YAAALLLLLL T-MINUS 9 DAYS TILL LAUNCH!!! Crazy, crazy! I got back from training camp just over a week ago and have been attempting to process what all happened ever since. I drove to Georgia, and had a super jam-packed week filled with information, worship, cultural guidance, team-building activities, and adventure. For sake of time and LENGTH, I’m just going to share my top 5 favorite parts of the training!

 1. The speakers and worship sessions – throughout each day we listened to multiple messages from various leaders and speakers. We also had a worship session every day (seriously, those were fire). The sessions really brought depth and vision to the whole week. We did a lot of fun activities and games to get to know everyone better, but the messages are what really wrapped the week in CHRIST and in purpose. I could literally go on forever with how much information I received, but instead I’ll just say these sessions are what really helped me to see the fruit in what we’re doing and to better understand the journey I am about to embark on.

prayer after a session

2. Meeting my squad! These are the 29 people I will be spending the next 11 months of life with! We camped, ate, danced, worshipped, hiked, prayed, and got drenched in the pouring rain together. To come together and see how God hand-picked such a wonderful group of people…I’m just hyped to get to know everyone better and see how God uses each person’s gifts for His Kingdom! I also got to meet my team – this is the group of people from my squad that I will be traveling and doing ministry with for the first few months!

My squad!

My team! From left to right:

Aliseya: aliseyawilliams.theworldrace.org

Nicole: nicolemtorres.theworldrace.org

Talaya: talayacoleman.theworldrace.org

me: jessiejacoby.theworldrace.org

Sarah: sarahhahn.theworldrace.org

Michaela: michaelaroys.theworldrace.org

3. The FOOD! Each day at training camp was fashioned as a different culture/region of the world. This meant that we dressed as if we were in that location, and we ate food that would be similar to those cultures. A few of the days were Asia, India, Latin America, and Africa day. My favorite meal by FAR was from Africa day!

pupusas from Latin America Day

sharing a meal together

4. Squad Wars – there was a total of 3 squads at training camp, and at the end of the week we all competed in different games and a big dance war. It ended up pouring rain, which made it all the more fun, and the evening ended with baptisms and worship. I don’t have any pictures from this but I do have one video where everyone started singing “Our God is an Awesome God,” when it started pouring rain during the squad wars. I will attempt to link that video below :)

5. Hiking up Yonah – For our fitness hike we backpacked up a mountain and camped overnight. This was by far my absolute favorite part of the whole week. Between the squad, leaders, and mentors there was about 35 people who came and we all sat on the edge of Yonah Mountain to sing praises to Jesus (shout out to Jacob for hiking up with his guitar)! For me the moment was very surreal – I couldn’t stop thanking God for the opportunity He has given me, and I was just in awe that He chose me to be a part of this family called K SQUAD!

The whole squad at the top of Yonah Mountain

Around the campfire listening to Keith & Karen at the top of Yonah

 What’s Next: I will officially be leaving August 6^th for launch. I will be in Georgia until August 12^th doing some additional training, and then will fly out on the 12^th to Guatemala! The first 6 countries of my route are as follows:

1. Guatemala
2. Honduras
3. Costa Rica
4. Nicaragua
5. Colombia
6. Ecuador 

• There are 9 days until I leave and I am still working on fundraising, so if you feel led to donate you can click the bar above this post! Thank you for reading, and I can’t wait to share more :D
• PS: Don't forget if you wanted to purchase a mug from Maple Leaf Pottery to support me, make sure to purchase quick before they are no longer available! https://www.mapleleafpottery.com/product-page/12-oz-world-traveler-a-mug.