Hey friends! On Sunday, I returned from Training Camp, an Adventures in Mission sponsored event designed to encourage, prepare, and challenge racers before we launch. Let me try to paint the scene: Visualize 275 tents spread across a lush yet sweaty plain of grass and gravel in Gainesville, GA. Imagine afternoon storms that erupt without warning. Picture red-Georgia-clay stained-shorts and sticky, damp t-shirts. Okay, good. Now, envision 275 happy eighteen to twenty-two year olds belting worship music at the top of their lungs, eating rice and beans with their hands, packing and unpacking their tents and clothes more times than they can count, and laughing uncontrollably with people they met ten days prior. That’s a snapshot of what my life at Training Camp looked like and it was so rad.
However, the past ten days were incredibly challenging. I quickly realized that the World Race isn’t going to be a walk in the park, nor will it mimic the highlight-reel that one might encounter on Instagram. Instead, I learned that the Race is going to stretch me, grow me, and mature me. Why? Because homesickness is rough, vulnerability is necessary, and spiritual warfare is real. But the great news is that my God is bigger than all those things. He combats homesickness with the truth that our citizenship lies first in heaven (Philippians 3.20). He promises that we can put down our weaknesses and latch onto strength in Him (2 Corinthians 12.10). He erases the lies of the enemy with the assurance that we can have peace and victory because He has already overcome the world (John 16.33).
And so, just as Training Camp presented its own ups and downs, so will the World Race. But I will rejoice in the trials and I will run the race marked out for me with perseverance (Hebrews 12.1). Fifty-two days!!
