Mexico

      For those of you who don't know, I just got back from being in Mexico for a week on a mission trip. It's hard to sum up this experience in one blog post. It's hard to even organize it in my head, but here goes.
        My brothers and I went to Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico, with Global Expedtions to build houses for people in need, do Vacation Bible School, and do street ministry. This was my third mission trip, and my brothers' first.
        In Australia, Jesus taught me how to view and live life in light of eternity. In Mexico, Jesus taught me how to suffer for the Gospel. This was the hardest mission trip I've been on. Some people who went with me said the same, and they had been to Panama for a month. It was cold. It was FREEZING. The worst was that it didn't get very warm during the day, so it felt like we never ever got warm. And it rained. It never rains in Baja. But it rained for 2 1/2 days. And our tent leaked.
        But thank God for our fearless leaders, who reminded us of James 1:2-4, and reminded us that every single drop of water passed through the sovereign hand of God into our tent and luggage to grow us for His Glory. December 31 was an especially hard day, and by 7:45am I was ready to quit. The night before, I set out my clothes for the next day. It wasn't a coincidence that the shirt I picked out was a Global Expeditions shirt that said "They are worth it" Turned out that that day was one of the best ministry days.
They.are.worth.it.
        One day, our leaders told us we could shower. We decided to, despite the fact that it was most certainly going to be cold. We walked into the shower house and there was steam in the air. The showers were hot.The.showers.were.hot. I think I even burned my scalp at one point. In retrospect, looking at it in writing on the computer screen, ot doesn't really look like it was that great. But I don't think that I've ever been more thankful for anything in my life. Ever. I think I said 'Thank You Jesus' about a thousand times during that shower. But later God convicted me and said, "It's fine for you to say you love me and are thankful when things are good and I bless you. But you still need to just as thankful and, yes, even more so when it's freezing cold and raining and when the mud is three inches deep."
         So here's a few stories my ministry group saw happen. I'm sure that this is a tiny portion of what happened throughout all the teams and ministry groups.
         It was the second-to-last ministry day, and our contractor who was in charge of the building of the house was gone. We weren't really sure where he went or when he was coming back, but we couldn't do any work on the house until he came back. We didn't want to just stand around until he came back, so we decided to split up into groups and do street ministry. We got a little ways down the street and started to pray in circles. My group had just got done praying when this man walked up to us (walked up to US!) and started talking to us about how he was a Catholic and had given up smoking and drinking, but hadn't ever accepted Jesus. He then proceded to ASK US how to recieve Jesus! God is faithful! He knew that this man would be walking home from the market at that time and that he needed to be saved. When we were frustrated because of the contractor being gone, He knew that we would end up going out on ministry.
       One day when my group was out on ministry, we came across a woman who was on her way to work. We started talking to her and she began to explain that she was going through a hard time. She started to cry and say that her husband had left her and was with another woman. She was staying with her mother and her mother was nagging her to forget her husband and move on with her life. One of the ladies in my group had gone through a similar situation and her hand her husband had got back together and worked things out. God used her testimony to minister to the woman and she ended up becoming a Christian!
         God is still showing me things and teaching me from my experience in Baja. I am beyond grateful to my supporters and God for sending me there, and I look forward to my next mission trip.

"How, then, can they believe in the one they have not called on? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can anyone preach unless they are sent?" Romans 10:14-15