this summer i had the chance to return to mazatlan, mexico with a team of awesome teenagers for a month of serving. here's a story from my time there.
"I believe in a God who is intricately woven into the soul of each person he knit together, and he has written chapters we have yet to read. Most days my role in the kingdom is as complicated as painting fingernails. It's usually just about showing up." – Beth Gukenberger
i read this quote in a book called 'reckless faith' while i was in mexico and it definitely resonated with me. (side note: the whole book is incredible and you should read it. yes, you. even if you're not into missions or mexico or God or anything that it's about. because this woman’s story is absolutely insane.)
often, at the end of a day, if i took a spiritual inventory of what i thought i'd accomplished, it looked bleak. hmm…well, i went to the feeding center and colored with some little ones, painted a girls nails, did some dishes, played red rover, said adios and headed home for my siesta. not exactly inspiring. not exactly what i thought i'd signed up for.
i found myself wondering if i was making a difference. if anyone cared that we were there. if i was wasting my time doing something i thought was so worth it.
luis and gema (pronouced hay-ma) run a feeding center out of their home in the casa redonda colonia. each morning they wake up early to feed 30 – 50 hungry kids that come from all over the neighborhood. if you go to their home some morning, you'll likely hear it before you see it. before breakfast luis leads all of the kids in a few songs on his guitar and when they sing, they sing loud. and it is beautiful.
over the last few years, i've had the chance to get to know luis and gema and their beautiful family. they are dedicated, loving, incredible people who put their all into advancing God's kingdom by loving the children in their neighborhood. every single day. it just blows me away.
one night my team and i joined them at their home for a sweet time of fellowship and dinner. this was probably one of my favorite moments of the summer. we sat around the table like a family and talked about our lives, about the kids in the neighborhood, about the big and small ways we had seen God moving. my heart is full even as i remember it.
luis and gema both have incredible life stories that are clear testaments to the faithfulness and redeeming love of God. as we were chatting i asked gema when it was in her life that she decided to follow Jesus. her answer to this question sort of changed my life.
she said "well, when i was a little girl some missionaries came from washington. a girl invited me to color with her and i was drawn to the way she loved Jesus and others. i realized that that was what i wanted in my life."
my mouth dropped open a little.
"her name was christine…do you know her?"
not only did gema remember this moment of impact in her life as a young girl, she remembered the woman who was apart of it.
a woman named christine listened to God's call on her life to visit mexico. she went, and she colored with some little kids. she chose to show up. and a girl decided to follow Jesus with her whole heart because of that. and now that girl has grown up and is following God's call on her life by serving the children in her community – children that she hopes will have these moments of impact and follow Jesus too, exiting cycles of poverty/abuse/drugs and become everything He created them to be. wow.
God is teaching me more and more each day that He is not passively involved in our lives. He is not watching from the sidelines waiting for us to get it right before He’ll work in and through us. He is directly and intimately involved, orchestrating moments small and big for our good and His glory.
all we have to do is show up.
Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Galatians 6:9
