Continuing to absorb this last weekend, I find that I am still processing all the emotional feels. If you can get past the blurry picture and the food in my teeth :), I will do my best to share.
When driving onto “campus” for Parent Launch Weekend (the time parents come to have a 2 day program devoted to learning more about Adventures, connecting with people, and then saying goodbye to the kids), it quickly gave me vibes of all my years spent as a youth group leader taking my students to camp. At Adventures in Missions they take up to 3 months to train the students before they are sent off on their mission trip…and they all camp on site! I wish I had taken a picture of all their tents set up on all the beautiful acreage. Originally told there would be about 170 people there, I immediately learned that the total count for just the parents was almost 200. That meant it brought the final count to almost 400 people in attendance for the beautifully and well organized Parent Launch Weekend.
Going into the weekend my intention was to immerse myself with the parents, the parent volunteers, and get to know the staff on hand for that time. What I didn’t expect was my heart for the “kids”. I was so thrilled to not just be amongst the parents of these youth, but the youth as well. Reminded that so few in that age group are practicing Christians (4% Gen. Z are believers and 1-2% practicing), I felt such a tug for the future of this nation (world really). Those kids were the dominant leaders of the weekend; they chose to go on their trip (3 month, 9 month gap year or 11 month), they led the worship, they answered the good questions on the panel, they are the reason that place is what it is. The parents are the added benefit!!!
Leaving that weekend I felt inspired. (That sentence does not do my heart justice.) There is so much hope for this world if weekends like this continue to happen. I cannot wait to continue connection with the parents of these youth, take them on a Parent Vision Trip to visit their child, and pray fervently with them and for them that they might feel led to make Adventures in Missions a partner in their lives.
I would love to talk with you more about this. There is so much more that I could write but I think we would benefit from a more personal conversation!
