I’m not really sure what happened, it all happened so fast, but somehow I ended up back in backwoods White, GA at a World Race training camp this past week. That’s right, the same place where I had my first encounter with the World Race culture in July of 2010. Hello flashbacks. I would be lying if I said that I didn’t get anxiety sweat stains just from rolling up that gravel driveway again.
My first time at training camp I was totally the kid who stood in the back with my arms crossed telling myself how stupid it all was… sweet caroline, how I’ve changed.
As a testiment to just how much I’ve changed, I will play the confession game:
1) I have become a huge Jonathon David Helser fan.
2) I cried every day for the first four days of camp.
We’ll come back to that in a second.
This past week was training camp for the squads that will be launching in January 2012. World Race squads are identified by a single letter of the alphabet and they have now officially gone through the alphabet once and are on a second round, or rather, a second generation of World Racers.
This next generation of World Racers is going to go further, do more, and experience greater things than any of us ever did.
I’ve heard that last statement said before, but after being with three of these second generation squads, I believe it. And that’s why I cried everyday for four days. I watched these racers get rocked, their chains broken, and their walks into freedom and I was overwhelmed with pride and excitement for them. It sounds silly, that’s fine, but I think it’s because it’s more profound than that.
I’ve heard that last statement said before, but after being with three of these second generation squads, I believe it. And that’s why I cried everyday for four days. I watched these racers get rocked, their chains broken, and their walks into freedom and I was overwhelmed with pride and excitement for them. It sounds silly, that’s fine, but I think it’s because it’s more profound than that.
These aren’t just a new generation of racers, they are an accurate representation of my generation as a whole, and it looks good.
Our generation, in it’s entirety, is making a move. Our generation is refusing to settle. We want more. We were made for more and we know it. We are the Joshua generation, the generation that is stepping into leadership and leading the people to our inheritance, to the promised land. And it’s evident.
Training Camp takes place
in the woods of middle-of-nowhere Georgia
where you’re kindly fed fish head soup, ugali,
and a grilled tomato banana and cheese sandwich.
Where you sleep in tents,
then on a school bus,
then under a tarp.
And you go to bed after midnight
only to wake up a few hours later,
before even a hint of the sun rise,
to freeze your buns off at morning exercise
running up and down the hills of Georgia.
Yep, these people are crazy.
Some of these people are alumni.
People who flew, drove, and hitchhiked
to spend the week at training camp
sleep deprived.
Serving us by scrubbing toilets,
waking up at 4am to cook our food for the day,
and praying life/truth into us
over and over and over again.
Their clothes never match
…I’m pretty sure they’ve forgotten how.
They saw greatness in me and pushed me towards it.
They’re ALWAYS either-
a. dancing
b. laughing or
c. praying.
These people are crazy!
Speaking of prayer-
Its like the real deal for these people.
Rarely …never… did I hear prayer start with
“Dear Heavenly Father”.
Usually it started more like
“Hey Daddy” or,
“Its me again Papa” or,
“Abba we love you” or simply,
“Hi!”
…It’s almost like they KNOW this guy.
These people are crazy.
They stand on chairs
Or in the middle of the woods on chairs
And yell things.
Declarations they like to call them.
These people are crazy.
During worship there are people
laughing,
dancing,
praying,
sitting,
and standing.
Some people have their hands in the air,
and others have their faces on the ground.
Yikes. These people are crazy.
These people dream about
shutting down every brothel,
ending the AIDS epidemic in Swaziland,
getting clean water for African villages,
seeing Haiti restored,
and finding a loving home for every orphan.
They dream about these things
because they’re actually living to make them happen.
I’m telling you-
these people are crazy.
Everyday normal conversation
consists of things like-
fire tunnels,
feedback,
declarations,
poop problems,
and ridiculously awesome
workings of the Holy Spirit.
These people are crazy.
And apparently,
after traveling the world for 11+ months
it becomes difficult, if not impossible,
to speak in full sentences.
Because of this,
everything is shortened by an acronym.
ATL,
OES,
TIA…
I guess I should start practicing!
These people are crazy.
These people actually believe
every word of the Bible to be true.
They believe healings are possible. Now. Today.
They believe that God breathes and life happens.
They believe we are no longer slaves to sin.
They believe that the power of Christ is IN us.
They believe and pray the same prayer Jesus did-
“on earth as it is in Heaven”.
And you know what…
I’ve started praying that too.
Because I actually really, really like that idea.
On earth as it is in Heaven?
Absolutely. Bring it on.
There’s no doubt in my mind
that those strange Kingdom minded people
who I met this week in the woods of Georgia
are absolutely CRAZY.
But what I decided this week is,
I’m ready to be crazy too!
The Kingdom of God is worth my abandonment.
in the woods of middle-of-nowhere Georgia
where you’re kindly fed fish head soup, ugali,
and a grilled tomato banana and cheese sandwich.
Where you sleep in tents,
then on a school bus,
then under a tarp.
And you go to bed after midnight
only to wake up a few hours later,
before even a hint of the sun rise,
to freeze your buns off at morning exercise
running up and down the hills of Georgia.
Yep, these people are crazy.
Some of these people are alumni.
People who flew, drove, and hitchhiked
to spend the week at training camp
sleep deprived.
Serving us by scrubbing toilets,
waking up at 4am to cook our food for the day,
and praying life/truth into us
over and over and over again.
Their clothes never match
…I’m pretty sure they’ve forgotten how.
They saw greatness in me and pushed me towards it.
They’re ALWAYS either-
a. dancing
b. laughing or
c. praying.
These people are crazy!
Speaking of prayer-
Its like the real deal for these people.
“Dear Heavenly Father”.
Usually it started more like
“Hey Daddy” or,
“Its me again Papa” or,
“Abba we love you” or simply,
“Hi!”
…It’s almost like they KNOW this guy.
These people are crazy.
They stand on chairs
Or in the middle of the woods on chairs
And yell things.
Declarations they like to call them.
These people are crazy.
During worship there are people
laughing,
dancing,
praying,
sitting,
and standing.
Some people have their hands in the air,
and others have their faces on the ground.
Yikes. These people are crazy.
These people dream about
shutting down every brothel,
ending the AIDS epidemic in Swaziland,
getting clean water for African villages,
seeing Haiti restored,
and finding a loving home for every orphan.
They dream about these things
because they’re actually living to make them happen.
I’m telling you-
these people are crazy.
Everyday normal conversation
consists of things like-
fire tunnels,
feedback,
declarations,
poop problems,
and ridiculously awesome
workings of the Holy Spirit.
These people are crazy.
And apparently,
after traveling the world for 11+ months
it becomes difficult, if not impossible,
to speak in full sentences.
Because of this,
everything is shortened by an acronym.
ATL,
OES,
TIA…
I guess I should start practicing!
These people are crazy.
These people actually believe
every word of the Bible to be true.
They believe healings are possible. Now. Today.
They believe that God breathes and life happens.
They believe we are no longer slaves to sin.
They believe that the power of Christ is IN us.
They believe and pray the same prayer Jesus did-
“on earth as it is in Heaven”.
And you know what…
I’ve started praying that too.
Because I actually really, really like that idea.
On earth as it is in Heaven?
Absolutely. Bring it on.
There’s no doubt in my mind
that those strange Kingdom minded people
who I met this week in the woods of Georgia
are absolutely CRAZY.
But what I decided this week is,
I’m ready to be crazy too!
The Kingdom of God is worth my abandonment.
