Our first meal as a team, we were
already laughing to the point of tears, and I knew this group of women is
divinely appointed. Of the 6 college students and 1 team leader that make up
our team, I am the youngest, and I celebrated my 20th birthday on
June 2. My team made the day so special. From the time I woke up with balloons
on my bed, to sharing a delicious birthday cake under the tent we constructed
that night, my sweet teammates did their best to make the first day of my
twenties memorable. Although we are each from a different state and have a
different sum of experiences that make us who we are, the Lord blessed our team
with an atmosphere of vulnerability from our first meeting.
Yesterday was dedicated to
SURRENDER. We did an exercise where we wrote our burdens on a log, then carried
those burdens on a hike. While on my hike I was listening for God and I heard
him say, “Trust me. Take my hand. I will lead you.” As I continued to walk I
rested in the peace of His presence and felt God’s breath of life through the
breeze, refreshing my body and spirit. My walk concluded by symbolically
throwing the log onto the fire. That night, I was singing the lyrics “I want
more of You, God” repeatedly, a staff member approached me and told me she felt
the Lord leading her to tell me that God wants more of ME too! This immediately
resonated with me, as a reminder that the releasing of burdens and fears and
entrusting them to the Lord will be a continuous process. Psalm 51:10-12 has
been my heart cry over Training Camp: “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and
renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take
you Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a
willing spirit to sustain me.”
Training Camp has well prepared me
to experience God in new ways this summer. Please pray that God will send a
legion of angels to give us traveling mercies on our journey and that we would
be received into India with grace from each person we come in contact with. We
will not simply be friendly people, who are interested in learning about another
culture. We will be women of purpose. We are ready, we are prepared. India, we are coming!
Olivia
