Thailand Team

Thursday through Saturday were normal training days. We start our days by waking up at 5:30 and leaving our tent site by 5:35. This usually takes a few days to get good at, but they had it by day 3!! Teams start the day by running the Obstacle Course (OC). The first team starts at 6:02 and the rest are staggered every two minutes. As a leader, I am encouraged to see that it is important for them to run as a team. Even though some may be faster than others, they choose to run as a team and move through each obstacle together. They also are super conscientious about a "clean" run without disqualifying on an obstacle. At the end of the course is the Wall obstacle. Each day they work to put different team members over and at this point I believe that only three out of our fourteen have not made it over.

After the OC we go to breakfast and then have 30 minutes of personal devotion time with the Lord. We then are blessed to have two hours of Bible lessons from various teachers. Next, we move to our training classes. This week we have attended Puppets, Painting, Carpentry, Sunday School Ministry(SSM), and Music. Because we will be having an opportunity to work with children, our SSM class was especially fun. We were able to act out a short Bible story, sing songs, play children's games like duck duck goose, and make balloon animals. They are a talented group of teens, and they bless us so much with their abilities in music class. They are making a JOYFUL noise unto the Lord.

Every day our tent site, eating site, and sitting site in the Big Top are evaluated for cleanliness. At the rally each night the top three teams and the bottom two teams are called to the front. We have only been called up once and we were 2nd place that night. They were so excited!!

Today, Sunday is a special day at Boot Camp. We have a Missions Conference with eight different ministries represented. The teams have time individually with a couple of organizations and then have an hour to visit the different booths to check them out. It is also a day with some team bonding time built in. We had team photos taken and as I type this I can smell the pizza oven warming up. We will be served pizza and milkshakes for dinner tonight. Our two former team members, Ezra E. and Hannah G., got to help make the pizza, while the rest of the team enjoyed a half hour in the pool. They even made special gluten-free for those of us who need it!

I wish I had time here at Boot Camp to tell you what each of your children has been up to. They are a special group. A few nights ago at Rally, the speaker challenged us to be thankful. During our team time, we each talked about what we are thankful for. Julia H. said she was thankful that our team was so kind. Another said, "We should try and be the 'kindest' team". I love that. What a blessing. Here are a few testimonies from the team.

Ezra E. Boot Camp's going great, finally used to the gross water and super hot nights. Our team isn't the most winning, but our friendship and unity are the greatest win for me. Love you all!

Hannah G. Hi Mom & Dad & David & Lois & other people looking at this! Boot Camp is the funnest ever! I tried to jump for the rope on the Slough and I fell in twice. It was awesome! See ya.

Zipporah E. Boot Camp has been super challenging but I love the teamwork our group has shown. I've grown closer to God every day. I'm so excited to go to Thailand.

Ben K. Boot Camp is awesome because it's challenging. The slough is the best part of the obstacle course.

Callie B. Boot Camp has been an amazing challenge. I've grown closer to God each day. I'm looking forward to the trip to Thailand soon!

Monika F. Boot Camp has been amazing. God has been teaching me so much stuff already. I can't wait to learn more and share it with others.

Esther Y. Boot Camp's going very well and I am enjoying it. Our team is the best and I love the unity we have together as one. Oh, and it is starting to cool off a lot.