It’s been four days since I got home from training camp, and honestly I’m still trying to figure out a way to summarize everything I learned. It’s definitely one of those experiences where everyone asks how it was and you can only say, “good!” because, I mean, where else would I even begin?
I’ll start by saying training camp, much like every other step in the process of preparing for the World Race, was difficult but so worth it. The first few days I doubted myself and questioned if I was even capable of continuing on this journey. I felt stripped of everything I would normally hide behind, physically and emotionally. But in the end, I found what I was secretly most hungry for: to be seen and loved and wanted despite my reflex to hide.
Most of all, I feel completely honored and unbelievably excited to get to spend the next 11 months with everyone on my squad. So much of who God is can be seen in who they are. I am inspired by their willingness to be brave, bold and vulnerable. Sometimes you learn how to love God by watching how other people love God, as if they give you a whole new language and color palate to express it in. I left feeling like I see God a little more clearly just by being around them for ten short days.
The funny thing about training camp is, while the purpose is to prepare you for life on the mission field, you find yourself being changed drastically through the process. God answered some of my biggest prayers in really cool ways, and I’d love to go more into detail about those in another blog post.
In six weeks we’ll all be boarding our first flight to China. I’m so confidant that God wants to use my squad and I in really, really big ways. If our first month on the World Race is anything like training camp was, there will be lots of lives changed by how God speaks and moves through us, and of course– lots and lots of laughter.
Meet my team!
Left to right: me, Dustin, Kelsea, Trey, Shelby (SB), Jess, and Matt
You will hear a lot from me about my team because these are the people I will be doing ministry with every day on the Race for at least the first few months.
If you want a little more insight into what training camp was like, watch this video that Jess made!
