Training Camp... Where do I begin? - Explore Archived World Race Alumni Blogs

Oh Training Camp, how do I even begin to accurately describe you? The hardest week of my life? The best week of my life? The longest week of my life? The shortest week of my life?

Yes, it was somehow all of that and much, much more! I wish I could share everything that I experienced but I would turn this post into a novel, and neither of us want that! So I will try, at the best of my ability, to make this as short and sweet as possible! But remember, I am still me. The long winded, Southern girl once named “Mouth of the South” by her grandfather… So don’t hold your breath, but instead sit back, relax, and cozy up with “Whitney’s Adventures At World Race Training Camp.” I hope you enjoy! And I promise I am actually working on the long-windedness. So, let’s begin. 🙂

Friday night before Training Camp (TC) I was feeling SO many emotions. Anxious, is it REALLY here? This is FOR REAL?! What all do I need to take? How do I pack? And how do I fit ALL OF THAT into THAT? After many hours of packing, unpacking, repacking, and just staring at this feat in front of me I finally called it a night at 1 AM. Waking up at the crack of dawn with nerves I couldn’t shake, Saturday turned into a waiting game until it was time to go, early afternoon. It was finally here… time to meet everyone on my squad I had been communicating with for months via Facebook, to pitch a tent for the first time ever… hopefully, and get settled into a week that we had been warned time and time again to meet with NO EXPECTATIONS. And so I did!

When we arrived at camp, just over an hour north of Atlanta, we were greeted by cheers, smiles, warmth and excitement! What joy, I thought! This is like the happiest place on earth! Dare I say they give Disney World a run for its money?! And it never changed the rest of week… everyone was cheerful, smiling, hugging one another, helping one another… even when it rained (poured) for the first couple of days and we were cold, wet, sleepy, and exhausted in every possible way… physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually! Still, the joy of the Lord was shown through my squad mates, our trainers, the staff, everyone…. People showed compassion, love, selflessness… and on and on… truly the Fruits of the Spirit. I can honestly say I have never been around so much love in my life! Living in community where it isn’t about making it easiest for ourselves, but being like Jesus and putting others’ needs ahead of our own… with the mentality that what is best for the group is best for me. BIG TEAM, little me, as we used to say in softball. This was truly an amazing experience.

Except, the food… That was a little less than extraordinary… let’s just say, rather scarce compared to what we Americans are used to… ya know, like choices for each meal, snacks in between, caffeine… all those things we love, enjoy and take for granted. TC was more like unseasoned rice/beans/veggies for breakfast, lunch and dinner… not using utensils at some meals, not using your right or left hand at some meals, women serving men before themselves at some meals… all depending on the culture we were covering that day… Africa, Asia, Europe, South America, etc.

Each morning started with us having all of our things… tents, sleeping pads, sleeping bags, clothes ,etc packed and ready by 7 am. We then did a workout followed by quiet time and breakfast. All without a cup of coffee! 🙂

The beginning of the week was the toughest… with the rain and cold (in MAY in Georgia?!) weather bringing us down and the sermons were really deep and needed reflection and processing but we didn’t really have the time to process because our days started at 6 am and ended at 10 pm, without a second to spare in between. Towards the middle of the week our days were brighter, literally, the sun came out, the weather warmed up and we started doing team building exercises and having some personal time.

My friend Christina and I would lay in our hammocks and listen to good tunes, sharing our favs… mine, Passion’s new cd “Take It All” and one of her favorite artists, Josh Garrels along with our shared fav, Dave Matthews. At those moments, laying in nature, away from the world back home filled with mirrors, vanity, social media, comparison, fashion… and instead dirty, muddy, disgusting, sweaty, smelly, without knowing what you look like or even the care to… just you and God, music in your ears praising Him, nature all around praising Him, peace in your heart by being removed from all the distractions at home, yet sad, anxious, and a million other emotions because of experiencing all of this and being away from family, friends, comforts and culture… it was truly overwhelming! In the best, out of control, Jesus is my only hope, joy, strength, everything experience!

At the beginning of the week I remember hearing over and over from myself and others, “I’m starving! Is this really all we have to eat?” “Is it only Monday? I feel like it has been a week already and it has only been two days!” Emotions were high! Even close to hysteria some days. But as the week went on and we let go of the need to control our lives… and embrace the not knowing of what comes next, what we get to eat next, when we get rest, how we will rest, what we will do… etc… that is when peace flooded in our hearts and minds and we started enjoying each moment of the day and not wishing it away. I saw it in my own attitude and in others’ too. By the end of the week we all swore we could live in tents forever, live like this forever… and by “this” I mean having 4 showers for 100+ girls and not showering every day, or every other day, or every other other day! You become one with dirt, sweat, and being smelly. 🙂

What I learned this week about God and about myself is nothing short of extravagant, amazing and terrifying… but here are a few highlights:

God does not fit into a box. At all. Ever. God is the Creator of the World. The galaxy. Of you and me. God is the same yesterday, today, forever. (Hebrew 13:8) That means He is still the Great Physician, Healer, Helper, Friend, etc. He REALLY IS ALL that He says He is in The Bible. He is still Lord over our lives and over the earth. Expanding God from our experiences in our little churches in our little communities with our little prayers to our far away God is hard to change, but He would LOVE for us to live in close relationship, in truth to His word, in hope for all He IS and CAN BE in our lives if only we believe and ask in expectation.

God uses broken, sinful people. All my life, even going into Training Camp, I asked myself, “Am I Christian enough?” God doesn’t look for Christian enough… Look at his disciples and followers, one was a tax collector (considered worse than a sinner), a persecutor of Christians, a drunk, a doubter, an adulterer, and the list goes on and on. God doesn’t look for the “most” Christian, the rule followers. He chose the most unlikely, the misfits. Jesus even said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” (Luke 5:31-32, Mark 2:17) And then He changed their lives forever. By radical love, grace, mercy, acceptance. And He is still doing it today. With this broken sinner. It is truly and only by God’s kindness that leads us all to repentance (Roman 2:4)

God is SO personal! Like crazy and even scary personal! One night we stood in circles of 6 people. Each group bowed their heads and closed their eyes as a trainer walked around the circle, tapping one person on the should without anyone but the person tapped knowing. Eyes were closed. Then the group was instructed to ask God to give them a word or to show them something to speak over the life of the person in the group that was tapped, silently and individually. And if anyone felt God was giving them something, they were to speak it out loud, over the person unknown. I was one of the ones tapped. And man was I nervous. What will be said? Will the girls know it is me? Almost simultanously two of the girls in my group said “Ocean”, one of the girls said she saw a vast, deep ocean and the other girl said she asked God for a song and she heard “Oceans” by Hillsong United- which happens to be my World Race song I chose to represent what I wanted God to do in this year, it goes like this: “You call me out upon the waters, the great unknown, where feet may fail, And there I find you in the mystery, in oceans deep, my faith will stand. And I will call upon your name, and keep my eyes above the waves, when oceans rise, my soul will rest in Your embrace, For I am Yours, and You are mine. Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders, let me walk upon the waters, wherever you could call me, take me deeper than my feet could ever wander, and my faith will be made stronger, in the presence of my Savior.”

Also, the beach- the ocean is where I have always felt closest to God. Where my soul finds rest. As the words “Ocean”, “Rest”, “Redemption”, “Light” were all spoken over me I knew God was speaking to me. Whitney. This sinner in need of rest, redemption, light, love and some ocean time with God.

We ARE Sons and Daughters of the Living God. We can stop playing small. We can stop playing the victim. We can stop playing insignificant, unimportant, unworthy, without value… I have played those roles far too long in my life. I have blamed people who have hurt me and believed what they said about me. Well guess what? It is NOT about them and IT IS NOT about ME. It is about Jesus and what He did on the Cross. He, a perfect, sinless, Savior left His perfect, holy, throne in Heaven to live on this broken planet with broken people, full of sin and hurt and nastiness… to love, forgive, heal, redeem, serve, give…. and then DIE for all the sins- past, present and future of ALL for ALL who believe in Him to not only have everlasting LIFE and salvation from this ugly world… but to have peace, joy, hope, etc. for now and forever… and to live life loving, giving and serving the world telling them the news of the Savior who died for them and to tell them the good news of eternal hope, love, peace, forgiveness, LIFE!

I could tell story after story of the lives I saw changed at camp this week, mine included. But it would take days and weeks. If you read anything from this blog I hope you read this: There is POWER in the name of Jesus. Power to heal the wounds of our past and broken hearts… and believe me, we all have them… it doesn’t matter how long you have covered up your hurt, it is there and God can take it away and make you new again! In an instant! He can break the strongholds of fear, anxiety, shame, guilt, unworthiness, selfishness, pride, unforgiveness, and on and on and on…. and He will exchange it with worth, security, love, hope, peace, joy, grace, mercy, empathy, selflessness, forgiveness… and others will see your light shining that comes from healing from Jesus, from repentance, from His loving kindness, that can only be pointed to Jesus.

I have tried a long time to heal myself. From my sins, my hurts, my habits… I have tried will power, mind over matter, I have tried to numb my pain and I have even clung to my pain… It is ONLY WITH JESUS that I have found true, eternal, overwhelming, amazing, indescribable healing, worth, value, love, hope, rescue, redemption, forgiveness, peace……… and I know I am only at the tip of the iceberg.

I am so excited how this week stretched me and what this year has to offer. And my heart hopes, prays and aches for all to know the absolute FREEDOM FOUND ONLY IN JESUS!

Please continue to pray for me, my team, my squad and all who are taking the step of faith to where God calls them. Pray for God’s protection and provision over our daily lives, our health, our travel, our teams, our squad, our ministries, our countries and all the people who need to hear the hope of the Savior Jesus Christ.

I have $5,000 left to be fully funded! If you would like to partner with me on this journey just hit the “Support Me” tab in the left column under my photo to give towards my mission trip! Please know how much I appreciate your love and support and pray God blesses your giving in tremendous ways!

All my love,

Whitney

Below are more pictures from the week!

Personal Time! Yay!