More Than Just A Camp

I have always dreamt of doing mission work and serving God, but I never was bold enough to take that leap of faith and do it. When I stumbled upon Adventures in Missions, tears just kept streaming. This happened not only because I was overwhelmed by happiness and realizing I finally found something real, but also because I was so scared to jump out of my comfort zone. I always tell myself, Please, Madi! Be bold! I signed up immediately, finished fundraising, and the time just flew by to training camp. 

Training camp and Africa was coming close, and I was just a bundle of nerves. Not only because I would have extremely limited contact with family (and my dog) for the first time, but I simply have never done anything this out of the box. I was very nervous to meet my team and my leaders, and not relying on God to be my rock. Little did I know, that even after the 4 day training camp, I would already be a new person. I have not even arrived to Africa yet!

My team is so beautiful and wonderful. As soon as we met one another, it just clicked. Our personalities fit so wonderfully. It is insane how we are from all over the country (and Canada), and we are so alike and built for this experience. God is crazy good. Training camp came and went in the blink of an eye, and it was completely life changing. Growing up, I had never worshipped in a way of song and feeling music to interpret God. I am not going to lie, I was being weird about it. I look around and see all of these wonderful people, eyes closed and praising God. So what did I tell myself? Be Bold! Sing! Stop being so scared! At that instant, a teammate of mine came next to me, gave me a hug and said, “I was feeling like God wanted me to be next to you. Trust Him, it will be okay!” I mean, instant goosebumps…how cool is that? I immediately felt confident, and just told myself: wow..He really is here and He is listening. Now, worshipping in that way feels like I am singing to God and He is really listening. It is one of the most powerful and soul gratifying things I have experienced. 

Overall, the biggest things I learned over camp is that God did not create you to be normal. We must let God use us for what He needs. As we go and spread the gospel, God will need things from me that I will instantly say absolutely no way. Praying out loud for people, public speaking, teaching the gospel by yourself? That’s scary stuff if you’ve never done it! But when God hands these opportunities in front of you, you MUST take them. Changing one life and teaching a little boy who Jesus is, is like bringing Heaven on earth. I learned that God does talk to us whether we know it or not. I have never tried to talk to God, because I assumed He would never talk back…but He does. Whether that be through visions, whispers, pictures, dreams…He does and it is loud. I have been struggling with what I want to do with my life after Africa and how I just am so restless: the first time I tried to intimately talk to Christ at camp, I hung my head low and said “God, what do you need from me? I am yours, please speak to me” and at that exact instance I heard a whisper saying, “Please…Be patient”. I mean, just typing that gives me goosebumps. Don’t doubt Him or say “no that was just my own thoughts”. (a fun fact about this story is that a teammate spoke to me the next day and said as she slept all she could think about was to tell me to be patient.) It is the maker of the universe talking to you and only you. He wants His relationship with His children to be intimate and personal and unique. 

Acts 1:8 states, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses of Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth”. The Holy Spirit will give us power and the strength to do God’s work. We can heal the sick, feed the hungry, cast out evil, strengthen the poor, make God’s fame known. We are His hands and feet and He needs us to spread his word. Our Father prayer specifically states, “Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven”. He needs us to listen to His calls, and bring his Kingdom to earth.

Now I am just rambling of excitement, but there was so many instances at this camp that God was present with us. We listened to His call, healed the sick, saw visions of our teammates and their struggles, truly stepped out in our faith. The instances of the Holy Spirit coming to life on these trips are endless, and I can’t wait to experience this first hand. We will do God’s work and I will grow in ways I cannot imagine, and so will everyone on my team. God will never die, He never leaves your side. Trust in Him with all your heart and you will never fail.

My beautiful team/sisters: warriors for Jesus, and bringing His Kingdom to earth!

 

We are currently in Washington D.C. Our flight to London leaves at 7:05 PM tonight (January 29th) and we will arrive to London, England in the morning. We get a fun day to galavant around (yay!) and then we will be flying to South Africa at 6:55 PM, and arrive to Johannesburg, South Africa at 7:50 AM. Our last flight to Livingstone, Zambia is on Wednesday (January 31st), and we will be at our home for the month at 12:45 PM! The time zone is quite different then the United States, so google might be a helpful tool to convert these times. We have quite a road ahead of us, but I am in love with the journey.  

February: Livingstone, Zambia

March: Seronga, Botswana

April: Johannesburg, South Africa

 

Proverbs 28:1, “The wicked flee though no one pursues, but the righteous are as BOLD as a lion”. 

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