It’s been about a week since I left home. It feels like its been much longer and much shorter at the same time. I am writing from the airport in Atlanta, where I am drinking my first coffee in a week and paid $6 for a bar of dark chocolate because withdrawal is real and Jesus is good.
This week I participated in Passport Training Camp. Training Camp is designed to prepare each participant for everything he/she may face while on the field. We participated in teaching sessions, cultural briefings, and time with our teams and team leaders to help prepare us spiritually, mentally, and physically for what’s ahead of us!
At some points this week, I forgot I was still in America. I walked up to training camp and was informed we would be sleeping in tents, to which I excitedly replied, “I’m so down with that!” I immediately asked, “Where are the bathrooms?”. To which I was informed that there would be no bathrooms. This week was marked by using the bathroom in the woods or porta potties, hand washing clothes, taking “showers” with buckets filled with cold water, building strong relationships, and being overwhelmed by God’s love and calling on my life.
My prayer for these next two months has been that Jesus would be enough for me and that anything I’ve been holding onto for satisfaction and joy would be loosened from my grip. God has been more than enough for me this week. Despite not having access to the luxuries of home, I’ve experienced deep joy, not found in possessions, personal space, being in a climate controlled room (Georgia days are hot and Georgia nights are cold!), or in familiar circumstances. I found joy in the low places, being vulnerable, a little dirty, a little uncomfortable, a little more disconnected from the outside world, and mostly in laying down the idols of my heart on the altar of God and asking Him what He wants to take.
Olivia
