So there I was day one of the World Race training camp with tears streaming down my face as the Lord had convicted me of my pride and showed me how self reliant I am. As I left that morning session I knew I was in for quite a week.
You see …..I don’t cry. I don’t break down like that. Its just not something I normally do. So when during the first teaching session of camp I found myself crying tears of repentance in front of people I didn’t even know I knew the Lord was about to do some serious work in my life. And boy was I right.
Sure camp was filled with a lot of things I expected like small groups, team building exercises and seminars on how to raise support but what I didn’t expect was for the first four days to be just about us personally. What I didn’t expect was for God to reveal himself to me in all new ways and show me how I had unintentionally put Him in a box.
How did this happen? You might be asking.
Let me fill y’all in on some highlights:
*Prayer Ministry 101. It was a teaching on how to ask people what they would like Jesus to do for them and then wait for the Holy Spirit to show you what to pray for them. As she finished the teaching and asked for volunteers, I felt the Lord saying to me, “Its your pride Nate. You think you have to be strong. Let me take your pride.” So I raised my hand to volunteer and before I knew it I had seven guys I didn’t know surrounding me to pray. They asked the Holy Spirit what they should pray for me and then prayed all these specific things about my walk they shouldn’t know. And the Lord just began breaking me down and convicting me of my pride to the point of tears.
*Grief Journaling. We spent 2 days out at a state park in Georgia and for three hours one morning we were given a time of solitude to journal through all our past wounds and issues and give them over to the Lord. It is a great healing process. I highly advise it!
*Walk of Sacrifice. We were all taken to a different part of the woods and told to get a object that represented something we wanted to sacrifice at the cross. And then told to sit down in silence and wait to be prayed for before we go on a walk through the woods with our object before we eventually lay it down at a cross. I chose an object for pride and the guy that pulls me aside says to me right off the bat, “I really feel like you are struggling with a pride issue right now.” He then tells me I have to finish last on this walk. Last out of 50 people! I spent two hours walking slow and praying about my pride before ascending a steep hill to lay down my pride at the cross. How freeing it was!
*Ask The Lord. An exercise AIM does in which you basically ask the Lord what you should do and then wait to see what he says to you. So we did this one afternoon. And get this….for many people it worked! (Also, I have a crazy story of a guy doing this – so please ask me because its amazing!)
*Physical Healing. A teaching on praying for people to be healed physically. I heard story after story from people on staff at Adventures in Missions and people currently doing The World Race that were healed themselves or prayed for someone and saw them healed right in front of their eyes! Does the Lord still heal? Its all so new to me but I believe as I step out in faith I will see it this next year.
Also, there were two nights of camp where the Lord revealed himself and spoke to me in a very special way. It is too intimate and difficult to share online but I would be more then glad to talk about it in person or on the phone. So please contact me if you would like to know.
I find it hard to do those ten days justice. They were life changing, I will say that. I thought I had a good grasp on the Lord. I thought I understood Christianity as well as I could. Then the Lord came a long and showed me, “Oh Nate, there is so much more.”
He showed me that as I become weak, as I am emptied and humbled he can do more through me then I ever thought possible. He showed me he is more alive and active today then I ever thought possible. I was able to give HIM my fears and expectations. I was able to get to know the fellow adventurers I will be spending a year with. My heart was allowed to dream about what HE will do next year.
I stand on the edge of next year now humbled, exited and ready for a year of brokenness, learning and discovering in all the new ways the power, majesty and depth of the God I serve. Exited to see what He will do through me as I see His glory amongst the nations.
(For journal entries that I wrote during that camp experience see the blogs: God is Alive! and The Lord Speaks to Me)
