Why I Love Ministry to Parents

There’s been a common thread in a lot of what I’ve done over the last 15 years [now 25 years!].  When I led children’s ministries at church, I loved talking to parents about spiritual formation in children – raising their vision for what it can look like when children fall deeply in love with Jesus and open themselves up to the voice of the Holy Spirit.  When youth group mission trips were doing their own training, I loved leading a small group for parents who were sending their children to Peru for a week – encouraging them to let God do something in their lives through the trip, and not just something in their child’s life.  And when I spent several years doing college placement for high schoolers, I loved helping parents figure out what it looked like to let go in new ways. 

In my current job I spend a lot of my time connecting parents of World Racers to each other and to Adventures in Missions.  I’m loving it.  I get to walk with them as their Racers leave to spend 9-11 months on the mission field, doing ministry in several different countries.  At the beginning of the World Racer’s journey, parents are invited to a Parent Launch – not just helping them understand their Racer’s journey but launching them on their own journey.

It’s a privilege to rub shoulders with this group. 

Most of the parents are excited for their Racers.  Some are a bit envious that the World Race didn’t exist for them 25 years ago.  They recognize that they have raised sons and daughters who love the Lord and who have the capacity to change the world and bring the kingdom.  But they also know that they won’t get as many details as they might like.  And they might go a few weeks without hearing from them if they are in an area without good internet access.  They can’t send birthday presents or just pick up the phone for a quick chat.  Wifi based calling works some of the time and not others.  And it’s hard to hear that their son or daughter is sick – and there’s really nothing you can do because they are on the other side of the world. 

Over the years we’ve established Facebook or GroupMe groups for the parents of World Racers based on when their Racers leave for the Race.  They post prayer requests for themselves and for their Racers.  They encourage one another in a way that only another World Race parent can.  They serve one another in practical ways with information on everything from banks that don’t charge international transaction fees to research on malaria med options.  The first one to hear news on travel days gets the word out quickly. 

And they sometimes share their own journey.  They are letting the Lord do new and deep things in their own spiritual lives and I get to hear bits and pieces of that.  The theme of journey is an important one for Adventures in Missions and it’s exciting to see that happening in parents’ lives.

Although I am not a parent to World Racers, I do have adult children who are the age of many of the Racers.  So I’ve learned some things about parenting adult children, about letting go, about not trying to limit their choices based on my fears.  About offering them freely to the Lord – no matter where that takes them.  I delight in seeing them explore new things, take on new responsibilities, learn life lessons and move into new stages in their lives. 

But their growing into adulthood changes my season of life as well just as Racers leaving for the World Race can change their parents’ lives.  And it’s an ideal time to reassess our own journey.  With empty nests come new freedoms.  I moved from Connecticut to Georgia to work for Adventures in Missions.  But I believe that was just the beginning of a new season in my life, that there’s even more ministry ahead, and that at least part of it intersects with ministry to other parents.

Acts 13:36, in commenting on King David, says that he died after serving God’s purpose in his own generation.  That idea – of serving God’s purpose in my own generation – fuels my desire to journey well to the end.

So – when I originally wrote this I was headed to Parent Launch, to meet face to face many of the parents who had been blessing me daily with their support of their Racers, with the generosity of spirit already evident in their Facebook group and with their willingness to care more about the kingdom than about having their children close by. 

I can’t wait to see what their journeys – and mine – will look like over the next 11 months.

Update: Since then we’ve done 2-4 Parent launches a year for over 10 years (with a brief interruption for Covid). It never gets old! It’s still one of my favorite parts of my job.