Never in my life did I think I’d pack my life up in a backpack and travel hundreds of miles from home. to teach people about Jesus and the Bible. I had always thought that I would go to school, but there I was. I spent 5 weeks in Gainesville Georgia learning about ministry and how to allow the Lord to use me in miraculous ways. Going into this I was feeling a lot of anxiety and sadness. I had left home and my friends and family, and I had left Colorado. I was so nervous about the people I’d meet and the things I would encounter.
Making friends was hard. I felt as if my squad had already made their friends. And I felt as if I’d never make any friends. I was more focused on when I would be home than where I was and what I was doing here. I was feeling very alone. And spent more time journaling and calling home than with my squad. Then after a few weeks of praying that I would make just one friend. The next day I ended up getting to know everyone in my squad and I ended up feeling a lot better about leaving the country with these people. I think our domestic ministry in Mississippi was a place of growth as a squad. This was because we needed each other, and I also think that we all had to depend on each other throughout that week.
During week two of camp, I got the opportunity to watch my friends get baptized. I had also decided to get baptized. That night was the first time I had encountered the Lord. When I had gotten into the tub one of the staff members sat next to me and she asked me, “Why are you here?” I said, “I’m not 100% sure, I just had a feeling that I should get
baptized.” Then she and another staff member started praying over me. They had been praying for maybe 5 minutes and they had stopped praying and one of them had asked me, “Are you the oldest daughter of three?” I immediately broke down in tears, “Yes” I responded and she said, “The Lord has given me a vision of two young children looking up to you, he wants you to know that they are nothing but proud of you and they love you. God sees that you put a
lot of pressure on yourself.” I then went under the water and came up feeling a weight off my shoulders.
Training camp was a place of growth for me and I feel like I have grown in so many ways. I have grown in my relationship with God and my relationship with people. When I first got to Georgia I thought that I was going to feel all alone for the next nine months and now I feel like I have made some pretty close friendships. And I’m glad I spent the time to get to know people in a deeper way than before. I feel like I don’t have shallow relationships with these people at all. I feel as if I have known these individuals my whole life.
I’m excited to see what the next eight months have for us!
Yay!