Ten things I have learned in Mexico:
1. If one already has 23 people in the
back of a truck, there is always room for one, two or maybe even ten more
people.
2. Ice cubes are a great American luxury,
and I miss them dearly.
3. In the Mexican culture, loud is always
better.
4. Roosters crowing with the morning
sunrise is one of the greatest lies told to me as a child. In actuality they
crow all night long, and even some times in sync with the cows mooing.
5. Praise and worship can include
tambourines, flags and a full on dance party.
6. Mexican children are beautiful, and
playing duck, duck goose in Spanish is a lot of fun.
7. Alcoholism and prostitution are real
problems facing Mexican society.
8. Mayan animal sacrifices and worship is
real and still practiced this day.
9. Showering with tarantulas is really
not as scary as it sounds.
10. A community of true worshippers of
God is at the core a daily life in Palenque, Mexic
o.
Hebrews 10:23-25 “Let us hold fastthe confession of our hope without wavering, for He who is promised is
faithful; and let us consider how to simulate one another in love and good
deeds, no forsaking our assembling together, as is the habit of some, but
encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the day drawing
near.”
World Race with a “I am going to save the world” mentality. I whole
heartedly desire to be used by Jesus Christ in a radical way. So you can grasp
my surprise when the Lord had other plans. As my time in Mexico draws to a
close I can sincerely say the believers in Christ have blessed and
changed me in ways I did not expect. “Church” in Mexico is drastically different than
“church” in the states. Mexican believers understand that the
Christian life is a calling. It is a
divine calling to walk out life- TOGETHER.
It is call to worship in true community. Community is a fabric woven
into daily life, and community is a pillar of the Mexican way of life. Church is not a Sunday morning service, and
church is definitely not a Sunday morning obligation. True community is daily
life style. Life lived together is simply normal here. It is a day in day out life lived for the
glory of
the One true God, Jesus Christ. Mexicans live together very small houses with no bedrooms, andlittle privacy if any. They clean
together, laugh together, drive to work together and play evening games of
“futbal” together. You see children playing in front of a
local grocery store while their father is ringing up groceries. Raising
children is as much the responsibility of the community as it is of the
parents. I have been exposed to an entirely different way of “doing
church.” Most nights of the week the entire congregation gathers at one’s
house. They will then sit for hours eating, praying and reading scripture. The astonishing part to me
is that this occurs most nights of the week, and almost the whole congregation
of believers are present each night.
Palenque, Mexico pain, drugs, alcohol, gangs, death of children, sickness, lack
of medical care, miscarriages, lack of fathers and poverty are not simply
“problems the community faces.” No they are problems that leave no
area of personal life unaffected. They
are real problems painting a tainted picture in the hearts of individual
lives. What has taken my breath away is
the way Christians walk through the hardships of life- TOGETHER. In a city
where evil has left no street corner untouched, God has given me a tangible
glimpse of this “hope we confess.”
A hope that in trusting Jesus Christ we already have victory. The Lord
reminds me as Graham Cooke writes, ” As God’s children we do not fight
towards victory, but from it.” In Christ we have hope of full redemption and
complete forgiveness by His death on the cross.
God has allowed me to catch a glimpse of Mexican daily life- a daily
life lived in true community . And I
cannot wait to be in heaven. I am so eager for the day I will touch Hope face
to face. Spending my time serving along
side local believers has made me long for the day in eternity when I will be
given the humbling opportunity to stand along side all of God’s children. With one resounding voice we will boldly proclaim, “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord
God all mighty. The whole earth is filled with His glory.” Isaiah 6:3
