At the end of last month, I was privileged to have my parents visit me on the field in Costa Rica. The trip was set up to give them a taste of what I’ve been doing this year on the World Race. Here my Dad shares his experience of his time on the Parent Vision Trip.
Toward the end of September, nineteen parents including myself, had the opportunity to visit and work alongside our sons and daughters that have been out since January. They are the Fusion 3 squad.
The Racers organized our PVT time together and scheduled many sessions for us. These different sessions were to introduce us to what they have been doing the last nine months. The first topic covered was “Listening Prayer”.
Listening Prayer is the act of asking God questions and then being silent and waiting for Him to answer. Often we are in the habit of praying for or about things that we don’t give God the space to talk back to us.
We paired up with Rachel’s squadmate Kylee and her parents for our first listening prayer. We prayed asking for the Lord’s specific guidance in: 1) gender; 2) a color; 3) age; 4) an item; and 5) an ailment. Then we listened for awhile and afterward shared what we heard or saw. We took those combined visions and went for a walk, or as they called it, a “treasure hunt”, looking for someone who might fit what we saw to minister to that day.
After a brief time, we encountered a man that had several of the things we had seen. We had crossed paths a few minutes earlier but this time we talked for a bit.
Dan was from Canada and had moved to Costa Rica to open an eatery. In conversation we learned that he was aware of the English-speaking church in the area and planned to attend once the new one was built. He informed us he had been sick with the flu and this was the first time he had been out in three days. We asked to pray for him which he welcomed, and also asked prayer for his business and several of his employees who’d recently been through some serious struggles.
Shortly after praying for Dan we met another group talking with a man who spoke very broken English. Kylee’s mom Zoe speaks fluent Spanish and translated. We all spent time with him and several others praying for different needs that they had. Everyone was very open to receiving prayer.
Saturday was our free day and Rachel wanted to zipline. We walked uptown to book it and there we met Joshua. He had moved to the city eight months earlier for work. Rachel struck up a conversation and we learned that he is a fellow Christ follower. He excitedly and passionately shared with us the first time God worked through him to perform a physical healing. It was an incredible testimony. Joshua welcomed us praying with and for him before heading out.
Having the chance to meet and share with other Racer parents was an encouraging time. Seeing and experiencing the racer’s motto of “life is ministry, and ministry is life” up close and personal was quite amazing!
Thank you, Dad and Mom, for all your love and support throughout my life, and especially this past year! I am so blessed to have you as my parents and am thrilled you got to join me on the mission field. I’m looking forward to being home with you in a few short weeks and seeing what God has next for us all in this crazy adventure with Him!
