Hey everyone! So I wanted to start off by saying I made it to Georgia and I’m having a blast! I didn’t mention that in my last blog, but I am today because I want to recap the last couple weeks for you so you’re completely up to date! To do this, I decided to let you in on what a typical day looks like here at AIM (Adventures in Missions) campus. But first, I’M OFFICIALLY FULLY FUNDED!!! I have raised all the money required for this trip and I’m so beyond excited and thankful to everyone who donated and helped me get here! I couldn’t have done it without you! Okay, now on to a typical day in my life here in Gainesville, Georgia.
7:00am – We wake up and start to get ready for the day (get dressed, brush our teeth, anything a normal morning routine would consist of) before walking down to breakfast.
8:00am – Breakfast! My squad eats all our meals down at the pavilion outside that we split with Squad D. When it comes to meals, let me just say I was pleasantly surprised. I expected to eat food that maybe wasn’t too great quality or taste, but the cooks here at AIM have proved me wrong and I’m so thankful for their hard work to feed us the delicious food we get to eat.
9:00am – This is when we do our daily squad devotionals and time with the Lord. This past week we’ve been led by some team and squad leaders in different ways to read the Bible and connect with the Lord through scripture. They stress to us that not everyone connects with the Lord the same way, in fact, we all connect with the Lord differently and are invited to explore how we best read and understand scripture in a way that helps us feel closer to God.
10:00am – Around this time, we have been able to experience worship in a way I’ve never experienced it before. Throughout the past week, we’ve been led in worship by the AIM worship team (who are AWESOME), whether that be live or live streamed from around campus. When I say I’ve never experienced worship, I mean I’ve never felt so free and connected with the Lord like I do here. Instead of just standing still by our chairs or pews and singing quietly like what often happens in a typical church (at least my church), we are invited to move around the room, sit on the ground, lay on the ground, dance around, jump, kneel, stand around the room, pretty much anything that makes us feel close to the Lord. But get this: EVERYONE is singing at the top of their lungs, all praising the Lord with all their hearts. It’s truly amazing.
11:00am – This is typically when we would have a session or teaching about specific topics. Some sessions we’ve had have been about getting into and loving the Word, Gossip vs Honor, the World Race Commitment, and what it really means to lay down your life for Jesus.
12:30pm – Lunch!! Just like breakfast, the lunch has been delicious and also gives us some time to chill and hang out before the afternoon begins.
1:30pm – This is usually when we would do Squad time which could be announcements, a short teaching, squad games, bonding, pretty much anything.
2:30pm – Rotations begin! Rotations can include bucket showers (if you have a shower on the schedule, and yes, I said bucket showers), cleaning, squad worship, squad exercise, or simply just some free time. Typically the week is scheduled out to allow certain days to have certain things such as Tuesdays and Fridays could be cleaning days during this time and Thursdays and Saturdays could be exercise days.
5:30 – Dinner! Dinner has been my favorite meal of the days so far because sometimes, those afternoons can be so busy and full of activities that dinner is a nice time to eat and chill out before the day is done.
6:30 – Team Time! Team Time is so much fun! This is the time in the day where we get to chill out and bond with our smaller teams within our squad. For example, I’m on a team with one team leader and two other amazingly beautiful girls (blog coming soon where I’ll introduce you to them!). Some things we do during team time is a bible study, free/fun team time, talk about gratitude, give weekly feedback, and debrief how the week went mentally, emotionally, physically, spiritually, and financially.
7:30pm – Free time for the rest of the night! This is the time of day that we can relax, unwind, shower if our showers are scheduled for the evening, and at any point we can head back to camp to go to bed. Free time is pretty much up to us and what we want to do here on campus.
10:00pm – Quiet hour and lights out! So, after free time, it’s bedtime where we walk back to camp, do our bedtime routines, and have to be done socializing and getting ready for bed by 10pm. At 10pm we have to be in our tents. We can still be getting ready for the next day in our tents, as long as we are quiet enough that anyone else trying to sleep can sleep without us being a distraction. Honestly, this early bedtime was difficult to get used to because back at home by bedtime was not as early as 10. However, with the long days we’ve been having recently, it’s not as hard as I thought to fall asleep in my tent!
On the weekends, we are far less busy because it is the Sabbath, the Lord’s days of rest. So, on Saturdays and Sundays we get to sleep in an extra hour, waking up around 8am to be at breakfast by 9am. After breakfast, we’re given a couple hours for quiet time with the Lord before lunch at 12:30. Then, we have the rest of Saturday as free time. Same thing goes for Sunday, except we have squad church after breakfast in the morning, then free time for the rest of the day!
Days are pretty busy, but it goes by fast! It’s crazy to think it’s almost been 3 weeks of living here in Georgia! Thank you to everyone who’s supported me on my journey so far and a big shoutout to everyone who has read this whole blog! Haha I know it’s been a long one. Thank you so much! I love you all!
Love, Quincy
