Training Camp: Part 2- What Did We Do?

(part 2 of 3)

So now that you met the team, what exactly did we do at Training Camp? Well, I flew into Atlanta on a Tuesday. It was my first time flying by myself, but I think that I did just swell. Upon landing and finding my bag, I searched and found my squad. Julia was the first person I met, but Ben was the first to leave a lasting impression. Immediately, he was asking ice-breaker questions and helping everyone interact with each other and get excited. The first day went by fast. When we arrived, we grabbed dinner and headed to our campsite to set up our tents for the night. Once we were set, we headed to the introduction night for worship and session.

What did an average day of TC look like?

Every morning I would wake up around 6:30 am EST and organize my daypack for the day. Somes days we would have to take down our tents for a Field Scenario later that night. Our squad would split up into our teams for devotions at 7:30, and breakfast was at 8:30. However, each day had a twist. Each day was assigned a location and culture, thus all food was from a certain place and we had to abide by the cultural norms. On Asia day, we ate with chopsticks, had to serve each other food, and never ask for more but wait to be asked if you would like more. On Latin America day, men greeted each other with a big abrazo and kissed each others cheeks before meals. Africa day was very conservative with dress code; men wore pants and no tank tops were allowed and women wore ankle-length dresses and wore headscarfs at meals. Also, men held hands when going anywhere. After breakfast, we would head up to morning session for a lesson intro of the day’s topic.

Next was some application from the lessons and team-building. Lunch was welcomed at 12 before we split into our squads and went to some spiritual courses. Some of the things we did during this time throughout the week was we wrote letters to prisoners, learned about other religions, spent time with God in nature, and expressed Him through art. Two hours of free time and a half-hour dinner got us ready for an hour of the most unbelievable, insanely awesome worship of Jesus that I’ve ever experienced. After an hour, sometimes more, I didn’t want it to be over! The Holy Spirit was so present in that jam-packed room of 300 people.

It is what I imagine David was like in 2 Samuel 6 where he “was dancing before the Lord with all his might…” He said, “I will become even more undignified than this, and I will be humiliated in my own eyes. But… I will be held in honor.”  Crying, laughing, praying, praising, hands in the air, laying on the ground, jumping with joy, sitting in conviction, being broken and remade by Christ. Praying over others, be prayed over, praising with others, and looking each other in the eyes while experiencing joy our hearts cannot hold. He deserves to be praised with every breath we ever breathe and with our full dedication no matter how it may look to others. He is worth it all. I’ll never forget it and I can’t wait for the continual worship we will experience in eternity. After this we had amazing messages brought to us by many different individuals from around the world who have some connection to Adventures in Missions.

The Bible was poured out upon us in love but also truth, even when it hurt. My hands still hurt from vigorously taking notes during some of those sermons. (OK, that’s an exaggeration, but still.) I’ll get into what I learned in the next blog. After session at 8:30, we would discuss the day with our teams and then were free to hang out until 11 pm when we were to be in our tents sleeping so that we could get up the next morning and do it all again!

What is a Field Scenario?

    During the ten days of camp, we had multiple Field Scenarios. The first one our squad had was on the second night. It was an airport scenario where we had to experience what a 12-hour, over-night layover would look like. The Training Centre (where we had worship and session) was transformed into an airport complete with section seating, loud overhead speakers, backround noise,  freezing cold A/C, and, of course, the lights on ALL night. I made the mistake of thinking my daypack was not big enough to hold my sleeping pad and sleeping bag (I found out later that it is), and so I only brought my liner which is basically a sheet. Needless to say, it was ice cold and I bruised my hips and knees on the concrete floor. Fun. The next Scenario was communal living in big tents.

My team all slept together and it was probably the best sleep any of us got throughout all of camp because there was so much room and great airflow. The only problem was we could not go to sleep because Elijah practically killed us when he sent some dank memes to our group chat and we died laughing. One night there was a mock market where we had to barter for our own food. Besides all of us Racers, it was chock-full with homeless people, vans that would drive through the crowd, the queen, pickpockets, Jehovah Witnesses, American tourists, and beggars. I don’t want to think about it. *shiver*

The last big Scenario I can remember was they had us pack up all of our big packs and then make two piles. Then they randomly selected one pile to be taken away to simulate our stuff getting stolen or lost in travel from country to country. Luckily, my stuff survived and I was able to let someone use my hammock. All of these were challenging, but I learned some lessons, grew in friendship with my teammates, and got excited for the Race even more.

What did you do to build relationships with complete strangers?

    From day one, I think we knew we had something special. God had brought us all together and we just embraced it. I have never been so close with anyone the way that I am with my fellow Racers after just ten days. My team got close after we just started opening up about our struggles in life and discussed what God was teaching us. We also had some team building exercises that involved dropping a hula-hoop, but I still can’t explain what was going on so I’m not going to get into that :D. On Saturday, all the men at Training Camp went on a five-mile hike up a nearby mountain. The first half we just walked up in silence and reflected on God. When we got up half way, we had a devotion led by the incredible Matt Blair who is a mentor to the men going on the Race. After the devotion, Matt pulled us aside and told us that we would have to carry our biggest and strongest men up the rest of the mountain and a third person would need to be blindfolded. “Say what?” Yeah. That was an experience, and we did it! Once at the top, we sang out to Jesus into the fog covered valley. It was quite the adventure. (There’s a video about the man hike at the bottom of the blog.) Later that week, we had the fitness hike which just about killed me; 2.2 miles in 38 minutes all with our pack on. I probably sweat a liter, but my team came back for me when they finished and helped me cross the line with almost 10 minutes to spare. These were some of the most challenging moments of my life, but doing it with my team, they were so, so worth it. Now that we are home, we still have a daily devotion and continually pray for each other and rely on each of for accountability. I cannot wait to see them all again.

What our some other moments that stick out from TC?

• Porta-potties are stinky, gross saunas in the humid, Georgia heat, and the people who empty them should be awarded Nobel Peace Prizes.

• Taking a shower out of a bucket in shack is actually much more refreshing than it sounds.

• Asian food is the best.

• Latin American food is also the best. (Except the amazing, cinnamon- smelling oatmeal that is like a ninja because it sneaks up on you with that salty, bitter nastiness of a taste.)

• African food is not.

• Our team is the best at dance-offs and hyping people up. Ooo baby

• Even if you were the only one on earth, Jesus still would have come down and died for you. Go tell everyone.

Photos by Aly Badinger

Video by Brian Grey

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IG: @wrgyvsquad

IG: @another_basic_homefry

Man Hike Video