Musings from Mexico

Leaving Mexico last year left me with the same doubts and questions I had at the beginning of this year concerning whether I belonged in Mexico and whether our efforts were making any difference. Instead of spending the year brainstorming about new ideas for Mexico or figuring out if God really wanted me there, God took me to Summit Semester and Rivendell where my attention was focused in a different direction. Despite this, throughout the weeks there, God really answered my prayers in surprising ways.

First of all, he reminded me to live moment by moment, instead of trying to figure out the future in one day. For the past couple years, I had it set it my mind that I would be doing youth ministry and missions long term. Whether this really is God's plan for my life doesn't really matter at the present moment since I will never know my future. My goal is not to figure out God's plans for my life, but to live lovingly and obediently every day, to take captive every moment he has given me, and to remember that each breath I take is a gift from the One who sustains my life.

Second of all, God gave me an answer to my doubts about whether or not VBS was worth the time and money and whether it was actually making a difference in the lives of the children we ministered to each year, God truly showed me our efforts are worth it. Because of my family and church's many years of missions work in Mexico, relationships have grown, and I really saw the fruit of that this year. One of these fruits was Josue, whom I have known since my first year in Mexico, eleven years ago. He has gone from a childish boy to a young man strong in his faith and zealous for his Savior. He traveled with us to many of the VBS's leading music, teaching lessons, moving felts, and using a microphone to draw children in. He is only fourteen and stands up for his beliefs despite his peers opposition to his beliefs. Despite his age, he is such an example to me, and God really used him to show me that relationships there are worth the effort. Josue is worth the effort. Oh, how I love that boy. It was so hard to leave him this year.

 New relationships also are beginning to flourish, and through this, new ministry opportunities are presenting themselves through God's great plan. This was also encouraging to discover. 

 Kids would come up to many of us asking if were were going to make the salvation bracelets or if they would be given t shirts to color or whether we would be having a water balloon fight again. The children remember that we come down every year and they remember what we do with them. My prayer is that they would remember the love of Christ that we try so hard to share with them and that seeds would be planted in each of their little hearts so that in years to come, they would look back on their childhood and remember, not us but Christ in us and that that would make all the difference. 

In two locations, Santa Cruz and Cuitaca, I found two little children to whom I devoted my attention. They were both sweet joys in the daily struggle of doing something I did not have the desire or strength to do. It seemed as though my heart was not involved with the work during the week of VBS like it had been in past years. I really think God used those children in my life even as I may have been used in their life. As I showed them kindness since those around them were ignoring them, He showed me that even through my efforts that seem insignificant to me, He can do great and mighty things. God works in beautiful ways.

Through these happenings, God helped me realize that my work as a follower of Jesus is not about the results that I see within people, but that my focus should constantly be on being a light in this dark world. I can do this by being an example, by sharing Christ's great love in all that I do and say. 

Thirdly, God revealed to me a spiritual gift(administrative: 1 Corinthians 12) that he has given me. I have always loved scheduling and organizing things. This year I was able to do a lot of that from writing schedules for girl's camp and the VBS week to assigning people to different teams to writing fliers and menus. Most people seem to look at challenges like that and get thoroughly confused, but I find great joy and satisfaction in the challenge. I was also able to lead a few of the meetings we had, which was pretty crazy. In previous years I would have been extremely nervous doing something like that, but God gave me the strength and courage to use the gift he has given me. Knowing of this gift and how practical it is gives me great joy and really excites me to see how God will use it in me.

When I decided to go to Mexico this year, despite only returning home after five months of being away, I had no clue God had all these lessons in store for me. The two weeks there were incredibly challenging and difficult, but focusing on my source of strength and joy gave me the perseverance to push on. I am so glad he kept challenging me, otherwise my character would not be sharpened like it is today. These lessons learned do not solely affect me in Mexico, but affect me daily here in Utah.

"Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this gracein which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God. And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us." Romans 5:1-5

Attempting to Disciple Eighteen Girls

This year's girl's camp, held in the dormitory in San Lazaro, Mexico, lasted from Sunday, July 1^st until Thursday, July 5^th. The team from Utah consisted of Rich and Wendy(my padres), Lisa Evans and Cathy Craner( two women from my church body), Samantha de la Cruz( a young girl from another church body), Mary Kate(my sister), and myself(that's me!).

All the girls and leaders

Day One-Sunday Night

Although it began differently than expected with groups arriving at times different than the allotted time, and most of the girls being disobedient and not sleeping the first night, we tried to give our expectations of the week to God to do according to His will. Since most of us knew that things would not go according to our schedules having the previous year's experience to compare, we welcomed God to change our plans according to how He desired to move. Despite this, it was still a struggle to be flexible and not frustrated when things changed because of our human weakness in wanting things to go our way.

Day Two-Monday

The majority of the “dorm dwellers” began the day exhausted due to lack of sleep. A different strategy tried this year(compared with the previous year) were the three small groups led by Samantha, Mary Kate, and Deborah, a young woman from Nogales. Discussions focusing on the theme, “Su Vida En Cristo” or “Your Life in Christ” lasted about an hour. Because of the girls' fatigue(one girl even asked if it was time to sleep), the discussions lacked responses causing a bit ofdiscouragement for the leaders. As a lesson in consequences for disobedience(referring to the previous night), siesta time replaced game time. I became discouraged at that point due to an increase of disrespect because when I put effort into fixing a problem, I assume that the problem will be fixed right away. This was not the case with these girls; although, it did lead us to realize that respect is an issue that needs to be dealt with especially in these girls.

After lunch, a second siesta, the actual scheduled siesta, was pronounced. In the words of Samantha to the girls, “Siesta time is necessary. If there is no siesta time for the leaders, they will die. We don't want dead leaders.” Because of the continual disrespect, we gringos decided to take time to give the issue to God asking him to work in the hearts of the girls, especially the troublemakers, and that He would use this time to change all of them. My prayer was that even if we did not see a change in the girls right away or even in a few years, that they would eventually look back at their time at the girls camp and be reminded of what they learned; that somehow our efforts in discipling them would be used for God's glory in their lives.

We attempted to show the girls creation science videos led taught by Ken Ham. That attempt failed, sadly, because of their boredom and fatigue. It was a good lesson to learn though that they are not usually made to do things that they don't want to do: another “problem to be fixed”. Samantha and Deborah taught “worship dance” to the girls in which they used their streamers made during craft time. It seemed as though they really enjoyed that.

Deborah

Let me take a moment to share with you about Deborah. She came as a leader last year, and we enjoyed getting to know her heart and character and seeing her leadership qualities. It's not often that we come into contact with leaders in the relationships we make in Mexico(or maybe anywhere). In my eyes, Deborah stands out and deserves acknowledgment for her faith and her zeal for Christ.

Beatrize teaching

Following the nighttime teaching led by Beatrize, a woman from Sinaloa( the state below Sonora, where the dorm is located), a new tactic was tried. Because of the many cliques developing, we decided to break those up by dividing the girls into four different teams to play games involving team work. This caused the girls to get to know those outside of their circle, to communicate better, and to work together to accomplish a certain goal. Laughter erupted constantly, shy girls spoke up, those left out were included, and those in charge were joyful in the success of the game.

At lights out time, Samantha and I walked up and down the hall checking the rooms. Every single light was off and all the girls were sleeping quietly. We hoped it was due to the lesson on disrespect and disobedience we had tried to instill within them, though I think they were thoroughly exhausted.

Day Three- Tuesday

Compared to the previous day, Tuesday was grand. They enjoyed breakfast(happiness filled my mama's heart) and most of the girls responded well and paid attention during small group. Focusing on grace, faith, and salvation, Mary Kate(I was in her group as a helper), made the discussion personal by asking lots of questions. And instead of letting them get away with typical, “Sunday school” answers, Mary Kate asked, “Porque? Ok, pero, porque?(Why? Ok, but, why?) many times. I was surprised, yet encouraged, by their honest answers and questions. An hour passed by quickly as we discussed the biblical doctrines.

Meeting together

Beatrize taught again after small groups. All of us gringos were so thankful for her presence at the camp. Instead of lecturing the girls, she engaged them with questions and didn't constantly shush them. Throughout the day I saw her sitting down with different girls asking them about themselves and also pitching in to help with cleaning and cooking. She truly displayed a servant's heart throughout the week.

Despite being behind on schedule(something that usually bothers me a lot), the day went incredibly smoothly. The girls were more respectful, ventured out of their cliques and made new friends, and loved when we played games with them during their free time.

In the afternoon, the gringos had the time to sit down with Beatrize, inquiring about the problems in the church and culture in Mexico. We asked questions regarding the early pregnancies in young girls, the great disrespect issue we had discovered in the previous days, etc. The answers we got were discouraging in that we realized the problems were greater than we had thought, but simultaneously encouraging because it gave us new thoughts and ideas of how we need to work on fixing those problems through God's grace and strength in the coming years. New ideas about future girls camps were discussed and also about starting boys and girls camps in Beatrize's village, in addition to maybe beginning a parenting conference the following February. The whole discussion greatly encouraged me. Although the problems became bigger and more evident, I realized how much easier they would be to try to conquer because of the developing relationships we have, especially the new one with Beatrize. I could tell that she really cared about the girls at the camp and about the youth in her village as she gave us new ideas and ways we can reach them.

Day Four-Wednesday

The respect and kindness of the girls seemed to increase as the days went on, to our great surprise. The morning small group had great interaction and lots of sarcasm and joking from Mary Kate to lighten the mood. It was really funny to watch them interact with her especially the faces they made when they couldn't figure out if she was being serious or not.

After a combination of all the small groups(also known as gigantic group), we sat the girls in front of an actual movie, Pilgrim's Progress, instead of a lecture based video. My dad made his famous popcorn for them which they thoroughly enjoyed, and after giving it to them, we told them they could not come back into the dormitory until dinner time due to a surprise. See, the girls were famous for having to go to the bathroom or for needing a drink of water during the “attention grabbing” movies we showed them. I did not know that in order to get a drink or go to the bathroom, one girl had to take three other people with her.

As they watched the movie, we women decorated the room with balloons, tablecloths, place settings, and prepared dinner and dessert. Once the preparations were complete and the movie finished, we announced to the girls that they could finally enter the dormitory. As soon as we told them, they raced out of the church building into the dorm and screamed with delight. Their reactions were hilarious as they grinned, shouted and posed for pictures with each other!

To finish off the night, Samantha, Mary Kate, and I told our testimonies of how God had changed our lives and hearts into new ones and what our lives looked like in Christ(Su Vida en Cristo). The girls were attentive and most seemed to relate to at least one of the testimonies. We “allowed”(no, we really wanted them to!) the girls to stay up later because it was the last night at camp. Because of this, some of the girls really opened up to us about themselves. We found out that some really enjoyed reading, which was great since we were beginning a reading program the next week.

Day Four-Thursday

Before the girls departed for their homes, we all gathered in the church building for the girls' testimonies. Each of the girls stood up and described what they had learned during their three days at the camp. Surprisingly and thankfully, most of them talked about how they learned to respect each other and that faith was very important, the two things we really desired them to take away from their time there. Other things mentioned were staying abstinent, being yourself, loving one another, obeying parents, and spending alone time with God. Hearing these testimonies were encouraging to us  all and made our efforts worth it.

I think despite the fatigue of us leaders and the disobedience of the girls at first, the days were spent well. Perhaps we will never know if we actually did make a difference in the lives of each of the girls. I know that we pray and plead with God that seeds were planted and that those seeds would be watered and would begin to flourish. And I know that the goal should not be to see the reward, but to obey Christ's command to go and disciple. I think in a small way we did disciple these girls, and we have received new ideas and techniques for how to better disciple the girls in the coming years. I am so thankful to be a part of the miracles and transformation that God is doing in the lives of the Mexican girls.

If you would like to partner with us( my family and Oasis Vineyard Church) in reaching the teenage girls of Sonora Mexico or being a part of the Vacation Bible School team that occurs annually in July, post a comment. God is truly working in the hearts of our brothers and sisters in Mexico, and help is always needed!