Taste and See that The Lord is Good: Training Camp in All its Glory

Okay. So I was accepted to go on the World Race and they tell me I have to attend this Training Camp thing as it’s mandatory. Y’all, I was terrified. I was overwhelmed with getting all my gear to attend as we would be using our packs and camping in the woods. And it got to the point that I almost didn’t even want to go because I had heard it was intense and let’s face it, I don’t have much experience with camping. But, boy am I glad I went. Those 10 days blew my mind.  Take home point: don’t let anyone tell you you can’t make a difference in people’s lives in one month in a country because if the impact training camp had on me in just 10 days is any sign, then God can do abundantly more in 1 month in each of our 11 countries! 

So Training camp in a nutshell is when you have multiple squads (we had 4) that are all departing the US at the same time (in January) but going on different routes come together prior to departure so that the members of each squad can get to know each other and you have a simulation of the World Race where you eat foods native to different countries, camp out in tents, do team building activities, get spiritual training and worship.  It is draining in every facet: mental, emotional, spiritual, and physical. But oh so SWEET. 

So over the course of the week, we went from a squad of people who had interacted via social media but were basically strangers to a bona fide FAMILY. It was such a precious gift from the Lord. I’ve never bonded so closely with people before in such a short period of time but when you’re on mission together for the Lord and He’s in it, eternal bonds form fast. These are the people I’ll be spending 11 months with so it was such a blessing to get to know them before our actual departure. Shout out to Squad F: F Squad Best Squad!

So here are some HIGHS and LOWS from Training Camp in all its splendor:

HIGH: worship with 150+ people as people are just crying out to the Lord and praying over each other and praising His name in a spontaneous format that I’d never experienced before

LOW: So cold in the morning that I couldn’t properly move my fingers for hours after I evacuated my tent: literally had to have someone help me open my contacts case one time. Gloves, yeah didn’t pack those 

HIGH: ties formed with my squadmates and how we became a family and honestly would’ve just left for the World Race right then if that meant we didn’t have to be separated <3 

LOW: That Fitness Hike. 2.2 miles in 38 minutes with your big pack on. You have to run some of it to make it…homegirl doesn’t run, unless someone’s chasing her. Enough said. 

HIGH: all our mentors and leaders and speakers and trainers that POURED into us over the 10 days and taught us, encouraged us, challenged us and loved us. THANK YOU to each one of you: you are AMAZING. 

LOW: me outside at 6:30 am inquiring if there is a spider on my face and indeed there was a grandaddy longlegs on said face 

HIGH: Getting in-depth spiritual training on topics such as: Mission, Intimacy, Community, the body of Christ, Feedback, The Holy Spirit, Shame, and Evangelism.

LOW: The infamous BUCKET SHOWERS. Cold water + cold outside + one bucket + limited times to shower + a ton of ladies trying to shower at once =infrequent bathing and/ or baby wipe baths. The new normal come January 😉 Baby powder and body spray, anyone??

HIGH: Winning the leap frog game during Squad Wars where you have to leap over a line of people and bury your face in a bowl of flour and find one marshmallow without using your hands and then run to the other side and spit said marshmallow out and then tag the next person. Yeah, I think our squad’s strength is in anything related to food 😉 Added bonus is that we had flour face masks for the remainder of the evening 😉 

LOW: never really getting a good night’s sleep, having to get up early with all our stuff packed up and then not having coffee all week: can you say exhausting??

HIGH: seeing so many people come up to be baptized after squad wars who just obeyed as the Spirit prompted them and having all the squads cheer on each person so fiercely since we’re all brothers and sisters in the same family

LOW: eating with either one or two hands (no silverware and you can forget napkins!) in community style with one big tray the food was on that you had to share…I don’t like messy foods. Gonna have to get over that I suppose!  In India, you can only eat with your right hand as your left is used for wiping yourself and is therefore, unclean. 

HIGH: learning how to listen better to the Holy Spirit and tap into what He’s speaking to us/ over us and then using these skills to do an evangelism exercise that was intimidating but oh-so-amazing and the Lord’s hand was all up in it!

IRONY ALERT: Most of us were terrified to do evangelism and yet we’re going to be missionaries for 11 months…Plenty of time to practice 😉 But we are confident that He who Calls us Equips us because He doesn’t call the Qualified, He qualifies the Called!  

“Now may the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep,  equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.” Hebrews 13:20-21

So, to wrap it up… Training camp was inTENTS. I learned so much and was challenged and encouraged beyond belief. And I can actually put up and take down my tent by myself…small victories 🙂 It gave me/ us a taste of what this crazy World Race thing is gonna be like. A journey with the Lord with your brothers/ sisters by your side as we seek to be living sacrifices for His glory and to bring light to those around us. It left me wanting more, more of THAT which I experienced at training camp: the body of Christ being the body of Christ and spurring each other on to be who the Lord has called us to be. 

But until January, I, for one, will be basking in the warmth of a hot shower, hugging my family/ friends close, packing way too much for short trips, eating all my favorite junk food/ snacks, finding joy in the simple fact of having wifi/ electricity/ running water/ toilets and toilet paper/ heat/ air conditioning and all other American luxuries.  Because we will be giving up a lot come January. But it’s worth it for what we will gain. “For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.” 2 Corinthians 4:17

Thanks for being on this journey with me 🙂 

Love,

Raina