Wow. What a whirlwind past couple days. I have been challenged, strengthened, and greatly encouraged by my time at training camp here in Georgia. I don't have time to share it all with you, so let me tell you about my most important experiences. One of the ideas our team has been challenged with is letting go of a burden or something holding us back from God and replacing that with something better that he has for us. As I've thought about that God put on my heart the burdens of silence and doubt. It is often easier for me to just stay silent when I don't agree with someone – to let someone else speak up, or to just let my actions show what I believe. And sometimes I'm just not sure if what I'm seeing is really God working or just coincidence. Last night as part of our worship, we took time to listen to God to see if he had a specific word from him to share with others in our group – we spoke whatever came to mind that we thought was from God and it was amazing to see people built up by God speaking directly to us and through us. I was talking to a girl that I didn't know and God put on my mind the story of David trusting in God to defeat Goliath and also of the process of healing – like sewing up an old torn garment – and when we were finished this girl told me that the biggest thing on her mind before the trip was pain – worried that God might not heal her past pains or worried if she could trust him. Someone then said to me that God wanted me to know that there was power and authority in my voice and to be bold and strong on the trip. This was just such an affirmation of what I had been thinking about earlier about giving up silence and doubt and claiming boldness and authority and faith. I just felt like the past few days have been specifically preparing me for what I will need to do in Uganda – awesome! Other than that I love my team and I'm excited to get on that plane tomorrow.
-john
