Leaving for Mexico in less than 2 days now...oh my goodness, this really snuck up on me! After I took "Perspectives in Mission" last week with Tim Stabell, I was anticipating going on this trip and now it is finally upon me! In my last post I talked about my Mexico trip with 13 other Kaléo students and what we will be doing there and the challenges and opportunities that we will be facing. Now that the days are coming to an end and the time of departure accelerates towards me, I am trying to prepare myself.
To be honest, I am feeling quite good about the trip. Since I have lived in Russia for four years, I know what it is like to be overseas in another culture, I am fairly confident with my high school level of Spanish, I love meeting new people and I have faith that God will work in powerful ways. I am a bit apprehensive, however, about how everything is going to be falling into place. There are numerous things that us as students were supposed to have ready for the time we leave, and that is not quite completed yet. Currently, seven of us working on a DRIME to present in one of the towns more resistant to the gospel. If you have not heard of a DRIME before, it is a hybrid of a drama and a mime, so basically a short skit with no talking to music. The DRIME we are doing is to the song "Everything" by a band called Lifehouse, which happens to be one of my favourite songs. The DRIME is going to be really powerful, telling the story of God creating humanity, and all the real and cultural distractions and temptations that occur in our every day lives. The main character struggles to understand what her purpose is in life and ends up running back to God in the end despite the attempts of the devil keeping her from Him. We are not quite ready with the DRIME but it is coming along nicely, so I am just worried about presenting this message clearly to the village. I mentioned in my other post that three of my teammates and I are involved in running a youth event at the beach, and right now we need to learn a few worship songs in Spanish which we have not done yet. I know that above all, God is in control and he will prepare us for his work in Mexico.
I am so excited for this trip and I am anticipating meeting a new people and a new culture who have the same love for Jesus that I do! Mostly all I know about other cultures' faith is my time in Russia, and the many immigrant communities here in Vancouver. I know immersing myself in the Mexican culture is going to be such a joy and a wonderful growing experience. I am anticipating being stretched in new and different ways as I am used by God to do his ministry. There are many things on this trip that I have never done before and I will be able to learn to use the leadership skills and ministry/missions knowledge to be bold and step out. I am so excited to make relationships with the Mexican people! I love people and have such a heart from them, and I know one of the main things about this trip that I will remember forever is the people I will meet and the friendships I will make. God is so good, and I am excited to see how he shows his mighty power and love in Él Papalote!
I think my greatest challenges and struggles are going to be focusing on Christ and giving all the credit to him, whether it turns out like I want it to or not. In the DRIME production I am worried that we will not present this message clearly enough, and that I will mess up on my role because I don't have any form of acting in my blood. Please pray that I would be glorifying God in everything and not working about my presentation. I like to do the best job that I can in everything and I think one of the hardest thing for me going to be not seeing solid results. Most of the impact we are going to have on the community is going to be through Northern Light Ministries far after we are gone. Pray that I would trust God to work in people's hearts and I might only be tilling the ground or sowing the seed. God has a wonderful plan for our team and the indigenous people of Mexico. I know I will be completely blown away with his plans which are far above any of mine.
"The Lord replied, "Look around at the nations; look and be amazed! For I am doing something in your own day, something you wouldn't even believe even if someone told you about it." -Habakkuk 1:5
"For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts." -Isaiah 55:9
Sunday, February 10, 2013
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Escapades of Mexico
Missions has always been very real to me, ever since my family and I moved to Russia for four years to do missions work. It has been almost ten years since we came back, and I still remember it like it was yesterday. The years, however, have faded those realities into the back of my memory and have only been recently extracted. The recent trip to MissionsFest Vancouver and our Perspectives in Mission class has really sharpened these memories and made me miss what it was like living in a different land, sharing the gospel with the people we lived amongst. Our class has ended now, and am I excitedly anticipating our missions trip to the Baja in Mexico. Our missions team of 14 people have been having frequent meetings over the past few days and I am getting more excited and also nervous for the trip.
Some of you have probably heard, but for those who have not, I am going on a missions trip with half the Kaléo group to Él Papalote, Mexico for 16 days from Feb 12-28. We will be partnering with an existing Christian ministry called Northern Light Ministries who are reaching out to the many indigenous peoples who live on the Baja. Over the time we are there, we will be doing outreach doing repair projects such as building a stone walkway for the church, filling in potholes on the highway and renovating the community park by painting and landscaping. I am one of the four students on our team who is organizing and leading an event for the youth there, a night filled with games, music, a message and food. Our team will be sharing our testimonies of God's grace in the church and helping at a child care center at a farm for the workers there which we have heard is going to be very hard to see. We will also be giving out lunches at some of the schools, and distributing blankets to local homes, giving us a chance to see the real need in the community. Our team has also been asked to take a prayer walk in one of the more resistant towns to the gospel and go door-to-door collecting information about the languages they speak, enabling the missionaries to print more Bibles in their languages.
I've never been on a missions trip before except for when I was in Russia, and I am so excited to reach out in justice and for the work of God! I think this trip will really stretch me to see others' needs, especially being able to communicate with them with the little Spanish I know and building meaningful relationships. It's so exciting for me to see believers who love the Lord in other countries and be a part of God's work in Mexico.
Some things to pray for for this trip would be protection and safety especially as we are traveling through US and Mexico. Pray for God's hand to be over us, protecting us from injuries and sickness which would prevent us from doing his work there. Ask God to give us as students wisdom as we plan these events for the community and we would be able to make meaningful connections with the people there, even though there is the language barrier. Pray that our team would be able to stay humble as we work alongside the missionaries and Northern Light Ministries, and know that the work we are doing there is not our own, it is a part of God's bigger plan for Mexico. Ask God to open our eyes and hearts to the brokenness and poverty in Él Papalote, and we would be moved to be more involved with God's work around the world. Pray that our team would really be conscious of the culture and the barriers that separate "us westerners" from them in Mexico. Ask God to give us wisdom on how to handle difficult situations, especially since most men's perception of North American women is what they see in Hollywood movies. Pray that God would keep our focus on him and his ministry, and that through our struggles, we would be able to grow and give him praise and glory through it all.
Thank you so much for all your prayers and support for funds to come in for this trip - they did! All the extra money we are now receiving is going to the people of Él Papalote, which we are very excited about! God is good, and his ministry in the world is far from over.
"And the King will say, 'I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me." - Matthew 25:40
Some of you have probably heard, but for those who have not, I am going on a missions trip with half the Kaléo group to Él Papalote, Mexico for 16 days from Feb 12-28. We will be partnering with an existing Christian ministry called Northern Light Ministries who are reaching out to the many indigenous peoples who live on the Baja. Over the time we are there, we will be doing outreach doing repair projects such as building a stone walkway for the church, filling in potholes on the highway and renovating the community park by painting and landscaping. I am one of the four students on our team who is organizing and leading an event for the youth there, a night filled with games, music, a message and food. Our team will be sharing our testimonies of God's grace in the church and helping at a child care center at a farm for the workers there which we have heard is going to be very hard to see. We will also be giving out lunches at some of the schools, and distributing blankets to local homes, giving us a chance to see the real need in the community. Our team has also been asked to take a prayer walk in one of the more resistant towns to the gospel and go door-to-door collecting information about the languages they speak, enabling the missionaries to print more Bibles in their languages.
I've never been on a missions trip before except for when I was in Russia, and I am so excited to reach out in justice and for the work of God! I think this trip will really stretch me to see others' needs, especially being able to communicate with them with the little Spanish I know and building meaningful relationships. It's so exciting for me to see believers who love the Lord in other countries and be a part of God's work in Mexico.
Some things to pray for for this trip would be protection and safety especially as we are traveling through US and Mexico. Pray for God's hand to be over us, protecting us from injuries and sickness which would prevent us from doing his work there. Ask God to give us as students wisdom as we plan these events for the community and we would be able to make meaningful connections with the people there, even though there is the language barrier. Pray that our team would be able to stay humble as we work alongside the missionaries and Northern Light Ministries, and know that the work we are doing there is not our own, it is a part of God's bigger plan for Mexico. Ask God to open our eyes and hearts to the brokenness and poverty in Él Papalote, and we would be moved to be more involved with God's work around the world. Pray that our team would really be conscious of the culture and the barriers that separate "us westerners" from them in Mexico. Ask God to give us wisdom on how to handle difficult situations, especially since most men's perception of North American women is what they see in Hollywood movies. Pray that God would keep our focus on him and his ministry, and that through our struggles, we would be able to grow and give him praise and glory through it all.
Thank you so much for all your prayers and support for funds to come in for this trip - they did! All the extra money we are now receiving is going to the people of Él Papalote, which we are very excited about! God is good, and his ministry in the world is far from over.
"And the King will say, 'I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me." - Matthew 25:40
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