Kris

From Kris:

It is difficult to sum up all that God did during our time in Mexico. As with every mission trip, I return to the states amazed at our great God and humbled to be part of His family and used for His purpose. First, it is so encouraging to see young people on fire for the Lord being salt and light in a border town that has been racked with poverty, addiction, drug traffickers, and despair. The staff and students at IHI bless me and give me hope that we can change the world with the message of Christ crucified, buried and resurrected. God is on the move and I want be part of it, no matter where I am.


In Mexico, I was privileged to share God’s love through hugs, through poorly worded Spanish prayers that possibly confused the person for whom I prayed, and through time spent listening to the people God brought my way. My heart’s desire was that the people would feel seen, heard, and loved by God through me. Many of these beautiful people seem lost in their hopeless situations and beat down by life. I felt led to encourage the male staff at all of the schools we ministered in purposely letting them know how important their role and example is to the boys in their charge. God sent a small butterfly flitting through one of the schools and reminded me, transformation is possible, and I believe, it is on the way as God brings about revival in Nuevo Laredo. I even let some of the students at the school know what I saw and spoke that truth over them. They giggled at the story of the butterfly, but the hope of transformation brought smiles to their faces and, I pray, desire to their hearts. In the colonias and plazas, we loved on people who had real needs: no electricity was coming to their house, no food was on their tables, good work was not available, their children who were supposed to be sending money from America hadn’t been heard from, sons had gone astray and physical ailments abounded. It was in the stories that God showed up and proved Himself the provider and protector. God gave us a glimpse of His goodness and power as we prayed for these hurting people. We may never see the end result this side of heaven, but smiles on their faces as we prayed and offered them Jesus were enough. Furthermore, I look forward to a big party in heaven someday when God shows us how He connected all the dots in and through us over the years.


His body is alive and growing. At several sites, I visited with local Christians who were encouraged to see that we would come to their city and share the hope of Christ. One of the colonias had an orphanage that housed and cared for something like 70 kids and we saw where another one was being built. Parts of the body are doing their work unto the Lord and He is moving in that. I pray that our mere presence excites Mexican brothers and sisters and urges them to share the Good News freely and boldly. At the same time, our trip reminds me my neighbors, along with the people at my parks and grocery stores need Jesus just like our friends in Mexico. We need to be on mission for Jesus no matter where we are or what we are doing. On our way out of the airport after our trip, God sent me a man (who looked a lot like Jesus and disappeared a bit like an angel) to remind me of some key things: First, this guy stated that he was on mission EVERYDAY, not just during some special trip to some special place. I agree. Second, when I expressed concern over the numbers of people who came to the Lord and how they would be discipled, He quoted Romans 10:9-10 saying, “That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.” I needed to be reminded, once again, that the gospel is simple: We all need Jesus because our sin separates us from a holy God. Jesus bridged that gap when he came to earth, lived a perfect life, died on the cross, was buried and in the grave for three days. Then God raised Him bringing with that, truth, hope and assurance that our salvation is not earned, but a free gift from God. We shared the truth, they listened and hearing the Word of God brings faith, according to Romans 10:17. Finally, he said that he just spends his days living for Yeshua (using the Hebrew name for Jesus) and told me to have a good night and walked off. I truly believe God was cementing in my heart the lessons He wanted to make sure I would hold on to; that I am on mission every day, coming into a life changing relationship with the God of the universe is surprisingly simple, and we just need to stay close to Jesus every day.

There is so much more to say about this trip, and I could go on forever, but I digress. I love the amazing staff at IHI and the special friendships that I have developed over this last year. Their love of God and boldness for Him is contagious and spilled over on our entire team. Miracles happened at every site, all 15 of them. The reality of that makes me want to keep my eyes wide open because they are happening here too. I just tend to be too busy to ask for one, or notice when one occurs. The camaraderie of our team as we worked through the bumps and glitches of dramas gone wrong, lots of together time with little privacy or solitude, massive amounts of sweat, mutant mosquitoes, strange smells, physical and mental exhaustion, and just our own sinful natures, shows how big our God is. Love covers a multitude of sin (1 Peter 4:8), and for that I am grateful. Thankful to God for sending little old me, to do something I could not do on my own, with a bunch of other misfits who put it all out there for God to use and He did. For His glory, and honor, by His power. Thank you Jesus!!