Do something. That was my motto for my desire for mission work. Throughout the course of the past ten months, I have been undergoing a pre-theological training in the Mar Thoma Church as preparation to join the Mar Thoma Theological Seminary in Kottayam, Kerala, India. While I was training, I began to see that I’m so well take care of, and people from each church that I’ve gone to have been meeting my needs beyond what I ever expected. Yet, I felt something was missing. I began to desire to do mission work, but I began wondering where I would go. If I was sent to India for mission work, how would I be able to afford getting there, and since I’m the only one training right now, would I be the only one going? Then, I thought about Mexico Mission, and for quite the long time, I heard nothing was really happening in our mission field in Mexico. Yet, when I got plugged into the Diocese, I began seeing more of the mission work in Mexico, even the chapel that was built there was monumental, because to be quite honest, I had absolutely no expectations of the field. After speaking with the bishop, I realized that wasn’t the case, and I requested to be sent to Mexico to stay in the mission field for two weeks. Things were arranged, so I could come into Mexico, and on Friday, June 27, 2014, I stepped foot back in Mexico for the first time since December 2008. This is a chronicle of my time in Mexico.
When we arrived on Friday, June 27th, I wasn’t sure what to expect. Now, initially, when I requested the bishop to send me to Mexico, I was feeling very adventurous and dangerous, because I said, I want to go to Mexico, and I didn’t really take an effort into finding someone to join me. Then, the bishop went to a house which had a 16 year old boy, and asked him if he would like to join me. He himself admitted that he wasn’t all too sure about what to get into. Yet, we partnered up, and as the ten days go by, I feel that we’re getting closer. I must admit, I’m glad I had company. Can you imagine not having someone to talk to in a language that you’re comfortable with? Absolute craziness.
Matthew West, Christian singer and song writer, came up with a song called, “Do Something,” and the lyrics are powerful, based on a young lady who went to study abroad in Uganda, only to come across a neglected and abused orphanage. It compelled her to stay in Uganda to rebuild an orphanage for those children and share the love of Christ to those kids. Now, that orphanage houses over one hundred orphans! Her story is so powerful, because she left her life in the US, and the conviction in her heart made her strive to do something. My prayer throughout this time has been, “God enable me to be Your hands and feet,” to the people in this mission field. I want to, “do something.” I even had a Twitter and Instagram hashtag, “#DoSomething” on everything that I posted.
Well, we began our work here, and as much as we try to do something, we do run into our fair share of obstacles. More than that though, the one thing I realize is that when one serves in a mission field, the devil seems to attack in more pertinent and visible ways. I don’t quite know what it is, but he has been trying to break us down, but praise God that our God is greater than any other, and if our God is for us, then who can really stop us? I feel like our Spanish has improved quite drastically, definitely the work of the Holy Spirit. Remember in Acts 2, during the day of Pentecost, the Apostles stood up and began preaching? Yeah, and here’s the kicker, the people listening had probably never met these Apostles before, nor do they all speak the same language, but God opened a door in that situation too, so I must ask, why not us? The same power that raised Christ from the dead lives in us, after all.
Basically, some of the work that I’ve been doing here is collecting information of the people living here, and I am trying to organize updated information to pass along to the diocese, but also, we’re trying to get a playground built here, so just kind of assessing that situation. We also play fútbol (aka soccer) with the kids. I believe my soccer skills are improving as well, because when I was goalkeeper, I was blocking shots left and right, from nine-year-old boys. Yeah, not proud of it, but got to start somewhere. I mean, there’s a lot of playing with the kids. We even played catch with an American football which kind of turned aggressive really quickly as it became a game of chase the person with the ball. This place has some tough as nails girls, because they have no fear to go at it with some of the boys here. I think it’s absolutely amazing.
I think what’s more important than all of this though is how God continuously works and makes His presence known. If you have ever doubted the presence of God, well I can tell you this much, don’t do it. God is just as present and prevalent as He was years before. One example that I can give you is Sunday night, the enemy tried to attack one of the most spiritual, caring, and motherly figures here by giving her a severe medical emergency. One of the men in the area who knew how to drive a car took her to the hospital. The next evening, she comes back, and she is doing much better. Can you imagine? That could have gone so much worse, but if God’s presence wasn’t here, would she have recovered so quickly? Not possible.
Here’s another example. Every evening, I conduct evening worship in the church that we have here. I try to be a stickler for time, especially when it comes to worship. I don’t think people here appreciate that, because they’re used to going at a slower pace than I am. Anyways, I began it Monday night, and what I would do is, five to ten minutes before 8:00 PM, I would walk around the colony, yelling, “Oracion en la Iglesia en cinco minutos o en diez minutos,” (Worship the church in five minutes or ten minutes). Monday night, I had ten people there. That was still more than I ever expected. Tuesday evening though, I had a total of 45 people there! Can you imagine?! What I’ve been doing is, leading them in some Spanish songs I know, and they sing some of their own, then reading a Psalm, a prayer, and then into the message. Monday and Tuesday, I haven’t had a translator, so I show them, “Yo Soy Segundo” (I Am Second), in hopes that the testimonies of these other people’s lives would inspire those that haven’t already to surrender their life to Christ. That is how God works. There is hunger for spiritual growth here, and God has created you and me to reach out and minister to those that are hungry. Throughout the course of the week, people started coming in on time, and numbers never decreased. It brought my heart joy!
One of the mornings, I was doing my Bible plan, and the particular reading for the day was Matthew 9, and as I read Matthew 9, I came across verses 35 to 38, and in there, it says, “…he [Christ] had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.” I feel like my compassion for these people grew daily. It really is sad that they are harassed and helpless almost, because they can be so neglected and turned aside.
Politics has been a source of hindrance in more ways than one in the church. I see that in the mission field as well. There have been people that I’ve met who would discourage the work going on in Mexico, and there are many who see it more as a business venture. Since the mission field is not producing a net gain for us, we should cut our losses and move on. It breaks my heart when I hear people saying things like that. There is so much that can be done, but it involves us to do something. It involves us getting out of our comfort zone. We can’t look at this as a business venture, but rather, we must look through the eyes of Jesus, with compassion.
I hope, you the reader will find this post to be encouraging to not be content in simply sitting in your AC filled home, with ample water, and electricity, but hear and experience the call of God in your life to go and serve. For every Christian, it’s not a question of IF God is calling you to do mission, but rather, WHERE.
“The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”–Matthew 9:37-38
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