A God who's full of surprises (North Mexico Part 2)

Hola again everybody!

I can't believe it, our time in North Mexico is over already! God has been doing amazing things through the 12:7 Serve team over the past 3 weeks. I'm just overwhelmed by His goodness to me, and that I'm even able to serve in a way like this.

Last week, the team went to work in an area in Mexico called "Los Once Pueblos" (meaning "11 towns"). This place is exactly as it's name describes - 11 indigenous towns in the state of Michoachan. The team was split up to work in 6 of the towns that week. Estela and I were meant to work together, but due to sickness, it ended up being me, Carlos and an awesome girl called Lolita from the church in La Piedad. We worked in a town called Ichan, which has a new mission going with the Church of the Nazarene there. God was so amazing in the way he changed the lives of the people in Ichan. I have two stories to share about how our God is a God who's full of surprises. :)

One afternoon we went to a small field in the town, to spend time with the children. It was great! We played games, sang songs and did a puppet show about the story of "Jesus calms the storm" (Mark chapter 4). We had drawn a small crowd and the plan was to hold a small service. Unfortunately, while I was sharing my testimony, it started to rain! But we kept going. The rain became stronger and stronger as Carlos was preaching. And one by one, many people began to leave, back to their houses. But Carlos kept going. By the end of his message, there were the children, and a few girls standing behind them, still listening. It seemed quite hopeless. But that's when surprise number 1 happened.

As I looked behind me, right at the back I could see a girl standing there, still listening. I ventured over to her with Lolita, and began to have a conversation in awkward Spanish. Her name was Nereida. "...You hear the story?", I said. "What do you think? Do you want to make the decision to accept Jesus in your heart?" And she said yes! So Lolita led her in a prayer to accept Jesus. What a beautiful moment it was. I know there was a party in heaven for Nereida that day. :) In the days after we visited her and taught her more about growing in the Lord. I will never forget her. And she is about to have her first baby any day now! Please pray for Nereida that she would continue to grow in the Lord and follow Him for the rest of her life. :)

(Carlos, Nereida, Lolita and I)

Another afternoon we went to the town plaza to play with the children again and then afterwards, to show the Jesus film. But when I went to put in the disc for the film, I made (what I thought was) a horrible mistake - I accidently pressed play on the full length, 3 hour long Jesus film! It wasn't until half way through when Carlos and I realized what had happened! So after skipping numerous scenes and trying to calm down the restless children, the movie was done. Carlos invited people to pray afterwards to accept Jesus, but overall the response wasn't overwhelming. But it was ok! So we packed up the film, and headed off. Although it didn't make as big of an impact as we thought it would, we were happy that many of the children watched the film and were really excited by it.

But as we were walking home, a taxi driver stopped his car next to us and asked us where we were going. We thought he just wanted to give us a ride, but then he went on to say that he wanted to make the prayer to accept Jesus in the plaza, but he was too embarrassed! I was so caught off guard, and I thought – God, how do you even plan these things?! But He had planned this. So we drove to our base in Ichan and Carlos led the taxi driver in a prayer to accept Jesus as his Saviour. J What’s more, the man said that he had only seen the last 5 minutes of the film and Carlos’ speech – meaning that if we had shown the short version of the film, we would've have already finished and gone home by the time he had gotten there! God totally had this one planned out. I was just so blown away by His perfect timing, and how he planned that this taxi driver would be in the plaza at that exact time! Surprise no. 2. :)

So overall, Mexico North was such a blessed time for me and the rest of the 12:7 Serve Team. I'm really going to miss everyone there - In La Cal, Ichan, and especially the church family in La Piedad, who supported us the whole time! Please pray for our work in the South of Mexico. We are part of ‘Project Paul’ – which is an evangelism and discipleship program put in place to plant or grow a church. Over the next two weeks, we will be giving discipleship to many people here in the Oaxaca district in South Mexico. Also, please pray for the Panama visas of Jana and Absolu, and they are yet to receive them. I will update you all on South Mexico soon! Hasta luego!

On the journey,

Dani

Panchita del Rancho

Hola amigos, from La Piedad, Mexico!

Can't believe it's been a week since I've been in this beautiful country. God has been doing great things here! For our first days in Mexico we spent our time in the lovely city of Guadalajara. We got to do a bit of sight seeing, and serve at the church on Sunday. It was a great first experience of Mexico. :)

(Some children from the church in Guadalajara)

But after the weekend, a big change happened. The team was split up! In order to reach more towns, we went into groups of 5, 2 and even 1 (Alan was by himself!). So Estela and I were put together and taken to a teeny tiny town called La Cal. They call it el rancho (the ranch), because everyone has little farms. It was hard at first, but looking back I know God had big plans for us. So Panchita was at El Rancho, and what a great week she had!

The church in La Cal is a small one, with about 10 people attending regularly. What I loved about it was they're like a family, and Estela and I were able to be part of that family! Two ladies from the church owned a small deli/shop, and that became our hang out spot for the week. Every morning, everyone from the church would bring a pan and we would have a buffet breakfast together in front of the deli. And every night, we would sit and chat outside of the deli. I loved it!

Our ministry there was very community oriented. One morning, we cleaned up the plaza with the church, which was awesome. Even people who weren't from the church helped out. :) We also did children's activities 2 afternoons - we played games, painted faces and told Bible stories. A lady from the church Mari also came with us to visit people at their houses, and do evangelism. It was great to meet everyone in La Cal, and listen to their stories. During the week there was three services, which Estela and I were able to be apart of.

What blessed me the most in La Cal was being part of the family. I loved all of the church family, and their children were so much fun! I was especially blessed by a little girl called Sinai. Although she couldn't walk or talk, she was the most beautiful little girl, and I loved being by her and just watching her smile and laugh. :)

So there you have it, part one of Mexico is complete. And I'm loving this place so far. So many moments of this week were God-appointed, and I'm so thankful that He worked through Estela and I for His glory. Today we are travelling to a community called "Once Pueblos", meaning 11 Towns. It is an indigenous community, and some people don't even speak Spanish! We will be doing outreach at the new missions there, in almost all of the 11 towns. :) Please continue to pray for the team as we serve in Mexico!

On the journey,

Dani

Tu y yo somos la luz (We are the light of the world)

Hello again everyone!

So I've just been listening to Kari Jobe's song, 'We Are' in Spanish, and I'm feeling so inspired! I think I'm going to download more Spanish music today - this is the perfect way to learn! :D

Anyway, so the COM this past weekend was a success! But before I tell you what happened, let me explain what a COM is. COM, stands for ‘Campamento de Orientacion Misionera’ and in English translates to a Missionary Orientation Camp. The name might sound intense in English, but this camp was really a conference about missions and the call of God in the lives of the youth. About 50 youth from around DR who were interested in finding out about missions came for this 3 day camp.

We did many workshops and activities to do with missions in the Church of the Nazarene, how to become a missionary, and other topics like culture shock and communication. One interesting activity we did at the beginning of the COM was that before the youth entered, they had to go through "customs". Scott and AJ were the customs officers - they dressed up in army uniforms, only spoke English and were searching everybody's bags. The youth were really confused as to why these two "gringos" were being so horrible to them! A few of them spoke a little English, so they were forced to translate for everyone. Some people were let in to the COM straight away, some had to take off their shoes, some had to sing, while others went to "jail"! Many of the youth were really frustrated by the end of this, but then we explained why we did it. All of the things they had experienced had happened to Nazarene missionaries in the past. We wanted to show them that travelling as a missionary wasn't all just fun and excitement, but that they would face situations like crazy customs lines and people who didn't speak their language. It was such a strong start to the camp!

Another activity did was during dinner one night, called the 'World Banquet'. The youth were split into three groups - A, B, and C. Group A (7 people) sat at a nicely set table, ate spaghetti with garlic bread and were waited on by Alan and Lynda. Group B (>20 people) sat at normal tables and shares and were given a bowl of plain white rice to eat. Group C (>20 people) sat in a taped off area on the floor, and had to share one piece of bread and a cup of water between them. Can you see the reason for this activity? We wanted to show the youth about the differences in the world. Sometimes we think we aren't well off, but we forget what others are living in. At first, the youth thought it was a joke, and expected real food. But then they realized what we were trying to get at, and for many of them it was a bit of a shock. This dynamic taught as all to be thankful for what we have, and that it's our responsibility to see the need, and meet the need.

But overall, the COM was a really special time for the team and also for the youth. I learnt so much about missions and God really spoke to me during this time. It was also exciting to see the youth pumped about serving the Lord and responding to His call.

So now we've reached the end of our time in the DR. And what an amazing 3 weeks it has been! Eliezel and Tammy, you have been such amazing leaders, and have looked after us like we're family. I've loved being with the people of DR and trying out my Spanish. I've loved doing Remi and evangelism, and inspiring others to respond to God's call. God has been so close to me, and has been teaching me through the lives of the Dominicans, and my brothers and sisters in the 12:7 Serve team.

Tomorrow we go to Mexico! I'm really excited to go to Carlos and Alan's home country, and to serve the Lord there. Please continue to pray for the team as we continue on to site number 4 - Guadalajara Mexico!

On the journey,

Dani

"You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden."

(Matthew 5:14)