I Heart Mexico City

I returned home yesterday from Mexico City with one pair of clean underwear, an entire suitcase of stinky clothes (no comments please team), a few souvenirs and an overwhelming knowledge that I had been and still am in the presence of God.

Before leaving and even during the first part of the week that we were there I wasn't expecting much from the Lord. I was just glad to be out of the country and a part of another mission trip. I really looked forward to it but I really thought it would be just another mission trip.

Throughout the course of the week what I learned was that God answers prayer that I don't remember uttering; he allows us to be a part of experiences that will forever teach us; he brings us into contact with other believers to strengthen His body of believers; he puts in frong of us impossible situations because He wants us to understand who completes the work.

The beginning part of the week was normal. We went to church on Sunday and began our construction on Monday - removing old flooring, laying cement, waterproofing the roof, cleaning away some mold and mildew in a room and a pit that backed up to the room, sealing the room, laying carpet. All these things we worked on all week long. None of us could have ever imagined that we would get them finished, not to mention the fact that eight out of the eleven of us got sick during the last part of the week. He truly completed all of these tasks.

Here's where it gets cool though. Wednesday and Thursday we were able to partner with a group in Mexico City called Casa Alianza (Covenant House). This organization works with street children. They go to them, play games with them, teach them about the dangers of drugs, sex trafficking, rape, living on the streets and then offer them a better choice - the choice to come and live at Casa Alianza. The deal is however, that in order to live at Casa Alianza, the kids have to be willing to leave behind their drugs. On Thursday I went to Casa Alianza. Because everything up to this point in the trip had been routine for me, I was really hoping that the Lord would challenge me this day - speak to me, change me, something. I had placed all my eggs in one basket for the Lord to do his part. So, we get to Casa Alianza and Emanuel and I are teamed up with Fransisco and Erika. We leave Casa Alianza to go talk to Juan about coming back to the crisis center with us. We find him curled up under newspaper right outside of a metro station asleep and can't convince him. Fransisco and Erika promise to come back on Saturday. The next stop is supposed to be at a hospital where a young boy had been admitted because he had swallowed the inhalent that most of the children who live on the street use. On the way there however, we found two boys sleeping at a metro station so we stopped and played uno with them for a while. Then Fransisco and Erika convinced them to come back to Casa Alianza with us for a shower and a change of clothes. Fransisco headed on to the hospital to visit the boy who swallowed the inhalent. When we got to the crisis center we simply played more games with Julian and Gabriel (the two boys) and then Erika walked them through some of the dangers of living on the street. They had just run away from home the day before and when asked said that no one would miss them. I was really hoping that they would choose to stay at the home but they just wanted the clothes and food and to return to the metro station. After that, Emanuel and I didn't leave the home. It was 12 and we weren't supposed to return to the children's home where we were staying all week until 5:00 and we were through for the day. When the other team returned I was so disappointed. They hadn't stopped all day. They had encounter after encounter with children who were huffing while talking to them, children who wouldn't give up their drugs, they played soccer with some. They just didn't quit until they came back to Casa Alianza. I was upset that I hadn't had a better day - that was supposed to be my challenge. That was the day I told the Lord to speak to me! When we returned to the Chidlren's Home I journaled some. I asked the Lord, no, I told the Lord that if that wasn't going to be the day that He needed to speak to me another day. Then, however, he removed a veil from my eyes and began to teach me things I hadn't thought of until then. He showed me that I continually ask for more while I'm in the States and when He gives me that gift - it isn't good enough. I need to be thankful for what He gives. He revealed to me that ministering to street children wasn't as hard as I thought it was going to be. Playing games with them was easy and I could do it! That wasn't something I expected. He showed me the fluidity those who work at Casa Alianza have. They had an appointment with someone else when they stopped to play Uno with those two young boys. If it had been me, I might would have kept going hoping they would be there on the way back. They understood the importance of every single child and they trusted that every single one would get visited that day. Then, the most important lesson I learned from those that work at Casa Alianza that day was persistance in the face of addiction. I learned what it looks like to keep hoping even when it seems like there is no hope. I saw what it must look like for the father to continually come after us. The folks at Casa Alianza offer so much more to these children than what they have - clean clothes, shelter, food, rehabilitation, and most importantly a future. Most of the time these children reject their offers because they want to remain where they are, where it is comfortable. It was an incredible picture to me that day of the God who pursues us.

Friday we finished the floors in the church and on Saturday we got to go to the Pyramids that the Aztecs built. Only two civilizations in the world built pyramids - the Egyptians and the Aztecs and I got to climb one of them. What a cool day - despite a sunburn on the back of my legs.

Then Sunday came. Gamaliel spoke that morning on Isaiah 6:1 - 8. What's funny is that I was content. I had learned my lesson (or so I thought) and had forgotten (almost) that I told the Lord to speak to me since he hadn't on the day I went to Casa Alianza (even though he obviously did). What's cool is that the Lord didn't forget my prayer and was faithful even though I didn't need him to speak or at least I didn't think I needed him to. Anyway, Gammy spoke and he talked about the Lord asking all of us the question "Whom shall I send? Who will go for us?" He talked about how the day he went with Casa Alianza he forgot that those children were dirty and stunk but remembered that the Lord loved them. He talked about the hard places that the Lord calls us to. I remembered then how I heard a sermon once about the verses after verse 8 where God tells Isaiah what He wants him to do. He tells him he will preach and preach and their hearts will get fat and that He will weed them away until only a stump is left. I just kept thinking about how it's not always easy what God calls us to do. Then I realized what I had been doing. I had been taking away what I promised the Lord. A long time ago I said to the Lord what Isaiah said, "Here am I. Send me!" When I was young he called me to be a missionary and since then he has been confirming it. The hard part however, is that Marty and I's callings don't line up and we have a hard time trying to figure out how it will work. So, Sunday morning I realized that what I had been doing was conditioning my response to God. I was telling him that perhaps short-term missions is what He's called me to do. I was telling him that perhaps since the challenge is harder at home that perhaps incarnational ministry is what He's called me to do. Sunday mornig he struck my heart. He told me that I couldn't do that anymore. I had given him all of myself a long time ago and I couldn't take it back. He wasn't taking His calling back - I couldn't take myself back. I was trying to figure it out on my own. He convicted me of that too. It's about trust and faith and allowing him to work it out.

All week long I kept remembering the verse, "Now unto him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we could ask or imagine." (Ephesians 3:20) We never could've asked for or imagined the things that we accompished at the beginning of the week. We never could've even imagined a team like ours fitting together like it did. We never could've asked for anything that the Lord freely gave to us. When I got home I realized that's what the Lord wants me to claim for my life. I can't ask for or imagine big enough the things that He's going to give me. I can ask for the small - which is what I'm doing now and it seems huge but I know He'll give me more than that. I can't wait! I just have to hold on for the ride.

Bring it on Lord! Bring it on!