Ok. So in my last blog, which I posted a week before graduating from Baylor, I expressed some of the inner conflicts I had been having. Basically, certain days I woke up wishing I was just taking the normal college grad path of getting some random job and getting my career kickstarted, and other days I would wake up and be completely pumped about the Race.
After spending 10 days in Gainesville, Georgia going through training for World Race, I can say I am 150% pumped and ready for this. I have never felt so sure about a decision in my life, and God spoke to me so much about my uncertainties during my ten days in Georgia. Not only is our squad (the 38 people I will be traveling with and doing ministry with) absolutely incredible but I learned more than I ever could have imagined about myself, culture, and most of all: Jesus.
Before getting into the details of camp itself, I just want to say that God sure knew what He was doing when He put our squad together. Each and every one of the 38 people brings unique backgrounds, talents, and stories along with them. I was so surprised by how comfortable we became with each other in a matter of 10 days. We shared our stories, laughed together, and cried together. By the end of camp, it felt as if we had known each other for a year. Our alumni squad leader, Amy (who did the Race two years ago and will be with us during our first five months on the field), said the connection our squad has is very special and unusual so early on. I feel beyond blessed to travel the world, love and serve others, and glorify Jesus with each of these people for 11 months.
In addition to meeting everyone I will be living and traveling with, I also got assigned to my first team. I will primarily be with these five people for the first four months or so of the Race, and then the teams get switched around. Because Adventures in Missions has many ministry partners in each of the countries we will be serving in, our squad is often split into smaller teams that will be in different locations within each country. Sometimes two or three teams will be together, and sometimes each team will be at a different location. It depends on the month and the number of ministry partners my squad will be working with in each country. Leadership put a lot of thought and prayer into picking each team, and I am beyond excited for my first one: Esther, Hannah, Sarah, Irma, and me! I will attach a picture of us below.
While much of training camp was spent with my squad playing games, having campouts and getting to know each other, even more time was spent learning about God, culture, and everything in between. It is impossible to put into words the amount of information that we received in ten days. Not gonna lie, I became pretty overwhelmed and exhausted at times. However, the information I received really opened my mind to the most important aspects of the Race and what it is all about.
A few of my favorite things I learned (in no particular order):
1. CULTURE. Something that is extremely important to me in this journey is learning to respect all the cultures we will be experiencing and not bringing a Westernized mindset into our ministry. In all the areas of the world we will be in, people have different mindsets and value different things. We spent a lot of time learning about this and how to best respect each culture we are going to experience. One of the most interesting things I learned was regarding cultural lenses. In the Unites States, we live with a guilt/innocence mindset. However, many other parts of the world have a shame/honor or fear/power cultural lense. There is so much more that goes into this but it is honestly too complicated to type. If you have any questions about culture feel free to email me and I would love to call you and explain. But to sum it up, different cultural lenses mean that we have to go into our work with different mindsets/values. It was extremely helpful to learn about this and made me really happy to know that the organization I am going with values this.
2. COMMUNITY centered in Christ. I learned and saw firsthand how 38 people, all of different ages and from different walks of life, could be united together under Christ. I remember on one of the first days of camp, one of the speakers said something along the lines of “people here say they wouldn’t be friends in ‘real life.'” What is real life if it is not rooted in Christ? I see people’s different backgrounds as beautiful and a testament to how Christ can work through anyone and everyone and bring people together regardless of worldly values.
3. I can go a lot longer without showering than I thought. I’ll just leave this here. Interpret as you will.
4. Camping is still one of my favorite things ever, and I am thankful I grew up doing it.
5. JESUS. is. incredible. This week, He brought things up in me that I didn’t realize I was still holding on to. He showed me that the shame I have held onto for years has been washed clean by His blood. He opened my eyes to so many people’s stories and taught me how to love deeper and without boundaries. He healed, He spoke to me, and He met us all where we were. He restored and He saved. I can’t even put it into words or begin to describe what He did at training camp. If these past ten days were even a glimpse of what the next year will hold, I cannot even begin to imagine what it is going to be like.
A couple other closing comments:
We have a route change! Instead of 11 countries, we are now going to 12. Bolivia was replaced with Ecuador and Chile! I am beyond excited about this, as Chile has always been one of the top five countries I have wanted to visit (Patagonia!!!!!). Also, I found out that my parents will get to visit me in Ecuador! AIM’s partnership with a ministry in Ecuador has been long-lasting and I am beyond excited for my parents to get to do ministry with me for a little bit there!
We have an incredible leadership team. Thank you so much to Jeremy, Amy, Jen, AJ, and everyone else who has invested in us this week and will continue to invest in us throughout the next year. Y’all are insanely amazing and I look up to and respect each of you so much.
I have been made a storytelling leader! Basically, that means that I will be responsible for keeping the blogging and social media going on my team and I will also communicate with a storytelling coach back at headquarters. This is something I am extremely excited about as I love to write, take photos, and be creative. For a long time, my dream job has been working for National Geographic. The main thing that draws me to NatGeo is the emphasis on sharing stories, and I am so pumped that I get to try this out on the Race! I feel so blessed that I was chosen for this role and can’t wait to get started.
Fundraising: I have about $3,200 left, and I have full faith that the Lord will provide. If you want to help me out financially, please let me know!
God Bless you all, and feel free to reach out with ANY questions regarding any aspects of the Race and/or training. Or if you just wanna talk 🙂
Much love.
P.S. – Check out some pics below.
