Training Camp Update #1

Well, our adventure is officially
underway.  On Thursday the whole team arrived at the airport in
Atlanta.  We made our way back to Gainesville and spent the rest of the
day getting to know each other, worshiping, and waiting for bedtime to
come around.

 

In the morning we learned about “Timelines.”  Basically how to
tell the stories of each of our lives and the way that God has changed
our lives.  As a team we’ve started sharing our timelines at night as a
way to learn more about each other, and more about our team as a whole.

 

We sat in on another talk about children’s ministry.  Alli Mellon
walked us through effective ways to put together children’s programs –
we even learned a few songs with some pretty spectacular hand motions. 
At the end each team was given 5 minutes to put together one day of a
Vacation Bible School program, and at the end of 5 minutes we had to 
present our program in front of the entire training camp.  Our team did
really well.  As leaders we were really impressed with the way that
Team Philippines gave it everything they had.  Each member pulled their
weight, used a lot of energy in front of the group, and we all agreed
that if we had been small children – we would have liked our program
the best.

 

In other news – our team won a pretty intense dance competition and spent the rest of the day doing team building exercises.

 

Saturday.

Saturday morning we spent time learning how to minister
cross-culturally.  We compared our own American culture to other
cultures around the world and even did an exercise where half of the
camp pretended to be an indigenous tribe, while the other half was
given the task of engaging culture and ministering.  Luckily, our team
was part of the indigenous tribe.  We got to do strange things and act
out some awkward indigenous traditions.  We did a great job of
frustrating the missionary teams, but in the end it was a good learning
experience for everyone.

 

We spent the afternoon learning dramas that we can present and use
as tools to break through language barriers.  Last night we had a
worship service and spent a lot of time letting God really deal with us
and set us free from anything that might be holding us back from
seeking Him more.

 

…We’ve had a little bit of rain, but mostly at night so we’ve
stayed pretty dry.  Today we are learning about Spiritual Warfare and
going through a few more team builders.  That’s all for now.  We’ll
blog again soon to keep you updated.  Everyone is doing great and we
are all getting more and more excited about all that lies ahead.