There have been quite a few blogs written about PVT (the parent vision trip where many of our parents met us and did ministry with us in Guatemala the other week), but I just wanted to quick recap some highlights of my 5 days with my parents!
-Visiting a nursing home and chatting in Spanish with Pablo for 2+ hours (in which time he proposed to me… I had been trying to offer him to date my grandma)! My parents were thoroughly amused as you can imagine!
-Playing with kids at the cerebral palsy hospital. This involved my mom singing happy birthday and Jesus loves you on repeat with one girl for 2+ hours 🙂
-Visiting some kids at a nearby orphanage and watching them have an impromptu dance party as one of the moms played the harmonica.
-ATL aka “Ask the Lord.” We walked around Antigua one afternoon, following where we thought the Lord was leading us. It is an awesome lesson in just bringing Kingdom everywhere you go and was awesome to experience with our parents! A homeless woman led my parents and I on what seemed like a wild chicken chase as we tried to find a tienda to get her some food at 🙂
-My entire squad that was at PVT sharing 5 minute testimonies of what the Lord has taught us on this journey- they were awesome to listen to!
-Worship each night and just awesome conversations. Praying with our parents. The Holy Spirit was alive and moving for sure.
One of the biggest things that I think many parents took away from PVT was just some of the awesome aspects of community living that my squad and I have experienced on this trip, so for those of you who aren’t parents or weren’t able to be there, I wanted to share a few of these with you 🙂
1. Ask the Lord. I briefly mentioned this before. I believe the Lord speaks to us in many different ways, and I have some awesome stories that have come from listening prayer and just listening for Him to speak to me. However, the biggest takeaway that ATL has taught me is that ministry is not just something we do at ministry. Our off days and weekends and really our entire lives can be about bringing kingdom. You never know the impact your conversation with your tuk tuk (or taxi) driver or coworkers might have! I was able to practice this at PVT with my parents, but I would encourage you to set aside a half an hour one day and just be intentional about practicing this if it’s not something you are used to 🙂 All you do is ask the Lord whew He would have you go or what He would have you do, listen, and then be obedient. And if you don’t hear anything, just start walking.
2. Feedback. This is huge. It is how we encourage one another and call one another higher on the race. We had a session on this at PVT, but basically, there are two kinds of feedback. One, and I believe the most important, is recognizing one another’s gifts that maybe we don’t always see in ourselves and pointing those out. I have learned that the Lord has gifted me in areas I never saw as strengths before the race, because my teammates and squadmates have pointed these areas out to me! The second is constructive feedback. This is just calling one another higher in areas where maybe we aren’t showing Christlike behavior. It is always done out of love and is not the same as conflict management (although we learn how to effectively communicate that as well). Feedback is an awesome and just really healthy way of communicating on the race, and it’s something that could be so valuable in families and communities at home as well!
3. Vulnerability. Yuck. I know. I’m still not a huge fan. Is anyone, ever, really? But I have seen the amazing benefits that come from being vulnerable in sharing my testimony, my heart, my struggles and just about everything with my teammates. I have learned that it’s okay to cry- in fact, I think that is often how I know the Holy Spirit is at work (we had a worship night the other week and the Lord just broke my heart for a family running the brothel across the street- He literally brought me to tears, and I know He was allowing me to just feel His heart over the situation). Vulnerability this past week meant us asking the Holy Spirit what He would have us share with our parents and nothing was off limits. Sometimes it might make you sick to your stomach, but if He’s asking you to share it, then you can trust He will use it 🙂 I think vulnerability is something we need more of in the church in America today- people honestly speaking about their struggles and their testimonies. It’s especially awesome then when you see the Lord using these to help others!
Hopefully this has given you a little glimpse into PVT and the world race community that I have been so blessed to be a part of. The race is about bringing Kingdom to all the places we go and to the people we meet, but it’s also amazing how much the Lord breaks us and molds us during the 11 months as well 🙂 I’m attaching a song that has been a constant prayer of mine since beginning this journey back in September. Enjoy!
