rae of hope: Recap #2 (Mexico)

So, our official Around the World (ATW) outreach began in Veracruz, Mexico. It was a great place to begin, because we were able to see many people accept Christ for the first time during our ministry times, and that provided us with a lot of excitement and encouragement for all of our destinations ahead.

Our ministry times in Mexico looked very similar in each place we went. We would perform dances, puppets, dramas, and someone would share a personal testimony and present the gospel. Then we would typically have an altar call and invite people up for any prayer needs. (I even shared the gospel during one of our ministry times!) Our team did this sort of ministry in parks, schools, at a hospital, and in a couple extremely impoverished villages. And we often sweated our brains out during our ministry times, because Mexico was stinkin' hot! Needless to say, AC was our best friend.

Many people encountered God and his immense love, power, and grace, and his kingdom was advanced in a great way. We also say a number of people healed, and I was able to be a part of praying over a few people who were healed. God really worked miracles in Mexico, and it was really powerful to witness!

A few ministry highlights:

Sarah and I prayed for a man with back, neck, shoulder, and head pain, and he was healed. Our God is a God of miracles!
The mother of one of our translators shared a testimony about her mother, who was a devout Catholic. She fought often with her mother about her beliefs, but her mother encountered God and gave her life to Christ. Praise God for transformed lives!
In one of the impoverished villages we visited, I was sitting next to an adorable little girl. She was a bit shy and would always look away whenever I smiled at her. The girl's mother, who was a believer, was sitting behind me, and during one of the dramas she told her daughter (in Spanish) to look at the angels. The mom explained to the daughter that it was the glory of God (gloria de Dios). The little girl watched the angels, then looked at me with a huge smile on her face, all her shyness gone. And even though this girl was only about four years old, I could tell that she understood. As I looked at this little girl smiling at me, God spoke to my heart that he had great plans for that little girl and she was going to be someone special and do great things for him. It was amazing to see God's hand on such a young girl in such a powerful way.

For me personally, Mexico was an experience of learning how to really pour my everything into ministry times, even if it was uncomfortable or undesirable for me to do so. It was a process of learning to get over myself and focus on the real purpose: loving others and sharing the gospel with them--to see transformed lives! It is a lesson I think that will continue to learn throughout my life and there will be times where I am very successful and times when I fail miserably. But if I continue to rely on God's grace and fix my eyes on what is really important, he will help me and grow me in obedience and boldness.

I often prayed these verses over myself during our time in Mexico:

"I pray that your love will overflow more and more, and that you will keep on growing in knowledge and understanding. For I want you to understand what really matters, so that you may live pure and blameless lives until the day of Christ's return." (Philippians 1:9-10)

"For I fully expect and hope that I will never be ashamed, but that I will continue to be bold for Christ, as I have been in the past. And I trust that my life will bring honor to Christ, whether I live or die." (Philippians 1:20)

This is our first outreach update video, which summarizes our time in Mexico: