One Week of Training Camp!!!

Hey Everybody!!
I am really excited about everything, so that’s why I didn’t leave any details out.
I arrived in training camp one week ago! For some, it might be unglamorous and difficult, but for me, it was more than I could ask for. I have been diligently praying for a good community in the weeks leading up to it, and now that I am here I can see how God works ALL things together by merely seeing how well we get along. On my squad, there are nine guys and roughly twenty girls. Every guy has a very different sense of humor, which is really entertaining and it keeps things interesting. Most of the girls have names that start with M, which made that difficult to learn.
In one week, we’ve had numerous and plentiful worships sessions, often running over on time, as with the teachings. I can really see the Unity of the church of Christ everywhere I go. I will say that one thing that is strange to get used to is seeing lots of women preaching. I’m unused to this, but I don’t personally have any convictions about this, and everyone is keeping an open mind with each other. In one week my squad has grown together in intimacy and vulnerability, through respect and love without boundaries.
The actual facility at the base is, in my opinion, hilariously prepared for what challenges face us in the future. This is not to suggest that poverty is funny in any way, but I definitely find it funny when we have to use port-a-potties, use bucket showers, and sleep in tents. As someone who places all their value in Christ, I meet every challenge with joy and excitement because my joy comes from the Lord, but I understand that it is not so easy for some people.
If I’m writing a blog about training camp, there is something I must include. We had to do a scenario where we were leaving for Nepal the next day, so we had to pack up everything on short notice. In the scenario, half of our stuff was lost, and we had to band together to make it work. It’s clear that this was intended to make us grow closer by relying on each other and having sleepovers and whatnot, but they had no idea… I gathered a bunch of guys and said LETS BUILD A MEGA TENT!!! And that’s what we did! We had so much fun with it and we all grew much closer together. All of the women were helping us any way they could to keep us warm, and everyone was super excited to see this awesome fort we constructed. I loved seeing how it united us like the early church in Acts. Despite the fact that most of us got around three hours of sleep, I don’t think any of us would’ve changed it. We had six guys sleeping under one roof that was held up by a variety of tents laid across a tree that we bent over and tied to the ground. We’ve been really united since then.
However, today brought challenges to our community. Three girls were put in the hospital during their fitness session, and one girl went home. I hope to find a way to send a letter to the one who went home because Jesus has brought me back after so many times that I’ve wandered away from Him that if I didn’t make an effort bring the lost sheep of our group back then I would be disrespecting everything that Christ did for me.
Lastly, we well be celebrating the Sabbath tomorrow! We have squad church, which will be led by us. I stepped up for the teaching part of the service, and have been working really hard to serve my team by creating an in depth sermon.
To conclude, my heart abounds in gratitude for everything that Lord has blessed me with!