Worth The Trip

Today it rained all day in Matamores so our team made the best of it and did what they could in the two neighborhoods targeted for canvasing and backyard Bible Clubs.   All is not lost, however, because yesterday was a virtually perfect day- cool and breezy with clouds mercifully hiding the hot sun so that the swarms of children that live in these neighborhoods happily participated in all the activities.

The 40+ teenagers who have come on this mission trip poured out of our church buses and like an army of pied pipers drew the kids out of their pastel colored homes.  The children here enthusiastically participated in the crafts, the games, the skits but mostly the boys here like to play soccer.  One gets the feeling that if you only have four cones for goals and a soccer ball you could entertain them for hours.  Many of our kids are seasoned soccer players so their skill with the ball quickly broke down the cultural and language barrier.

There is no question that our presence here is having an impact on these neighborhoods around the church plants.  The benefit of this kind of trip is that the local pastors here are able to create excitement about the new churches that are emerging.  It gives them an opportunity to reach out to the community and establish relationships that are cultivated long after we leave.

But the benefit goes both ways.   It is on trips like this that our teenagers get a taste of missions and cross-cultural ministry.  It is fun to watch and to be a part of it.  A few of our Hispanic church members are with us and we are enjoying working together in this setting.  We are learning together the value of giving to others and the joy of sharing the gospel in a place where the evangelical church is growing, yet still very small compared to the total population.   

I am so proud of our group.  While many of their friends have chosen to go to the beaches or the slopes to enjoy their break from school, they have chosen to travel these 17 hours in an uncomfortable bus so that they can help proclaim the gospel  and make new friends in some of the poorer sections of this border city.

This kind of giving and serving has created a kind of joy here that is contagious.   A joy not dampened by a long bus ride to get here, long stops at the border crossing each day, or even a few hours of rain.