My parents had the opportunity to spend a week on the Race with me and my squad! Here is a little insight into their experience!
As written by my parents Laurel and Craig:
Two weeks ago, we had the opportunity to experience a week with Kimmy and her squad. We started the week as a usual “vacation”, staying in a hotel with scheduled tourist events. This vacation changed when we got to surprise Kimmy at the base of Cerro Negro (an active volcano) along with some of the other Racers’ parents after volcano boarding to the bottom. This was the first hug for Kimmy in 7 months with many more to come.
We are not new to mission work and thought we knew what to expect…. Boy were we wrong! Our first mission was a food ministry at the “dump”. We were not told ahead of time that this ministry truly was to serve meals to locals who spend their days at the local dump making a living finding recyclables. These families live off an average of $15-20 per month. We brought a meal, Bibles and spent time sharing testimonies and getting to know a little about these people.
Our second mission was to go prayer walking in one of the neighborhoods that REAP (the mission organization we partnered alongside) is working with. We had never experienced prayer walking before but the Racers were not new to this. REAP is getting to know the neighbors and as such we were invited into a couple of the homes to pray with the families. These homes consisted of dirt floors, one bare bulb and plastic chairs for furniture. In one home we prayed for healing of the son who had been stabbed 7 times. In another we prayed for peace and health for a family with 12 children.
The next day we spent time on the land that REAP has purchased, helping prepare some of the property for kickball fields. The organization provides uniforms and fields with the agreement that they will share testimonies before each game. In some cases they are sharing testimonies for up to 800 people.
Our final mission was the jail ministry. Some went into the “cage” to share testimonies, some stayed in the courtyard and shared with the women inmates and others went into the cell area to share. All received some food and Bibles were again available for anyone wishing to receive one.
God is doing amazing things through these young men and women as they travel around the world. There is a conviction of faith in everything they do. It was eye opening to see a third world country and experience God at work through these squad mates. We pray God continues to bless these young men and women as they travel to 4 more countries and then return to American living. Our week was life changing, we can only imagine how 11 months has affected each of them.
Blessings in Christ,
Laurel and Craig
