Reynosa - Part 2

I had hoped to spend some time adding another post while in Reynosa, but the days were too full of ministry. We will be sharing some of the highlights of the trip on Sunday...it was an awesome time of learning, growing and sharing the gospel.

Perhaps one scene I will remember forever happened one hot and humid morning. We walked several blocks with a translator and another church member down a dusty road crowded with concrete block homes. We were delivering a bag of food to the friend of a church member. When we arrived, we found a thin and frail woman lying on a bed. I guessed that she was probably about 50 years old. She struggled to sit up as her friend explained that she was suffering from depression.

I asked her to share a little of her story. I was shocked to learn that she was only 24. She said that her husband had left to find work in the United States four years previously and had not returned. She has had no contact at all with him for six months. They had a four year old son who was at the moment attending a VBS being put on by another one of our ministry teams. When I asked her how long they had been married, she said that there had never been a ceremony. I wondered whether her "husband" had even seen the boy. Her heart ached from the abandonment and she worried about how she would raise her son when she had no job.

Her friend from the church explained that she wasn't a Christian, but was a very nominal Catholic (many in Mexico are Catholic in family background, but have no relationship with God or Christ). As we prayed for her, two phrases popped into my mind: "God the Protector" and "God the Provider". I shared these phrases with her and told her that God loved her so much that he had sent people from thousands of miles away to encourage her. We gave her a New Testament and urged her to read it. We explained that the Bible helps us understand who God is so that we can trust him more.

As we walked back to the van, I talked to her friend. I told her that I thought his relationship with her was very important in her eventually giving her life to Christ. The previous Sunday the pastor had shared a plan to use something like "The Daily Bread" in evangelism. The thought was that church members could meet with their friends or neighbors several times a week for a few minutes and share the Scriptures and a short meditation together. I told her friend that I thought that was a perfect idea for this woman. I did not think that she at the point of receiving salvation because she did not know enough about the character of God in order to trust him. The seed that had been planted needed watering. He agreed and left our conversation encouraged to keep ministering to the family.

I'm not sure what the end of the story will be, but I wanted to share it with you to illustrate the power of a short term missions trip. Think about some of the things that were going on:

• We were engaged in a ministry that was new to us. How many have hand delivered food to a needy family they don't know and sat down to pray with them? It is a routine ministry for the church we were partnering with. We learned a lot from the Reynosa Alliance Church.
  
• We were used to point someone to Christ. This woman has some really problems that will only solved through a relationship with Jesus. We were able to point her in the right direction. The fact that God had sent us from so far away was a tangible demonstration of his love for her. The Bible we provided will continue to water the seed that had been planted.
  
• We were used to encourage the local believers. Our ministry to this woman's friend was also important. We were used to spur him on to continue ministering and I think we gave him some ideas about how he could go about doing that.
• We experienced something that caused us to ponder the truths of the gospel. When we are trying to communicate the gospel across a language and cultural barrier we are forced to think more deeply about the gospel message. While I believe I was led by the Holy Spirit to share what I shared that morning, there are some issues that I am still thinking about. For example, I don't know enough about the culture to know how to understand the fact that there had been no marriage ceremony. Certainly adultery is always sinful, but I wondered if there were cultural expectations about what a ceremony consisted of that made it "impossible" for her to be married. Or should I have pressed her about her sin and guilt that demanded both a Savior and repentance on her part? Or what is the best way to point someone to a relationship with Jesus rather than a "religion"? It is good to think about these things. It will help us grow in our understanding of the gospel and help us be better witnesses of the truth.
  

The power of a short term missions trip is incredible. It change both the person who goes as well as those they minister to. I challenge you to pray about going and experiencing this type of radical ministry firsthand.