Mexico again and again, and again.

Returning to Mexico every year to visit the same places and many of the same people may not expand our cultural horizons or allow us to check off more countries on a Travel Buddy map. But the consistency builds credibility with those we're ministering to and gives a short-term mission trip long-term benefits. Here are a few stories of the relationships I love.

Adorable Michelle Annette two years ago.

Michelle Annette now

 

At Pastor Lupita's church in the village of El Golfo, I couldn't resist sweet Michelle Annette. These two precious hermanas are the daughters of the worship leader in a church with more children than adults and a fluctuating male population. I pray little Michelle continues to grow healthy, strong, and full of wisdom, with God’s favor upon her. (Luke 2:40)

Jovenita years ago in front of her store

Jovenita and famliy now.

Jovenita (pictured right in both photos) is the owner of a souvenir shop we've been frequenting for five years in El Golfo. Her brother Jose was with her in 2006 (left) and her sister Juanna and niece Adrianna have been with her for the past two years (right). Our prayers for this family finally bore fruit last week as she confided in us about her kidney disease and tearfully accepted the Lord as her Savior and Healer. She was nearly glowing as she brought her dog in to be neutered the next morning. Appropriately, the last surgery of the trip, and my last in Mexico.

Trini serving us tamales this year!

Dr. Dougie and Ray praying for Trini two years ago.

 Two years ago, we were pleading with the Lord for Pastor Juan's wife Trini to be healed of the peptic ulcers that left her weak and coughing up blood (left). Last year her improvement was obvious, but this year when she fed over 20 of us homemade tamales (right), we were blown away by His power. Being fed by the ones we went to feed, and blessed by those we went to bless. Humbling. 


And now!

Juliet with "Kitty" two years ago.





 



 

1 year ago

Juliet is the granddaughter of pastors Victor and Trudy. They work five or six 12+ hour days in the onion fields for $20-30/week. And pastor a church. Now, Victor is struggling with a hernia that requires treatment more expensive than they can afford, yet they remain faithful. Over the years I've befriended Juliet and her tomcat "Kitty." This year after she brought out the photo I gave her last year in the frame she'd found for it and we posed for some new pictures, I reluctantly said my farewells; "Feliz Navidad, Dios le bendiga." When she unknowingly replied, "Hasta el proximo año," I teared up. I'd just discovered she was ticklish but I had to say "adios" instead of "until next year."

I trust the Lord knew what He was doing when He brought these lovely people into my life, and that He is still in control as I move on to build relationships with other Latino people.

 

"For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways," declares the Lord. "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts. For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return there without watering the earth and making it bear and sprout, and furnishing seed to the sower and bread to the eater; so will My word be which goes forth from My mouth; it will not return to Me empty, without accomplishing what I desire, and without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it." -Isaiah 55:8-11

God works in mysterious, but really cool, ways.

As our homemade version of an "Angel Tree" Mosaic sponsored about 30 kids from RICA and 6 from Jessup Elementary School for Christmas. The response by Mosaic was, as usual, greater than expected (you'd think I'd start expecting great responses by now!) But, some last minute additions left us doing a little scrambling last week to make sure everyone was covered. A few overly-generous people took extra kids, recruited neighbors and even co-workers to participate.

But my favorite story was that of the last child's angel. The day before the gifts were due, I had all but given up on finding anyone to shop for this one when I stumbled into what seemed to be a divine appointment at work. In the exam room I found a young girl, a dog and a man on his cell phone.

Inconsiderate cell phone usage has been on the rise in our exam rooms recently, but this man was apologetic, so I was more forgiving with his apparent wasting of my time, and when he covered the phone and whispered to me he was talking to church, I, of course, became even more forgiving. After he finished his call I asked him what church he went to, which led to his summary of the conversation and his frustration with his church for not being able to provide him with needy family to shop for this Christmas. All he wanted to do was give a little back this season and to teach his kids that it's not all about receiving gifts. As you can imagine, I was quick to offer a solution to his problem. And quick to recognize God's handiwork in this surprising solution to our problem as well.

Tonight, about 20 Mosaicites joined about 30 RICA kids in a raucous celebration, to decorate cookies, ornaments and easels (in a massive game of Pictionary), before sharing the presents we'd brought them. I could tell the experience had a different effect on everyone involved, but I hope the common denominator for each of us was that we took at least a little more away from the party than we brought to it.

"Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift." -2 Corinthians 9:15

P.S. I'm heading to Mexico on the 17th. Your prayers for a flexible, unified, humble team of servants, and a God-glorifyingly successful week of outreach are greatly appreciated.

Merry Christmas!

Thankful

This November Mosaic showed how blessed we are by blessing others for Thanksgiving. I was most blessed by the enthusiasm for serving that I witnessed from our new church family.

For Jessup Elementary School we filled three of these baskets and added a turkey to each to share my favorite meal of the year with a few families who might not have as much to be thankful for as we do. They were so appreciative (and surprised that we put them in real baskets, turns out usually Thanksgiving baskets come in boxes, how boring)!

We also collected lots of clothes for the students at Jessup that can't afford uniforms.

We had so many people volunteer to serve on Thanksgiving that we had to add an extra service project. We signed up to help prepare Thanksgiving dinner with the Bea Gaddy Family Center. The women's shelter for this organization burned down the week before, so they had their name in the news a lot. The publicity must have drawn a bigger crowd than they expected. When we arrived with 20 Mosaic volunteers, there wasn't anything for us to do. It made an awesome statement about Baltimore's attitude toward the poor, but it made for a rough morning for me, having lead many people downtown away from their families on Thanksgiving. The picture above shows the long line of tiny people waiting to be served.

In the evening we made up for the morning's disappointment by preparing dinner for the guests of Baltimore's Ronald McDonald House.

We brought turkey and all the fixin's. Enough to fill everyone's stomach and many of the refrigerators at the house.
My favorite part is when serving and goofing off look interchangeable. I thank God for a church that recognizes this is how we're meant to spend ourselves.

"Real religion, the kind that passes muster before God the Father, is this: Reach out to the homeless and loveless in their plight..." -James 1:27 MSG

Bolivia Update

Bolivia's, and potentially all of South America's, water supply is endangered by a ruthless businessman and major force in the criminal organization Quantum. No wait, that's just the plot for the new James Bond movie. Well, at least Bolivia's getting a little screen time.

But more negative press is not what the country needs right now. Bolivia has been making many headlines in the past few months as U.S.-Bolivia relations have soured dramatically.

In late 2005 Evo Morales, the leader of the political party - Movement Toward Socialism and spokesman for, and former farmer of coca (the raw material for cocaine), was elected as Bolivia's first indigenous president. Since the election, Evo's alliance with Venezuela's president Hugo Chavez, and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration's unwelcomed crackdown on coca production has caused much strife between our government and theirs.

In September Evo expelled the U.S. ambassador to Bolivia, Philip Goldberg. Angered U.S. officials responded by kicking out Bolivia's ambassador, Gustavo Guzman. Martial law was declared in Bolivia after a number of deaths occurred during street riots brought on by the social and political unrest. Days later all U.S. peace corp volunteers were removed from the country.

This month Evo suspended U.S. anti-drug operations. In turn the U.S. added Bolivia to it's anti-narcotic blacklist, causing a cut in trade preferences that could cost South America's poorest country as many as 20,000 jobs. And most recently in the back and forth, Bolivian officials are calling for the U.S. to extradite their former president Sanchez de Lozada who currently resides here in Maryland.

All this to say, Bolivians are facing difficult times of potentially increasing poverty, possible civil war and continued national uncertainty. The more their situation deteriorates the more I look forward to sharing with them veterinary skills to stabilize their financial situation and enhance their quality of life, and Jesus who offers a peace that surpasses all understanding.

"...by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." -Philippians 4:6-7

A Little Sentimental

I was thinking about sharing a story that moved me yesterday, but in reflecting on it, other recent gestures that have touched my heart came to mind. So, I'll share them all.

• The compassion of a co-worker who was bit in the face so badly by a dog that we spent six hours in the emergency room, but her questions continued to focus on the dog's well-being.
• The obedience of a couple who gave to the church sacrificially in the face of daunting medical bills.
• The sovereignty of a case of Mosaic water bottles I took to my apartment's office two months ago just now reaping fruit in a way that clearly looks like God's perfect timing.
• The love of a friend from Jefferson Street Baptist Center, a homeless shelter in Louisville, that has contributed to my Bolivia fundraising not once, but three times!

And finally, a connection on the drug-infested streets of Southwest Baltimore yesterday. As we ventured back out to share the gospel and cookies with the ladies (refer back to my blog entry from Oct. 13th), one in particular stuck with me. Wearing only one shoe and proudly displaying an "I Voted" sticker she proved to be gentle, but not wholly lucid as she answered the question, "Who'd you vote for?" with the unprecedented running mates, "Biden and Palin." She then told our group that we should run for something; she'd vote for us. Later, she walked up to a couple of us talking and praying and complimented my necklace and asked if she could have it. Quickly, before I could talk myself out of it, I took it off and put it around her neck. She gave me a long hug and came up with tears in her eyes and with more clarity than I'd seen from her she said "Thank you, you touched me." As she continued to hobble around distracting others asking for anything: money, a drink, climbing into our van for a ride, I refused to let myself regret my hasty decision.

And this morning I'm still glad I did it. It makes me think of a friend who has trouble denying money to beggars, and my recent critique of his unwise use of funds. Even if we're being used, our loose grip on these possessions is admitting they're not really ours to begin with. Maybe she won't be reminded of Christ's love when she wears the necklace, maybe she's already lost it, but its absence will continue to remind me of God's unfailing love for her.

"For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." -Matthew 6:21

A Good Problem To Have

Problems never feel very good, but I can't deny some are better to have than others. For instance, when we realized we needed more programs and connection cards at Mosaic last Sunday because we had by far our largest attendance since the launch service, it was a good problem because it came with a simple solution; print more cards and programs and open up more rows in the theater.

A more vexing problem came up today when I found out Mosaic's enthusiasm for serving on Thanksgiving has now breached capacity. Yesterday I actually had a girl who works in my apartment complex's front office ask if she could join us with a few friends. She's never even been to Mosaic, but she heard about our plans through her assistant who came last Sunday for the first time. How could we say no to a request like that?

But, it turns out the Ronald McDonald House can only accomodate a mere 12 volunteers. Mosaic's ever-growing list now holds 24 eager servants. Getting people excited about serving is one of my life's passions, turning them away once they've shown interest is tragic. So, it looks like we'll have the opportunity to spread God's love through even more venues this November by contributing to Bea Gaddy's 27th annual Thanksgiving feast for the homeless. And now with possibly 2 different serving times we may be able to accomodate even more volunteers who had conflicting plans for the Ronald McDonald House schedule. It's so nice when problems turn out to be God's way of reminding me that He knows what's best, and He can do immeasurably more than I can ask or imagine.

Ignited

In science an experiment is successful if it is repeatable. I tend to lean toward a similar measuring stick in serving. Every Christmas when we put together a team of short term missionaries for our Mexico veterinary trip, the number of repeat customers warms my heart. If this many people are finagling their schedules to go back, we must be doing something right.

For this reason, among others, I consider Mosaic's first church-wide service project last weekend a success. Since Saturday we have had people asking when we're going back to The Samaritan Women's House (TSW), requesting the director's contact information so they can volunteer on their own time, and our growth group is already starting to plan its own trip to the Regional Institute for Children and Adolescents (RICA), to challenge the kids to some more contests.

Now, right on the heels of our first activity we have started moving toward November's service event, making and sharing Thanksgiving dinner with the residents at Baltimore's Ronald McDonald House. And last weekend's enthusiasm is spreading like wildfire as we're already receiving interest, some so dedicated they're changing their own holiday plans, even as far as rescheduling flights to help serve with Mosaic.

Maybe it was the thrill of using sledgehammers at TSW. Maybe it was the adrenaline rush of the the kickball, pumpkin painting, and basketball competitions at RICA. Or maybe it was the joy of spending ourselves in the way God created us to be spent...

I get so excited when I see people's attitude about service change from volunteering when asked, to taking initiative and personal ownership. Lighting Mosaic on fire for serving has been the plan all along, but I never dreamed God would ignite us so fast.