Ministry Day 2: Tizimin Update

12/1/09 Tizimin

I am confident in speaking for my group that today was the day we saw the most fruit and God miraculously answer our prayers. One VBS group and the Sports group flip-flopped with the other VBS group and Art group so that the latter stayed in San Felipe and the former traveled to the nearby city of Tizimin. To provide a background on the day’s devotional theme, we each began our day with reading Matthew 16:24. It says, “And Jesus said to His disciples, ‘If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” For the VBS group, a denial of our self-interests and the ripening of Mexican hearts was what we spent the morning praying for during the hour-long drive to the Mayan ruins. At the ruins, we learned about the tribe’s former pagan practices and saw the altars they used to make human sacrifices. We also climbed 109 very steep steps to the top of one of the temples—don’t worry moms, plenty of pictures were taken! We then left and ate a delicious lunch in downtown Tizimin. From there, the vans drove us to Calvary Chapel Tizimin: a church planted by Calvary Chapel Merida only two months ago. It consisted of a single storage unit, the size of a small bedroom, and fifteen plastic chairs. Seeing the humble beginnings of this church in addition to the very strong faith of its founders was a great reminder for both teams that the power of the Holy Spirit doesn’t rely on numbers. Both the VBS and Sports group then went house to house, shack to shack, witnessing and praying through a Foodshare outreach. Many relationships were established and prayers offered. Something that both groups found very difficult and frustrating was not only the language barrier, but also the Mexicans’ deep ties and attachment to Roman Catholicism. Though not easy, everyone did their best to explain the difference between religion and relationship and if seeds weren’t watered from the other group’s work the day before, they were definitely planted. It was so amazing to see our class operating as a body of Christ, for what both teams had started the day before, the other brought completion. The VBS group then prepared to perform the “Everything” drama while the Sports group prayed arm in arm for the Mexican families they had just ministered to. I guess you could say God had a completely different plan for the location and audience of the drama. Instead of performing it on a small basketball court by Calvary Chapel Tizimin, we went to the large square of downtown Tizimin where crowds of people were gathered across the street in a prayer and worship procession for the Virgin Mary. We invited as many people as we could find to watch the drama in about fifteen minutes, made announcements through the loud speaker of a nearby churro stand, and received permission from the police department to drive the van up onto the square so that people could hear the music. After we performed the drama, Nick Rogers explained the meaning of the drama and of Christ’s love through the help of a translator while the drama team prayed for eager and ready hearts among the audience. The team then dispersed and approached the Mexicans while talking to them about the skit and witnessing about Christ’s sole desire for a relationship. Relentless efforts at speaking Spanish and one skit later, 12 people accepted Christ as Lord of their lives and dedicated themselves to seeking after God. Something that the VBS group had been praying for since day one of the trip was to receive a gift of the Holy Spirit that we had not yet received and for it to be manifested in us this trip. That night, we witnessed the gifts of Spanish tongues, evangelism, faith, mercy, and encouragement in our teams in bringing many new souls to the family of God. God was also able to work in both downtown Tizimin and Calvary Chapel Tizamin because the people who showed up at the church expecting to see a drama, ended up staying for the church service. After planting, watering, and harvesting newly planted seeds in Tizimin, many in both groups are praying about returning in the summer for an internship with Calvary Chapel. God’s timing is truly perfect, for if the Mexico trip had not been postponed and we had gone in May, Calvary Chapel Tizamin would not have even existed. Thank you for your prayers and encouragement. God is already significantly using us—a group of gringo teenagers who don’t even speak Spanish—to impact the Kingdom of Heaven. We love and miss you all!

Danielle Germaine and Class of 2010.