WOW guys. God is SO good. Every time I think I understand just how great He is, something else happens that completely blows my mind as to how good He really is.
It has officially been two weeks at training camp and it is insane how much God has worked in + through me even in these short weeks. Time has felt like it is flying by but also dragging on at the same time. I have definitely had some high highs + some low lows, + it is pretty hard to be away from home + friends + family. But God is teaching me more + more how to rely on Him every day!!
There is so much I want to tell everyone about, (this will probably be a long post) but I’ll try to keep it condensed. 🙂
The people here are AMAZING. It is so refreshing to be surrounded by a community of Jesus-pursuing believers. My leaders are amazing + my squad mates are so so sweet!! There have definitely been some adjustments that I have had to adapt to, specifically regarding the comforts that I’m used to. We are all staying in tents in one campsite- which is an adjustment in + of itself. It’s one thing to go camping for a weekend in a tent, it’s a whole different thing to live in one!! But it is such a fun adventure!! The only bathrooms we have access to are porta potties which is also a big adjustment. We have shipping containers with sinks + some showers set up that we are able to use when we have a shower day (2-3 times a week), but other than that we have the blessing of bucket showers!! I honestly love bucket showers, they are so refreshing!! You fill a five gallon bucket with water + you use a cup/scoop to dump water on yourself! We have some stalls with shower curtains that are set up for these!! We also do our laundry in buckets of water + then hang them up on clotheslines!! Everything is such an adventure!!!
Every morning we have personal devo time or devotions as a team! About 3 times a week we also have a squad workout before devotions!! This varies, but can be anything from running to line dancing! After that, we have breakfast + oftentimes a time of worship!! Worship has been one of my favorite parts of training camp!! It has been so Spirit-led + so impactful for me!! I have felt + observed the Holy Spirit so tangibly + in so many ways through worship!! We also have a lot of sessions (sermons or teachings on a variety of topics- practical evangelism, joy, the gospel, forgiveness, separated gender sessions on what it means to be a man + woman of God are just a few examples of some of my favorites!!) + time as a squad + team to process + debrief what we are learning + pray together! We also have campus clean up every evening which rotates, but each squad has a job each night! + somewhere in there we get some personal time which can be used to nap, hang out with friends, play games, write blogs, shower, do laundry, basically whatever!
We will be here at training camp for three weeks (2/3 done!!!!) + then head to a Young Life conference for a week to serve, + then we are back here for a week of debrief!! After that we head off to Nicaragua!! I am so excited!!
We have done several “scenarios” to mimic possible or probable situations on the field, which I have so enjoyed! One of them was a mock travel day, so we had to pack up everything (including tents + gear) into our packs on very short notice + carry around + live out of our day pack!! To make it more realistic, half of us got our packs taken (to mimic losing luggage in the airport) + had to buddy up + share for the night!! I didn’t get my pack back, so I slept in a friends tent + had to borrow some stuff from some kind squad mates!! Another scenario we had was a marketplace scenario! We were given money + the task of getting food in a short time period!! They set up tables to mimic a market + had loud music, street music, a ton of different cultures represented on tables, homeless people, thieves, vans driving through the people + honking, drunk people screaming, drug dealers, + so much more!! It was very hectic but was so cool to experience what a market will most likely be like overseas!! One of my favorite scenarios was a house visit!! We got a card listing the country we were “going” to + went into the “homes” of people representing those countries to practice sharing the gospel with them!! This was such a neat + eye opening experience!! The point of scenarios is for them to be as realistic as possible, + to prepare you for likely situations that will happen while on the field!!
We also had a culture day which was so fun! Each squad was “in” a different country + had to dress + act + learn some language like they really were there!! Our squad was “in” Nepal for the day so we had to have shoulders, elbows, knees, + ankles covered. The girls had to wear skirts + everyone had to wear close toed shoes. We learned some basic Nepali language (hello, thank you, Jesus loves you) + practiced it throughout the day! We also didn’t sit on chairs during sessions, didn’t use our left hand(deemed unclean in their culture), + didn’t use utensils to eat food! Our food was also cultural, which was such a fun thing to experience!! (The curry for lunch was hard to eat with hands though!)
We have also done a lot of bonding exercises as a team which have been so fun!! I love my team so much!! I am so blessed by the community of people here!! It is so refreshing to be surrounded with so much passion for the Lord + so much willingness to sacrifice in order to be the hands + feet of Jesus!
I have been trying to journal to keep up with everything going on (I’m already forgetting some really cool moments), but we don’t get much personal time except at nights (+ then I want to go to bed) so I have been struggling to keep up with that!!
We are assigned different roles on our squad in order to delegate tasks + responsibilities + I was blessed by being chosen for the role of worship coordinator + hospitality!! Worship coordinators facilitate spaces of coming together in worship, + are in charge of ensuring that worship happens at least once a week on every team!! My worship team gets to lead worship at training camp on Wednesday which will be so sweet!! Hospitality is in charge of communication with hosts, celebrating birthdays + holidays, + doing what the squad needs in order to stay refreshed + encouraged! I am so excited to see how God uses me in these two roles!!
We also recently had squad wars! This was a competition between all of the squads with different challenges + awards! There was a dodgeball tournament, rock paper scissors, a hula hoop contest, skits, + then a spirit award! We were also judged on sportsmanship, amount of focus on Jesus, + points could get deducted for things like dress code! Our squad won team spirit, the skit portion, + overall!! Go L squad!!
Well, I think that’s about it for the nitty gritty details!!! The coolest thing for me here has been just the ways I have seen God working + moving!! I have learned so much about Him in these past two weeks + I cannot wait to continue this journey with Him! I will follow this blog up with one talking about spiritual growth + God moments!! I love you all!!
My lovely team!! Left to right- Makahia (she went home sadly), Mallorie, Emma, Maisey, me, + our lovely team leader Alisha !! I am so blessed!
