The personal connection makes all the difference. It can be intimidating trying to find common ground with another a person, especially with a language barrier. Many people are surprised to learn that both of us are introverts. This can make all the more of a challenge. But God opens up doors and avenues, if we are just willing to be attentive and to listen. If we are just willing to start by acknowledging that each person that we come across is a beloved child of God. If we are just willing to walk across the room.
Last week when Maria was back in Ohio with her family to
celebrate the life of her grandfather, a woman and her 8-year old daughter came
to the door seeking help. Their names
were Lucin and Bella. Two or three
months ago Lucin’s father-in-law passed away.
The local government was able to help with the costs of the funeral and
burial, but they needed help purchasing the blocks needed for the tombstone,
about 400 pesos (under $25 with the current exchange rate). After talking it over with them, deciding
that we could help and praying with them I felt prompted to turn to the
daughter Bella. I explained to her how
sorry I felt that she had lost her grandfather and that we would continue to
pray for him, but I had a favor to ask of her as well. I explained to her how my wife was currently
back in the United States with her family for her grandfather that passed
away. It would be a huge blessing for
us, if Bella would pray for Maria and her grandfather as well. Bella beautiful green eyes became very
serious with her new mission as she nodded her head yes. God has connected together two families from
two nations, separated by over 2,000 miles.
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| Mexico City Airport |
Rebekah and I (Maria) had a wonderful time flying together
from Mexico to Ohio. I never imagined it
would be fun (albeit exhausting) to travel with a 2-month-old baby! I had so many wonderful encounters with
people, got to hear all about others’ children and grandchildren, and really
just got a chance to talk with people as we waited for our flights.
Our last layover was in the Mexico City airport. By that point I was tired and not thrilled
about sitting for a couple of hours waiting for our flight. I was feeling a little overwhelmed with the
set up of the airport, and navigating through immigration and customs. I honestly didn’t really feel like talking to
anyone at that point. All I wanted was
to get to the Monterrey airport and see Josh.
As I was juggling Rebekah, carryon luggage and a cell phone, a woman
from Sweden came to give me a hand. We
got in to a small talk conversation and I learned she was headed to Monterrey
for her son’s graduation. She shared a
lot about her life as a single mother, how her son came to live in Mexico and
his hopes for his future.
Then she asked what we were doing in Mexico. After sharing that we are Catholic missionaries,
she asked the question why. Why would we
want to do something like this. I
explained to her that we have a God that loves us, and we want others to know
that love. We want them to know His love
by being told, we want them to know a small piece of His love by our
service. I told her that so often people
hear about the rules of faith, but don’t hear about the love God has for
us. As I explained these reasons for our
crazy life, her face changed. She
softened. She needed to hear about how
much she is loved. We had a long
conversation after that, and I heard a lot about who God is to her. It was amazing to be able to share that time
with her after a full and exhausting day of travel. I keep praying for her, for her son, for what
the Lord wants to do in her heart. That
conversation made that extra layover worth it.
It was another reminder that when I am exhausted and have nothing left
is when the Lord can step in and fill a moment with his grace. I just have to be open for those divine
appointments He sets up.
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| Josh's Macayu All-Star Team! |
Monday evenings, different members of our team take turns
going to the ejido Macayu, about a 20-minute drive outside of town. For the past several months there have been
some tensions between some of the individuals in the ejido. At the conclusion of our last short-term
trip, there were a number of items that needed to be wrapped up, and so I,
Josh, offered to go with our three oldest boys and the four oldest boys from
the Kiehl family on Monday, June 12. Between the eight of us there would be
enough musical talent and translators that we would be able to run the prayer
service. I jokingly referred to us as “the
children’s crusade,” praying that we would have better results then the
original children’s crusade, but also hoping that these young men would be able
to touch hearts and melt some of the tension.
First of all, I was so blessed to work with these seven mission partners
ranging from seven years old to fourteen.
They were so eager and excited to help and to have various
responsibilities, and they rocked it!
They were on fire as we drove back that evening, and without any
hesitation they wanted to go again on the 19th.
One of the things that they noticed during that first night
was that a good number of the children present felt bad that they didn’t know
how to pray and were eager to learn.
The decision was made that for our second trip we would focus on the
children that showed up and teaching them how to pray. We figured that any adult that showed up, we
would explain that we are all children of God.
It didn’t matter if we were a 5 year old child or a 70 year child, God
is all of ours loving Father. I was
once again thankful for my years in Jesuit education and St. Ignatius’
directions of praying through a scripture passage with our imaginations and
senses, placing ourselves in the story, letting it unfold, and conversing with
Christ in the scene. Prayer is after all
simply a conversion with God where we both speak and listen. The team decided that something similar would
be effective and that we would use the passage of Jesus accepting the little
children (Matthew 19:13-15).
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| We are all God's children. |
After explaining what we were doing and reading the passage
slowly three times, we handed out paper and crayons so that they could draw
what they had imagined. We were
surprised when even the adults asked if they could draw too! We are all God’s children. Once the drawing was over we asked was there
a particular image or word that struck them?
How did Jesus look? What was his
demeanor? Was there certain aspects of
the scene in the imaginations that stood out?
One woman in particular drew rain in her picture. What an amazing insight into the symbol of
rain and Christ bringing refreshment to the desert of Mexico! The biggest surprise for me was at the end I
asked all the kids to come up for a photo with their pictures. As soon as we were done, a number of the
adults (including an elderly gentlemen with crutches) asked to have their
photos taken with their drawings too!
We are all God’s children! God
is working and slowly softening hearts.
I am so thankful to work with this team of young men!
Sometimes all we need to do is just walk across the room. God's grace is in the moment and let Him make the connections and inspire our words. We just need to be open to His promptings and respond to His grace.
Please pray for the next short-term trip that arrives today! May the Lord bless each of their hearts, our hearts as we host them, and the hearts of the people God will place in our paths to serve. May we recognize Christ in the face of all we meet, and may God give us the grace so we can be the face of Christ for them.
