Once debrief finished in Antigua, fourteen of us (Team Clay and Team Banah) crammed into a tiny van and drove 17 hours over and through the hills of Guatemala all the way to Palenque, Mexico. Our contact and host, Eleazar, welcomed us to his Bible Institute Shekinah, where our home will be for this month.
We’re sleeping at a Bible School in our tents. Our back yard is a jungle – full of snakes and tarantulas. I’m hot, sweaty, and dirty ALL the time – but I’m SO thankful to be back in the third world and I wouldn’t trade this for anything.
Our first week of ministry in Mexico brought us to a prison. Fourteen of us hopped in the back of a truck (best mode of transportation) and drove off to the prison. I led worship for the inmates – and was surprised when they knew
“Open the Eyes of My Heart” – they sang in Spanish and I in English. Thankfully the day before, Eleazar, taught me the
only Spanish song I now know. So I put some chords to it and got the inmates to sing along. The main lyrics to the song goes like this:
Soy feliz, Cristo me salvo
Soy feliz, Cristo me salvo
Soy feliz, Cristo me salvo
Soy feliz, Cristo me salvo
Soy feliz, Cristo me salvo
Conto Halleluha, Cristo me salvo!
It translates to… “I’m so happy Christ saved me!” After worship, we performed the Set Me Free skit and shared a testimony. We saw many inmates broken and crying out to God after hearing some preaching. They in turn ended up praying for us with raised hands and sang us a song before we left. We couldn’t take our cameras into the prison so no pics, but it was a neat time with the inmates.
After prison, we went to rehab! That’s how we roll … just another day in Mexico 😉
The rehab is for former alcoholics and its run by Immanuel, a former drug dealer and alcoholic. After spending 25 yrs in prison, he
gave his life to Christ and now pulls men out of their destitution and give them hope at the rehab center. He disciples these guys once they come off alcohol. We were invited to lead worship, do our drama, and share testimonies while our very own, Summer Smith, translated. We’d be lost with out Summer who is the only one of us who are fluent in Spanish. Thank you Summer!!
We stopped at a near by village with Eleazar and led a short program with songs for the kids, then stopped at the Cascadas (water falls) on the way back home.
Swam in a bat cave with waterfalls. The Predator was filmed here.
Then the Mexican fiesta began on July 14th when not one but two of team clay members, Tomina and I, celebrated our birthdays!
Everyone went to Agua Azul to cool off from the hot sun and constant
100 degree heat, jumped in the falls and had pepper and lime mango flowers on a stick.
100 degree heat, jumped in the falls and had pepper and lime mango flowers on a stick.
Then had some fun Mexican style with a home madesun piñatathat
Lindsey and Tomina made out of a fan box and napkins.
Lindsey and Tomina made out of a fan box and napkins.
It took an hour, 7 people, and finally a machete to bust that thing down.
Good times were had by all!!!
What’s Next? ….
My team just finished debriefing ourselves from last months ministry in Croatia and we’ve seen how God is challenging each of us to break from the molds we are in and reach beyond our grasp to do things he’s calling us that is beyond our capability or beyond what our flesh wants to do. It was a powerful and enlightening time for our family because we don’t want to go home the same person we were when we left. We’ve seen God do powerful things around the world. He’s healed the sick in Africa, he’s raised dead hearts to life in Christ in Croatia, he’s restored hope and joy in the Philippins, he’s visited the forgotten villagers and underground believers in India, he’s lived among the poorest of the poor in Africa. And we’ve been his hands and feet that have been used to do these things. These things can happen in America too, not just in Africa, India and Mexico.
We’ve been ATL’ing (Ask The Lord) about what God would have us do this month and he’s allowed us to meet several pastors in the area where we’ve been invited to preach, as well as camp out in surrounding villages to minister to some indigenous children and youth caught up in alcoholism, and do home visits. We’ll be in a village called Jerusalem for the rest of this week, and then some will go to another village 4 hrs away.
