You’re in for a treat! I asked my Mom to share some thoughts on her week as a Racer. Read on to get the parent view.
When my daughter signed up to go on the World Race, I was excited for her. She was going on a life-changing mission trip and doing it out of her comfort zone – living out of a backpack. At the launch of her trip, AIM explained about the Parent Vision Trip (PVT) which would allow us as parents to become Racers by joining our children on the mission field for a week. Anna told me I was coming and, to be quite honest, it was a fantastic opportunity I didn’t want to miss.
Anna stated in her blog that I was awesome and she was so glad that I came. But I don’t feel awesome or that I deserve any accolades. You see, something about me you don’t know is the fact that I am a worrier, an anxious person, and a follower, not a leader. I have gone on trips before but they have been with other people and I was not in charge. I just had to fall in with plans that were already made. This PVT was planned but I had to get myself to Manila before the parents’ meeting time and then I had to get to the meeting place – all by myself. Yikes! My anxiety picked up tremendously.
While I was searching for my flight to the PVT and hoping I could connect with another parent, God had to work on me, again. He reminded me of 2 Timothy 1:7 where Paul wrote, “For God did not give us a spirit of fear, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.” As those seeds of doubt and anxiousness grew, He reminded me of that verse and how He has taken care of me in and through everything. As I walked each day, I heard Him saying, “I’ve got this. I am already there in Manila and I am in front of you and behind you, all around you. Don’t you think I can take care of you?” Many times over I had to be forgiven for my worrying but I learned to turn all my worries into prayers immediately and trust God who is always faithful and who is in control. I made it to Manila, connected with other parents, arrived at the meeting place, and began my week of working for Jesus in the Philippines with Wipe Every Tear.
What a week it was! I saw our Racers in action: Their faith is unbelievable. Their prayer life is awesome. They are fearless, totally trusting in our Lord and Saviour. They walked into the bars in the city of Angeles and began making friends with the girls in the bars, giving them hope for a future that is much different. They led our worship time with abandon. They love and encourage each other. And…they have fun. When I grow up I want to be like them! I am so thankful to God for the choices our children have made to follow Him no matter the cost.
We parents did some fabulous things too. I saw fathers who jumped into the action and talked to the girls in the bars, offering them a new life with Wipe Every Tear, even though their daughters or son were with them and scantily clad girls can be a temptation. Mothers befriended these girls and gave love. We spent two days in Angeles talking to the girls from the bars and praying and hoping that they would come back to Manila with us on the bus to check out Hope House. We joined with a local church in Angeles in doing this ministry and received a blessing by giving back to the church. The church lost their roof to a typhoon a few years ago and didn’t have the resources for repairs. Our team pledged money to the church, enough to repair the roof. In return the church plans an addition to house future Racers and Parent Vision Trips. The most exciting part of the trip was the fact that 17 girls came back with us to Manila to see Hope House. 4 came back in the next couple of days and 4 more have since come “home” with even more thinking about leaving the bars. How awesome is our God!
God showed me that my worrying was for nothing – again. He is such a loving, faithful God, how can I doubt Him? But I do. We all do. So I am keeping 2 Timothy 1:7 in my mind and heart, always. I am also keeping Jesus’s words about worry in the Sermon on the Mount on my heart. And I am praying for faith and trust to believe what God says without doubting or worrying.
