Touching Lives for Christ - A short term missions experience

Bootcamp

Boot camp is time set aside for the teams and team leaders to get to know each other, to learn to work together, and to learn what it really means to be a team. It is also a time for preparation. There are classes and workshops held during the day in order for teams to learn about the countries they will be visiting, how to remain safe in those countries, and how to relate to the culture and the people in those countries. The journey begins long before setting foot in the country to which each team is going.

Boot Camp would not be boot camp if it did not include work details. Each team is assigned a duty ranging from burning trash, to clearing debris, cleaning, building and 101 other assignments. Rain or sunshine, the work continues. This prepares the teams to work hard on the mission field. Many times it is the willingness to "get dirty" that opens the hearts of people.

The Commissioning Service is held the Sunday immediately following Boot Camp and, in a sense, is "graduation." The teams have survived the challenges of Boot Camp, the money has been raised, and the passports and visas are safely tucked away in the suitcases. The teams are prepared for ministry!

The teams marching into the auditorium sense the support of the many Christians who are praying for them. During the service, each team gives a brief presentation related in some way to their destination.

The highlight of the service comes at the end, with a moving candle lighting ceremony. In the darkened church, the light from one candle is passed from team leader to team member, until the entire congregation is encircled with flickering candlelight. Each team is given the challenge to go and shine its "light" around the world. Someone has aptly said, "Don't curse the darkness, light a candle!" And that is really what TLC is all about -- ordinary people taking God's light into a very dark world.