Week Ten: God works in all things
The past week I’ve been wondering what to share with you all. I’m currently sitting in the patio outside the house that myself and seven other single ladies are sharing during the FMC mission trip this week. Before I came over here and got my laptop and sat down to type this out I had gone over to the church that’s super close to the house. I went there to spend time with the Lord but to also pray and see if anything would come up to me to share for a blog post. There have been plenty of crazy amazing beautiful moments that have happened since coming to Mexico and I just wasn’t sure how to share them. I came into the church and sat down and got my bible out and felt like the Lord said, “Matthew 25:40” which is a bible verse I know very well, “Whatever you do to the least of my brothers and sisters, you do to Me.” And I didn’t open my bible to that verse but simply sat there. I got up from my seat and was going to start singing a song (as I was alone in the church and I LOVE to sing.) but then I saw that there was a gentleman in his fifties or sixties coming into the church. So I simply sat down on the floor next to the pew I was by. As the man got closer and sat in a pew a little aways from me I noticed that he was sobbing. My heart went out to him and my heart ached for whatever was weighing so heavy on him, he started crying out in Spanish to God.
I desired to come over to him and ask him if I could pray with him but with my very limited Spanish I didn’t think I could. So as I sat there I prayed to the Lord for him and asked the Holy Spirit to be with Him and help him with whatever was going on. Before I knew it he had stopped crying and called out to me. I stood up and walked over to him and told him in Spanish that I had limited Spanish and that I was a Catholic Missionary and then sat down next to him and he just started talking. I listened and was able to catch a word or two here and there, something was going on with his family that tore at him deeply. In my terrible Spanish I told him my name, got his name and then I asked him if I could pray with him and then did so in English and ending by attempting the Hail Mary in Spanish, which he knew so he helped me to finish it. And then I told him that Jesus loves him and his family and he nodded as if he already knew that and then he shook my hand and left the church. After he left I was just so deeply in awe of the Lord and I looked up the Bible verse He had wanted me to look up earlier and the part of, “I was a stranger and you welcomed me.”
I got to encounter Christ in that man—Despite the fact that I had no clue what he said, in that moment it didn’t matter that my Spanish was terrible. This morning my prayer to the Lord was, “Jesus help me to know the ways you want me to go today. May I be present where You have me here and now.” And today Jesus did help me to be present to that man. I could have just prayed on my own and ignored that man when he called out to me. (As I honestly didn’t know he was until I turned to see that he was walking towards me.) But God gave me the peace and courage in that moment to encounter the man. Not knowing Spanish is a barrier in some ways, but the past two weeks the Lord has been showing me again and again that He can still work through me during this time when my Spanish is terrible. He’s reminding me that even though I have doubts and struggle with Spanish that it doesn’t matter. He’s at work. He’s called me to this. He’ll help me with learning Spanish and He’ll work through me no matter what level my Spanish speaking is at.
While being here in Mexico I’ve shared a testimony (with help from translators) that impacted people to draw closer to the Lord, I’ve visited a dying man and his father and ministered to him and encountered Christ in him and prayed with various people at the Ranchos we’ve been visiting. All of these things the Lord has been working through and I know that there’s so much more that He will do and I simply have to say yes and not let my fears weigh me down and keep Him from working through me. I’ve been blessed in so many amazing ways through all of this. God is blessing me in abundance in those moments and He’ll continue to do so. He’s sending me to Peru and I know that He has amazing plans for me there and He knows who He wants to touch through me, and despite the language barrier He’s still at work. Being in Mexico these past two weeks has only continually confirmed to me my call to missions. I honestly can’t imagine doing anything else but this. I know hard times will come, but Christ is within each and every moment and I will cling to Him in those moments. I’ll be in Mexico for one more week and then will come back to Louisiana for two weeks and then will be headed back to Michigan to get ready for Peru! God is SO good and nothing is impossible for Him.
Photos from Mexico!
I desired to come over to him and ask him if I could pray with him but with my very limited Spanish I didn’t think I could. So as I sat there I prayed to the Lord for him and asked the Holy Spirit to be with Him and help him with whatever was going on. Before I knew it he had stopped crying and called out to me. I stood up and walked over to him and told him in Spanish that I had limited Spanish and that I was a Catholic Missionary and then sat down next to him and he just started talking. I listened and was able to catch a word or two here and there, something was going on with his family that tore at him deeply. In my terrible Spanish I told him my name, got his name and then I asked him if I could pray with him and then did so in English and ending by attempting the Hail Mary in Spanish, which he knew so he helped me to finish it. And then I told him that Jesus loves him and his family and he nodded as if he already knew that and then he shook my hand and left the church. After he left I was just so deeply in awe of the Lord and I looked up the Bible verse He had wanted me to look up earlier and the part of, “I was a stranger and you welcomed me.”
I got to encounter Christ in that man—Despite the fact that I had no clue what he said, in that moment it didn’t matter that my Spanish was terrible. This morning my prayer to the Lord was, “Jesus help me to know the ways you want me to go today. May I be present where You have me here and now.” And today Jesus did help me to be present to that man. I could have just prayed on my own and ignored that man when he called out to me. (As I honestly didn’t know he was until I turned to see that he was walking towards me.) But God gave me the peace and courage in that moment to encounter the man. Not knowing Spanish is a barrier in some ways, but the past two weeks the Lord has been showing me again and again that He can still work through me during this time when my Spanish is terrible. He’s reminding me that even though I have doubts and struggle with Spanish that it doesn’t matter. He’s at work. He’s called me to this. He’ll help me with learning Spanish and He’ll work through me no matter what level my Spanish speaking is at.
While being here in Mexico I’ve shared a testimony (with help from translators) that impacted people to draw closer to the Lord, I’ve visited a dying man and his father and ministered to him and encountered Christ in him and prayed with various people at the Ranchos we’ve been visiting. All of these things the Lord has been working through and I know that there’s so much more that He will do and I simply have to say yes and not let my fears weigh me down and keep Him from working through me. I’ve been blessed in so many amazing ways through all of this. God is blessing me in abundance in those moments and He’ll continue to do so. He’s sending me to Peru and I know that He has amazing plans for me there and He knows who He wants to touch through me, and despite the language barrier He’s still at work. Being in Mexico these past two weeks has only continually confirmed to me my call to missions. I honestly can’t imagine doing anything else but this. I know hard times will come, but Christ is within each and every moment and I will cling to Him in those moments. I’ll be in Mexico for one more week and then will come back to Louisiana for two weeks and then will be headed back to Michigan to get ready for Peru! God is SO good and nothing is impossible for Him.
Photos from Mexico!
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