I received so much World Race news this week! This is going to be a longer blog than normal, so be warned 🙂
Training Camp Dates
This is the one my squad and I have been anxiously awaiting for months. Training camp is basically a dry run of what the World Race will be. We spend a week in Georgia camping, doing practice scenarios for situations we might be in on the Race, MEET MY SQUAD FOR THE FIRST TIME!, go showerless basically (or literally?) the whole time, experience new foods and smaller portions, and so much more that we just won’t know about until we get there.
July 6-16, 2015 is the week! Ten days actually, which is apparently longer than past training camps. It’s so weird finally having the dates. It really solidifies the fact that THIS IS ACTUALLY HAPPENING! Even though it’s going to be really hard, I’ve heard nothing but amazing things about how God moves in that time.
A New Training Camp Requirement
Anyone who knows me knows I really don’t like working out. I want to want to work out, but in general, I don’t. However, we were informed this week that there is now a new requirement at training camp. We will be required to hike 2 miles with our packs on in 33 minutes. This is to make sure we are ready for the physical demands the World Race brings. If we are unable to complete this task, we may be asked to defer to a later route until we are physically capable of handling the rigors of the Race.
This terrifies me. I’m not exaggerating when I say I can’t even run for 1 minute. I have never had long-term discipline in working out and being healthy. I just really enjoy eating food, no matter how bad it is. If it tastes good, I want to eat it. It has been brought to my attention a few times how food could definitely be labeled an idol in my life. I guess this is God’s way of addressing that.
I decided the day before we even got the e-mail about the new requirement that I was going to start working out in order to be the best I can be for our ministry. The thought that my physical ability could impact my ability to do ministry effectively really upsets me. And then the next day we got the e-mail, and it was confirmed and solidified that this was something I was going to have to commit to. I do have a genuine desire to be in the best shape I can be in to do Kingdom work effectively.
I know I can’t do this on my own, and having discipline in working out is hard. However, I know that when I am weak, He is strong. And Christ’s power is made perfect in my weakness. He’ll be the strength when I just don’t feel like working out. At least that’s what I’m putting my trust in.
New Financial Deadlines
We have new financial deadlines, and they have been pushed UP. We originally had until March of 2016 to raise the full $16,267. We now have until December of THIS YEAR! I think part of the reason they made the change was so we could spend more time on the Race being fully present instead of having to worry about making the next financial deadline, but it’s still a little scary losing three months of support raising time.
I also realized I never actually gave you guys the breakdown of the deadlines in the first place, so here’s that information:
June 12, 2015 – $3,500
August 21, 2015 – $10,000
October 31, 2015 – $13,000
December 31, 2015 – $16,267
The good news is that of last Monday, I’VE MET MY FIRST DEADLINE! This is a huge blessing and such a gift from God. I’m so grateful to you who have helped me reach this deadline so far in advance.
I’ve been learning that God wants us to pray bold prayers. In light of that lesson, I’m asking the Lord to allow me to be fully funded by launch in September. This will allow me to be fully present for the entire duration of the Race.
Please join me in meeting this goal. There are three ways you help:
- Pray that the Lord will provide! Pray that He puts it on specific individual’s hearts to donate whatever He is asking them to donate.
- Share what I’m doing with people you think might be interested in supporting missions. I would love to connect with anyone you have in mind.
- Donate any amount the Lord might be asking you to give, even if it’s $5. Every bit counts and is a huge blessing.
Also, I just want to make the need known that I will need to purchase plane tickets to get to and from training camp. Now that we know the dates for sure, they encourage us to start thinking about making our plans. It might be a little too far out at this point, but plane tickets are looking to be about $450 round trip. If you would like to donate part of or the whole plane ticket, you can donate that money through the GoFundMe account my dad set up on my behalf. That link is http://www.gofundme.com/raelynn_wr.
Thank you for sticking it all the way to the end of this blog! I’m so thankful to have you on this journey with me.
