Day 4: Elijah Complex, anybody?

As I'm typing this, Mario is regaling us with hilarious stories from his life. There are so many good story-tellers in this church; they become so animated and include (or make up) all the crucial details to make the story absolutely perfect. We just. can't. stop. laughing. Story-telling is an art that I only started developing in 2011 in Mexico (before then i always said i didn't have any good stories, thank you, Henry). And, as Christians, a large part of our identity is to be story-tellers, to set up our Ebenezers and be faithful to give God glory for the things he has done by telling the stories.

We went to the Tec campus today (ITESM) to meet students, make connections and share the gospel. Several of the members of the church here joined us throughout the day, which gave us fantastic opportunities to get to know them better and to compare methods for evangelism. We arrived, prayed, paired up and headed out. I went with Jason today, which was really encouraging. Jason is crazy-smart, a bit quiet (at first) and super passionate about the gospel. We had a few good conversations, but the most interesting was with a guy who had a Judeo-Christian concept of God, but was universalist and believed in re-incarnation. It was fascinating and we got to dive pretty deep into the gospel. He also had the best understanding of the flaws of churches that I've heard outside the Church, and better than some I've heard inside the Church. Our stories were the tame ones though; some of ours met students here who had friends in our church in College Station, for example.

One interesting facet of this year's trip is we've already met and spent time with and encouraged three Mexican students who were solid believers in other churches that were going hard after God. Three is the total number of solid believers that I've met in Monterrey (apart from our church) in total in the past 6 years. And that's from today. I firmly believe that God is stirring something in Monterrey, that people are turning to him with renewed sincerity and passion. It was overwhelming to see the city from Obispado, to think how large the Task is, but we are a small part of God's plan for this city. God is always at work and at work in places we wouldn't believe, through people and events that we'd never predict, with results far better than anything we can imagine. It's the most humbling and the most beautiful Truth of ministry. God is requete good at blowing my mind and I love it. Read Habakkuk 1:5. It's like that.

So, shorter post today, but no shortage of powerful work being done here. We're getting into the meat of our trip, please be praying for us tomorrow as we are out on campus. My little introverted heart gets pretty worn out after talking to people all day, but there is not a single thing I'd rather be doing or a place I'd rather be doing it.

Day 3: Feeling flat tired

Happy Benito Juárez Day everyone! Today is a national holiday here in México, so there's no school. We took today to do some sightseeing and play some fútbol with the church here and any friends the wanted to invite.

I'm a very vision-oriented person. Because of this, there's always a part of my mind that aks:

"Why are we doing all this sight-seeing, souvenir-shopping and general time-wasting? If we aren't going to be out changing lives, why are we even here?" Then I pause and look around at what is happening. Here's what I see: fellowship, discipleship, team-building, vision-casting. In our "just-for-fun" hangouts, I've had (i'm not even going into the conversations i've overheard) discussions with the believers here about atheism, homosexuality, creationism, persecution, dating, marriage, scripture, family... I teared up today as someone I had just met began to talk to me about one of the Hard Things that is defining their life. If that isn't life change, folks, I don't know what is. Our team is far from "super-Christians." We are insecure, prideful, broken, scared, selfish, immature, depressed, shy and all-around screwed up. We have conflict, we wrestle with boundaries, many of us feel like we shouldn't even be here. But God has called us here. The Thing that we've done right is this: we listened to God's call (isn't that all he's ever really asked of us? to hear and obey?). But, by being here, we are being given a level of respect from our brothers and sisters here (even those more mature than us) that is unspeakable humbling. They watch us, they ask us questions, and they listen to our answers. And God speaks through us when we listen and obey.

So. That was an unplanned diatribe. Right, today:

We woke up and ate breakfast (yum) and loaded into our van to meet up with the church at *wait for it...* the HEB parking lot (yea, it's here too). Then we all drove to Las Grutas de Garcia, which are beautiful caverns near Monterrey. I've been to caves before, but not since I've been..all spurchul ("spiritual"). It was amazing to see the intricacy and patterns that exist. It felt so ethereal - like we were in a different world. It was glorious. When we sang a worship song in the naturally-lit underground chapel with our voices echoing through the chamber, it made my heart smile. (also, props to Ana for singing for us and to the Mustard Underground for taking a picture together...underground).

Upon returning to our van after our spelunking adventure, we encountered something of a...complication. We had (mostly) fixed the ground-scraping problem by removing our tow-hitch. However, now our tire was flat. Muy, muy flat. Mario flagged down a truck and they refilled the tire, which lasted long enough for us to drive to a gas station, where we refilled the tire, which lasted long enough for us to drive to a gas station, where we refilled the tire. Justin had the idea to use gum to patch the tire (Keanu Reeves would be proud), which lasted long enough to get us into the city and get the tire fixed.

We had dinner at a mall (the food courts have glorious tacos and stuff, y'all), then went to play some fútbol with the church. It was glorious! I watched and played with kids, which was exactly what my heart needed. After the games, we came back to the hotel and cleaned up, then played cards, ate pizza and talked about Jesus. And I got all humbled and stuff because of shoes, but in a good way!

I am super tired and we're getting out on campus tomorrow, so....que descansen :)

Day 2: Under a Neon Cross (or the post with too many parentheses)

Today we started bright (well, overcast) and early to help with church set-up. I'm so glad to see the church here allowing us to serve and participate and make some things less of a burden for them (the church here goes so far out of its way to make us feel welcome and comfortable, it's hard to tell who's serving who - gotta love that hospitality). We went to the early service (at 11 (right??)) and got to worship and listen to a sermon in Spanish (we had some of our friends here offer to translate (for those who wanted it)). Pastor Sergio is a great speaker (i love hearing him trill his "rrrr"s and how his voice stirs with passion) and I am sure the sermon today was great, but I wasn't paying any attention.

Now before you all start to judge me (i would be): I was too nervous. Yesterday Adrian asked me if I would do the anuncios at church. Now, if you know me, you know that I am terrified by public speaking (yes, i was a communications major. yes, i understand the irony). Oh yeah, and he asked me to do them en español. Now, if you know me, you know that I am terrified by speaking Spanish to native speakers (yes, i was a spanish minor. yes, I do want to do missions in latin america. yes, i do see the disconnect). So, suffice to say: I was freaking out a lot (or "i was freaking out alot"). After Sergio prayed, I stepped up and began to give the anuncios. I thought about (and started) typing out what happened, but I think a transcript of my dialogue would be more enjoyable:
 

Sam (on the mic): "spanish words spanish words spanish words....

.....

.....

PANIC!

um... i don't remember the next announcement..."

Adrian (from the back): "church next week."

Then I continued while everyone laughed. Yes, in case you were wondering, I did yell "PANIC" while I was standing in front of their church. 

For the second service, we mostly helped in "Sheeper" (the sunday school class). For whatever reason, they let me do the anuncios again (churches and their Grace...), which went much better (i wrote them on my hand). 

After church, we put everything back up, then drove to a restaurant near Santiago (a cute little town near Monterrey) to eat lunch. We had around 40 people packed into this poor restaurant, but órale, those enchiladas were so good! We ate, chilled, watched horses, then went to Santiago. The central part of Santiago is an older Catholic church that is on top of a hill, overlooking a beautiful lake-type body of water. The church is absolutely charming, with it's cobblestone plaza and steeple with real-life bells calling the faithful to the misa. Then at the very top of the steeple is a bright neon-blue electric cross. It is quite the juxtaposition. I guess it was added to draw in some more attention, but I'd say something that beautiful doesn't need it. But maybe I do the same. (oh gosh, he's going to metaphor). Maybe I try to add things onto God to make him cooler that actually detract from the depth of his ancient beauty; maybe I don't let him be himself because I don't think that's what attracts people.

As the evening wore on (that's a nice phrase, isn't it? with your permission, i'll say it again: the evening wore on) and the rain trickled, we packed up and headed back into town. We got back to the hotel and had a dance practice session in the middle of the hotel's central plaza. (what?) Oh, we're going to an orphanage Saturday and playing with kids, so they are teaching us some songs and dances from Sheeper. In case that doesn't conjure up a hilarious mental image for you, let me expound: 15 some-odd Americans (average age 22 years) dancing and singing little kid songs in the middle of a courtyard, while a smattering of bemused guests stand on their balconies and watch and laugh. It was heaps of fun, y'all. 

We took a brief excursion to Soriana (think walmart in spanish (though there is an actual walmart here)), stocked up on snacks, Craig and I sat in the hall because we didn't bring a roomkey, went and got a new roomkey, blablabla, I stayed up late typing. 

Please be praying for our physical health, several of us are sick or injured or just generally under the weather at the moment. colds and necks and knees and feet and backs and heads and hands...

new Spanish phrase: Sacado de onda - dismayed, confused, befuddled.

Day 1: Some stories and a brief gospel tangent

Sometimes days with the least structure can be the most rewarding (this thought is a stretch for me). We went into today knowing we were going to do something involving volibol (let me know if you need help translating that) and a flagpole. We ended up doing... a lot of everything.

The church has procured a huge, 15-passenger van to transport their gringos from A to B; with our team of 13 + a driver + Sheryl, we pretty effectively fill it to the brim. I'm not saying we stand out when a dozen-plus Americans roll up in a giant maroon van...but...yea, we do. We've scraped bottom more than once on the hills here, and had to actually get out and walk a bit to get the van through into one of the parking lots.

Sheryl joined us today, she flew in from San Antonio to start her mid-term mission stint (8 months - a year) and will be spending the week with us. She was unable to come to Querétaro last year because she was getting ready for this trip, but her heart's been in Monterrey anyway, so it was a worthwhile sacrifice.

We started in the mall today, to change some dollars for pesos, then went to have a volleyball "tournament" in a highschool gym. *insert anecdote about van and scraping bottom trying to get into the parking lot* The tournament consisted of half our group jumping in and playing with some highschool students and the occasional adult from our church here (I use the designation "adult" loosely - including myself in this). Though team Duro somehow remained undefeated (way to go Craig and Kaylen), they were the only team with any semblance of identity or unity (hm...maybe it's not so surprising that they won).

So...that took three hours, then we went to Obispado (some background info: Monterrey sits in a giant mountain-bowl, the roads and buildings fill up every available space that isn't a mountain and start to crawl up the side as far as is practicable (sometime more so). This city structure has led some anthropologists to describe Monterrey as "Mexico's cereal" (I use "anthropologist" with all the gravity I previously used "adult"). Ok, back on track: Obispado. In the middle of the mountain-bowl, there's a large hill that has an enormous flagpole on top. We spent some time on top of the hill, playing and talking, then praying over the cereal-city.

My heart always gets overwhelmed when we visit Obispado. To see so much...humanity (oh! the humanity!) stretching out in every direction, as far as the eye can see, is sobering. To think how many people are working, playing, loving, hurting - living - without the "encouragement from being united with Christ, the comfort from his love, the fellowship with the Spirit, the tenderness and compassion..." (Phil 2:1 paraphrase) that we have as Christians breaks my heart. Jesus is our Hope (1Tim 1); he's the thing that has made me able to just hold on and move forward when the darkness in and around me makes me want to give up. And so many people don't have him.

But then I remember: Jesus is our Hope. It's been 9 years since the very first time I came to Monterrey; 7 years since my first trip with my church. And I can confidently say that there is a change in the spiritual atmosphere of this city. The students' hearts are more open; in the churches here (ours and others), people are beginning to seriously reconsider what it is to relate to God. People are starting to feel that no amount of going to the right church, praying the right prayers or doing the best they can to follow the rules is ever enough to rid them of the guilt they carry inside. They're realizing that their solutions aren't sufficient. And it's only from a place of understanding our helplessness that we can actually give control to Christ and let his sacrifice do the thing we can't - make us right with God.

So, there's the gospel. Yea, we prayed and then we went to dinner at Los Generales (it was flantastico). Summary: amazing food, even better people, laughing, snout-licking, salt-and-sugar-roulette...it was exactly what we needed to unite as a team before we dive into the week. 

Oh, so the words in italics are just words that happen in a Spanish accent in my brain (except italics, that's just for visualization).

Come 'round now if you can hear me

I love airports. I think I've mentioned that every year, but I'd hate to break tradition (thanks and gig 'em), so: I love airports.

We're in the airport, currently and feelin' good. We had quite the roadtrip up here; once we got Craig's shoes, that is (thanks Brandon!). I managed to follow the wrong car, got on an accidental tollroad and ran the TxTag lane (sorry Houston)...but we got here!

So we sit, all a little week-weary (weak, weary - the week before spring break is never relaxing), but ready for our trip to start.

I'll be updating every night about our day's activities (though it might be late late sometimes), please be praying for us!

With apologies for my negligence...

A recent comment from my boss (hi Summer) brought to my attention that I have been somewhat less than faithful in updating my blog as we prepare for our trip ("somewhat less than faithful" translates to, "I haven't done it at all").

I anticipate being much more deliberate to chronicle our trip as it actually happens, but here's an update on our preparation:

Everyone on our trip is fully support-raised. That, my friends, is glorious. God came through (using many of you!) in powerful and exciting ways this year that make me more confident than ever that we have an amazing trip ahead of us!

Our training times have been awesome. We've had a few training times, including:

Cultural Training, or, "how not to be perceived as an obnoxious tourist." I strongly believe that different cultures (just like different people) reflect unique things about God's heart (this makes Revelation 7 particularly beautiful) and I love the things in Mexican culture that taste like Jesus.

Conflict and Spiritual Warfare Training. Sometimes those are the same thing. Talk about intense. You don't go out to point people to Jesus without some resistance from the enemy. For Western Christians, sometimes realizing that there is a War is half the battle. We spent time confessing our sins to one another (in smaller, gender-specific groups) and praying for each other (James 5, yo). Conflict happens, how we deal with it makes it good or bad.

Evangelism Training. We'll get a bit more of this in Mexico (IGC has their own method), but we went through some easy-to-learn gospel sharing techniques that are rocking the church-planting world. The heart and soul of our trip is telling people about Jesus; that God loves them and provided a way to be reconciled to him.

Prayer Times. These haven't been official "training" times, but nothing better prepares one's heart for missions than prayer. We plan and prepare and organize and strategize, but prayer is where the power is. If you aren't praying, then you are wasting your time. In fact, take a minute and pray (it's ok, my captivating words aren't going anywhere). Pray for yourself, that God would draw you closer to him (that's my prayer for you). Pray for our team, that God would lead us and we would listen and follow (please). Pray for Mexico, that God would stir a revival in this country (he does that kind of thing, you know, and the foundation for it is already there).

Suffice to say, beloved, I am so ready to see God move through this trip. Our reach is global, our tower secure. Our cause is noble, our power is pure (yes, I did just do that). All of my confidence and passion for this trip is founded in God though:
We have Faith for He is Faithful

We have Peace for He is Strong
We have Hope for He is Constant
We Trust for He is Trustworthy
We Love because He is Love

May our God, the source and goal of life, receive glory and love for He alone is Worthy.
Amen :)

Is this the real life?

Is this just fantasy?

I'm not too keen on Queen (don't hate me), but this does feel pretty surreal: I just finished typing my support letter for our 2015 trip to Monterrey...

There was much questioning about where we would go this year. Last year, we went to Querétaro (QTOSTM.blogspot.com) to help with the church plant there. And - as with every city in Mexico - we fell in love with it. Not just the city, but the Aguilar family (and Bono!) and the campuses and the students too.

We're heading back to Monterrey this year and (with much love to the Aguilar family) I couldn't be more excited! I love Monterrey... the sites and sounds, the culture and the campuses, the friends and the food... going back to see my church-away-from-church, my third home and my third family... It's going to be so fantastic!

And! We have an amazing team this year...I'm so stoked friends.