Back in Gainesville: Update from Training Camp!

On August 20th, after a short couple weeks with my family, I arrived back on the AIM Base in Gainesville, GA. Pulling into the long driveway felt familiar and hopeful. It had been almost one year since P Squad arrived on base for training camp and I had felt so nervous and uncertain about what I was stepping into. Where did the time go?! God had been so faithful in the past year that this time I was sure that there was no need to be afraid. Surely God will go before me once again.

We had two weeks of Alumni Leader training before Parent Launch and racers arrived. Training was refreshing to my soul. I valued the time that our leaders spent investing in us and caring for us spiritually and emotionally. The Lord used that time to let our Gap W leadership team bond and minister to one another! Our Gap W mentor is Bill Swan and my co leaders are Emmery, Grace, Ally, Dawson, and Banks. This team is so firm in faith and steady in spirit. They are quick to pray, eager to seek reconciliation, and easy to love and celebrate. The laughter, fun, and edification in this team builds me up so much! I’m grateful for God’s sovereignty in choosing this team to lead W, and I’m honored to be a part of it.

On September 1st, we welcomed parents and racers on to campus for Launch. It all began to feel real as I answered questions from parents, hugged teary-eyed racers, and set up my tent at our campsite. Training Camp days are filled with worship, sessions, prayer meetings, leader meals, and lots of laughter. It feels so different as an Alumni Leader because of all of the behind the scenes work and prayer that goes into every detail of the camp. I’m so glad to be here and to learn from my leaders. God has been answering our prayers so tangibly and moving in the hearts of our racers. As we’ve opened up scripture with them, they’ve been so hungry and eager to learn. God has lavished so much grace on our leadership team and squad as we’ve navigated unfamiliar or challenging topics and conversations. His bond of peace has united us as the body of Christ and makes me so grateful for the way the cross of Christ has changed everything about how we operate.

In this season, God has been teaching me so much about what it looks like to live in the freedom of Christ, not obligated to the law or to the flesh, but fully experiencing the abundant life of freedom that God offers. It is for freedom that he’s set us free! Little by little, God has been revealing areas of my heart where I now see that I wasn’t embracing his freedom. The Lord has also been showing me new understanding of what it means to walk in the power and authority of Jesus, to take him at his word when he says we’ll be his witnesses and do signs and wonders in his name. God has grown my faith as he has healed people of sickness around me, as he’s allowed me to be a part of seeing people set free from the oppression of the enemy, and as countless people have been baptized in Jesus’ name as an act of surrender and faith. God is moving and saving people, and I’m celebrating that we are seeing real life-change as people surrender to God and confess that Jesus is Lord!!

On this trip, my role is to disciple and lead 7 girls of our 39 racers throughout the year. Contrary to the way my last Race was structured, we will be together as a team for all 9 months! I’m really grateful and excited about this. God is raising up a generation of believers who want to serve the Lord of the Harvest and see God’s kingdom here on earth as it is in heaven. I love that God has invited me to be a part of this! I’ll do a team introduction blog soon, but in the meantime, you can pray for our team– Team Naya. In Hindi (the second language of one of our teammates) ‘Naya’ means ‘new’. It also means ‘fresh start’ or ‘to Admire God’. These are all things that meant so much to my girls as they brainstormed name ideas. I’m praying that God would do a new thing in our hearts this year as he reveals himself, affirms our identity, and teaches us how to love and admire him more.

Thank you for your support in love and prayer. I’m always so encouraged when I get to share what God is doing or hear how he is moving in your life. God’s family is such a gift. Please join me in prayer as you’re reading this! I ask you to pray for spiritual strength and rest as we press on at training camp through the end of September. Please pray against sickness that many of us are fighting. Please join us in prayer for continued freedom in our lives and our racers’! God always has more that we can embrace and enjoy with him. Whom the Son sets free is free indeed! Thank you for praying.

You matter to God, so you matter to me. I love you!

Kara <3