My Training Camp Experience!

Hello everyone, today is July 20th, 2019. I got back from training camp last night at around 12 am. I would like to use this platform to share what my experience with training camp was! Overall, it was incredible. I felt and saw God’s love more than I may have ever in my entire life. It was challenging at times, it pushed me out of my comfort zone, but that is what I’m looking for in this journey. 

So, let’s start at the beginning. Until this trip, I had never flown in a plane before. Never. So flying to a different state was step one of stepping out of my comfort zone, I didn’t have my parents to tell me where to go, or what to do. It was up to me. Things at the airport went very smoothly and overall it wasn’t as bad as I anticipated. The power of the plane was incredible, when we got in the sky I was perplexed looking at the clouds. If you know me, clouds are one of my favorite things in this world, so being among them in the sky was amazing!! So, I land, and have no idea where to go. I read my ticket and start following some signs, hoping I will find it. This is one of the places where I had to give my situation to God, and let Him take care of it. I didn’t know where to go, so I asked Him to lead me. And He did. I eventually found another person, who just by looking at her, was going on the world race. Giant backpack, a dazed look of confusion, but I felt that God was leading me to talk to her. Come to find out, she was looking for the same place I was, and together we found the rest of the racers. 

From there, me and a couple hundred racers hopped in vans and went on our way to training camp. Once we arrived it was late afternoon. We had a sandwich for dinner, set up our tents, and were briefed on how the week was going to go. I am on Z squad this year. That means my squad will be made up of 20+ racers, and a few Team Leaders who have done the race already. They will help guide us through the first few months of our adventure. 

Here’s a rundown of our daily schedule! 🙂

Our day would start under the canopy of the Georgia trees, at about 6:30 in our tents. We would get ready, and head out to meet our teams for morning prayer, and devotion. This was one of my very favorite things to do at camp. Me and my team of 3 other men, and our leaders would meet on the outside porch of the lodge, read the bible, pray, and talk about how things were going. I love early mornings, especially since we were outside, and surrounded by the wilderness. 

After devotionals, we would go to breakfast around 8:15. Our meals were themed different everyday. We would have specific food for different cultures each day. Asian food, Indian, Central American, etc. This was one of the spaces where I was pushed out of my comfort zone, food. I tried food I’ve never had in my life, and it was amazing. Well, most of it. The meals were great considering they were cooking for 300+ people! 

Our days weren’t all the same, but after breakfast we would have a range of activities. We would sit through hours of sessions a day learning all about growing in intimacy with the Lord, commitment, forgiveness, other religions, other cultures, and many more things. We may have also done some team building exercises, and things like that. 

Lunch would come, and we would eat something else that could range from curry, to crickets. (not joking)

After lunch we would do more sessions, team building, fun things, etc. 

Then came dinner. We would eat, and then finish off the night with the occasional session, or worship. Worship was one of the best things at camp by far. God’s presence was so abundant and clear during worship it felt tangible. The songs and feeling in the room were life giving, spirit filling, heart mending, love bringing. I just felt so much happiness and love while in worship. I was surrounded by hundreds of people, pouring their hearts out, professing the love they have for their Father. Our Father is so good. He is Love. Crying, hugging, praying, and loving, were some of the main things I experienced during worship. It was incredible guys. Thank you. 

After worship, after the long, hard day, it was time to get ready for bed. That meant shower time!

We did not shower indoors, we did not actually have your typical Idea of showers. At training camp, we did bucket showers. Walk a ways from your campsite and you’ll find a shack with some shower curtains, a hose, and a bucket. From there it’s all you. There were some very cold nights, that most guys didn’t really want to shower, but we also couldn’t afford to go another day smelling like we did, or being covered in mud like we were. So, some nights were hard to shower, but others were great. This small aspect of training camp gave me some insight on what the journey is about. When the stalls were filled with other guys who had gone through similar struggles as you the entire day, the comradery I experienced was amazing. We all talked about our days, connected, related, and screamed like girls at the frigid water hitting us like a train. 

After my showers, I would usually go back to my tent, clean up, read a little, write, and then go back to sleep to start fresh in a new day. Sleeping wasn’t too easy when the Georgia humidity is engulfing your entire body. We lucked out some nights and got to sleep in the lodge when it was lightning outside, comradery was also built in the late night, trying to sleep while guys keep cracking jokes, and you can’t help but laugh anyways.

A cool thing about camp is that they took our cell phones for the vast majority of the day, only to get them back at night. I think that was an incredible decision. It forced all of us to step out of the digital world of social media, and all the distractions that come with it, and be present where our feet are. That was another thing I really loved about camp. 

Some key memorable things!

The 2+ mile fitness hike – extremely hard, I wanted to give up, I didn’t think I was gonna make it at times. We ran up and down hills in the Georgia forest, but listened to some 80s rock, encouraged each other, and kept on going, no matter how much we sweat, and no matter how much it sucked. 

Resting at the pond – We had a part of one day that was dedicated to sabbath, resting. I hiked down to a pond with my teammate, and friend, Brandon. We sat at the pond, thinking, appreciating our Father’s creation, and resting in His presence. Psalm 23 was the verse that I felt I was literally living out in that moment. 

Worship – I cried a lot, hugged, and prayed with so many loving brothers and sisters, and felt God’s loving presence more than I ever have. I won’t ever forget it. 

Food – The satisfaction of eating a big meal after being extremely hungry all day. Food was something I never thought of in regards to my relationship with the Lord. But being hungry actually brought me closer to the Lord and helped me grow dependent on His word, rather than my carnal desires. Matthew 4:4 was the verse that I feel I experienced. Also, after camp, me and some squad mates went and had Buffalo Wild Wings, and I ate a burger the size of my head, no problem, it was so freakin’ good guys. :p

Morning Devotions – Sitting in the woods in the early morning, feeling the cool air fill my lungs, and the quietness of nature with my brothers in Christ, sharing our struggles, joys, revelations, etc. was one of the most beautiful things I’ve experienced. 

Prayer – Prayer was beautiful, I prayed with people in great faith, saw healings, physical and not, and I felt real intimacy with the Lord, and those who I prayed for, and who prayed for me. I felt so loved when people randomly came up to me, and asked to pray for me. I know that God sends people like that to speak to me.

Training camp was amazing, I formed intimate bonds with people, that others may not experience for years. I am humbled by the Lord, I am in awe at his vast love, and I am so excited for the coming journey. Thank you to everyone who helped me get here, I couldn’t have done it without you. 

Thank you to my squad, my team, my mentors, teachers, and supporters for showing me love, courage, and teaching me more about Jesus. Love you all. -Justin