Saddle Butte, Crane. High Desert formations from Harney County as an example of what I was picturing.
The first morning of training camp during worship, I got an image of a dry, desolate desert getting its first rain after far too long. Being raised in the High Desert, I know that rain can be few and far between. When it does rain, one usually can “wait it out,” meaning it will be a short burst of rain. However, sometimes the soil has a composition that responds to water in a hydrophobic way. Meaning the soil seems to repel water! The soil in most cases has learned to be hydrophobic through a process called soil leaching. There is so much science that my sister and my geography degree can better explain, but basically, when it rains in a dry hot desert, the surface of the soil deflects the rain because it is unable to process the volume of water being dumped, and the heat evaporates what little water is left, taking all the “good stuff” with it. I could go so much deeper, but the main point I want to make is that it all comes down to a reliable water source.
Over the past two years my faith, soul, and spirit has been in my own desertification process. Either because of COVID restricting my community and church involvement, graduating from a community, working at a job with long hours for six days a week, I’ve been slowly going through a soil leaching/soul leaching process where my capacity for INTIMACY, COMMUNITY, and MISSION has been filtering lower and lower. I didn’t realize this until I was in a room full of devoted Jesus friends/followers and I was wondering why I wasn’t automatically “feeling it,” or absorbing all the worship as what was once so natural to me.
A journal entry of World Race Leaders explaining the vision of the Race:
INTIMACY, COMMUNITY, MISSION and in the middle of it all is Kingdom Life.
“Where is God?” “Is He actually speaking to me?” “What if I got this wrong and I’m not supposed to be here?” My natural desert thoughts evaporated the living water of Jesus because, what was once so natural, His words, His water, His life, felt foreign. If I could make a cultural observation over this past year, I would say there is a desertification drought in communities sweeping the nation. Individuals learning to survive with less. Less community, less God, less life.
He is so good to not have answered my anxious pleas to flood my soul with His presence. Oftentimes, when a desert soil with vegetation (roots into community, roots in church, roots in His presence, etc) receives a downpour, it becomes a dangerous flash flood that wipes the fertile topsoil off. Every worship and session became another sprinkle of rain. Every conversation I had with my Squad and teammates was another mist of rain. Learning of new cultures, new dress codes, and new sleeping scenarios was another rain. He is so kind to allow my soul/soil to grow acclimated to rain and water before I live in the saturation of a Costa Rican rain forest!
Being a desert rancher, we know that a strong water source is so important and something millions have fought for since the dawn of time. As a Christian, I know the living water comes from God abundantly everyday.
“Jesus answered her, ‘if you knew the gift of God and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.’” -John 4:10 (ESV)
As I went through training camp, I found myself just taking pages and pages of notes. During worship I would just sing out and learn once again how to soak in Jesus’ living water that is not dependent on seasons, neighbors’ usage, or depleting water sources.
What did I learn from training camp? Jesus is teaching me how to build a foundation for this next year, not out of a desert mindset, but with the hope and expectation that His water supply is abundant and ever flowing. To hold my desert farming practices that are steeped in worry and limited supply aside and with open hands and allow Jesus to pick what is useful and what is harmful of living a desert lifestyle.
Another translation of John 4:10 (MSG) says “Jesus answered, “If you knew the generosity of God and who I am, you would be asking me for a drink, and I would give you fresh, living water.”
A much better question I heard in one of the sessions, that I hope to carry over and past these next eleven months is:
I have so much I learned and want to share about the sleeping scenarios, cultural meals, dress codes, speakers, and time with my squad and team. But when I sat down to write about it, God wouldn’t allow any other words besides this metaphor. To set a foundation. To pray first. To ask for His living water first. To befriend Him and speak to Him first. With that said, I urge you to check out my teammates blogs because they describe the day-to-day of training camp and can provide a better overview.
Here are three blogs from my team that can give you a more holistic view of camp!
- https://danasalesman.theworldrace.org/post/firehoses-and-backseat-coffee
- https://carolinepeavy.theworldrace.org/post/all-in
- https://savannakandiko.theworldrace.org/post/all-things-world-race-training-camp
