A little over 2 weeks ago, I said “see you later” to everything and everyone I’ve ever known. I was reminded of what surrendering my life and saying “Yes” to Jesus - not only this year, but on a daily basis for the rest of our lives, really looks like.

I’m not going to lie, it’s been hard sometimes. I’ve spent nights crying and praying in my tent. I’ve also spent mornings weeping in awe, peace, and worship of how incredible it is to be in relationship with a loving, perfect Father who is the Prince of Peace and always faithful. I have no more or less control over family and friends while I’m gone than I ever did when I was home. God has much bigger, better plans and hands for each of us to rest in than we could ever imagine. Safe to say, I am done attempting to squeeze the God who created and rules the entire universe into my little Fran-brain-sized box!

That being said, here’s a little glimpse into the past 16 beautiful days of training camp before launching overseas:

We sleep in tents. Each World Race Squad has a separate little forest clearing to set up their “Tent City” and it kinda feels like a giant 25-person sleepover every night. The Georgian heat, humidity, rain, bugs, and outdoor noises in general made it a bit tougher to sleep but every night I sleep a little better and have grown to like and appreciate my tent crib. One of my most memorable moments was finding and grabbing a spider that snuck into my tent (and on my barefoot😳) by its legs and flinging it out of my tent door. I was simultaneously traumatized and in absolute beast mode.

We took lots of bucket showers which are exactly what they sound like: filling a bucket with cold hose water then showering with it. We washed laundry by hand in the same buckets. We’ve bonded through fun and gross chores like dish duty for 175+ people, cleaning porta-potties, and showers, etc. We woke up early and exercised together many mornings. We participated in Squad Wars which included physical competitions like blindfolded races, dodgeball, hula hooping, and a musical performance I helped write a rap for. We hiked 4.5 miles up and down Mount Yonah with our giant backpacks in the rain.

We were divided into teams of 4-6 people and assigned roles: I’m a treasurer! We have individual quiet time and then speaks time in community through discussion, team building, and full hour-long worship sessions! 🙌🏻 We hear from incredible speakers leading us into a deeper biblical understanding of Christ, the Gospel, His kingdom, prayer, evangelism, forgiveness, unity, discerning God’s voice, the Holy Spirit and very real spiritual realm, etc. We stayed up all night taking turns praying through spiritual warfare over our team and the kingdom of God.

We got to leave camp and ask the Holy Spirit to lead us as we shared the hope of Jesus on the streets of Georgia. Our team of 25 saw tons of fruit from building relationships, praying with people, and sharing the gospel! One guy was so excited to give his life to Christ and asked to be baptized right then and there in the middle of the park with a teammate's water bottle!

I got rebaptized and it was so cool! I feel blessed to be God’s daughter and able to publicly proclaim Jesus as Lord over my life forever now that I’m older and completely sure of that decision. Going under the water and coming back out really felt like Jesus’ blood symbolically washing off all the years of uncertainty, anxiety, choosing the world & people pleasing over Jesus, and previously being too fearful to live in His freedom and joy or spread His good news to the nations, etc. All I can do is praise God for all He’s done and continues to do! I am so excited for this next year of growing with Jesus alongside my teammates as we start serving overseas.

Please pray for safe travels, open hearts to God and the life-changing hope He offers, unity for our team, physical health (many team members have been sick), and continued hunger for more of the Lord and less of ourselves. I love you all and God loves you infinitely more. I can’t even express in words how much I appreciate and find strength and comfort from your prayers and support.

My prayer for y’all this week is based in Ephesians 3:14-21 which says,

“When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth. I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God. Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. Glory to him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever! Amen.”

Squad Z with our gear

Team Zera (Zera means "new beginnings" in Hebrew). We will be working together in Guatemala.

Our squad's tent city in the woods

Made it to the top Mt. Yonah

Squad Z group photo at training camp

Squad wars

Teammate Rachel Bode and I with our younger siblings who were in last year's Gap J squad

Let out of camp - being crazy and having fun!

Doing laundry at camp

Hiking with our packs in the rain

All geared up for the big hiking trip up the mountain

Girl time!

Our final night at training camp - got to sleep inside to keep our tents dry for early flight

Dish duty at training camp

Awesome baptism service

At airport ready to leave for Guatemala

Lots of friendly competition at training camp - arm wrestling time!