From one Extreme to Another

I am on outreach! Last Thursday night around 8 we departed from Mazatlan for a 14-hour bus ride to Mexico City. Our Contact from a church in a city called Tlahuelilpan in the state of Hidalgo picked us up and drove us to his church where we are staying now.

Tlahuelilpan is actually a famous city but sadly because of the tragedy that has taken place there. A gas pipe exploded in Tlahuelilpan two years ago that killed 137 people. The Mexican government holds gasoline thieves who were tapping the pipeline responsible for the explosion. If you want to learn more search Tlahuelilpan explosion and you will find videos, articles, and more. Now, Tlahuelilpan is facing flooding as a result of the combination of heavy rain and bad maintenance of local city water pipes. Mostly residential areas were flooded but the damage was catastrophic. A local pastor was generous enough to invite us to stay at his house where he had a couple of rooms and a kitchen available on the bottom floor free of charge.

Locals and church members had donated clothes, food, diapers, soap and other necessities to the church for it to be given out to those most in need. When we arrived at the pastor’s house we organized all the donations so that they could be given out. The first day we headed out to a rural area where the flood had hit hardest.

We were met at the first house by a family of three generations. Don Isabel was the patriarch of the family and warmly greeted all of us. They gratefully accepted the food we had prepared in bags for them that mostly consisted of rice, beans and other canned foods. They were so grateful that they invited us back to their house for lunch on the following Tuesday. We continued our day of giving out food and clothes on Saturday and by the time we finished we were completely exhausted. Tlahuelilpan is at 6,500 feet and is much less humid than Mazatlan. I didn’t notice how much I was getting sunburned because of the dry air but by the end of the day my face was red as a lobster and exhausted. 

Sunday morning, we woke up and helped the church staff get ready for the service. The Sunday service starts around 12:30 and goes to 3. Their musicians and vocalists were very impressive and I enjoyed the music a lot. They played a lot of upbeat songs and many of the people were dancing and clapping. The pastor had also we requested that each of our team members share where they were from and a little bit about their testimony.

When we went on stage to do this, I was not prepared at all. Once the mic got to me, what I said surprised me. The girl before me shared that she had grown up in the church and always considered herself a Christian. I started off by saying the same thing but then shared that although Jesus has changed my life and made me a new creation that I have made many mistakes and went down the wrong path many times. I shared that each time God has been so merciful to me. He has been so merciful to allow me to learn from my mistakes throughout life. I shared that God has always reminded me that I am His and that He chose me. I told them how thankful I was to be in their country enjoying their culture. 

After the service, many of the families wanted us to pray for them. As I prayed for a family with children I found myself praying that this child, no older than four or five, would know that he has so much to look forward to in life and that God will be with him every step of the way. I hope that this meant a lot to the parents and that the kid can have some sort of understanding of what I was saying.

This was an awesome experience and after the service, we were fed delicious enchiladas with salsa and a corn soup called pozole. Corn is a very popular ingredient in many Mexican dishes and actually most of the time tortillas in Mexico are made with corn instead of flour. We have just made it to the Dominican Republic so please be praying for smooth transitions! 

Thank you for your prayers and encouragement. 

Because he first loved us,

Isaac

Outreach Here We Come

We leave for outreach in 4 days.

I have to say that I am very excited for the challenges and experiences that outreach will bring. What I want most is to be present in every moment of outreach. I believe that not having expectations for outreach is going to make it more of an adventure. If I expected anything, I believe that it is going to be indescribably awesome.

 

I have enjoyed so many aspects of the Lecture Phase, that I can’t imagine how great outreach will be. I do prefer being on my feet more than being in class.

 

My team is made up of mostly females with only two males on the team including myself. The other guy is named John and after going on an intense hiking adventure with him last Sunday, I have decided I like him haha.

Here is a picture from our hike

We got lost but thankfully we survived haha. The experience as a whole, definitely bonded us. These last weeks in Mazatlan have been sweet. The past few days, I have really been enjoying being with a lot of the guys who I have made friends with who will be going on separate outreaches. I am trying to soak up every moment since I will not be with them for the next two and half months.

 

I have made friends from all over the world. They all have great personalities and I have no doubt God has great things in store for their lives. I do not foresee a bitter goodbye and I am so glad I have so many memories with new friends to look back on. From going to the beach, eating late night Mexican food, playing basketball, and going on crazy adventures with my friend John,. Mazatlan has been a true Mexican experience.

Mexican culture and the Spanish language have captured my attention and imagination for a long time and I’m so glad I came to see what it was all about. Mexico is a massive country and the culture varies from state to state. Maybe one day I will get to know and explore more of this beautiful and diverse country. 

 

Our last week of lecture was about missions and evangelism and I am looking to see what God may have for me in the next season of life and in the future. I have been praying about it am so far the only response I have received from God is not to be anxious but to wait for His reply.

Every time I catch myself thinking about different situations and worrying about what’s next, I realize that God is not worried or anxious about what is next and He already has the perfect plan. It’s almost funny to me how God is so different from us and that He already knows what’s next. I wonder if God thinks about it like blueprints or if he likes to decide more spontaneously. Maybe my mind is just too finite to understand it all anyway. Whatever the answer is, trusting God is a lot of easier than trying to figure it out myself. When thinking about this is, God’s character stands out to me a lot. He is a rock and he doesn’t change. He is with us wherever we go and whatever circumstance we are in his word remains the same. He tells us not to fear and to be courageous.

 

I also know that I have so much more to learn about myself that I just need to trust God along the way to guide me where I need to be. Please be praying that I will be attentive in listening to God as to what is next for me. 

I would also love to share more about specifics of the outreach. I don’t know much but I know that we will be in the Dominican for a month. During our outreach, we will be in the cities of Santiago, San Cristobal, and Santo Domingo.

 

In case you were curious, the Dominican Republic the first place that Christopher Columbus landed on his voyage to the new world. The Dominican is located on the island of Hispaniola. The island of Hispaniola is divided into Haiti and The a Dominican with a mountain range separating the two. Before their independence, Haiti was ruled by the French and the Dominican by the Spanish. The Spanish stewarded their side of the island much better than the French. The way these two nations treated the people and land has had lasting impacts. A lot of the roots of Haitian poverty come from the way French treated the people and the land. 

We will be in the Dominican for a month and in Haiti for two weeks. We have a 17-hour bus ride to Mexico City on Thursday night. Please be praying for safe and smooth travels. I look forward to sharing more soon. Thank you for your prayers and support. 

Because he first loved us,

Isaac

 

God is so Good

 The last two weeks have been so good. We have been preparing for outreach through much prayer and worship. Our speakers have been absolutely fantastic. 

Last week we had Dan Baumann who has authored and published several books. He shares many stories and experiences that inspire others to passionately seek God. Dan used these experiences to guide his lectures and he brought up God’s love for us far more than anything else. Everyone enjoyed hearing him share about how Holy Spirit worked in his life. Dan’s personality was intriguing and it kept my attention easily. We all listened intently as he told his story about being in Iranian prison for nine weeks. Although it would have been great to hear that Dan rejoiced in prison and trusted God through it all, this was not the case. Dan shared that it was a struggle but it taught him so much. I can’t imagine how difficult this must have been. Prison changed Dan and he is thankful to God for his experience. Dan faith was inspirational and I will continue to apply a lot of what I learned.

What stood out to me about Dan is that he concentrated his whole message about how much God loves us. I expected a lecture about perseverance and enduring hardship from someone who had spent nine weeks in Iranian prison but Dan didn’t want to focus on himself. He also encouraged us to stop worrying so much about legalistic rules and obligations and to put our faith in Christ. His point was that God loves us more than we could ever imagine and is more committed to us than we are to ourselves. This was awesome to me because I worry about being right and understanding things so much. I am finally starting to learn that God does want to answer my questions but he wants me to trust Him first. To me, this is choosing not to overthink and over analyze. It also means being aware of that which is in my mind. I’m starting to like giving things over to God that I don’t understand. Maybe choosing to trust God rather than analyze and debate things that have happened to us, that we have no control of changing now is an act of faith? This acceptance is something that I am learning and putting into practice.

To me, it seems when we let go of things it allows me to feel God’s mercy and grace in my life. Mercy and grace in that there are things we cannot change and that God is not asking us to change. God is such a good God. I am thankful that God has brought me to Mazatlan and is giving me new experiences here. I am thankful that God is not an angry God; but merciful and good. Knowing God’s character has been a focus of DTS all along and I find that the more I learn about God character, the more I want to know him. I am also thankful that God had given me all kinds of experiences in Mazatlan. He has allowed me to seek him and to enjoy the city I am in.

Our outreach team is leaving in less than three weeks. I am so excited to see what God will do in this time. I have no idea what to expect. I know God is good and that he will move in our team and among the people we minister to. This two and half month application through outreach is a new experience to me and I am sure it will have many challenges. I ask that you will continue to pray for me and please feel free to post comments.

Because he first loved us,

Isaac