2004-July-Mexico

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By randy in : Foreign Missions // Jul 29 2010

This was a trip to Tapachula Mexico with a team from Grace Community Church in Rincon, GA. We went there to serve with Mission on the Move’s Children’s home there.

This would be my first mission experience serving under my church in partnership with another ministry. The ministry we were going to serve under was Mission on the Move out of Springfield, GA. At the time, they had two childrens homes, one each for boys and girls. Their ministry goes into the prisons to try and take children out of the prison and places them in their homes. I didn’t realize that in the Mexican justice system, children may have to go to prison with the parent(s) if there is nowhere on the outside for them to stay. As you can imagine, many horrible things happen to those children on the inside.

The team was organized and led by the church we attended, Grace Community Church in Rincon, GA. The team was composed of 12 individuals from 3 different churches. We would all be working on: (a) construction projects, (b) VBS for the community children, (c) ministering to the children in the Homes, (d) prison ministry and (e) street ministry.

Pastor Wesley Corbitt from Grace was the trip leader and the rest of us were assigned various roles. My appointment was that of spiritual leader. My task was to lead daily devotions and to keep an eye on the spiritual pulse of the team members.

July 21, 2004

As expected, the enemy has attacked before the trip even started. One member in our church had a heart attack, members on our team had marriages attacked, and with others there were health related attacks.

As I was prying for the preparation of the devotionals, the Lord seemed to press on my heart  6.  I needed 7 so that allowed one more for the Lord to speak later on while we were in the mission field. Here is a basic idea of those devotions:

1) THAT’S NOT WHY I’M HERE… In 1st Samuel 17 we find the story of young David sent by his father to the front line of the standoff between the Armies of the Israelites and the Philistines. Now the David’s father sent him there only for the reasons of: (a) gathering news about the war and David’s brothers that were soldiers, and (b) taking food.

As far as David knew, that is why he was sent and could have limited his visit to accomplish just those things. But while there, the Lord revealed His plans for David. God opened the door, and David was faithful to walk through. David ending up demonstrating true faith in God and slaying the taunting giant named Goliath.

The application for all of us is that we were all going with the understanding of specific tasks we had been assigned to accomplish. Yet we needed to not limit ourselves to just that. We need to all realize that the Lord may use other unrelated circumstances to get us to the point, time and place where the He wants to use us in His way. We need to be sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit and never give ourselves the excuse, ‘that’s not why I am here.’

Proverbs 16:9 “The mind of man plans his way, But the LORD directs his steps.”

2) CHRIST & CHRIST CRUCIFIED…It is not what you know, but rather Who you know.

Many of us feel unqualified to share our faith with others and tell them about Jesus. We feel uneducated and unable to share. Well, Paul says that is the perfect evangelist.

1st Corinthians 2:1-5  “And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the testimony of God. 2 For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. 3 I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. 4 And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5 that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.”

The application for all of us is that we are all called to share our faith…share our Jesus with the lost. While on this trip we would have the opportunity to share with people in airports, airplanes, construction sites, prisons, VBS, markets, cabs etc. A degree in theology or apologetics was not necessary, just a heart that had been changed by Jesus.

3) THE ODDS ARE AGAINST US, AND THAT’S RIGHT WHERE GOD WANTS US … When we already have all of the resources, skill, wisdom, etc to accomplish something, the Lord is not typically glorified in that. He gets all of the glory when He does things through us that are well beyond our limits.

Consider Gideon in Judges 6 & 7. He amassed an army of 22,000 warriors, but the Lord said that was too many. So the Lord shrunk the army down to just 300 men.

The application for us is that the Lord can gain victory through anyone that is fully surrendered to Him and His will. He is not concerned with odds or numbers…all He needs is a willing vessel with the faith of a mustard seed. We never need be concerned with ‘can we?’ Instead our focus should be, ‘can HE?’ And we know that nothing is too hard for the Lord. He specializes in the impossible.

4) THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IN THE WORLD IS LOVE … Love has to be what motivates us on this mission trip and even in this life. If our motivation is otherwise, we will fail the Lord, the Mexican people, each other, and even ourselves. If we have not love, we have nothing. 1 Corinthians 13.

All our work on this trip will be tried by fire. If we find ourselves murmuring, complaining, feeling envy, jealousy, etc., we have a love problem.

5) THE ABILITY TO HEAL … I believe the Lord has given all of us the ability to heal, but not necessarily in the medical sense.

Each and everyone one of us have had past sins that bound us, failures that defined us, disappointments consumed us, pains that hindered us, and opportunities that escaped. If the Lord has brought us deliverance and healing in these areas, then He has in turn given us the cure for others that have like hurts and problems.

Isaiah 61 says, “The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me, because the LORD has anointed Me to preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;”

The same principle applies to us when we are able to pull the planks out of our own eyes, we can then clearly see our brother’s speck to help them with it (Matthew 7). By preaching how the Lord has convicted us, others may recognize the same failures (specks) in their own lives. Typically when we read a Scripture, we think of someone else that needs to her it (especially preachers), but if we don’t apply it to ourselves first, we are doing ourselves and others a great dis-service.

6) WALKING IN CIRCLES … God places spiritual markers in our lives in order to help us navigate towards His will for our lives. (Genesis 1:14, 9:12, 17:11, Ex 31:13, 1 Kings 19:11-12, etc.) Often times His people would pass by a certain place that had a well with a name that memorialized God’s work in their lives, etc. Every time His people would pass by those places, they would likely recall the lesson God taught or ws trying to teach them.

God’s people wandered in circles for 40 years because they never learned their lesson. God has all the time in the universe, we don’t. He will allow us to walk in circles for 40 years just like with them. The sooner we begin to walk in obedience, the sooner we can break the pattern we are in.
The application for us is that if we find ourselves in a rut, with the same problems, trials, tribulations, etc…maybe we have missed God’s voice somewhere in our lives. Maybe we are missing something and need to take a clue from the markers around us. The mission field is very effective at exposing areas of our life where we are walking in circles. Away from the busyness of life, and most of the distractions, the Lord is able to more clearly communicate with us.

We all had a blessed time driving up to Atlanta and were even able to minister to our waitress named ‘Mel’ at the restaurant we had dinner at.

July 22, 2004

The Trials start early on this trip. One of the passengers on the trip was Billy, a minor from another church with no parent going. No one knew they had to have written notarized permission to let him get on a plane out of the country. So people back in Savannah had to scramble at 6am to get one of his parents to sign a document, and then get it notarized and then faxed to the airport. The rest of the team had to go ahead and left Billy and I there waiting. We were fully expecting to miss our flight. But while we were waiting, people on the team and back home were praying…and the Lord answered. At the last possible moment, we got our boarding passes and were rushed through security (in Atlanta which is a miracle all in itself), boarded a train and got to our terminal (the last terminal – E) and our gate (the last gate) just as it was boarding.

We had trial after trial at the airports. Our connecting flight in Mexico City was very late, but it gave us a chance to minister to others waiting in the airport. Then when we arrived at our final airport, they wanted to detain all of our luggage that had the VBS supplies in them (2/3 of the cases).  We finally made it to the hotel at 3:20am.

July 23, 2004

We all got up around 8am for breakfast and getting organized and then left for the Mission on the Move Boys’ Home around 10am. What an amazing welcome when those little precious boys greeted us. Wow. My heart just melted. These boys were taken out of the prisons where they were incarcerated with their parents. You can imagine what a horrible experience many of them had been through. We then proceeded down to Pastor Francisco’s Church to take all of the VBS supplies and get organized.

After a long day of organizing and such, we returned to the hotel for dinner and devotion. It was a blessed time of fellowship. The night’s devotion was over the David & Goliath story. Stan Brown (my roommate) and I talked at length about the story after getting back to our room. Some of the things we noted were:

1. Israel went out ready for battle.
2. They all camped together.
3. They formed the battle line, but DID NOT GO to battle.
4. Instead they fought based on the enemies terms, one on one…Israel’s best against the best of the Philistine’s.

Where Israel messed up is (a) fighting a battle with the enemy and letting the enemy dictate the terms, and (b) their greatest warrior was not a man, it was the Lord.

Don’t we fall into the same trap? We yell our battle cries, but we don’t go to war…we retreat. We come together in the church in the power of the Holy Spirit, yet we don’t fight the good fight of faith…instead we let the enemy dictate the rules of engagement. And finally, we forget that the battle belongs to the Lord. Great is He Who is in us than he who is in the world. We don’t win battles based on the power of our might or strength, but on the Lord’s Word, Spirit and promises.

July 24, 2004

We started off the day with many of us sick: Amy, Ron, Stan and I. We did however have a great time of devotions though.

We headed to the Church early to get ready for the VBS activities; today was the first day of the programs. We were blessed with all of the children and amazed at how smooth everything went. We had over 150 local children there. They allowed me to facilitate the closing ceremony for VBS that day. What a blessing.

After VBS was over, we went to a rural area near by and passed out flier door to door of the crusade we would be having. While passing these out, it started a torrential down pour and we took shelter uner the eaves of a small store. While there, Pastor Wesley was able to share the Gospel with the store owner and she accepted Christ. When we were done ministering, the rain stopped…all that was missing was a rainbow

Five of us had to ride in the back of a pick up truck in the rain back to the hotel with a tarp over us. But it was all worth it. By God’s grace, he allowed me to make it back to the hotel before getting violently ill. Not sure if it was food poisoning or something else, but it was bad. Stan was sick as well, so we were quite a pair.  Long night.

July 25, 2004

This Sunday was a blessed Sabbath of rest for us. We started off at Church that morning with Pastor Wesley preaching and Paul interpreting. It was a blessed message on what a church looks like when Jesus is also put first. He spoke of (a) His Word being taught, (b) reliance on prayer, (c) it is victorious, (d) Love for each other and others is evident, (e) Unified, (f) It bears fruit through the Gospel.

We then had free time to go to the market and do some shopping.

Paul preached the evening service. It was 2 hours and all in Spanish, so it was difficult to focus, especially for me. I was whining about me wanting to get ‘fed’ as well. But when I finally got quiet and stopped complaining to myself, I believe the Lord guided me down this path and fed me with some ‘Scripture nuggets.” These are things I would need to focus on:

1. Faith in God’s Vision and Provision – Abraham asked to sacrifice his only son – the son of promise.
2. Faith in God’s Guidance – Abraham was told to “Go to a land I will show you.” We make our plans, but He directs our steps.
3. Faith in God’s Protection & Deliverance – Ex. 14:18.  The Lord gets the glory when He defeats the weapons and numbers of the enemy.
4. Complete Dependence on God – Ex 14:13, 30-31 “…stand still and see the salvation of the Lord…” Not only did the Lord teach them dependence in delivering them from the Egyptians, but also in providing food from heaven, water from the rocks, light at night and shade by day.

July 26, 2004

I had a nightmare about my mom last night that had me wake up in a sweating panic.

After breakfast we headed to the church for VBS. I was asked today to take a crew of children and was so blessed by it. Yesseni was there and helped me; it is plain to me the Lord has a great calling on her life. It would be a blessing to see how He uses her.

Kevin, Clyde, and Nancy are all sick now.

Around 5:15 we headed out to Montenegro (the area we put the flyers out) for the crusade. Stan and I were in the back of the truck and it rained on us, but praise the Lord He kept the heavy stuff at bay. When we arrived, we saw a lot of the children that were at VBS today. So while waiting, I was invited to ones house to watch some of their cartoon videos. That was a lot of fun.

Paul, our interpreter, preached the service in Montenegro. He spoke of God’s design for the family. After he had finished, the invitation resulted in 7 or 8 accepting Christ. After we left there, we hung around the area and played with the children.

We went back to the hotel and had a great time of devotions after dinner. Pastor Wesley had also led our Waiter, Mr. Tapachula, to the Lord as well that day.

July 27, 2010

I awoke this morning with these thoughts on my heart:
* “Victory has already been won; we just have to claim the spoils.”
* “Cooperation is good, but compromise is not.”

These are the things I shared with our team from the morning devotion. One of the members challenged me afterward with her recognizing my call while I was sharing that message.

After breakfast we headed back to the Church for VBS. The Lord had multiplied the number of children to around 230. Counting the older kids and adults, there were around 300 people in attendance.

When VBS was over, we went back to the Boys’ home and spent time with them. They are some amazing young men. The Mission on the Move staff has really done a phenomenal job training them up.

During my quiet time at the Boys’ Home, the Lord gave me a message for the prisoners we would be ministering to later. It came from the Book of Numbers, Chapter 21.  This is the story of the bronze serpent.
( http://acts3.org/discipleship/the-bronze-serpent/ )

The evening ended with a great time of prayer and devotion and then a small conflict over the use of some of the funds that were raised and paid for by the team for construction. There was some wrestling and tension, but ultimately the Lord sorted it out.

July 28, 2004

After a breakfast devotion on love, the men and a few women headed for the men’s prison. The prison was not nearly as scary as I had made it in my imagination. It was a lot better than the ones I had ministered in while in Africa. The organizers of the trip had made it so all of the men would share bits and pieces in the prison. It started off a little long and dry as some were just reading a script rather than sharing from the heart and from His Word. Pastor Wesley discerned the same thing and took control and preached  what the Lord laid on his heart.

After Ron spoke his heart. Gloria shared a testimony from her past about the actions of her father. Once she finished, I was suppose to preach, but Pastor Paul I guess felt he should go ahead and wrap up the time and had the altar call right then.

This was a test for my pride and an exercise in humility for me. I had to realize that the Lord did not need me with all of those other men and women of God there, and maybe that message was for me or for another time or place.  Once I made peace with it and the altar call and music was concluded, I was given a chance to share after all. When I concluded, we all hugged then men and left.

I am not sure if the message touched the prisoners, but I know the Lord used it to break me and 2 of our team members.

July 29, 2004

Today was a slow day as far as the plan went, but the Lord opened my eyes today to something that is easily overlooked.  So far, this trip has been about the children in the boys and girls home, the children in VBS, the families in Montenegro, the lost people we have encountered and we the team members.  The people we had so quickly overlooked were the missionaries, Hope and Steve Shearouse.

I took a car ride to the hardware store with Steve and we just spoke about all of their personal struggles as individuals and a couple. These precious people from South Georgia had pretty much sacrificed everything to come into the mission field in Mexico to rescue these children out of the prisons. 90% of the year they are hosting and managing teams from all over, overseeing building projects, begging and pleading with prisoners to let them care for their children, etc. I never really considered how alone, overwhelmed and spiritually parched missionaries must feel sometimes. It was then that I really felt a burden to start making a more intentional effort to be an encourager and supporter however I could for any and all missionaries the Lord put in our path…starting with Hope and Steve.

It was on this trip that I began to truly feel called to preach and to start a church.

July 30, 2004

This morning started off with a 6:30am trip to the Home for breakfast duty. After breakfast we assembled to hear the testimonies of some of the boys that live at the Mission on the Move home.  Jon’s testimony was that he was 3 and his father set their house on fire while Jon was inside. His older brother (Elvis – also lives at the M.O.M. home) heard him screaming and ran in the house and saved him. Another one of the boys spoke of being in a car wreck with his dad. When the police came they found a lot of drugs in the car and took the boys away.

After the gut wrenching morning, we took the boys to the ocean for a play day.

When we returned to the Home, all of the girls and boys assembled to send us off. They sang to us, thanked us, and then…then the tough part…the hug and kiss goodbye line… I think the proverbial frog in my throat was big enough to swallow the fish that swallowed up Jonah. There was not a dry eye in the house.

July 31, 2004

Departure Day. This day started with a 4am wake up call and a 4:45 meeting time. All went relatively well, except for a couple of hiccups with one member’s visa and another’s ticket. But we got on the plane in time nonetheless.

Sitting on the plane headed for home, my thoughts inexplicably went back to a seemingly meaningless event that happened about 2 years earlier. We were having the locks changed for our Sylvania store, and the older gentlemen that was the locksmith talked my ear off about any and everything. One thing he told me out of the blue was the trouble he had with apprentices. He complained that all they ever wanted to know was how to pick locks, pop locks and crack safes (I am guessing there are legitimate and legal occasions when these would be appropriate?).  Anyway, he complained that none wanted to work hard first, or prove their worth. None wanted to start in the basement and work their way up.

When I began to wonder why that story surfaced after so long after a dusty hibernation in my subconscious, the Lord pressed upon me that the impatient apprentice was me. The Lord may or may not have some ‘great’ calling for me, but regardless, I needed to learn the basics. I need to learn to love, forgive, not keep account of wrongs suffered. I need to learn service to the Lord and others. I need to learn sacrifice…self-sacrifice.

The Lord will grant us all abilities and gifts and opportunities as we demonstrate our faithfulness in the small things.

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