Two small things before starting:
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Sorry in advance- It’s kind of a long one and jumps around a lot. (It was really hard to write this one) If it’s too long, just focus on the bolded parts of the list 🙂 Also if you have any questions, just ask!!
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A little honesty for all of you- I was not excited to go to training camp. I hadn’t really made any close friends yet on my squad. I was afraid I wouldn’t like anyone. I was scared I think this is the wrong choice. And biggest of all, I was worried I would want to quit in the middle of it. I actually accidentally bawled to my sister saying I didn’t want to leave and could barely eat any food the day before leaving because of my nerves and fears. However during training camp, God washed away a large majority of those fears. Praise Jesus!! I like being completely open and honest with you all, so I just wanted to share that little part before reading. Thanks and enjoy! 🙂
During July 9th through the 19th, I spent my time in Gainesville, Georgia at World Race Training Camp. These eleven days feel like a blur when thinking back on it but during the eleven days, it felt never ending. The days were long and crammed with lots of learning and getting to know others. There were times where I was having a blast and times where all I could think about was my flight home. (Don’t worry lots of people felt this way!) There were one or two simulations. A little free time each day. And so much more.
So with that being said, I honestly have no idea how to put words on this screen to describe it to you all. To have you truly understand what we all went through and how it impacted our lives and began to prepare us for life on the field. I have no idea where to start and where to end, so I am going to try my best. I am going to make a list of points throughout training camp. Some will be deep and contemplative. Others will be short and sweet. It’s the only way I can think of trying to explain this experience to all of you. So here I go!
My List about Training Camp:
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You instantly know who’s a world racer when you get to the airport.
When I first got to the airport Tuesday morning, I was nervous and had no idea what I was doing. I went down to our meeting point, which we didn’t need to be at until 1:30, and waited. No one was there, so I waited longer. Eventually a few people came up behind me and asked if I was a racer because of my huge big pack and my stuffed daypack I was lugging around the Atlanta airport. So if you’re ever in an airport and see a large group of young adults sitting around with two packs, one big and one normal size, they very well might be a group of racers.
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You don’t need to know how to set up your tent before going to camp.
I came into training camp never before setting up this tent before. (I’ve set up tents before don’t worry, just not this exact one!) I actually got it from Hannah Key roughly 2 weeks before camp. After arriving at camp, we all got to set up our tents before going to worship. I sort of stood there thinking “I know I can figure this out eventually but I don’t really want to make a complete fool of myself the first day if I actually don’t know how to set up my own tent.” Thankfully, multiple people offered to help me, so with all my nice squadmates and leadership, we figured it out pretty quickly!
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There are lots of different leadership positions and different group names inside of a squad. (I’m going to try to explain them all for you, so if I ever use these names, you know who I’m talking about!)
Squad Mentor: Kate Goeler- Kate will be switching back and forth from being on the field with us and supporting us from back in the states. She is constantly praying for us, giving us encouragement, and supporting us in any way we may need. She does lots of planning and is a big part in making all of this happen.
Coaches: Brian and Cathy Gray- These two are like the Elders of the church. They are like another set of parents for all of us and are here to support us in any way we may need it. They’ll join us for debriefs through out the 9 months and will be in conact with us racers through email and other ways of connection. They have been married for around 13 years and currently live in Honduras as full time missionaries.
Squad Logistics: Aimee Dias- Aimee is a big part in making sure we get from country to country. She does things with flights, buses, and money things. You may not physically see what she does, but without her, it would not flow as well as it could be.
Squad Leaders: Olivia Wouters and Taylor Upchurch- Olivia and Taylor will be with us all 9 months. They have also fundraised for their trip and are sacrificing their time to be our leaders. Olivia went on Gap Year in 2016, and Taylor went on 11n11 around the same time. They’re both really awesome, and I’m excited to get to know them better during this time.
Alumni Team Leaders: Aidyn Carnes, Cami Ramon, Jacob Lewe, Kori Moon, and Phillip Wilson- These 5 are racers who just got done with their Gap Year in May and felt called to go out and serve again. They will be with us for the first three months in Romania and all have a certain team they will help lead. (Aidyn is with my team) (This is what Tennessee Applegate did if you know her!)
Squad: All 23 Racers- When you hear me reference “my squad” that means I am talking about everyone. All 23. It’s the whole group.
Team: My 6 Teammates- My squad is broken up into four different teams to make ministry groups. When I say “my team,” this means I am talking about just 6 girls on my squad. We were put together to do ministry with each other during the day and sleep in the same place at night. My six teammates names are Emi, Valerie, Kylah, Sumer, and Mackenzie. We already feel like a family and have great unity and trust with each other. (I’ll be writing a blog later more about them, so watch out for that!)
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Learning about other religions along with how to minister towards them is really interesting.
Towards the middle of training camp, we had sessions to learn about Islam, Buddhism, and Hinduism. I’ve always been curious about other religions, so these sessions were some of my favorites. We learned basic beliefs, their goals, and how we may be able to share Jesus with followers of these religions. I can’t wait to go out to the field and see how these learnings play out.
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Knowing the culture lens you’re serving in is extremely important.
On the fourth day, we were focusing on the “mission” aspect of the race and learned about the importance of knowing the culture you’re serving in. If you don’t know the worldviews, values, or behaviors of the people you’re aiming to minister and serve to, how can you be effective? You have to do your research and learn before and as you go to be able to do mission work. We learned about the three different lenses of Guilt/Innocence, Fear/Power, and Shame/Honor. These sessions were really interesting and intriguing to me. I can see this helping immensely in the future so we all can effectively communicate the Gospel to everyone we encounter.
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God talks to each of His children in many different ways.
Many people heard God talking to them throughout camp. Whether they heard his voice, had someone come up and tell them something God sent through them, felt His presence through a hug, or a completely different way, they heard something from Him. I have a little bit of a different story. The first few days of training camp, I felt and heard nothing specific. I wasn’t mad, upset, or discontent with this fact. I was enjoying what I was learning and the worship but never felt like God was trying to tell me something specific. Then towards the middle, I realized and accepted that God was giving me peace and silence to be able to take everything in. He was talking to me by keeping me calm and not too overwhelmed. I liked this way of Him talking to and comforting me. On one of the last nights of worship, I was sitting on the floor and singing. I can’t remember the exact song, but I remember it being about God’s love and the fact that there is nothing better than God right now. All of the sudden I felt like I was pulled into a big hug from God. No one was there, but I felt something. Now I am not a bigger hugger most of the time, but this feeling I had that God sent me was comforting. It made me physically feel His love and how much He cares about us. It was something small, but it made me feel heard and loved that night. It taught me to be patient. God will speak to you when you need it most in the exact way you need it in that moment.
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Watching people set up hammocks can be funny and stressful at the same time.
Lots of people brought their hammocks and decided to set them up one day during free time. They decided to stack them on two trees. I watched and laughed because of the joy I saw through interactions between my squadmates and because of the struggle they had hanging 5 hammocks up and getting into them. It was relaxing and a good break between sessions.
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I’m beginning to learn how to become adventurous in different ways.
When I got home, my best friend kept telling me that I was an adventurous person. If I’m honest, I didn’t believe him at first. I was confused because I like my comfort zones and usually need lots of encouragement to try new things. Then we started talking about some adventurous things I’ve done lately, like eating crickets (I think this might be the biggest one for me), living out of a tent, and some other small things, and I realized maybe I am becoming adventurous. There will be so many adventures in the future, and I can’t wait to see what they are!
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You can come in as the underdog and come out on top.
My squad only has 23 racers which is pretty small. It’s actually the small of all 6 gap year squads. When going into squad wars, I thought we were going to struggle since we were so small, but I guess I was wrong. X-Squad did pretty good with the challenges prior to arriving at training camp and was prepared to do our best with the challenges at camp. We went all out on our dance, competed strong during the games, and always had our game faces on. But somehow we ended up losing all the games during Squad Wars. We weren’t even close to winning actually. Yet, somehow, X-Squad still won Squad Wars! We weren’t afraid of our small numbers and achieved exactly what we went into to do: Win! Good job X-Squad!!
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God has so many great things in store throughout these next 9 months and for the rest of our lives.
God changed lots of lives, some that I saw and others that I didn’t, and planted so many more seeds that will grow and blossom in the future during the time at training camp. He started to move mountains during this time. And all of that happened in only 11 days. Eleven days. That is less than two weeks. We will be on the field for over 24 times that amount of time spent at training camp. That’s crazy!! I don’t know what it is yet, but God is going to move during this new season of life, and I can’t wait to see what He has in store for all of us!
SOOOOO this was kind of a lot, and I still don’t know if I portrayed training camp in the right way. With that being said, if you want to meet up and talk more about it or just talk about anything in general, let me know!! I am very open these next 6 weeks before launch, and I want to spend it with my family, friends, and supporters. So please don’t hesitate at all to reach out, and we’ll set up a date to get together and chat!!
Leave comments about what you think or questions you may have! Thanks for reading!!
Lots of Love,
Paige :):):)
Prayer requests: -For my squadmates who still need funding to reach the next goal of $10,000 by August 22nd
-For preparation in my life and those around me for a big change coming september when I leave
