I’m struggling to put my Training Camp experience into words. So much happened over those 10 days that I could never adequately describe. It’s definitely one of those “You had to be there” experiences.
I was one of those Racers who scoured every blog I could trying to find information about what happens at Training Camp. Unfortunately, I was successful. There weren’t too many things that surprised me, which was actually not as great as I thought it would be. Part of the design of Training Camp is that you don’t have control over the schedule, what you eat, how you sleep, or really anything else about your life over those 10 days.
So word of advice to future Racers, STOP READING THE BLOGS. I know you’ve probably heard that a hundred times over your search for information, but I’m serious. It’s so much better when you just experience Training Camp the way it was meant to be experienced. You’ll appreciate it so much more if you do it the way AIM wants you to do it.
With that in mind, I’m not going to give any details away about what we did at Training Camp. If you’re super curious and want to hear the details, contact me and I would be more than happy to talk about it with you one on one!
Each night we had a different sleeping scenario. These were meant to simulate the kinds of things that can and do happen on the Race. They were interesting to say the least, but I learned that if I’m tired enough, I can sleep anywhere with any kind of environment (loud bugs, loud people, etc.)
On that note, I also learned that if I’m hungry enough, I can eat anything. Each day we ate food from a different country or continent (Africa, Latin America, Asia, India, etc.). We also ate very small portion. The first couple days were rough, to say the least. But as the week went on, I became less and less hungry between meals. By the end of camp, I wasn’t hungry at all between meals, and I started embracing the interesting food instead of complaining about it.
Our days were packed with teaching sessions on things such as Identity, Community, the Holy Spirit, Law vs. Relationship, Emotions, Shame and Guilt, and a lot of other topics that will help us as we step out onto the mission field. We also had various squad bonding and team building exercises.
Toward the end of the week, we were put into our teams. Whenever I talk about this, I forget that most people don’t know the World Race terms. So here’s a short lesson: my squad is the large group of 47 that I travel from country to country with. My team is the group of 6-8 individuals who I will do everyday life and ministry with once we get to our country for the month.
So I am happy to introduce you to Team Selah Vie!
Selah means to rest in the presence of the Lord, and Vie means life. We played off the phrase C’est la vie which means “it’s the life.” We want to be a group of women who live our lives in rest before the Lord. This is an incredible group of women and I can’t wait to do life with them!
We also found our what our first ministry will be! We will spend our first month in Kampala, Uganda (the capitol city) working with an organization called Raising Up Hope for Uganda. We will be doing orphan care, slum outreach, and medical outreach. We are so excited to join this organization in the work they are doing for the Lord in Kampala!
On the last day of Training Camp we had this big competition called Squad Wars. If you know me at all, you know I really dislike competition. It ended up being really fun, but probably mostly because I didn’t have to actually compete in any of the competitions except for the group dance 😉 We didn’t officially win, but it was still a good time of friendly competition and more squad bonding. #ZSQUAD
Z Squad at Squad Wars
VWXYZ Squads at Squad Wars
I just have to say that Training Camp was an incredible experience. It was the most difficult 10 days of my life, but they also brought so much life and healing. Y’all, I am an introvert. It does not make sense that I would love being around 50+ people non stop for over a week. BUT I LOVED IT. At the beginning of camp, I was really questioning how these people would become family. I just wasn’t seeing it. By the end of camp, I came to sincerely love each and every person on my squad. This is an amazing group of men and women on fire for the Lord, and I am so blessed to call them family. I have never before been so comfortable around people, nor have I felt so safe to be exactly who I am, without apology. I can’t wait to travel the world with them!
I only have 46 days until I head to Atlanta for a few days of training before launching to Kampala, Uganda! I still need to raise $3,200 by August 21st in order to be able to launch with my squad. Please consider making a financial donation of any amount, it would be a huge blessing!
Love y’all!
