From my mom:
“What to pack for PVT”
How do you pack for a week in a country you have never been to? What is the acceptable dress for men and women’s clothing? Will it be warm or cold? Thank goodness, Google has all of these answers! I researched all these questions and spent a week packing. Obviously, I needed a few new things to make it all come together! My husband was also very strategic about his packing; he threw his stuff in a bag the night before we left.
What to bring for your Racer? Rescue snacks of course! Cheez-its must have been at the top of everyone’s list because the hostel was full of them after the parents arrived. Seven months without Cheez-its is apparently a very long time! We had a special request for our Racer because our family makes chocolate candy at Christmas! Keeping a container of candy hid for three months in our family is a major challenge! (Basement freezer behind the vegetables)
Now fit this all in a carry-on bag and a backpack! Not a big thing for the racers who have somehow existed out of a backpack for seven months, but I thought about hiring an architect to help me get it all to fit in these smaller bags.
In all this preparation, I missed the most important point. Ready your heart for the people you will meet on this trip! The Racers, their parents, the mentors and the local people of Georgia. We listened and were moved by Racer testimonies and those of believers in nearby Iran who risk their very lives and livelihood to walk with Jesus. We Asked the Lord where He wanted us to go in Georgia and how could we reach out to people each day and show His light to others. This was harder than I imagined but a great way to stretch in my faith journey and experience what our Racers have been doing for the past seven months.
My favorite and most awkward day was one where our ATL team (Ask the Lord – not Atlanta airport) was given 25 Lari and asked to use it to go out and bless someone. I had 10 Lari (which is about $3.50 USD). I bought some fruit from an older man working his fruit stand. The fruit was 5 Lari and he was struggling to find change. I told him to keep it and he grabbed me by the shoulders and gave me a kiss on the cheek and he smiled a big smile! I did not see this as a God moment in the beginning because I thought the mission for the day was to hand out the fruit and talk to the people who were begging on the street. Turns out most of them did not want any fruit, so I carried a sack of fruit around all day and felt like an ATL failure. Reflecting back on it, I think the moment God was working in was one I did not expect or recognize initially at the fruit stand. I still see that old man when I think back on that day!
Photo by Katie Simpson
From me:
Leading up to the days for PVT (Parent Vision Trip), I was excited yet nervous to see my parents again. A lot has happened within 7 months for me and I feel like I am quite a bit different than when I first left. I didn’t know how I would be around my parents or how they would act around me. On top of all this, my squad and I would be teaching lessons, telling testimonies, and showing our parents some of the things we have been doing over the course of our 7-month journey when we don’t have a set “ministry.”
What we have been doing over the course of this trip isn’t someone’s typical outlook on ministry. Our Open Months seem like just day to day life, but isn’t that what building the Kingdom can look like? We aren’t building churches, painting rooms, playing in orphanages, or teaching in schools all the time (all good things that we have done a few times), but we are being guided by God each day in where we should go or what we should do. It’s a bit trickier than having a set ministry and requires a bit more mental capacity. We go out and meet people right where they are in what they are doing. We make friends at coffee shops or parks, we play card games in random houses, we talk to strangers on the street, and we may visit the same good ole restaurant many times in a row.
How do we show this to our parents in just 5 DAYS?
Well, this is where I was nervous for my parents. Would they be twiddling their thumbs as we taught our lessons and then send them out to do the things we have been doing every day? Would they participate and try to do the activities or Listening prayer as we walk the streets? Would they see the Lord working in the small and mundane?
Well God always has a way of blowing our perspectives out of the water. I had an amazing time catching up with my parents and getting to hug them after over 200 days of being apart. I saw my parents nervous yet willing to participate in the activities we set before them, and I saw God present opportunities to show my parents a large bit of what we do each day. The days events often led to my parents exhausted and ready for bed before evening, yet I was so glad to see them actively there with me. It felt like they were able to understand a bit of my journey now.
Each day was a blessing to spend with my parents and show them a little of what we are doing out here and a little of who God is shaping me to be.
