There is no easy way to describe an eruption, an earthquake, a hurricane. All you can really do is invite people to recall their experience and hope that the compilation of stories helps paint the multifaceted, multidimensional picture of the natural disaster. However, Jane's story, Bill's story, the crazy lady with the yellow hat's story pales when you enter into that space yourself and your mind and your heart absorb the weight of what just happened.
But in the most disastrous times, one can find the most beautiful snapshots of God through His people. There is a beautiful shift from self-centeredness and narcissism to unity and group survival. You begin to hear people use words like "we" and "together" and "united" and I believe that the Father's heart is made glad. From the beginning, he said that it is not good for man to be alone and it still holds. God cares about his people so much that He will shake the heavens and upturn the earth in order to knit our hearts together.
That was training camp.
Training camp was a violent shaking. Training camp was an eruption. Training camp was a hurricane, a tornado, a mighty rushing wind. And when it was all said and done, the World Racers had their expectations turned upside down and their hearts broken and their beliefs challenged and their emotions strewn and there was this beautiful disaster that occurred in one's self that resulted in community.
I sat in a gym hallway with someone that I had just met and we nervously asked God for a prophetic word for one another and He answered. I sat with another Racer and was mesmerized as she explained that the breathtaking waterfall gushed in some areas and trickled in others, which was representative of how God worked mightily and suddenly in some areas of our lives and slowly in others. I opened my entire heart and soul and refused to hold anything back during worship. I sat through so many sessions that made me hunger and thirst for God so much that I was shocked at the desperate state of my own soul. You see, we as Racers walked into this storm. I guess you could call us storm chasers. We fundraised to be there, we bought our gear and pitched out tent in the rain and said, "God, wreck my world" and He answered our prayer. We grieved together, we laughed together, we cheered together, we ate together and I feel overwhelmingly blessed to be able to serve with them for 11 months.
I left my fears and worries and training camp and I have unstoppable joy and unquenchable fire. Even in writing this, I am self-aware of the shift from the personal focus on all my other blogs to the broad focus of my squad. Training camp took 41 individuals from all over the US and Canada from so many different backgrounds and at many different levels of their faith walk and invited us to be one body.
Needless to say, I am proud to be a member of the V Squad, part of the World Race movement, and an invitee into the kingdom of the marvelous and majestic God of the universe also known as my dad.
For the next 6 weeks, I need to fundraise over $10,000 and God can do it. I am asking that you support me by giving $50 or $100 a month for the next 6 months. I promise you this–God is doing something in the earth like never before and I am inviting you to be part of it.
Can you sacrifice for just 6 months and support me?
