Enjoy this blog my mom wrote about her experience at PVT a couple months ago 🙂
When Kimberly asked me to write a blog about what PVT was like for me, I said sure, but inside I was wondering what will I write about?. I spent a few days thinking about PVT and in order to write this I need to go back in time to start.
When Kimberly first told me about The Race and PVT (Parent Vision Trip) I thought: Great – PVT will be a time for me to go and see her and spend time with her. She kept warning that she might or might not invite me that it would only happen if she felt led by God to extend the invitation. So I started praying and let God know that if I wasn’t supposed to go He was going to have to make it impossible for me to because I knew that if I was invited I would do everything in my power to get there LOL. Kimberly extended the invitation and I was able to put things in place to go. Then as the time started getting closer, my dad’s health started getting worse and Kimberly let me know that if something happened to her grandpa and I couldn’t come to Romania she would understand. I really felt he would be okay until I got back, but I also prayed that would be the case. I really wanted some time to see Kimberly and experience a little bit of The Race with her. I have never been on a mission trip and I was looking forward to my first mission trip being with my daughter.
I arrived in Romania a few days early so I could have a day to myself to be lazy and do some sightseeing and relax before the official start of PVT and I think that was a wonderful to start my trip. When I met up with the other parents it was exciting to see the wonderful moms I had connected with at Parent Launch back in January and meet some more parents that I had been communicating with and sharing our World Race journey with. I got a sense right away that this was a good group of parents and that we would have a good PVT.
When we got to Dragonesti-Olt (the town we would be staying in for PVT) all of us parents were so excited to see our kids. Kimberly was the first one to come running out of the church and into my arms. After 8 months of not seeing her, this was pretty awesome (I may or may not have shed a tear or two). While we were on PVT we were able to spend time with our racers in the mornings and then did ministry in the afternoon. On the second day of ministry we walked through a neighborhood handing out Romanian new testament bibles. Most of them we just placed on the gate at the entrance of the property but a few we were able to actually hand to people. The one that really sticks with me is the house were there were a few teens in the courtyard who came to the gate to see what we had. The boy wouldn’t take one, but the girl she took it and opened it right up and started reading it. We found out from the boy that they were not supposed to have them but that girl kept hers and I have no idea how long she was able to keep it, but she was hungry for the word and seeing that will stay with me.
We take so much for granted in the US. We have so much and don’t always appreciate it. PVT was eye opening for me on so many levels. Seeing people who had so little wanting to serve and give to others and truly living their faith in a way that is beautiful was awesome. I also got to see how much Kimberly has grown, she has an ease about her when talking with strangers that she didn’t used to have. She seems so much more comfortable with who she is, she amazes me.
50 days until I’m back in America… I am nervous, excited, scared, happy… basically ALL the emotions!!!!
<3 Kimberly
