give up our own worldly wants and ways to fulfill His desires of seating His children at His table. Jon Foreman states it best in his song “All of God’s Children:”
“When the things that you can’t hold onto Are the ones that you wish you could keep Are you really ready to pay for Love If it costs you everything?”I have been asking myself this question all summer. For some, paying for Love may look like giving up everything you have ever known and travelling around the world. For others, it may look like putting away anger, malice, and rage (Colossians 3:8 and Ephesians 4:31). It could also be going out of your comfort zone to speak life into someone. Whatever it is, you are called to put your desires and ways of life on hold, even if it is only for a moment. I want to encourage you that it is possible to lay down your sin, your iniquity, and anything else that may be holding you back from believing in your importance to God’s Kingdom. Jesus gave His life so that you may live and share His life with others!
***I challenge you to ask the Lord daily for 7 days to provide an encounter where you serve out of your comfort zone and learn of your importance to the Kingdom. Comment below and share your experiences! ***
My friends, it is all coming together. God moved at training camp. Our squad prayed over each other and never ceased to fight for one another during that 10 days. We are not going down without a fight this year. I cannot wait to see how we defy culture’s strongholds over and over again this year. The women on my squad are Godly, disciplined, and strong. God is the author of our new family and I know we will strive to put Him in the middle of it. To my readers, the Lord rewrites your story. He loves to set His children free, He delights in showing you His love. Mark my words, Satan can never win. God equipped you to overcome.
Praying for Your Light to Shine,
Murbs
