Training Camp has been quite the experience. I didn't really know what to expect and nothing could have prepared me for it.
Before I left for my trip, I wasn't really that excited. I was so busy and stressed trying to get everyting done that I didn't have time to be excited. I didn't really have much emotion about it. I thought that when I got here it would finally seem real and I would be pumped. Not the case. I knew how I was supposed to feel, but I just felt confused and distant; like I couldn't be real about it all.
We went to worship and things got weird. Instead of one person praying, we all prayed out loud at the same time. And instead of singing a song and being done with it, we sang the same lines over and over and over again. People were speaking prayers, off-beat clapping, and beating a random tambourine. But even though these things were so different from what I'm used to, it was real. There were no fronts put up, just people lost in the presence of God.
I find myself joining in with the prayers, loving the random beating and shaking of a tambourine someone brought, and saying something different to God each time I sing the same lines.
Last night, we had a message about God's voice and our voice. How our words can bring death or life. How God speaks through us. I always heard that, but I've never experienced something like this. We listened to God's voice and said things to people that we thought he wanted us to say. Talk about bringing life. It's weird having God speak to you through someone you don't even know, but it's so fitting and real, you know it can only come from God.
Saturday night, my team leader shared with me what she felt God wanting to tell me and it was inredible. It was exactly what I needed to hear from God and I didn't feel so distant anymore. I knew that God was listening, I just hadn't been listening back.
Enough of the deep stuff.. My team is Awesome!! They're so nice, and have such a passion, and we laugh all the time. It's always really fun. A few of us walked to a waterfall the other night, and I have never seen anything like it. Climbing up huge rocks looking at a giant waterfall lit only by the moon was so cool. Trying to engage with "tribal people" during an exercise will give you an interesting story. Having a crazy dance off and learning the wobble makes for a really fun afternoon.
If things are this good and we're only at training camp, I can't wait til we get to Africa! We fly out tomorrow evening so keep us in your prayers!
This stuff may be weird, but it's real, and we're gonna bring life to Kenya by what God does in us.
