Training Camp Part 1

Training camp was like Boot Camp meets Church Camp! We were challenged physically, spiritually, emotionally, spatially, most were far from their comfort zones.  You may know I am a very relaxed, go with the flow kind of gal.  Many times during camp we were pulled aside to speak to people (AIM staff) one on one and they would ask “What were your expectations of Training Camp?  How is that being challenged?”  My response was surprising for them.  I said, “I was asked to bring my gear and come, I didn’t know what to expect, so I’m ready for whatever is thrown at me.”  Here is a brief synopsis of training camp:

Run down of the week: We would get up at 6:15 am pack our tents, sleeping pads, sleeping bags and gear. At 7:00 am we would have a 30 min workout with the group which entailed: running, hiking with our backpacks, boot-camps, yoga, frisbee, tag etc. Have quite time from 7:30 to 8:00 am then breakfast. After breakfast we would have sessions, lunch, more sessions or team building, our squad would debrief the past night and find out our sleeping situation for that night, have dinner and end the night with worship services. We got to bed by 10:30 – 11:00 pm.

We had our meals as a group of 8.  Once 8 people sat at a table, 2 people could go and get the food and plates/utensils (on days where we were provided plates/utensils) and then we shared our meals.  Everyone’s stomachs shrank quickly and we learn to be satisfied with small portions.  Our food for the day would feature a continent: Asia, Eastern Europe, Africa, etc.  It was fun to try different dishes with everyone, especially for those who are picky eaters or had never tried ethnic foods.  

Saturday through Monday afternoon, we started with worship and then Reverend Rob Reimer would preach. Topics talked about were the Presence of God, Intimacy with God, Dealing with Lies, Spiritual Formation of a Leader: Soul Care, Grieving, Repentance, Healing Wounds, Forgiveness, The Holy Spirit, Feedback and the Voice of God. Here are some take a ways:

+ God has a billion Facebook friends but not very many face to face friends. We want to not just be a friend of Jesus but be a friend who wants to get to know Him more and who pursues His heart!

+ Healing the soul increases our capacity for God.

+ We need to be poured into, so that we can pour out.  If we are continually serving and giving away our joy, we need to be refilled, to continue pouring or we will be empty.  We need to take time to spend with Jesus alone, we need to worship Him and recharge – be purposeful about our time with Him. (Mark 1: 32-39)

+ We all need to adapt a NO SECRETS policy.  The more open we are with each other, the less room their will be for lies to win in our lives. (Romans 12:2)

+ We need to identify the lies we have in our life with the Holy Spirit and bring them to light and then replace them with truth. Why? Because if you agree with lies they will enslave you! (John 8:32)

+ There is no movement forward or going into the kingdom without repenting (Matthew 3:2). Repenting is essential to healing the soul.

+ Everyone get hurt and suffers grief.  Losses must be processed or they build up. (Psalm 6:3, 1 John 1, 2 Timothy 4:17, Psalm 34:8)

These are some of the spiritual and emotional areas we delved into at camp.  Rob would talk to us about Dealing with Lies for instance and then we would have some quiet time/time to journal, then we would break up into groups of 3-4 and share what the Lord was working on with us.

I’ll tell you more in part 2 of Training Camp but I want to try to keep my entries from being too long 😉