Hi everyone! I’m back from training camp and I can’t wait to share with all of you how it went.
But first things first, what is training camp? Training camp is essentially a ten-day camping experience in the woods of Georgia that World Race: Gap Year has tailored specifically for racers. We were taught about spiritual intimacy, community, and missions.
Okay now for the details!
Let’s go back to July 9th when my family dropped me off at the airport. I honestly thought it wouldn’t be such a big deal because well I wasn’t leaving for nine months yet 
. But you can bet that as soon as I passed TSA I was ugly crying and might have accidentally forgotten to grab my shoes. It hit me that even though I’d only be gone for 10 days this time, that I would need a lot of support when I had to say goodbye before heading to Costa Rica.
Fast forward and I had arrived to Atlanta’s hUUUUGGee airport. As I lugged my backpack and daypack around looking for anyone with the slightest appearance of being a racer, I found it… At the center of the food court was the biggest pile of backpacks and oversized water bottles. This was definitely where I was supposed to be. It also offered me a glimpse of what travel days with my squad are going to look like. We eventually made it into shuttles that would take us to training camp. This was the first and only moment where I was genuinely panicking. I’m a pretty quiet person and an introvert in most ways, and this was a lot of people all with totally different levels of energy. Would I actually make it through ten days of being with this many people constantly?
We all set up our tents in our squads camping site and training camp had officially begun. First thoughts included the following: “porta-potties are the most disgusting thing ever,” “my leaders are actually pretty cool,” and “Is it going to be this hot the whole time?”
Everyday was a completely new experience full of spiritual, cultural, and practical learning. Along with a bunch of intentional time with my teammates and squadmates. And not to forget…LOTS OF DANCE WARS.
Some days we ate food that was food I grew up eating, other days we ate with chopsticks, but most days we ate with our hands. And no one can forget the incredible breakfast for adventure day. Oddly colored rice, a smelly duck egg, crispy crickets, and eggs scrambled with an unknown meat.
Training camp was a rollercoaster of “what’s next?” messy notes, and learning how to let the love of God guide us in everything we did.
I learned through the leaders and my squad what grace upon grace is and how to love strangers. By the end of the ten days I was certain that the 24 people I would be traveling with for 9 months were just the right people. Some of them encourage me to let loose and have fun, some of them showed me from day one that they had my back 😉 and I had theirs, and others demonstrated complete obedience to God and prayed over me in the moments where the physical or emotional pain was to much to handle.
And so I’m back home, dealing with the struggles and obstacles that we were promised in this time before meeting up with our squad again, saying goodbye to our families, and going out into the nations. I won’t lie to you, somedays it’s really hard to remember God’s faithfulness that I learned about and saw during training camp. However, I’ve also learned to root myself in Him, in a deeper love than what the people around me can offer me.
As I prepare to leave on September 5th, I ask that you pray for the people that will cross my path, for my leaders, my squad, my family, and myself.
For my next blog I’m going to be doing a Q&A so feel free to type some questions in the comments below, social media, or text me!
Love you all <3
