"Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms. If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen." 1 Peter 4:8-11.
These words buzzed through my mind all week long, and it's no coincidence that God chose 1 Peter for me to read during my three hour layover in the bustling Dallas/Fort Worth Airport as I waited to board the plane to Monterrey, Mexico. The truth and power in these words fueled the strength that I maintained throughout one of the most physically and emotionally challenging weeks I have ever experienced.
Throughout my week in Mexico, God's presence was overwhelming. I went into the week on my own, without the slightest hint of an expectation, and with an open mind and a prayer that God would use whatever gifts He has given me to faithfully serve others in a way that would meet their needs in every way possible.
We began the week by doing a lot of cement work at both Casa Hogar Douglas and Casa Hogar Del Norte, two orphanages in Monterrey. Let me tell you, never in my life did I think I would be helping to mix and pour cement or shovel gravel into a mixer for three hours straight! We were able to help make both homes safer for the children and able to withstand various weather situations. Later in the week, we painted the room where all the boys sleep at CHD, making it feel more like home for the boys. Because Hurricane Alex swept through the area in early July, the paint on the walls was severely chipped. We also were able to take the Casa Hogar Del Norte kiddos on a field trip to a place called Kidzania, which was an absolute treat for them. It was so fun to see the joy on their faces when we told them we were going to Kidzania!
In a typical day, we would wake up around 8am and eat breakfast together. Then we would break off and have a half hour of quiet time followed by a half hour of small group time. After small groups, we would work for several hours at one of the twelve orphanages that Back2Back Ministries serves in Monterrey, helping to meet whatever need the orphanage had such as painting or cementing. We would pack our lunch and eat it at the home, and then we would have two or three hours to spend time playing and interacting with the children, which was definitely my favorite part of the day. Around dinner, we would head back to the Back2Back campus and eat some of Vita's delicious authentic Mexican cooking (which is a lot more bland than American-Mexican food!). And then at 8pm every night we would head over to the "Big Palapa" and have a time of worship and a teaching from a staff member. Beth Guckenberger, the founder of Back2Back, spoke three times that week, which was such a blessing! She is such an inspiration to me.
Going into the week, I was under the impression that the language barrier was going to create a roadblock in communicating with the children. And after five years of Spanish, immersing myself in the culture proved to reveal how terrible my Spanish really is. Luckily though my Spanish began to sharpen, and by the end of the week I was actually translating for those in my group who knew very little Spanish. But throughout the week I learned that actions truly do speak louder than words and that the language barrier was broken down by the truth that we are all human. And that unconditional, blind, selfless love is the same in every language.
The most incredible experience of the trip was when we went to a place Back2Back calls "Rio III", a squatter village along the river on the East side of Monterrey. Rio III is an area of extreme poverty and an area that was vastly devastated by Hurricane Alex. It's nearly impossible to describe the depth of poverty at Rio III; there is extreme, heart breaking poverty in the United States, but none so barren as Rio III. Full families live in houses smaller than my tiny bedroom at home and were built with whatever resources they could find. Their only mode of transportation was malnourished horses pulling along rickety carriages, and the men would go out during the day in search of materials to utilize to create a shelter for their families. We were able to serve the women and children lunch at the church in the center of the village that serves as a sort of community center.
At Rio III, I met a little girl name Estefani that was attached to my hip the entire day. Estefani is 11 years old and lives in the village with her family. She loved that we have the same name and also loved my big sunglasses. They are on her head in most of the pictures I have with her, and I ended up giving them to her when we had to leave. It's amazing what a pair of sunglasses can do for a little girl. I take so much for granted.
I think one of the hardest things I learned this week was how much I really limit God. I tell myself that I can't do something or that I deserve this or that. But when we limit God, putting Him in a box as a result of our ignorant feelings of entitlement or inability, our hearts become hardened. And when He chooses to take us on a detour that seems completely ludicrous compared to the plans that we have crafted for ourselves, we see them as roadblocks instead of opportunities. But when we choose to trust the Lord completely with our lives, to stop limiting Him and allow Him to use us to serve those in need, He does incredible things. And He allows us to do incredible things for others.
There were moments throughout my experience when I didn't know how much longer I could make it, when my arms and back hurt so much from shoveling gravel for three hours or when I played the counting game with Blanca for the 50th time, that I remembered that verse from 1 Peter. The Lord tells us to serve others with the strength that He provides us with. It was the strength from Him that helped me live fearlessly and fully that week, pushing myself farther than I could ever have without His help. And in my weakness, His strength shines so fervently.
I believe that God has His hand in everything we do, in every action we choose to take, but I think there are few times in our daily lives that we can look back on an experience and see God so evidently throughout every step of the way. My trip to Mexico proved to be an experience crafted solely by the Lord and one that radically changed my heart, providing me with a new view of the world and of God's incredible character.
I have so much to be thankful for.
Yo tengo tanto para agradecer.
