Today, I get to tell you all about Parent Vision Trip, aka PVT! PVT is 5 days set apart during the World Race where parents have the opportunity to come join their racer on the field to do ministry alongside the racers! The heart behind PVT is intergenerational ministry, to emphasize kingdom centered families to do missions together. It also helps everyone be reminded that you’re never too old to build kingdom!
For our ministry, we partnered with a local church called Hope Church, and we got to work with three different generations doing kids ministry, adult conversation corner, and eyeglasses ministry for the elderly! We worked locally and regionally and even internationally with these three generations.
So I’m going to give you a peek into the schedule of what my PVT looked like!
On Tuesday morning, the racers did ministry from 9-12 preparing for the upcoming ministries, getting supplies together and organized. At noon the parents met at the airport and started traveling to meet us in our city 3 hours away. So in the afternoon, us racers prepared for the parents arrival! They all arrived at 4 and we greeted them with flowers and gifts and signs, with a lot of tears and hugs! Then we had dinner, and worship in the evening. Parents and racers intentionally are not allowed to stay together at night, in case some of them need time to process hard conversations or just to get alone time, since us racers have changed so much in the last 8 months, but now our old lives are coming to meet our new ones, keeping boundaries is actually really important- even though I didn’t particularly want/ need it and would’ve loved the extra time with my mom. The parents were then picked up by their host home families at 9 pm.
Wednesday morning we had breakfast and then free time from 9-11 to spend with our parents. At 11 we had orientation for the parents, then lunch at noon. Then at 1 we left to go to the park where we were having kids ministry. We essentially put on a mini vbs with 10 stations of games/ Bible story/ worship. My mom and I got to help the kids paint rocks! We were there til 5, playing with the kids with the goal for them to go home having experienced the love of the Father through us and hearing truth spoken over them. We then went back for dinner and had another evening worship session.
Thursday morning looked the same as Wednesday, except at 11 we had a mid week debrief, where parents and racers were seperate to have a time to process how their time was going so far and have revelations of how they should take their time in a certain direction for the rest of their time. After debrief was lunch, and then we left for a different city in the region which was 2 hours away. This city is actually a college town, and when we got there, we did a Jericho March around the university to pray over it, the city, and the church plant that is beginning there. Then we had an hour and a half to tour the city and get dinner. Afterwards we had a social event where locals were invited to come practice their English, hear live music (put on by another missions team which was there from Baylor University of Waco, Texas), and to enter in a drawing for door prizes which the parents bought from home. We were positioned around a round table to speak life over the people we met and share the gospel with those who we were speaking with. Amazingly, my mom got into a conversation with a woman at our table and got to share the gospel with her and show her the prayer to salvation! Additionally, that very woman won the door prize my mom brought! How intentionally detailed is our Lord! That evening we got home right at the time when the host home families were picking up for the parents for the night.
Friday morning was the same as the others, with a meeting at 11 on how to partner with the church we were working with. Then lunch followed and ministry afterward. Our group consisted of 52 racers and parents combined, and we were split in half to do two different ministries. One half did house visits and brought Bibles to every door of specific neighborhoods. The group my mom and I were in was eyeglass ministry. Here we offered a check for blood sugar and blood pressure. They consulted a doctor and had a counselling session (where the gospel was shared and prayers were prayed), and then they received their reading glasses- all for free! And the excitement on their faces when their needs were met and they could finally see clearly was incredible! Two women also came to know the Lord as their own savior at this time! How good is God! We had 109 people come through!! That night, we had dinner and a worship. This worship session was special because both parents and racers had prepared letters of blessing to exchange with the other, we had the opportunity to pray over each other, and us racers washed our parents feet.
Saturday morning we left at 7 am to drive back to the capital, Bucharest, to have an adventure day with our parents! We stayed in an airport hotel (holy wow it was a huge blessing with how nice it was!). We got there at 11, my mom and I got lunch in the hotel, then went and watched full house together for a few hours. Then we went and toured Old Town together. We had a few plans that all fell through, so we ended up just having to go with the flow. We got dinner together, then ended up running into another family and all got icecream together then went to the water show in the park with lights and music!
Sunday we had breakfast together, then a few hours to hangout, (and fill out a survey) before we racers had to leave at 11 and say our goodbyes. This marks my third goodbye of the race. I’m basically a pro now.
This time with my mom was so rejuvenating, don’t get me wrong there were still hard parts- like the crazy busy schedule and no introvert time, but such a breath of fresh air to have with my mom. I grew up as an MK when my parents did missions work after Katrina, so this is typical stuff for my mom and I, but oh how special it was to have her with me to share this experience with her. Her heart for the Lord and excitement towards sharing the gospel just renewed my joy and spirit to have her there. We had some great conversations, and found out God has been teaching us some of the exact same things over the last 8 months even though we’re on opposite sides of the world! I found it so amazing that she could understand what I was learning, unlike anyone else at home, since God found a way for her to learn the same things. This brought such a unique and special connection. It was so great to have someone there who really knows me and thus could see the change and growth in me and be able to call it out in me. How loved am I that I have a woman in my life willing to fly across the world just for me. Having her there to love me and encourage me really just lifted me and refueled my tank for my last 3 months! Thank you Lord for this opportunity to share this experience with my mom and get to build your kingdom together!
