Somehow, the past seven days have felt like both the longest and shortest week of my life! I have been both caught up in all the business of training camp and wondering what I have gotten myself into. This blog is going to be a combination of what training camp is like, and what the Lord has been doing in my heart. 

Let’s start off with how training camp is. So on Saturday I arrived at the Adventures in Missions base in Gainesville, Georgia and immediately felt welcomed by all the staff.  I got to meet some people on my squad and then go to our campsite to set up my tent! That night we were able to worship with our parents and meet everyone on our squad! There are 30 of us and then 5 leaders who will be with us the whole time. Our squad has its own campsite, which, as you can see in the pictures below, is pretty full! As someone who has only slept one full night in a tent before, I naturally only got 2 hours of sleep the first night and honestly got really discouraged about the whole trip, which looking back, that was just the enemy trying to get me to give up before I had really even started! Don’t worry, sleep has gotten much better and I am so thankful! 

I’m going to spare you all the details of what we have done each day, and just give a general overview. Most days we have a personal devos or a workout before breakfast, then a session and worship followed by time with our squad. Then lunch and squad prayer and then some free time to blog or shower or do whatever. We then have another session, supper, campus clean up and more personal time before bed. So the days are packed full, with lots of learning and getting to know our squad. We will be doing this type of thing for three weeks, then we will be serving at a Young Life camp for a week and will return for one week to debrief before leaving for Nicaragua in the fist week of October.

Because this is training camp, not everything is very comfortable or convenient. Some new experiences that I am going to learn to embrace are bucket showers, filling a 5-gallon bucket with water and using a scoop to “shower”, washing clothes in a 5 gallon bucket, using porta-potties, and only porta-potties, and also sleeping in a tent. And although each day is similar, there have been some pretty crazy things each day. The first few days it rained pretty hard off and on, and the on Wednesday, we had to have everything, tents and all, packed up and ready to go to simulate a travel day. To make this simulation more realistic, they also took away half the bags because sometimes things get lost in the airports. Luckily, mine wasn’t lost, and I was able to share my tent with others! And on Thursday we had cultural day, meaning we have to dress in clothes from another country and get to try some international foods! For our squad, we are dressing as we would in Nepal, so long sleeves and long skirts, toes can’t show and we can only use our right hand to eat, which is a little difficult for me as a lefty. Through the whole process it has been incredible to watch the Lord work in my heart. Worship has been incredible and the sessions where we learn about a variety of things have been a great reminder of the whole reason we are here. With that, I would love to share a few lessons I’ve learned so far.

1. I am very attached to what little I have! Through the airport simulation, I learned how much I depend on what I have. Even though I did have my stuff the whole time, I was very worried that it would be taken away and I would not have the comfort of my possessions. I know that although my possessions do provide comfort, they do not provide the comfort the Lord can provide in His arms. So I am working on trusting in Him more and not leaning so much on what I have.
2. Just because I can’t feel God doesn’t mean he’s not present. For some reason, during the past few days, I have felt dry and insensitive to the Holy Spirit. I know that He is in me so I am confused as to why I can’t feel anything. I also know that feelings aren’t always true and sometimes they get the better of us and lie to us. So although I am unable to feel what the Lord is doing and that is frustrating, I think He is teaching me how much I long for his spirit and long to feel a touch from him, that I can’t do the next nine months without him.
3. We are already a community. I knew that eventually the people on my team, which is 5 girls from my squad who I will be doing all the ministry with, would eventually become like family, but I didn’t realize how quickly it would happen. Even the connection with our squad has been wonderful. I think part of that comes from the fact that we are all experiencing similar things and can find comfort in each other. But I think that it also comes from how God has placed each of us on this squad and on a team for a reason. He knew how well we would get along and how much we would need each other. Our squad has already become so close and united! It has also been great to have a family to surround me when I miss my real family.
4. It doesn’t feel real yet. So far it just feels like I am at a summer camp and it will all end here pretty soon, but I know in my mind that isn’t true. I really don’t know at what point it will hit that I really won’t see my family for 9 months! But, like I said earlier, I know that when it does hit, I will have community come around me and comfort me. 
5. Everything just needs to be kept in perspective. Although I don’t have a real bathroom or shower or house or laundry, I am able to rejoice with what I have. I am choosing to put myself into this circumstance, choosing to live with next to nothing, but for many, it is not a choice, but their life. I am so thankful that I do not have to stay in a tent forever, even though I am coming to kinda enjoy it, and it breaks my heart that there are people who live in worse than this day in and day out and have no hope of that changing. So I’ve learned that it all comes down to perspective. I could be mad about all the hardships, or I could rejoice that the Lord is with me and this will end soon, and it’s not a constant lifestyle, but just a month.

So those are the lessons I’ve learned so far, I’m sure there will be many more lessons , but for now, that is what the Lord is teaching me. Below I will have some prayer requests and also attach some pictures of our campsite, our food and my team.

Prayer Requests:

1. Safety for our squad, that none of us would get hurt or sick, and also spiritual protection, that any schemes of the devil would not succeed and we would stay united.
2. Willingness to follow. the spirit whenever He leads. sometimes I find myself resisting what the Lord is nudging me to do because I'm worried about what people will think of me.
3. Strength. Training camp has been wonderful, but it is also exhausting and each day I feel like I don't have the energy to make it through the day, so prayer for strength and energy.

My team, from left to right, me, Moriah, Sadie(leader), Courtland, Carley, and Payton

Campsite

Cultural day breakfast from Guatemala