It was a very overwhelming day. I hope I can articulate some of it to you, as I am very tired. Thank you for all of your prayers over this day.
First I have to say that the walk to the church from the school is really so lovely. The school is lower in elevation than the church, which is more up on a hill, and along the way you can see some of the vegetation and plants that are in the area. They have huge Dahlias, Fuchsia’s that are trees not plants, roses, and lots and lots of trees, plus chickens, roosters, sheep, cows and lots of stray dogs.
As you know today we presented the truth that God is awesome and told the children the salvation story and the truth of what it means to know Jesus as Lord and Saviour. The Bible story was of the Road to Emmaus (hmm that doesn’t look like it’s spelled right but you know what I mean), and then the children would have an opportunity to put their “sins” in the form of black bracelets onto the Cross if they wanted to know Jesus personally. Amanda Luna presented the salvation invitation to the children. To say that many children responded is an understatement. I cannot say whether each one of them made a decision for Christ. But it is evident that we have planted many seeds that we hope the Huixquilucan church can continue to sow. I know that these children saw very powerfully that they can take their sins to the Cross where they can be forgiven by a God that loves them enough to send His son to die for them. We sing a song on the last day, in English it’s “Were You There When They Crucified My Lord”. It is so powerful to me. And it was incredibly compelling for our students to see that cross full of black bracelets. Dave was holding the cross and it was powerfully moving for him. It’s not often that I see that young man cry, but today I did, and they were good tears.
Before the day started I witnessed a tender moment. I don’t know what it was about but I peeked in on Stephen laying his hands on Matt and praying over him before our day began. There are so many moments like that that are forever stuck in my memory about this trip.
There were many sweet goodbyes to the kids today. But we also invited the kids and their families for a late afternoon closing program at the city Cine’ (Cinema), where they would do a program and would pick up their crafts.
We had a wonderful lunch of bean and vegetable soup and Tostadas, shredded chicken in a light red sauce on toasted Tortillas and you could spread sour cream over top. One of my favourite meals so far.
We eat lunch quite late, more like 1:30 – 2 pm, and then we had a few hours of down time at the church before we needed to leave for the program. It was raining this afternoon again, and we weren’t sure how many people to expect. The Cine’ holds 280 people, and within a short time it was full with many people standing or sitting on the floor, probably between 300 – 350 people. Many of whom would never have heard the gospel. We were overjoyed to see all of them. It’s our heart to encourage the Huixquilican church and our prayer that they will make many connections with people through an event like this that will strengthen or further their ministry here. Oh please pray for this church and these people. They have a special place in our hearts!
Yolanda began by sharing her testimony with everyone. I only caught part of it from Hayley, but some of it included that she had been wealthy and had influential, wealthy friends, but none of them really cared about her or her needs, or who she was. Only when she turned over her life to God did He meet those needs and began to make some dramatic changes in her life and her family’s life. This whole family (Edgar, Yolanda and Sara who runs the nursing school and 5 other siblings I haven’t met) all amaze me. They all came to Christ later in life and now have such a passion for reaching these people of Huix. for Christ.
After the kids sang and watched a video of the week (some of the video included your messages to them parents from our packing party - they all clap when they hear greetings from you!) Terry preached and Pastor Juan translated. He talked about the parable of the seeds and the weeds planted in the same field and talked about the truths that we talked to the kids about. Inviting them to see that God is planting good seed in their life, and to take a look at any weeds and step forward in seeking the truth out about God.
Then the Mexican’s had a special gift for us Canadians. They brought in musicians, and special dancers to perform for US, traditional Mexican dances! I am just overwhelmed by how much they want us to know them, and how they want to show hospitality to us.
After the event, they asked for us to pose for “en photo” (pictures) with the children who came to the VBS. For them it would mean a remembrance of us from Canada, and then hopefully a remembrance of what they learned about God when they look at it. I have to say, this part of the day was a little intimidating for me as a mom, as my boys in particular were asked so many times for pictures, and the mama bear in me felt a little vulnerable, but my boys were gracious and it went well. Many gifts of candy, or bracelets or flowers or notes were given to the team and many hugs were given too. How can I convey to you how much your children, this team was loved?
We came back to the house/school by about 7:30 – 8 pm, still needing some supper which we made here, then did some cleaning up and then had some Mexican pastries to celebrate what we experienced here.
Right now the team is in the nightly team meeting. I just saw Vivianna (Isaac’s girlfriend) and Isaac (Pastor Jaime’s son), come in to say goodbye to the team and pray for them and she was weeping speaking to them. I look forward to hearing more about what she had to say.
Terry and the leaders made the decision that tomorrow will just be a rest day. We’ll let the team sleep in and then Pastor Jaime will come and pick us up about 11 am. We’ll return to his home in Mexico City for quiet time, journaling, grocery shopping, free time and rest. We could have gone sight-seeing but honestly it will be better for the team to rest and process some of what’s happened these past days. I know that when we get back it won’t matter what sights we saw from a tourist perspective, but what God taught us.
Saturday our intention is to visit the Pyramids, in Spanish its something like Teo Tih-whah-ken (and that’s a rough pronunciation). It’s a beautiful sight and so famous here for it’s Aztec roots.
I hope to write again tomorrow, but we’ll see how the day goes.
Pray for the leaders, they are tired. Terry is especially spent tonight emotionally and physically. Dave has come down with this cold, Lyndi has a lingering cough. Leaders don’t always have the privilege of taking care of themselves when they are responsible for making sure others are cared for. They have lived out sacrifice. I am so thankful they are here.
….They are singing right now… “Lord you have my heart, and I will search for Yours”.
Pray these words will be their commitment from this day.
Love to all of you,
Christine
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