Training Camp? What’s That?

*Precursor: this post was written during training camp*

Woohoo! We have wifi! Well, for now…

Let me tell ya friends, the last few days have been a WHIRLWIND of knowledge bombs; but before I get ahead of myself let me go ahead and explain a little bit about what training camp is, why we need it, and what the um, living conditions are (they’re not bad and I’m being fed, promise Mom!)

First off. GEORGIA, heck yeah!!! Well yeah not really, it’s hot and humid but overall the weather hasn’t been boiling, so my “fragile” California body is not dying–yet.

Camp is held on a massive property kind of out in the sticks, there’s a rock wall (that we don’t get to use *sad* ) and a training facility, but not like physical training. It’s basically a big building with a LARGE room, office space, kitchen, upstairs lounging area with office space, and a back patio. Which is good because there are 68 of us total (no they’re not all going on the same trip as I am). But we do sleep on cots on the ground in the same room, and we all share 8 outdoor bucket shower* stalls about 100 yards from the building down a rocky gravel path. I’m living in the LAP of luxury, people. The funny thing is about the number 68 is that four of those humans are males. ONLY FOUR. These poor guys get sectioned off into the corner behind partitions because we can’t have the color purple (if you ever went to church camp you know what I mean, if not, well, guys are blue and girls are pink and you get the picture). When I told my boyfriend about this the only thing he had to say was “well at least the ratio is good for them.” I then proceeded to carry out a face-palm and reluctantly laughed at his text message.

*For those of you who have not had the honor of experiencing a bucket shower, let me lay out the land for you. It’s a five gallon bucket that you fill with *COLD* water (especially if you’re impatient and take your showers at 6:30am like me), and then you take the full cup from the bucket and proceed to dump cold water on yourself until you’re clean–pro tip: soap seems to help achieve this goal.

I promise it’s actually not that bad, like really the whole situation is super super cool and allows teams to bond under conditions they aren’t used to. The whole entire point of training camp is to equip missionaries with the tools they need when they’re on the field, and a BIG tool that we need to understand and be able to mold and fix, is community. If teams are unable to reach a state of cohesiveness then the ministry becomes much harder to carry out, and it can be rough. However camp is a place to figure some of those “house-cleaning” things out. We get real deep real quick and in 24 hours people you hardly knew know a lot about your life. And it’s pretty terrifying, I’m not gonna lie, but at the same time it’s so so comforting to know that these people–these random humans that also felt called to serve, won’t leave you standing there alone because of your imperfections. They embrace you for them. And they help you work through them to become a better person.

In Proverbs 27:17 it says, “As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.”

I have no doubt that by the time this trip is over, I’ll be a heck of a lot sharper than I was when I went into it. And it’s gonna be rough, and there will be growing pains, but man oh man am I excited to see how the Lord uses my five other teammates and my leader to help mold me into the woman of God that I am intended to be.

On Tuesday night we launch for the field.

On Tuesday night I leave for a part of the world that is full of uncertainties.

But I know I’m ready for it.

With Faith,

Maddie