This past week at Training Camp has flown by. One of my Nepal "family members" put it perfectly when he said the days seem like they take weeks, but each week seems like it happen in the blink of an eye. There is a certain level of secrecy about training camp in order to give each new member the full experience, but it's worth it.
From the very moment I arrived at the church, I was welcomed with open arms. Each new team is called a family because we really are one. We eat, sleep, learn, and do life as a family. Each of our activities is designed to help us bond. Looking back, I can hardly believe that I've known my family for only a week. But this week can also be tough. Training camp used to be called Boot Camp, and I can see why. At first we learn to detox from the distractions that we brought with us. Then we learn to release our burdens and accept the forgiveness and love that God freely offers. We also play a lot of fun and crazy games. Each day with meet in our D-groups, which for me consists of a Moody Bible Institute student named Kayla (she is great!) and 2 other high schoolers, Moriah and Emilee.
Another one of my family's daily activities is building a rock wall. When you look through the pictures of Training Camp on the Reign Ministries website and see a brick wall about 2 ft high, 2 ft wide, and an eighth of a mile long, know that we built it ourselves with boulders we dug out of the ground with our bare hands. Talk about team building. It was a great source of joy, and also it was a great spot to do my quiet times this past week.
We also do a worship time together daily, led by a vocalist, guitar, and bongo drummer. The whole camp (roughly 500 people) gets together and just has an awesome time under the Big Top tent. During worship, we sing a song called "Your Love Never Fails." I love it a lot because it's a prayer and really connects with what I'm learning this week. You should YouTube it and hear it yourself. The lyrics go like this: Nothing can separate even if I ran away, Your love never fails, I know I still make mistakes, but You have new mercies for me every day, your love never fails, You stay the same through the ages, Your love never changes, There may be pain in the night, But joy comes in the morning. And when the oceans rage, I don't have to be afraid, because I know that you love me, and your love never fails. The wind is strong, And the water is deep, But I'm not alone here in the open seas, Cause your love never fails. The chasm is far too wide, I never thought I would reach the other side, But your love never fails. You make all things work together for my good.
Beyond just getting us ready for our trips, Royal Servants also does a great job of getting us ready to go home. One of their sayings is "A summer of service for a lifetime of ministry." It's really evident in how they are training us. Not only can I say the entire "Connecting With God" pamphlet from Campus Crusade word-perfect, I have numerous other studies that I can use to help new Christians grow in their faith. We have also learned our skill groups that we will use to draw crowds in Nepal. I am on the dance group with nine other people. We have learned four dances to songs, including a song by The Afters called "Never Going Back To Okay", another song called "Cray Button", Toby Mac's "Me Without You", and David Guetta's "Without You." It was intense but super fun. We've practiced walking in double file lines. We can function in the dark without our head lamps. We made a mock bus and got our time to board it down to 18 seconds - great for 37 people. We talked about ministry, food, water, culture, and life. We are all prepared, super-psyched, and ready to go. Our flight leaves out of Chicago at 6:30 pm on Monday. We will arrive in Nepal the morning of July 4th! I am so excited :) Please keep my team in your prayers. We are getting antsy and crazy. Pray for patience and endurance. Pray for good bonding and sleep on the plane. Thanks so much!
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