Dear Friends,
Here
are a few snapshots from our men’s group’s 8 day mission trip to Juarez, Mexico,
where we teamed up with our long-term missionary couple, Nolan and Marie.
We were also joined by four men from CC Royal Gorge. Be assured that God’s
return blessings went far
beyond the investment we made into this trip.
“Jesus is your name,” I proclaimed enthusiastically in broken Spanish. The bewildered passerby studied the Gospel Track which I just handed to him intensely, as if looking for answers to my strange behavior. “Jesus is your name,” I proclaimed again with confidence, as another man shoved our Spanish Gospel Tract into his pocket and kept looking over his shoulder as he hurriedly walked away. After he crossed the street, as if assuming he was now a safe distance from us, he proceeded to read the Gospel Tract with great curiosity.
“Oh, no,” my partner Earl
bemoaned my evangelistic strategy, “that’s not what you wanted to tell them.
You’ve got to say: ‘Jesus te ama.’ At least, that’s what I think my Mexican
construction crew back in Colorado would say.” Well, while this was a move
in the right a right direction, we soon realized that there still was a problem,
since ‘Jesus’ is a very common name in Mexico. It was as if we were
telling people that the guy next door or perhaps one of the three men named
Jesus on their soccer team had romantic feelings for them! Finally,
we got it right: “Esta es el Camino de Cristo!” (This is the path to
Christ) …
This
is just a funny snapshot from one of our evangelistic adventures.
Nevertheless, on this occasion, our team of 16 men handed out about 200 Gospel
tracts and 10 English/Spanish Bibles. They also “talked” to a number of Mexicans
about Christ! (God somehow bridged the language gap with some of the people
knowing bit of English and some of our guys knowing a bit of Spanish.)
Several men who had a history of being in prison were saved and encouraged that
glorious afternoon.
I
have to admit that at times, I was concerned about our safety a bit. Once,
we offered to purchase burgers for 3 hungry men who got stranded in Juarez.
Looking at us suspiciously, they led us to a burger joint 3 blocks away; so I
asked for “re-enforcements,” from our team.
There were four of us to three of them, but then, as we reached the hamburger joint, there were suddenly five of them. “Do they have a gun?” I wondered, as we probably made a tempting impression of Americans with pocketfuls of money. (NOT!!)
I think all four of us prayed silently for safety as we ministered to these destitute men. They kept saying “God bless you,” as they devoured their burgers, while we were explaining the Gospel to them in Spanish. They said they knew Jesus and we discussed that knowing is not enough; doing His will is the key.
As we were daily blessing these people and kids who could not re-pay us, God returned blessings to us doubly and confirmed Jesus’ words through Paul’s mouth: “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” (Acts 20:35, NKJV)
One
of these blessings we received, seeing the Lord at work, happened at the first
orphanage we visited, where we brought toys and candy and played with the kids.
The Lord led me to give the nicest toy I had brought with me, from my friend
back in Colorado (a stuffed lion), to one of the boys. As I stretched out my arm
with the toy toward him he did not respond, although he was looking right at me.
I shoved the stuffed lion right in front of his face, muttering, “You don’t want
it?”
“He’s blind,” someone said, “let him hold it.” I did, and as the boy explored the soft fur and shape of the lion with his hands, his face brightened up. What a perfect gift for a blind boy, thank you, Lord! I gave a stuffed white bear to the girl who was tending to the blind boy, thinking that she could let him play with this one, too.
Our main project while we were there was to build a small home for a single mom with a teenage daughter - in three days. The woman and her daughter lived in a colony of shacks, in a shack the size of a large walk-in closet made of wooden pallets, cardboard, and a tarp, with a torn drape for a door. I learned that about 30% of people in Mexico live that way!
On the first day, we
hand-mixed and poured an 11 x 22 ft. concrete slab and made frames for the
walls. On the second, day we assembled the walls and roof; and on the
third day, we finished the house with a second coat of stucco, electrical work,
and a bit of touch up here and there. Out of our crew of 16 men, most had
construction experience, so the little house came together very nicely and ahead
of schedule. The 3 days it took us to build the house included spending
time with the local kids, teaching them some construction skills, playing with
them, and giving them tons of candy, over and over again. We also had time
left for some more street evangelism; and again, we saw the Lord at work,
bridging our
language barrier.
While we were there, we also fixed a large roof of one of the buildings on the camp premises, fellowshipped with a small, local Calvary Chapel Church during their service, and afterward, got a chance to check out the market and a couple of restaurants. One of many reasons to praise our God was that nobody got the “Montezuma Revenge,” or had any other physical problems (other than a few smashed thumbs during the construction, including mine.)
Our group has gotten along very well; given diverse backgrounds, age, and a busy schedule - that was a miracle in itself. The Lord added to all the blessings we received from the people of Mexico by blessing us through each other. Not to mention the awesome morning quiet times and evening devotions.
One observation I made that sticks in my mind is how positively people responded when we offered them Gospel tracts on the street and how open they were to discussion about Jesus Christ.
Another
memorable thing that happened is how the Lord worked in our hearts, especially
during the dedication of the home and giving the keys to the single mom. I
am not sure how to explain it; I think you would have to experience it. I
highly recommend to everyone to take a short-term mission trip because God will
use it to tweak your walk with Him up a few notches.
I hope this report was worth of your time; may the Lord richly bless you as you serve Him.
In His love,
Milan, Zita and Danielko
Romans 11:33