Hello friends and family – I’m so glad you’re here to read this guest blog! My parent’s so kindly responded with joy and excitement when I asked them to write a blog about their experiences on Parent Vision Trip. I know I wrote a blog about this already, but trust me, reading their experience firsthand will give you a much better insight into what this week looked like to them and meant for them.
Mom’s experience
As I sit here, with my yummy cup of tea and a week between me and PVT (Parent Vision Trip), I am reflecting on all the things that happened.
I was aware of this trip at least a year ago and I was unsure of how it would come about. All I knew is that I must go!! Being self-employed means no paid vacation. I was concerned about how I would save up for the trip, and not only the trip but the money that I would be out of from missing work. I had things that still needed to be paid, so it was like saving for the trip and covering all my missed income. GULP! One thing I know: God does not want us to worry. I am a firm believer in the word of God and I held fast to two verses. The first is 1 Peter 5:7 Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you (NLT), and 1 John 5:14-15 14This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. 15And if we know that he hears us – whatever we ask – we know that we have what we asked of him. (My all-time favorite verse!) So this trip in itself was an answered prayer – I layed my concerns at his feet and just trusted that it would all work out. I was trusting the Lord for provision, not only for the trip, but for the missed income while I was away. The Lord is so faithful and everything was and is being covered. All my bills, all the travel costs and even fun money! Answered prayer builds our faith and my faith has been strengthened! The praise pours out of my mouth and I am in continuous awe of the workings of the Lord!
For months before the trip I was praying for big things. Most fervently for the Spirit of reconciliation to move powerfully – in the lives of the people of Guatemala that they be reconciled with the Father first and foremost, for any rifts in the families of the racers, that they be reconciled one with another and that members be healed and completely whole of soul, and that any marriages of the racers parents that are broken be healed – that beauty be made of any ashes and that reconciliation and unity abound, and all of these things for God’s glory. I prayed for miracles of healing in the bodies and souls of all those we came in contact with. Big prayers for a big God!
It was so wonderful to step off the shuttle and wrap my arms around Maddie! Face Time is awesome, but hugs are better, can I get an AMEN!?!
Meeting Madison’s team was so good! I see why she loves them so much – I love them too and I don’t know them like she does! It was good getting to know them and their parental units. Their love for people is so clearly evident and that’s what I love about each of them most. And the bond between them is strong. I get so super excited that these relationships are not just for now. Not just till we exit this earth, but for all eternity!!! Think of that….WOW! Just WOW! I often express my excitement to Madison and her friends about this wonderful, awesome truth! I remind my friends of that too. It just amazes me. Even if they think I’m a dork! Lol!
Watching Madison love on the children in her classes and seeing how they love her was incredible. It was fun to see her doing what she’s been doing for months. I got a little glimpse into what her life has been like for the last few months.
I had so much fun helping Team Hope in their field day event for the children and moms of Los Encinos, the small village that they served and ministered to during their stay in Guatemala. We did an egg race, balloon toss, pie in the face (!), arts and crafts, and more. Mr. Morgan, (he’s a teacher so that’s what I called him!) Selina’s dad does balloon twisting and brought everything he needed to do that for the kids – they LOVED it!
Friday was a time for Team Hope to say their goodbyes to the people in Los Encinos. After building relationships and loving on the people the goodbyes for the racers can be hard. For me, I saw how much the people loved the young ladies of Team Hope. They showed so much hospitality, inviting us into their homes and sharing their prayer requests with us. We were privileged to pray for them and bless them.
There is so much I could write about – the beauty of the land, how adorable Antigua is, the markets we visited, the food we ate, the people we met….I could go on.
One of my favorite things was watching and listening to her speak to the locals in their native language. We would go for coffee (or in many cases an orange fizz…YUM!!) and she would help us order. On our last night there we met her friend Jose for dinner. We were there for at least 3 hours and she translated all the conversation for him and us. He spoke about as much English as we spoke Spanish! She did an amazing job translating and I was filled with pride and joy in my baby girl!
I absolutely love the organization of Adventures in Missions. I fell in love with them at Launch, and PVT was everything I imagined and more. The worship times filled me up. To the brim. And after being home for a week, one of the best things to come out of this trip for me personally is that through it all, a little conversation about the possibility of reconciliation in my own marriage has opened up. We have a long way to go and a lot of stuff to work through, and we also have to be willing to surrender immeasurably and allow Holy Spirit to work in our hearts and lives. There is no doubt our God is big enough to answer our biggest prayers!
Peggy Collin (Madison’s mom)
Dad’s experience
WOW! Praise God!
What an incredible 5+ days spent with the racers, other PVT parents, all the Adventures Guatemala team, many local Guatemalans whom I now consider lifelong friends(everlasting life!) and especially the Lord!
My tears started flowing the minute I got off the shuttle and saw Madison for the first time in 6 months! By far the longest I had ever been apart from her.
She is the last born of our 6 amazing children and I am so blessed that she was born on my birthday!
I knew the minute I walked into the hostel courtyard where we were staying with all the racers and other PVT parents, that the desert I felt I had been in for the last 4 years was now an Oasis. Worship led by the racers that evening and all the following evenings solidified that feeling! I’ve always felt closest to my Savior while worshipping but this was a step above. The tears were flowing big time and it felt so good.
The way so many racers stepped out of their comfort zone and laid out what the Lord had put on their hearts during worship was so encouraging!
You just never know how, what the Lord puts on your heart to step up announce out loud, is going to affect people but He puts it on your heart for reasons you may not understand… just be obedient and do it!
I’m so thankful they did because it taught me to be more obedient and even more important, to stop trying to “fit” Jesus into my life, but instead to surrender myself, fully 100%, to Him.
The first day we went to the school in Parramos, where Madison and the rest of Team Hope had been teaching English to elementary age kids. What an experience to see that your child has grown into an incredible woman of God, to watch her love on those kids and get loved on by them was so gratifying! (Geez, I can’t even write this blog because my eyes are leaking too much!)
The next day we went to the Adventures Guatemala base where the teams lived while there.
The girls planned some fun and games for the kids from the local village of Los Encinos.
Just walking through the village and seeing the kids and mothers react with so much excitement was amazing but it just got better when the fun and games started! It was donut eating competition, water balloon throwing, shaving cream pie pan in the face madness and it was a blast!
I’m not sure if the kids had more fun or if I did!
I was blessed by the opportunity to pick up and hold a small boy who had some challenges walking and speaking. We started punching the big punching bag that was there and at first I couldn’t tell if he was having fun or if it was bothering him but when I went to take a break and put him down he made it obvious that he wasn’t done yet and we had a great time for about as long as I could handle. He was loving every minute of it, he just had his own way of expressing it.
As we began to wrap up with a prayer I held him and he seemed so at peace.
The time with him filled my heart to overflowing with joy!
The next day was filled with joy and sorrow as the racers had to say some goodbyes to the families of Los Encinos. We walked from house to house praying, hugging and crying as we said goodbye, for now.
After experiencing the Lord working in so many ways I only have 2 regrets… That I didn’t make it to Launch and that PVT wasn’t longer!
I don’t know how right now, because He doesn’t very often let me in on the details of His plan for me, but I know I am going back to Guatemala in the future… I hope it’s soon!
I just know that I need to surrender all of myself, 100%, to Him daily!
Thank you Madison, Adventures Guatemala, the people of Guatemala and thank you Lord for filling my heart!
Madison’s dad, Scott
