I hope you are all familiar with the World Race. A program of Adventures in Mission, the World Race puts 20-Something kids out into the world to experience life as missionaries. They will have raised support funding from friends and neighbors for the trip. In return, those of us who stay at home expereince vicariously the new places and adventures and spiritual development the Racers experience.
World Race parents are a special breed. You see, we have put our loved ones out into the world, some with little or no experience, and hope that they thrive and prosper. When our daughter, Allison, went on her Race in 2007, we were very enxious for her and her team. That was our little (28) girl out there, and she knew nothing about Africa or Asia, except that there were lions and elephants. Her expereinces went well past animals, and that is another story for the future. For now, I want to deal with the parental issues.
First, learn to use and love Skype. This VOIP service is inexpensive and readily available to any web users anywhere.. The Racers might not have running or hot water in some places, but they could usually find internet connections. With Skype, we were able to talk with Allison at least once a week, using webcams and chat features. Honestly, we talked to her more than when she lived three hours away.
Second, get used to the appearance of non-organization. The Race is based on the premise that a way will be found to serve and travel and eat, so don't try to fret over details from home that they can solve on the ground. So many times, we just shrugged our shoulders, and let it go.
Three, read all the blogs. We learned what was going on from the team blogs that would appear randomly that would fill us in on ministry, trips, fun, meals and potties around the world. We usually began our days with a trip to the PC to see if there was anything new to read. The Racers are amazed that so many people are hanging on their every word. Alli loves to tell the story about her recent visit to a church in West Virgina where one of the pastors showed up with a Starbucks mint cappacino that she had written about in China. That was six or eight months prior, and the guy remembered! The point is, there will be many, many who read those postings and will respond. the flip side is to be sure to respond to as many of the posting as you can to reassure the Racers that someone they care about is reading their stuff.
Four, trust AIM. This past year has been a challenge to the organization and some of the Race teams, but in every case, their safety was paramount to AIM and every decision was made with the kids in mind. I suggest you read Seth's blog regularly, too. You can find it on the World Race website.
Five, love them, pray for them, and look forward to the day they get back. They will change this year in ways we can't predict. but we still love them in every way.
If you are a WR parent and have questions or soncerns, post them here and I will try to help.
Cheers,
Steve J.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
9 comments:
Steve,
thanks for the vote of confidence. parents need to know that we coaches love their kids. we really do. we pour ourselves into them and live to see them grow as Allison has. Allison has become a wonderful woman of God - a Deborah. Any parents would be as proud as you are of her.
thanks for your partnership along the way. it helps us to keep taking the risks that help them to grow!
Steve,
Your daughter's adventures were very interesting. I have a cousin who just recently left her job at a design studio to become a minister. She also wants to do missionary work. I am proud of her for finding a deeper calling in her life. As a parent of 2 sons, I can imagine what it must be like to have a child far from home.
Let us know how she does.
Jim Lutz
Steve J! Great blog! :)
Hi Steve. Thanks for the opportunity to hear how other parents are handling this. Our daughter, Sharon Price, went with AIM to Kenya 2 summers ago, so it was no surprise when she announced that she was doing the October 08 race. Her whole life has been pointing in this direction... just not sure I was ready for it! Any tips are greatly appreciated!!
Martha Robertson
Martha,
I know exactly how you feel. We had very little warning that Alli's heart was headed this direction, so we were quite surprised the first time she told us about the World Race.
We were not very open to the idea, but knew we could not tell a 28 year old she couldn't do it when she had raised all the money, sold her condo, her truck, and gave away her horse! We decided perhaps she really did have the call form the Lord, so we accepted, but with lots of tears.
She had a wonderful year and grew in so many positive ways. We could not be more proud...still worried about her, but we're much more confident of the outcome. this will be a great year for your daughter. She will get prayer support from all over the place and she'll be just great.
Let me know if we can help in anyway, or answer questions.
Blessings on your family and the Racers,
Steve J.
Way to go proud pop! The world is their playground, huh.
steve j! i'm excited for this new blog...now i get to hang on your every word! and i imagine i will learn quite a bit from your blogs, as will many parents. you are an amazing WR parent - so listen up folks!! i know it hasn't always been easy, but i love to see the way you and Joy have been stretched this year as you answered the call of a WR parent.
Don't you just love getting blog comments??!!! Love you!
Love it, Steve! What you're doing will go a long way toward supporting and assuring all these new WR parents.
Post a Comment