10 days of TC

Hi friends! Okay so this is the blog about what went on at Training Camp, as promised. I’m sorry it’s so late!!

Training Camp is hard to even describe. It was a time for laughs and smiles. A time for craziness and fun and dancing. A time for tears. A time for community and team building. A time for surrender. It was a time for growth.

So… Here is just a glimpse into what our ten days of training looked like. I will try to paint the picture as best as I can!

Almost every morning we would wake up and have to pack up our camp! Sleeping pad, sleeping bag, pillow, tent, hammock, packing cubes of clothes, etc. had to be packed away into our packs. While it was kind of a pain to have to do this practically every morning, I learned exactly how to neatly shove everything into my pack. I say neatly, because there is definitely a strategy to organizing your pack in order to make everything fit. And I also say shove because well… a 70 liter pack is not that big of a space to fit your life in for nine months, and it involved some wrestling of the bag to get my zippers to zip shut!

We had team devos every morning at 7:30. This was a really sweet time that I got to spend with the six girls I will be living and doing ministry with on the Race. We got to pray over each other, pray over the day & spend time in scripture. In all honesty, I have a super hard time opening my Bible and diving in, but my team really helped me to appreciate His Word and promises to us and the stories that are testimonies to His faithfulness!

Breakfast was at 8:15 every morning. Each day at TC represented a different country or culture. Basically if it was South America day, we ate traditional South American food (breakfast, lunch & dinner)! We had food from South America, Central America, Africa, India, Asia, America (haha it was for “coming home”), Adventure day, Travel Day, & Village Day. Basically, beans and rice will be my new best friend for nine months 🙂 

We had field scenarios throughout the days at TC that were simulations intended to prepare us for things that could potentially happen on the field. Our first field scenario on the second night there had us sleeping in big tents that were “Malaysian huts.” Our host had given us this space to live in and while we each had a tent in our pack, it would be rude to use them. So we had to graciously accept the space and then figure out how we would fit about 16-20 girls in each tent, with all of our huge packs as well. This scenario was definitely the most challenging since I had just met all of my squadmates the day before and communication was hard. There were many different ideas on how we would all fit & on top of that, the extreme heat and humidity was a huge factor in how we wanted to set up. It was an interesting experience to say the least, as we all practically slept on top of one another, but we learned a lot about the importance of effective communication and I know that we would be able to figure it out if we were to encounter something like this on the field. The second field scenario we had was that half of our squad’s bags got “lost” in the airport. It was super cool to see our squad come together and pool together extra things that people hadn’t been using to take care of each other. People slept in their hammocks so they could give their tent up to someone who had lost their luggage. We also all learned to keep an extra outfit and your toothbrush in your daypack at ALL TIMES. Daypack = your lifeline. The third scenario was a night spent sleeping in the “airport.” Full blast AC, airport noises turned up & lights on; we learned the importance of a good sleep mask and earplugs. Sleeping in the airport while on the Race is pretty much inevitable, considering travel days can be 30+ hours.

Our days were filled with sessions, sessions, sessions. We learned SO much about SO many things, but I was seriously so impressed with all that Adventures taught us in ten days. While days could start to feel long, especially after sitting in our seats for 3 hours, I loved learning about everything there was to teach us. So here are all the different sessions – I could probably write at least a paragraph on each topic, but in the interest of time (mostly yours), I’ll just say that if you have any questions/want to know more about any of these topics in specific, feel free to leave a comment below!:

• What is missions?

• How to approach cultural differences

• the three main world religions we will encounter (Buddhism, Hinduism & Islam) and how to enter into a conversation with someone who has different beliefs that I do

• Walk through the Old Testament

• God tools app (super cool way to share the gospel with someone who speaks another language)

• Evangelism

• Discipleship

• Beauty for Ashes (how to do women’s ministry)

• Blogging

• Intimacy with the Holy Spirit

• Spiritual Pathways

• Communication skills / feedback

• Expectation, Accountability, Discipline

• Life between TC & launch

• Donor relations / support raising / financial stewardship

We also had the opportunity to listen to some super awesome speakers! Here were some of my favorite takeaways from their talks.

The Cost of Being a Disciple Our Salvation is free. If we desire to walk as disciples, He asks us to give up everything we have (especially comfort as I learned in those 10 days) to follow Him. This is MORE than a fair trade. When we say yes to following Him, we need to count the cost. He has promised us that a life with Him is better, but it surely won’t be easier. Matthew 16:24-25 says, “Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.” God doesn’t just ask us to give up something, He asks us to sign up for something.

Grace God’s character is predictable, His work is not. We are so broken as humans. Thankfully His grace washes over us. John 1:14 says, “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” I can’t even begin to comprehend just how big His grace is for me. Grace will always outrun judgement and will never keep a record of your wrongs. Because the Word became flesh and because Jesus died on the cross, we are simply free to go. Our sins can’t hold us back and are no longer a barrier to the connection we have to the Father.

Hearing the Voice of God Acknowledge Him in all your ways with a ‘yes’ in your spirit. Sometimes it can be confusing as to whether we are really hearing His voice. Practicing listening to Him helps us to be more in tune to when does speak. When you hear Him, it should line up with His word & character. God wants to speak to His children and He does so when we give Him room to. Wait, listen, be still.

Forgiveness He asks us to forgive because He first forgave us. Forgiveness will never change your past, but it will change the future. It is impossible to walk in greater freedom than the amount you have forgiven. Ephesians 4:26 says “In your anger do not sin: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold.” He calls us to walk in freedom but when we choose into anger, the enemy has time to map out your weaknesses.

As a squad, along with our entire leadership team, we got to prayer over our route. This was such a powerful time and a really cool thing to witness. There were big posters hung up on the walls in each of the corner of the room with each country. God spoke really big things over these countries to me and my squadmates and we got to share them by writing them on the posters. I was originally drawn to my route because of Ethiopia, but during this prayer time Nicaragua was placed on my heart. I feel an urgent calling to be there, so please pray with me over this country as there is a lot of political unrest and as of now we are unsure we will even be able to go. God also reminded me and my squad of the work to be done at home and that part of this calling is sharing and doing ministry right where we are now.

Okay so last big thing to share about training camp. If you’ve checked out or have just been skimming the paragraphs (they’re long I know, I’m sorry!) up until now I would HIGHLY ENCOURAGE YOU TO START PAYING ATTENTION NOW. Worship at training camp was an experience like no other. It was one of the most mind blowing and amazing experiences of my entire life. God seriously moved in my life and in the lives of the 300+ people surrounding me. The Spirit was so present. I had never heard or seen so many people shouting (literally) and dancing and stretching their hands out wide to praise the Father. I learned to be comfortable in the way that I worship Him whether it be with my own hands stretched out in praise or sitting and being still. There were so many people were praying over each other, speaking His truth. People were down on their knees. Smiles, jumping, sobbing, dancing, singing our own praises, shouting and literally any other way that you can think of praising God – I witnessed it. I’m pretty sure I cried during every single worship session because even if the Spirit wasn’t moving directly in me at that moment, the Lord was moving in the room & the power of feeling that was enough to bring me to tears and brings me chills sitting here thinking about it. It was THE COOLEST thing to see so many people praising our good good Father. And as we sang over and over in our times of worship at TC, we will fight, fight for Your fame. Just as He fights for me, I love that I get to fight for Him. 

Photos courtesy of Aly Badinger

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