Hello everyone!!
So this is officially the first blog post of the year- hopefully the first of many!! So I will be writing a little unconventionally- I feel like there is a lot of explaining going on about what we have been doing for the last 3 weeks. I don't really feel like explaining today, so instead I will give a few word description of what we did and and how I felt about it or what I learned. I hope you enjoy!
Training started January 9th: After 2 days of traveling, I am very happy I booked my flight so I arrived a day early- able to catch a nap, enjoy a shower, a milkshake at a local store called Nina's, and adjust to the 7 hour time change.
Learning the history of GCEX and its leaders: Honestly, for those who know me know how difficult it is for me to sit for long periods of time without distraction, so this was definitely a challenging week. I was also still adjusting to being able to listen and understand a South African accent (something I still need work on) so it was quite difficult, but all-in-all I got to hear some pretty amazing and powerful testimonies.
"THE BUSH": One word- unsanitary. We were stripped of all our basics- toothbrush, clean clothes, soap/deodorant, bathrooms etc, and spent the next 3 days sharing a homemade (out of bamboo sticks) shelter with five other people in a valley in the middle of the forest. Personally, I love camping so that wasn't even the hard part- although I will say I will never 'forget' to floss my teeth again. I am quite an introvert, so spending all my time with 5 other people was a lot harder then I expected not because I didn't like them- but because I actually enjoy being by myself. We also did challenges (like survivor) during this time in these small teams, which also posed as a challenge for me. I am quite clearly not the most physically active or inclined person I know, probably the least actually. Working on my own it would be easy to do things at my own pace and also the way I wanted to do it. Working in a team there are 5 other opinions that matter, and also 5 other athletic people who are much better and faster then myself. I am not saying this to be down on myself in any way, I am only stating the truth. This was way more than I bargained for- I learned that I can definitely be selfish in a lot of situations I never expected, and also telling yourself not to give up really does work. There is really something shockingly beautiful about having a team and knowing physically, you drag them down and trying really hard to bridge that gap- but also having a team that is amazingly supportive despite how awful you are at a challenge. Ultimately I learned the true meaning of teamwork this week and how important this will be over the upcoming year.
Veritas: Another week of intense sitting and learning... It was very neat to learn about the bible in kind of a classroom setting. I really enjoyed this because it helped me to really understand the context of verses, and also how to evangelize in a way that is sensitive rather than, as Seth would say "slap you in the face with Jesus".
GRACE: To talk about grace for an entire weekend is extremely eye-opening. My favorite line from this was "I am sinful. But by the grace of God, I sometimes do something wonderful". It was this weekend that really hit hard. We were asked to write down our sins- which I did and noticed how a lot of mine stem from this hatred I have for myself. I don't want to spend my life faking joy, love, peace, self-control, patience etcetera. I want the real thing. I want to have joy like Paul who even in the hardest of times, rejoiced in sharing the gospel to prison guards. Now THAT is true joy. I know if I were in that position I would probably spend way too much time complaining. This is really something that I am working towards learning this year- not just knowing how much God loves me and what I am worth to Him, but actually understanding, feeling and believing it so that I can have the fruit of the spirit.
Finally, we split off girls and guys for 2 days where girls spent time talking about girly stuf and from what I have gathered, guys spent time talking about how manly they are... Currently I am in Cape Town heading back to Jeffrey's Bay tomorrow after a nice weekend of doing touristy things with my fellow internationals while figuring out our Brazil visas.
If I had to sum the last 3 weeks up in one word, and for those who skipped down to the end to read the last sentence (no hard feelings), it has been EPIC.
Anyway, it is quite late and that used more brain power then I had left- I haven't had a coffee since 9:30 this morning... So have a good day and check back for more another day!!!