Teotitlan

Last week, I had the opportunity to meet up with a team from Guadalajara in Northern Oaxaca, at a town called Teotitlan Flores de Magon. We spent the week painting the outside of a Latin America Childcare School in the mornings, then putting on a VBS program for the kids and a women’s outreach in the evenings. It was a pleasure getting to know so many wonderful people and working along-side the Engage students and leaders. I would like to share a general overview of our week with you, as well as, a few highlights. (Get ready—this is going to be a long one!)

Our experience began Tuesday morning by piling 22 people in to one truck and heading to the school. This turned out to be our main mode of transportation for the week, so we all got pretty “friendly.” (There are some things you can only get away with in Mexico.) Each morning we had a time of group devotions, and then we went outside and greeted the kids as they entered the school, before we began to paint. While painting, I was able to talk with the different members of our group and get to know them better. We had never met before, so I really enjoyed the one on one conversations we had while working. The Engage students come to Mexico for one to two years and minister while taking correspondence courses through universities in the States. They have servant hearts and it was really fun to hear the dreams that God has placed in their hearts for the future.

We usually finished painting just before lunch, so we would head over to the pastor’s house and the ladies from the church would have authentic Oaxacan food waiting for us. We ate so well all week long! We had foods like: tostadas, tlyudas, pollo asada, empanadas, tacos (not the American version of tacos), and a bunch of other delicious foods. I honestly think I gained a little weight last week and I blame the fantastic cooks who served us! It was so good.

After eating, we went back to our hotel and cleaned up before returning to the school for the evening programs. Each night, the Engage students put on an exciting program for the children with clowns, puppets, great music, stories, games, etc. The kids were almost spellbound for the first day or two because this was something they had never experienced before. They sat quietly listening and had to be encouraged to participate because it was all new. But, they soon warmed up and started actively singing, dancing, shouting, and just generally showing how much fun they were having.

Thursday night before the VBS service, I was walking around chatting with kids and taking pictures. I don’t quite remember how it happened, but somehow I got involved in teeter-tottering with a little girl. I couldn’t understand her name, but she was seven years old and had a bright smile and energetic personality. Naturally, I was heavier than her, so I ended up jumping as hard as I could in order to get her to go back down. Well, this turned out to be fantastic fun for her and a great workout for me, so we continued for several minutes. I would stop and make a great show of panting and explain that I needed a break and she would respond by saying, “NO!” and encouraging me to continue. We did this until the service began, but she stuck close to me for the remainder of the week and we had a chance to continue our “game” after the service that night.

While the Engage students were doing the VBS outside, the women were meeting in a classroom and having their own service, led by some of the missionary ladies. There was a good turn-out of ladies and they also seemed to enjoy the special treat of doing a craft together, which is something that they probably don’t have much opportunity to do. Later in the week, a couple ladies invited the female missionaries to visit their home for a special time of prayer for the family. It was an emotional time and God’s presence was near as we prayed for the woman and her children.

On Friday, we traveled about an hour up in to the mountains to a small Assemblies of God church. It was a breath-taking location, right on the edge of a huge valley with big, beautiful mountains all around. Naturally, it became an ideal place for a photo shoot, so we spent several minutes taking pictures. (For more pictures, please visit my Facebook page.)

We entered the church and listened to the pastor share a message with our group. He talked about the difference between being a Christian and a disciple. He stated that a Christian goes to church and does good things, but a disciple follows Christ no matter the cost or the challenges that come. He used the example of Jeremiah 13 where God tells Jeremiah to buy a belt and take it to Perath (which was many miles away). Many days later God told Jeremiah to go back and get the belt. The belt was ruined and God had a message for Israel from that belt. The point the pastor made was that God really could have saved Jeremiah the trouble of walking all that way and just told him what He wanted him to know, and yet, Jeremiah was obedient. It cost him time, physical work and even separation from his family, but he obeyed and went because God told him to. The pastor’s message was personally convicting and challenging to me. It left me with a renewed desire to obey God—no matter the cost. I don’t want to choose what is easier or more convenient, instead of obedience.

Early Saturday morning (5:45am), we packed up and headed toward Mexico City. We stopped just outside the city to visit the pyramids. Again, lots of pictures were taken as we walked around and climbed the pyramids. It’s amazing to realize that the pyramids are thousands of years old. It was also interesting to learn more about Mexico’s past religious beliefs, including child sacrifice, and to understand more fully how mixed are the Catholic beliefs here. It is a combination of pagan practices, ancient rituals and what we generally think of as Catholism.

Later in the day, we drove in to Mexico City. Other than the airport, this was my first time being in the city and it was eye-opening. I only spent one evening there because I flew out in the morning; but while there, I saw poverty up close—filthy garbage everywhere, putrid smells, a heavy atmosphere and people living in the streets. It’s not that I’ve never seen poverty before, but I have certainly never seen it to this extent. It was impacting. I’m still not sure how to grasp it all.

That evening was my last with the team, so I organized my things for the morning and spent time talking with some of the girls from the group. God blessed me by allowing me to meet and make new friends last week and I’m so thankful for email and internet, so I can keep in touch with so many people. What a blessing they were to me and so many other people during our time in Teotitlan.

This past week was very special for me. I met wonderful people and saw God in new ways. God spoke to me personally through several of the experiences I had and I’m grateful.

Thank You God for giving me the opportunity to visit Teotilan and to meet the precious people from Guadalajara. Thank You for opening my eyes to new things and for reminding me of some areas where I want to do better. You are providing new experiences and giving me new dreams for the future. Thank You for being faithful and for continuing to work on me. I love You, Jesus and I don’t ever want to live life without You.