July 15th Update
CEFC TEAM
“By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” John 13:35
These past two weeks have seemed to go by faster than any other time I’ve been here in Mexico. It was a delight to work with the CEFC team on the construction project at Cristo Victorioso. Their main goal in coming down was to continue construction on the church by building a wall around the property, tiling and installing sinks and toilets in two unfinished bathrooms and painting much of the exterior of the building. Also, a number of the team members helped the pastor with the Vacation Bible School.
When I used to come down on the short term trips with CEFC I saw my goal being to work as hard as I could and to get as much done as possible. Our God is a God of detail. He delighted in selecting master craftsman to design his tabernacle, the arc of the covenant and His temple. He was so pleased with certain people that did that work that he blessed them by placing their names, and the names of their family members in the Bible. However, I have come to realize over the years that the lasting impression that the teams leave is not in the form of a physical building, but in the relationships built, and the love shown during their stay. Many of the guys at C.V. who worked with us had a very hard time saying goodbye to the group, as did members of the group.
A LESSON IN GOD’S WILL, PRAYER
“The Lord will keep you from all harm- He will watch over your life; The Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.” Psalm 121: 7-8
Omar is one of those people who is having a tough time seeing the group leave. Since he is currently in summer vacation from school, it allowed him to join us for the majority of the days that we spent working with us. The group became like a family to him in the same way as the groups become a family to me.
During the time he spent with us he was faced with a very weighty decision. Both his parents are in the United States illegally. His father left over ten years ago and his mother left him in Mexico one year ago. He has been living alone in Puebla since she left, supported by the income that his father faithfully sends to him week after week. His father recently came across a good bit of money and called him last week telling him that he wanted to bring him up to New York (illegally) to live with him. Omar informed me that he needed to make his decision in two days because his dad was going to send the “coyote” (the man who is paid to insure his safe transport across the border) to pick him up from Puebla and take him across. His father left the decision in Omar’s hands. Now if you were 14 years old, had not seen your parents in 1-10 years, and were living in Mexico alone… what would you do when faced with the decision to go or to stay? Well, I had to ask myself that question too when Omar asked me what he should do. I can’t imagine a more difficult decision.
Here are some of the questions that went through my mind: Is holding a family together more important than obeying the laws of a country? Is a son’s desire to see his parents worth the risk of crossing illegally and getting caught? Dumped in the desert to die? How legitimate is a father’s impulsive aspiration to see his son when he hasn’t seen the need to make the sacrifice to be with him in Mexico for the past 10 years? What does his mother, who is separated from his father and in another part of the USA, think of all this? How will his relationship with the Lord be affected when he is placed in an inner city school in Brooklyn?
I don’t know about you, but I didn’t have an answer. All I could tell him was that the entire CEFC team, Cristo Victorioso and I would be praying for him that he would see the Lord’s will done.
Omar talked with both of his parents on the night he had to make the decision. Each was in a different state of the US, on what seemed to be a conference call. An argument broke out between the two parents over who should have Omar live with them and then he was given the choice to decide on the phone, at 10:30 on Sunday night. His response is something I will never forget. When he came to Cristo Victorioso to work on Monday morning he told me he was very happy and content in the decision he had made. I thought for sure he had decided that he would leave. He told me this:
‘Last night I was speaking with my parents about my decision until they began to argue over who I was going to live with. Each one told me, “It’s better to come live with me.” So they told me that I needed to decide. I told them that I couldn’t decide which parent to live with… it was an impossible decision for me. Then I told them that instead of going with one parent and making the other upset, better for me to stay here in Puebla with God.”
Quite an amazing picture of God’s grace in the life of a 14 year old.
MEDICAL CARAVAN
“Jesus answered them, “ It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” Luke 5:31-32
On Monday we will be traveling to the state of Hidalgo to work with the Medical Caravan for two weeks. It will be another high paced, joyful time of work and fellowship with other believers. There will be nearly 120 workers on the caravan this year, administering medical aid, sharing the gospel, translating, cooking and helping in any and all ways possible. From Puebla, I will accompany Neil, Katelyn Stoltzfus and Debbie Murphy to the caravan. Katelyn is here for a few weeks to see what life in Puebla on the mission field is like, apart from the short term team. She came down with the CEFC team and will leave when the caravan is over to prepare for her third year at Letourneau University. Debbie joined our team a few months ago. She is a nurse with over 10 years of missions experience living in the jungles of Brazil, operating a clinic there. Neil is of course or team leader and his wife Cheryl will stay back in Puebla for this caravan to help another missionary arrive, and make the transition back to Cuernavaca to language school.
I have been on 3 caravans in the past and have really enjoyed each one.
Prayer
1. That God would be pleased with all that we do, working, encouraging and sharing the gospel on the Caravan. Traveling: (I will be taking my little Toyota.)
2. That Omar’s relationship with the Lord would continue to grow here in Mexico for however long he will continue to be here.
3. For continued opportunities and boldness to share Christ with my neighbors here in Los Heroes.
In Him,
Jon
P.S. : All pictures taken by Ruthie Noble. Thank you Ruthie !!!