Two years ago when I went to Mexico with a group of teens from
my church, we were told not to have any expectations other than that God will
move in radical ways. When I first heard that, I thought that it made sense
because there would be some twenty teens supervised by three or four adults in
a foreign country, so of course we might deviate from any organized plans. However,
what I did not realize is exactly how much deviation there would actually be.
The first part of the trip took place in a tree day training
camp in Texas,
just north of the border, and was the most successfully organized part of the
trip. After the training camp, we packed our things and began the two and a
half hour drive to the church in Mexico. Everything thing went well
until we pulled into a border station where we discovered that not only were
the van rental papers invalid, but one of the members hadn’t gotten an exit
stamp on his passport. To the border guards, this meant that he had been living
illegally in Mexico
(haha) for the past year. The guards informed him that he would have to pay a
fine of $2,500 if he wanted to proceed. Our leaders told us what was going on
and we all began praying fervently for God to intervene. A while later, we were
told that the border had waived the fee and that we could continue into Mexico once we
had the rental papers fixed. Some five hours later, we passed through the
checkpoint and continued into Mexico.
The rest of the trip was interspersed with flash floods that
soaked all our stuff, being stranded in a church without food, and a number of
missed flights that ultimately extended our trip by three days.
However, as expected, God worked through all barriers the
Enemy put and did wonders, even miracles. One day during after church, a woman
wheeled her palsy-stricken son up to the altar and asked for prayer for him. We
gathered around the boy and began praying for God to heal his illness and for
him to walk again. After some time, the boy did just that. He grabbed an arm
and pulled himself up out of the chair and took the first steps he had taken in
the fifteen years of his life. Despite his illness, despite the muscle atrophy,
a paralyzed boy walked.
What I have learned to expect from missions trips is not
that things will go smoothly and not that it will be free of strife and trials,
but that God will work wonders through those who put themselves out in faith
and that He will bring joy to those ministered to.
