Attending the Parent Vision Trip is not a given when your child is on the World Race. While Adventures In Missions (AIM) schedules a PVT for each squad sometime in months 7-9, parents can attend only if invited by their Racer. Racers can only ask their parents and not other relatives or friends unless AIM agrees that the person fulfills a pivotal role in the Racer’s life. For various reasons, some Racers choose not to invite anyone to attend. Some parents may not be able to attend due to finances, heath issues or timing. 29 parents will be at this PVT, and they represent 21 of the 34 Racers. It is also as late as it is possible for a PVT to be scheduled.
As I said in my first blog, I had not originally intended to go on the Parent Vision Trip, partly because I knew Van could not go with me. I still did not want to go alone – where’s the fun in that?? Once I saw Elise’s tears and realized that the game was afoot, I immediately turned to the mom seated next to me and asked if she would go with me. The mother of Elise’s teammate, Kara, Karen Faber is a widow, so I knew she would be traveling alone, too. They are also a homeschool family, so we were bound to have a lot in common! As it has turned out, Kara is the only teammate that has been with Elise all year. God already knew that, too!
So what happens on a PVT? After meeting at the airport in Bucharest, the parents will travel about 3-4 hours to Draganesti-Olt where our Racers will be waiting for us. We will be partnering with Hope Church for Ministry. Parents will be staying in host homes of church members throughout the time in Draganesti-Olt while Racers will live at a guest house close to the church. Our Ministry time will include Kids Camp, Sunday church service, prayer ministry, and handing out Bibles. Each day, we will have 2-4 hours of unstructured time to spend with our Racers. The last day, we will go back to Bucharest and have a free day to spend with our Racers there.
One of the Ministries that Hope Church has is an eyeglass Ministry. They asked us to collect used glasses to bring with us, so I started soliciting donations. By the time they clarified that they wanted reading glasses, I already had a pile of prescription glasses. I decided to take them to WalMart and put them in the eyeglass donation box but was feeling a little guilty about that. People donated them with the expectation that they would be used on a mission trip. I took a bagful to donate, and as I dropped it off, I explained to the optician what had happened. You know what she said?? Give her the bag instead, and she will give them to her eye doctor who takes them on a mission trip to Brazil each year! So while those glasses aren’t going to Romania, God had a plan for them to go to Brazil all along! So cool!!!
I’m in the last throes of packing for the trip as I’m leaving Monday, June 12th. When we left Elise in Atlanta for launch, they did not know where their squad would be for Month 11. While still in Atlanta, they learned they would be going to Spain and hiking for ten days on the Camino de Santiago trail – the Spanish equivalent of the Appalachian Trail. Needless to say, Elise had not packed any of her hiking gear, which will now fill a good bit of my suitcase. (AIM asks parents to bring only carry-on luggage.) I’ve been joking that her list of what I should bring her keeps getting longer, but my suitcase isn’t getting any bigger. In the picture below, nothing that is in the suitcase at this point is mine. There are lots of reading glasses, and I also volunteered to take some things to another Racer whose parents could not attend PVT. I wonder if I could wear Elise’s hiking boots? Her feet are bigger, but I could always stuff them with the hiking socks I am also bringing her….
In Christ,
Susan Swepston
