Blog entry #1: Training Camp- June 23rd, 2012

I don't know anyone crazy enough to go 3 days without a shower or changing their clothes, sitting on a port-a-pot and realizing that you haven't actually washed your hands with soap and water in a sink also in 3 days, or even washing dishes in a bucket of water. WAIT, I lied, I do know someone, ME.

So now you know how the past 3 days have been (: Those things alone have completely challenged me. BUT, my whole heart has already been changed. Those things I listed are only the beginning. I am about to bored a plane for 24 hours to only be fortunate enough to shower maybe once a week, and that maybe is a big maybe. (: Friday the 21st I arrived at training camp with my parents in toe. A short hour later, we said our goodbyes and my parents put me into the hands of complete strangers along with the hands of the Lord (: I was so excited after shedding many tears, I couldn't wait to see what the Lord was going to do. I had in my mind that nothing was really going to happen until I actually got to Kenya on Tuesday, YES TOMORROW, eeeek (: But of course the Lord had something else in mind, duh Emma. So Saturday I woke up and after breakfast the leaders led us on a surrender hike. We each got a log, and yes it was heavy, butwe wrote things that we wanted to surrender to the Lord. We carried this log through the woods thus showing us that our burdens and sins are heavy. At the end we got to surrender those things by throwing the log into a fire pit. It felt awesome knowing those lies were gone. Later that night at worship we got time to ask God to speak to us. I didn't hear anything so I asked Ashley, one of our leaders, to pray for me. She spoke such truth to me about how the Lord loves me no matter what has happened. So I sat back down and asked the Lord to speak to me and this time He did. He showed me a picture of myself running FREELY. So at first I was like, I totally am just dreaming that but then Kelly, another leader who didn't know even my name, came up to me and said YOU ARE FREE. Because my Father is so forgiving. I am completely free of the past and I don't have to worry about that because the bondage is gone (: God is so good! Please continue to pray that the Lord would constantly remind me of this(:
Love you all (:

<3Em