As I wrote to you Friday, it was difficult to believe that our week was already drawing to a close. Yet God proved faithful–our week saw at least ten teens, prisoners, children, and women come to faith in Christ. We arrived safely, got through without major sickness, ministered every day, and received all of our luggage. God answered prayers, both yours and ours, as we did our best to serve in the way He had called us.
We saw faces new and old–Vicente, the fervent evangelist, Pastor Raul, the enthusiastic pastor, Pastor Aristeo, leader of the Casa de Fe y Misericordia, other servants of God like Juan Angel, Javier, and Moises, and long-time friends like Karla, Erika, Francisco, Cristian, and others.
On Friday evening we came together after teen and VBS ministries for a dinner provided by Pastor Raul and his family, who have always been generous in their hospitality.
On Saturday we went to the market and met some other long-time friends there: Elias and Edgar from Campestre, where we used to minister. Afterwards some of us visited Campestre and La Mission El Buen Pastor to greet Pastor Pedro and his family and look for some of our old friends and find out where they were with Christ and encourage them.
We went to the youth service at the Alliance Church, too. There were literally hundreds of gringos (Americans, I mean) at the service, because God has been calling an increasingly larger influx of people there from Harvest Ministry in Minnesota and other groups to serve with the Alliance Church in missions to the poorer colonias and the unfortunate. The sermon was given in English (!) for the first time I can remember by a senior pastor from the Minnesota group. He compared our calling to the servant Abraham sent out to find a bride for Isaac, telling us that our master had called us to find a bride, that he would equip us and guide us, and that we must faithfully rely on him for direction and go out in faith.
We had dinner that night with some of our most faithful friends and supporters–the Flores family, our longtime host family with whom we’ve kept in contact even these two years when we weren’t staying with them; Vicente Mora, a zealous evangelist who has a burden for the lost and a gift for preaching; Juan Angel and Javier, who both provided constant help, directions, and more for us; and Pastor Raul and his wife Gabriela. Good-byes were difficult, as they usually are, but never without hope.
The border crossing was made interesting by the process of Karla getting her passport stamped, but we got to the airport with plenty of time to spare. Still, once again, we did not experience any uneventful flights–our flight from McAllen saw some of the 11:00 group cancelled but thankfully placed on the same plane as the 1:00 group, some of us had to cross security or have new boarding passes printed to get onto the plane in Houston, and we were slightly delayed when US Airways realized that they had scheduled two flights at our gate–God gave us His protection and brought us home to our family.
We also had the special blessing and privilege of bringing Karla home on the plane with us. Her joy was evident on her face when we arrived in Syracuse–the rest of the team lined up at the door (she was one of the last ones to get off the plane) and shouted “¡Bienvenida a Syracuse!” and gathered around her in an embrace before we prayed and walked toward the gate singing both of our trip’s theme songs, one unofficial, the other official:
Me siento como conejito, conejito, conejito
Me siento como conejito
Montado en el van.
Which translates to:
I feel like a bunny, a bunny, a bunny
I feel like a bunny
Riding in the van
And our most important song of praise:
La única razón de mi adoración, eres Tú, mi Jesús
Mi único motivo para vivor, eres Tú, mi Señor
Mi única verdad está en Ti
Eres mi luz y mi salvación
Mi único amor, eres Tú Señor
Y por siempre Te alabaré
Eres todopoderoso, eres grande y majestuoso
Eres fuerte, invencible, y no hay nadie como Tú
Which translates to:
The only reason for my worship is You, Jesus
The only motivation I have for living is You, Lord
My only truth is found in You
You are my light and my salvation
My only love are You, Lord
And forever I will praise You
You are almighty, You are great and majestic
You are strong and unbeatable, and there’s no one like You…
There is no one like Him.
Es verdad – no hay nadie como El – es todopoderoso, es grande y majestuoso, y yo le alabare!
What a great God we serve!
I look forward to hearing from each one of you as to what God has shown you through your experience(s) in Mexico. Make a point of asking God to help you see those things He’s trying to teach you, and then share them with others so that we can all be blessed and encouraged by it!
To our faithful and trustworthy God be all the glory!
Hna. Leslie