The race ended neck to neck. About 41 hours of travel/bus station time! When all 3 B Teams were dropped off in Reynosa, Mexico, it was a mad dash to find where the bus station was located, while also toting our huge bags around! Team Zeo had the added challenge of no one on the team speaking fluent Spanish, which made for lots of laughs as well as some frustrations as we tried to find the bus station and buy tickets. Talk about feeling helpless when you are racing to get to another country, don’t have a map, and can’t speak the language!
At the first station, two of my teammates and I saw a girl sitting by herself and were drawn to her. Excited for our first real interaction with a local, we came up with a few questions we could asked her in Spanish, practiced asking them correctly, prayed, and headed over to her. To our surprise, Susie spoke English and was actually from Texas, but was just visiting her family in Mexico. She had heard the name of Jesus but didn’t know who He is and had never read a Bible! I was completely shocked! I expect this in other countries, but not in my own Christian nation where there is a church on almost every corner! We talked with her for awhile, and I was led to lay my hands on her and pray over her! We asked if we could read the Bible with her and then excitedly opened it together and laid out some foundations. Our conversation was abruptly ended when her father came to pick her up, but I do believe that God used us to plant seeds in her life and will place more Christians in her life as well as give her a hunger to know more.
All 3 teams made it to the station and were on different buses, but crazy enough- we all ended up arriving in Villahermosa around the same time! The bus drivers have their own schedule, stopping along the way for whatever period of time they want or cleaning out the bus in the middle of the night (i.e. 3 am) and making everyone get off. So, once again all 3 teams raced to the ticket counter to try to get the soonest bus. Funny thing was we all ended up on the exact same bus!
The bus was supposed to leave at 2:40am, but didn’t get there until around 5:15am, so we had about 5 hours in the bus station in the middle of the night! It was a completely crazy sight and I loved it! A few of my teammates and I went out to find a grocery store and get some dinner, yum… tuna sandwiches at 1 in the morning! Our food budget is about $2.75/person/day, so we make due with what we can. I am just beginning to learn what it means to go hungry, to really live simply, to live in community, and to totally depend on God.
Back at the bus station, someone busted out a guitar and we began to sing praise music! I had my Bible out and had just opened it, when a sweet Mexican girl named Rocio pointed to it and asked me something I couldn’t understand. I went to grab my Spanish Bible as well as a teammate (Stephanie) who speaks Spanish. We were able to talk with Rocio for a few hours (a positive of our bus being so late), and found out that she is also a Christian and is in a Christian rock band! She didn’t speak any English, but was drawn to the music and could tell we were Christians! We were able to pray together, and be a blessing to each other! When we had to say goodbye, she made the motion of tears and gave me a big hug. What an awesome bond there is among believers, no matter what your nationality or tongue! Praise God!!
When we arrived in Pelenque around 7:30am, we all raced out of the bus and got the first taxis available to take us to the Plaza de la Cruz (Place of the Cross), where the finish line would be. We didn’t know exactly what we were looking for, just trusted that our taxi driver understood us. Our final destination was the highest climbable spot in the Mayan ruins, overlooking the king’s palace and temple. We had to find it, race the steps, and get a team picture. My team placed second, just barely behind first place I must add. All of the A & B teams arrived within minutes of each other. Once we were all up there, we took time as a large group to praise the name of Jesus by singing and praying, claiming back a place the devil had once used for evil (human sacrifices, underground cultish wicked worship of darkness), we now claim for the kingdom of God!! It was an awesome experience and privilege!
Overlooking the ruins from the highest point!
