Home » 01 Training, Archives

Training Camp

3 June 2009 569 Comments

Well I am officially a Training Camp survivor.  And survivor I am.  Anyone who sleeps in 150% humidity in a cabin with 30 other girls, on the third story top bunk is a survivor in my book.  Also, anyone who is walking down a path only to look down and see a HUGE black snake right by her foot when she is TERRIFIED of snakes should earn the award for ultimate survivor.  But I digress…For the past 10 days I have had the wonderful opportunity to spend time with 80+ other passionate men and women of God who are training for the World Race.  The camp was a wonderful experience in which the staff challenged us to grow in our own personal understanding of God, lay down our expectations, and learn to Ask the Lord before we do anything.

I really respect AIM as an organization because they stress the importance of listening prayers.  So often in our own Christian life we petition Heaven with our requests, lay them down, and then walk away.  This week helped me realize that in my own personal life I do not leave God much room to talk back to me.  AIM taught us the beauty of ATL.  No, that’s not Atlanta for all yall wonderful southerners out there.  It stands for Ask The Lord.  We were taught the beautiful practice of asking the Lord, and then not moving until we listen and hear from Him.  So often in my Christian walk I am afraid to make time for God to talk, because I am afraid that he will not respond.  However, this week, every time we sought the Lord’s voice, He showed up!  I am really looking forward to this next year and learning how to ask, listen, and follow the direction of God.

At training camp I was defiantly stretched beyond my comfort zone.  We were taught as missionaries who desire to go into foreign cultures, we must lay down a lot of the rights that we are used to.  We no longer have the right to be full, warm, comfortable, easy communication, or even the right to be safe.  While this is a difficult principle to initially take on, I am thankful that AIM began teaching us these lessons early on.  I ate various cow parts, cold fish, lots of rice, and many other foods that were outside of my comfort zone.  I showered with an ice cold garden hose (admittedly only twice), and I survived a torrential downpour while camping outside with only a small tarp to cover 14 women as our shelter.  Needless to say, I am beginning to understand what this next year is going to look like in terms of comfort.  While I am a little fearful of the challenge, I do look forward to the opportunity to lay down my Western rights in order to share the Gospel with others.

One of the best things about camp was learning who my group would be for the next year.  My personal squad (August 2) is comprised of 43 amazing individuals.  Through a series of personality tests and team builders, AIM staff then formed our smaller groups.  These teams are the 6-7 people that I will be traveling with for the next year.  We will eat, sleep, travel and minister together.  Needless to say, group unity is vital.  I consider myself one of the luckiest at camp because I was placed with 6 other AMAZING individuals.   I am going to keep their identities a secret (mostly so that I have more material to write another blog later), but check back soon because I cannot wait to share with you the wonderful men and women of God that I will be ministering with this next year.

All in all, Training Camp was a wonderful experience, one in which my love for God was refreshed, lifelong friendships were formed, and personal rights were laid down.  And all of this in only 10 short days.  I can only imagine what God has in store for us in the next 11 months!!  May we all continue to unite together and begin preparing the way of ministry through prayer for each of the countries.  Many places are still experiencing political unrest and lack of food and water.  Will you join me in praying that God will go before us and prepare the hearts of the people to receive his wonderful message?

569 Comments »

Leave your response!

Add your comment below, or trackback from your own site. You can also subscribe to these comments via RSS.

Be nice. Keep it clean. Stay on topic. No spam.