Galatians 2:20 – Crucified with Christ

April 10th – written by Rose about the week of March 29th to April 4th

As you can see from our posts lately, or complete lack thereof, things have been extremely busy here – especially since Christmas. A few of the “biggest” highlights since Christmas include: hosting numerous people, hosting professional development sessions for the teachers, planning and executing two weeks of “reading fun”, having a local fundraising supper, participating in a local Missions Conference, and Nathan speaking at numerous services/events.  This, along with continuing to run the school, and keep up with our personal home life of home-schooling, cooking, cleaning, laundry, yard work, etc., has left us with little time to update our blog.  As I write this list, however, I realize we may need to back track a bit yet, and post at least a few pictures from the previously mentioned highlights.

Last week was definitely a big highlight for us.  We hosted a missions team from our church back home, Living Hope Fellowship.  21 youth and young adults 😉 came out to Mexico for a week of serving together with Oaks of Righteousness.  So much preparation and prayer went into this week – and God blessed us and the team beyond what we could have ever even imagined.

Only about an hour and a half after arriving here, following a long day of travel, we loaded up our busses and took the Missions Team to the church we have been attending here – Heimat Gemeinde.  The youth pastor, Francisco Enns, had invited our youth to join their youth for the evening.  We played games, enjoyed a delicious steak and pork chop supper, followed by an evening devotional and singing.  In the devotional, led by Nathan and myself, we challenged the team to evaluate their hearts; see if they were prepared to serve in the way Jesus exemplified.  We reminded the youth that it’s not about us, but rather all about Jesus in us.  The theme verse for the week was Galatians 2:20, “I am crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who lives, but Christ who lives in me. The life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the son of God who loved me and gave himself for me.”  It was such a wonderful start to a week of ministry – evaluating our own hearts, laying down our own desires, and surrendering to Christ.  A huge thank-you to Heimat Gemeinde for opening your church to us and allowing us to have this time together with you, to prepare our hearts for the week.

Sunday morning, we all enjoyed the service at Heimat Gemeinde (where everyone was able to test out their high/low German skills 😉). Nathan had the privilege of giving one of the two messages Sunday morning.  Following the service, we enjoyed lunch at a local pollo (chicken) restaurant, and then headed into the heart of Cuahutemoc where we held an outreach service at the central park.  We sang, shared testimonies and handed out food, Bibles and new testaments, to the many gathered there.  Although this was very stretching for many of us, it was also so eye-opening and a wonderful opportunity to serve the very “least of these” as Jesus talks about in Matthew 25:40. “Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.” 

Rested or not, Monday morning came, and with it, an excitement and enthusiasm to begin the Vacation Bible School (VBS) ministry the youth had come to do.  Tears welled up in my eyes as I stood in the school, and watched the youth begin – a mixing of the two worlds I have come to know and love – so polar opposite in many ways and yet brought together by one thing – Christ’s love.  The effort and time the youth had put into their planning was obvious; their desire to reach these children with the gospel clear to see.  They gave up their language, singing words of Spanish they didn’t understand, wore the typical Tarahumara skirts, and showered the students with a language we all understand – love.  It truly was amazing to see!!

By Tuesday, the students at Oaks of Righteousness School were waiting at the end of the driveway, watching for the youth as they walked down the road.  Wednesday and Thursday were no different, and it became very clear that the youth had bought in, as each of them were requesting to come back next year.  The tears that poured down their faces on Thursday, when they said good-bye to the students, were further evidence that they had been changed – they had fallen hard for these students and Christ had done a work in their lives.  As one team member said, she was broken – broken by the things that broke the heart of Jesus.  It was clear that God was present and at work, not only changing the hearts of our students, but also the hearts of each one on the team.

Along with the youth serving the school through VBS, they also worked on numerous projects in the late afternoons and evenings.  They covered books for the schools, cleaned the school and school busses and, the biggest of all projects, worked on a large concrete pad (50 x 110 feet) for the school.  The missions team cut wire, laid rebar, tied the rebar, helped with leveling and framing and then watched as the experts, Brad Peters (Canadian) and a crew from Mexico, poured the concrete.  Despite less than favorable weather, with wind gusts over 80 km most days, and some less than desirable tools to work with 😉, I don’t think I heard a word of complaint.  What a blessing it was to work together with such an encouraging, hard-working, and dedicated team.

The week ended with us hosting a Praise & Testimony night in our shop.  We had four individuals share their testimony – a Spanish lady, one of our Tarahumara teachers (Carolina), a youth from Canada (Ruby), and a local Mennonite friend from our church here (Abram).  It was so encouraging to hear their stories and the work that God has done and continues to do in each of their lives – different cultures but the same God at work in their hearts.  If you know me, you’ll understand that the highlight of the night for me was undoubtedly the singing.  There’s nothing quite like singing in a shop, together with 60 people, all raising their voices in praise to God!  We opened with the song, “Jesus Paid it All”, and closed with, “It is well with my Soul”, both songs together fully expressing the gospel message; because Jesus paid it all, I owe Him everything and my soul is well.  Praise God!

The good-byes were hard that night – not just because we were parting ways again, but perhaps even more so because of how overcome we were with all that God had done in such a short time. He had answered so many prayers!! There is so much more I could share in efforts to cover the week, but it all kind of remains the same – God was at work in and through individuals who were willing to serve, being fully surrendered to him, and lay down their own desires for His mission. 

Throughout these last nearly eight months of being in Mexico, something keeps crossing my mind – there is so much joy in serving Christ whole-heartedly that sometimes I’ve been almost surprised by that – wondering if it’s just me.  This last week confirmed this, however. This truth isn’t just real for me or our family – it was real for the missions team and it’s real for each one of you.  Galatians 2:20 lays it out perfectly.  Christ calls us to be crucified with Him, lay down our own desires, and allow Him to live in and through us.  He doesn’t call us to be crucified with Him in hopes of weighing us down or burdening us, but rather in freeing us to be who He designed us to be – this brings ultimate joy. 

Christ in me, is ultimately always better than me in me. 

My prayer for the missions team, for each one of you, and for our family here, is simple - that as we go about our day to day lives, it’s not about us and our mission, but rather all about Christ! Let’s pursue Christ’s mission, be consumed with what Jesus was consumed with, and allow our hearts to be broken by the things that broke the heart of Jesus.

In Christ, and Christ alone, we will find true contentment, freedom, and joy.