One of the main reasons the World Race requires squads to stay in Gainesville for six weeks is to disciple the members of each squad and prepare the racers spiritually for what will happen over the next eight months. During the six weeks in Gainesville Aims has two teachings a day, every single day of the week, for the squads to listen to. Team times also help with processing the overload of information. Aims also highly encourage each racer to pursue God in their own free time. Through these amazing tools, I was able to learn so much in Gainesville about myself, about God, and my relationship with him.
All of the teachings Aims gave during training camp brought me a new perspective on God or new information that I did not know or understand before that moment.
Three of these topics were abandonment, brokenness, and dependency. These are some of the fundamental stages for anyone who goes on a kingdom journey for God. The abandonment stage is the first part where all dependencies are given up to make God your only dependency. Abandonment could be something small like caffeine or something big like drugs, a high-paying job you find your identity in, or other lifestyles that satisfy you. When abandoning dependencies, you are more vulnerable to temptations and bad things affecting you so much more. The abandonment stage will lead to the brokenness stage. When experiencing brokenness, you usually turn to your past dependencies. But since you have abandoned them all, the only place left to turn to is God. This leads to the final stage, dependency. Dependency is when things are not going your way or life is getting hard, you turn to God for guidance, comfort, and support. Dependency is fundamental when going on the World Race and is the final goal of being on the world race. Complete dependency on God. Most of the Racers are leaving home for the first time so they are giving up friends and family and most comforts in life to go and serve God throughout the world.
Something that God specifically was telling and teaching me about was the unconditional agape love that God has for us. I saw this video during training camp where a professor was explaining this love God has for his people. Something that I was convicted a lot of at this time was when I sin it is not just going against him and the things he has planned for me, but it is me saying no to God and to the love he has for me and choosing the other option. But even though I say no to him time and time again, the love he has for me has never left. Throughout all of Gainesville, God just kept showing me his love for me through bible verses and the people around me. Previously I had developed an image of God that all he wanted was to rip away the good things that come across you in life. The people you meet, the dreams you have for your future, and the joy and laughter in this world. The time I spent in Gainesville redeemed this for me. Now I know that this is not true and that God wants all of those things for me and that he does have relationships that are good for me. He wants me to have hopes and dreams for the future. And he also wants me to have joy and laughter in my life.
I honestly learned more about God and the Holy Spirit than I have learned in my whole life in Gainesville this past fall. More than I could ever fit in this blog but these are just some of the highlights of the time there. Even though the rain never stopped and there never seemed to be enough food at meals, the time that I spent in Gainesville was some of the most impactful in my entire life. I would do it all over again if given the chance and I would not have changed a thing.
