After months of reading blogs, watching vlogs, and anticipation about training camp, it’s over. I went into it with little idea of what to expect. Not many people ever reveal exactly what goes on, but I was excited. I liked the mystery of it all. I tried to avoid having expectations, which is always a good plan. There was no way any expectation could’ve lived up to my experience.
That being said, there is no correct way to explain training camp. I’ve read through all of my squad mates’ blogs, and all have said something different, but all have agreed it’s difficult to explain. It looks different for each and every person; for some it was the best week of their life and for others it was really challenging.
I will now attempt to explain just what training camp was through my personal experience.
First off, for those of you that don’t know, training camp is at the Adventures in Missions headquarters in Gainesville, Georgia. Its purpose is to connect our squad with one another and deepen our relationships with God.
I was able to meet the leadership team and the 49 people on my squad, who I will be traveling with. It was a week filled with dirt, sweat, and hunger. But more importantly with excitement, love, vulnerability, and freedom. There were relationship and team building exercises, potential scenarios, and so much more. Our squad danced, laughed, cried, and worshipped together. Not only did I form long-lasting, strong relationships with these people, but I grew and deepened my faith in ways I didn’t think were possible. If one week can change my life and strengthen my relationship with God, imagine how these next nine months will affect me!
Since training camp, I’ve learned even more about myself and how He’s shaping me. I recently began reading a weekly Journey Marker that Adventures in Missions provided, which will help guide my experience. These are weekly write-ups, which consist of sections of Scripture from Jesus’ life. Reading the beginning sections helped me process how I grew at training camp. It talks about how Jesus lived a bold and dangerous life. One of the lines really resonated with me, it read:
“We cannot escape danger if we are to fulfill our purpose on earth.”
These next nine months, and frankly, the rest of my life, I’ll be faced with hardships and challenges. I knew that when I signed up, but training camp changed my outlook on how I will choose to react to these situations. Part of the reason I am going is because I want to be uncomfortable, I don’t want to come back the same person. I want to be stretched, I want to be uncertain at times. I want to experience this “danger”, because it means it’ll draw me closer to God, and help me spread Jesus’ word. It’ll help me fully love my teammates and everyone I meet. Desiring these things will put me in situations where I will have to depend solely on the Lord and my relationship with Him. By no means am I awaiting or looking forward to these hard seasons in life, but I understand where these situations will lead me, a deeper and more intimate relationship with Jesus, and that is what I am looking forward to. Like I said, it won’t all be easy, but by the grace of God, I’ll come out the other end a stronger and wiser person, and ultimately, someone who looks more like Jesus.
At training camp, I realized I had been comfortable in my walk with Jesus, and this comfort equated to a safe and static relationship with Him. This all relates back to my desire to grow. I could leave next month and be content with where I am in my faith. I could go to these foreign countries, meet all new sorts of people, do the tasks assigned to me, and be satisfied with where I’m at. Comfort would make these things easy. Or, I could leave next month craving more, digging deeper, seeking all of Jesus. Stepping out in my faith, leaving the small, comfortable box I have built around myself over the years.
So I want to let all of you, my supporters, know that I am going to make the most of this journey I’m about to embark on. I am going to take every moment captive, step out of my comfort zone, try new things (don’t worry mom, I won’t do anything too crazy), and live like Jesus did, lovingly and boldly.
I want to thank all of you again who have so generously supported me both financially and prayerfully, it has meant so much to me, and it will continue to throughout this journey and my life.
