When I left for the World Race last September, I NEVER in my wildest dreams imagined my favorite day on the Race would be spent with my parents! In my mind, I had said “farewell” to them for 11 months. When we got the email in February about the parent vision trip, my heart jumped with excitement about the opportunity for my parents to visit in Kenya and experience first hand what this trip has been all about. I instantly forwarded my parents the email and told them I would LOVE for them to come. Although hestitant at first, they accepted the invitation and came!!!
Our visit to Mama Catherine's was definitely the highlight of the trip for all of us. My team and I had fallen in love with Mama and her 130 children over the course of the month and wanted our parents to have the opportunity to meet them and experience the love we had felt. So, we decided to venture out to Mama's house for the day. We arrived to a lovely breakfast served by wonderful cook, Marion, and got to sit and chat with Mama. She shared her heart, vision and mission behind the Channels of Grace School (Neema) and childrens' home she started in 1995. Mama then told us she would take our parents for a tour of the school.
I should have known she had something else up her sleeve! We walked over to the school and instantly heard the sound of children playing the drum. The children welcomed us into the church with singing and dancing and sat us down front and center. They then proceeded with a 2 hour performance of singing, dancing, reciting memory verses and skits. They spoke about the ways we had impacted their lives in the short month we had been there. We then had the opportunity to introduce our parents to all the children. They were greeted with excited screams, clapping and cheering! Mama Catherine thanked all of us for the impact they had on the children over the course of the month. Then, they proceeded to give each of us (including our parents!) gifts. They prayed over us, took pictures and we all hugged; it sure was a tearful goodbye! We felt so loved, honored and appreciated by everyone! Mama then had a delicious, traditional lunch for us. After lunch, we spent some more time talking, then it was time to say goodbye to Mama. Man, in the few short weeks we were with her, she had truly become a second mother to us. We snuggled up next to her, tears running down our faces as one of my teammates mom's prayed for her. She then prayed for us and sent us away with her blessing.
The story above does not adequately describe the emotions, excitement, love and joy that we experienced at Mama's. You just gotta meet her!! Her passion and love for God is contagious. I am so glad my parents were able to meet this incredible woman. I know she changed my life and believe that even though they were only there for the day, she changed their lives as well.
Whether it was our trip to Mama Catherine's, trudging through mud slides, meeting a 100 year old widow/crashing a 4 year olds' birthday party, building houses, praying for the sick at the hospital, or many other precious moments, we will never forget our experience together in Kijabe, Kenya. For the first time, I feel like my parents have a good understanding of what I am doing. Even though they are worried about me, they see my passion and desire to serve the nations. I have always known that my parents were proud of me, but last week truly demonstrated that. It meant so much to me that they flew across the world to share in this experience with me. They may have dreaded the “intentional questions” and “debrief the day” sessions, but they answered my questions and asked many questions of their own. Even though I'm sure they would like to know what my plans are for after the Race, I think they have realized that I am in good hands, and that God will lead me and guide me. They can rest easy at night knowing that God will provide and He will open doors for the next step.
A word of advice for any future Racers/anyone whose parents didn't come on the trip: Invite your parents into your journey. It may be awkward or uncomfortable or you may not have the words to say but let me tell you: your parents love you, they want the best for you and it means the WORLD to them for you to invite them into your World Race world.
Ma, Marion, me and Dad
Mom and I after the mud slide!
Mom and Dad, thank you SO much for coming to Kenya and thank you for taking an interest in what I'm passionate about. You have NO idea how much that meant to me. Love you!!!
