Ministry Day: 4 (Hocaba/Tabi/Merida/Casa Abuelos)

Dear Friends and Family,
    Each day, Mexico continues to blossom, and as each day passes, the Lord challenges each one of us to step forward and share the Gospel. It is truly amazing to realize what a difference that exists between the people in Mexico and the people in the States. In Mexico, we are not welcomed simply as guests but as friends, family, hermanas, hermanos, and amigos. This day would prove itself to be exceptionally joyous and miraculous as we saw Providence work its way through this country.

    Every morning, we have had the opportunity to converse with the Lord through prayer and our devotions, and this morning, the Lord prepared our hearts for the coming day by teaching us about prayer. In Mark 1:35, Jesus is shown rising early during the day in order to pray not for Himself but for the people He would meet. Therefore, it is essential for us to seek Him out in order to have the strength and courage to share His love.

    After our favorite freezing cold shower, we all headed out. With Topher and Christabel at the helm, we began the first part of our mission in Merida. Here, the sports team challenged the school’s basketball and champion soccer team to a game, and though their confidence and pride was quickly boosted when they beat the middle school team, it was brought down louder than the crashing walls of Jericho against the high school teams. However, winning did not matter because our mission revolved around building relationships; therefore, we discovered a universal language outside of Spanish through sports.

    At the same time, VBS also transcended language barriers by performing skits and singing songs for kids from kindergarten to sixth grade—their smiles, laughs, and cheers while performing “Sin Chair” and “Path” was our language. Danielle Germaine would soon explain to us that night about how much of an impact we have left on this young generation of children who yearn to know our Savior.  Remarkably, many of the children raised their hands high up into the air when they were asked if they wanted to accept the Lord. In their hearts, we planted seeds that will hopefully grow into a mighty tree that will offer shade to many weary souls. By simply sharing our love for God, we were able to reach out to them, our little brothers and sisters in Christ.

    What amazed us the most was the fact that to the kids at this school we were celebrities; therefore, we inherited a platform from which we could get to know them and learn more about their lives. It is exciting to make a friend in another country and realize that though you both have lived thousands of miles apart, both you and him are more alike than either of you knew. 
   
After lunch, our groups once again divided. At Calvary Chapel Merida, the art team continued to work sedulously on a mural portraying creation. This mural is a magnificent blessing for the little, exuberant children who enjoy life and believe in Christ just like how it is described in the Bible.
   
    VBS #1 was tasked to travel to the village of Tabi. It is difficult to imagine what it must feel like to live in a home made of sticks with a roof that is rotting away, yet here it was not imaginary but reality. Yet though poverty runs rampant, the sheer kindness and love of the people for a mere stranger is truly a lesson for anybody—especially back home. Joe Rogers and Seth King soon became professionals at piggyback rides for the kids as Alex Garcia and Kristi Weise
invited little children and their families to watch the VBS performance. The strength of the family was evidently exemplified here as they listened and the children accepted Christ.

     Meanwhile, the sports team visited the village of Hocaba. Charging into another game of soccer, the boys were beaten again, but they soon received the opportunity to talk about the Lord. The guys wished that they could come again as they prayed for the Lord to soften the hearts of the people. Luke continued to describe his experience there as being awesome and overwhelming as he, the team, and our awesome translators Tim and Kerry shared the gospel with little children.

    VBS #2 soon discovered the Casa de los Abuelos. Here, grandparents who had been spitefully taken out of their homes are taken care of and loved. When we saw them, we wondered why any person would do this to their own family and who could be so spiteful and apathetic towards the most kindest and loving men and women. We presented to them skits and prayed for the Lord to come into their lives; moreover, by just simply sitting down with them and listening to their stories, it allowed them to see how special they were to us.  Like a child, they would rest their heads on our shoulders; they would hold our hands; they would ask us why they always did so many wrong things that took them away from their family. Hearing the sadness and remorse that deluged through our conversations, we explained to them that they did not do anything wrong and that they were part of our family, our spiritual family. In our hearts, we adopted them as our grandparents as we prayed for their health, protection, and wellbeing.   
   
On the streets of Mexico, the words love and family can be observed everyday. Love is animated when a child comes up to you to play or by listening to the people at the Casa de los Abuelos; a home is discovered when a family invites complete strangers into their houses as part of their family. Mexico has taught each of us thus far how to love, to be courageous, and to share the Word with an open heart.

    Recently, we have all been passionately driven to use each moment we have left effectively in order share the Word of God, and we will continue to do so not only here but hopefully at home and anywhere else in the world where we can make a difference.

Sincerely yours,
Daniel Poeana and the Class of 2010

P.S. HI MOM! =)