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Training Camp

One week. Many challenges. 41 team members. Different backgrounds. One God.

Such a summation doesn’t even begin to do training camp justice. God moved so much in that time. Only God could bring together 41 team mates and 14 leaders in the ways I saw this past week. I’m reminded of just how far we’ve come, as I sit in this free moment listening and watching the spontaneous worship of a room full of believers.

Training camp was challenging, to say the least, physically, mentally, emotionally, and most definitely spiritually. There were times of growth, trust, openness, praise, brokenness, unity, weakness, strength, and above all a closeness with the Father.

Through obstacle courses/trust exercises, quiet times, sessions, and even meals God turned 41 strangers into 41 brothers and sisters. Mentioning meals reminds me of the one where we had to feed each other. It was highly amusing, though I’ll admit we were not initially thrilled about it. With such a large team, being late to meals was common and there were always consequences. The consequence one day was that we were not allowed to feed ourselves, but that we must feed someone else and vice versa. Needless to say, we laughed our way through our lunch and several pictures were taken. It’s amazing how much slower you eat when someone is feeding you. I now understand why my 5 month old nephew grunts and cries every time the spoon is taken away.  
 

Another funny memory was our “plane crash” exercise. All exercises revolved around a “no teammate left behind” philosophy. Unfortunately I was unable to participate at the time because of my asthma, but I did somewhat enjoy being a bystander. In this exercise, upon the “plane crash” each person had some immediate injury or hinderance such as : blindness, paralyzation, loss of limbs, loss of speech, and so on. The goal was to get all members across the “finish line”. The conditions of that goal and the ailments of the participants were ever-changing and rather creative, to say the least. It was amazing to see in debrief afterwards, just how much we could learn from a seemingly silly game.

Through all the training, all the team building, and all the cuts, bruises, and bites, we have come out on the other side better than when we went in. I am so excited to see what more God has in store for myself and my teammates on this journey that began before it started.