Mexico Trip 2024 – Day 7

“Give thanks to the Lord for he is good; his love endures forever.” Psalm 118:1

Today (Wednesday) was our last day in Puerto Escondido and last workday before traveling home. (I am writing this on Thursday while sitting at the airport and reflecting back on yesterday.) I thought our pre-trip devotional from June 28 was appropriate for today. Psalm 118 invites us to be thankful for the goodness and enduring love of the Lord. The devotional book defined “Thankfulness as being full of thanks and appreciation; glad for something or someone; realizing that everything and everyone is a gift to us from God.” I am so thankful for our team and how they came together on this trip. I am thankful for Mariska, who asked me to pass a on a message, “hi fam!” It is a big adventure to travel international and be in close proximity to each other for a week. I am proud of the maturity, generosity, and servant hearts they all displayed on this trip.

I am thankful for Jocsan and Kayla’s invitation to join them in this ministry. I am thankful for the hard work and positive attitudes yesterday as we painted the garage. It was one of the sweatiest days of my life, but we worked hard, and the pictures are amazing! I will let the pictures tell the story.

Isn’t it beautiful how the colors pop! It was very rewarding to see the orange paint cover the white. Stepping back and seeing the after was exciting. I had mentioned the first day we drove to the property was concrete structure that you could barely see through the trees. Sealing it with the white primer looked good through the trees. However, as we drove away, seeing the orange pop through the trees was exciting! Now the kids will see from the road that there is a building on the property and one day it will be a safe place for them to learn skills and hear about Jesus!

Yesterday evening we went out for dinner, which was delicious, and then stopped for frozen yogurt as a fun treat after a long week. It was fun just hanging out as a group and allowing conversations to happen. When we arrived back at the Airbnb, we had our last night of share time. It is bittersweet to come to an end of an amazing trip. The team shared lessons learned and highlights of the trip.

Anna shared from her heart and wonderful summary of what many of us are trying to process, “what is God’s will for our lives?” She admitted her struggle knowing what God’s will is for her and how that can be frustrating. However, hearing the testimonies this week from Kayla and Jocsan helped her see that knowing God’s will is about being obedient with the next step, whatever that step might be. Sometimes it’s hard to know what the next step to take is because we don’t get the big picture at the beginning; we just get the call to be obedient. As we take each step God weaves a bigger picture then we could imagine.

That’s a lesson I have learned, continue to learn, and still need to learn: faithfulness in the next step even when we don’t fully know what’s coming next. I think back on my life and where I am at today and marvel at how God worked in and through the unknowns to bring me to this place. I couldn’t have, and probably wouldn’t have, written my life story the way I have lived it out. But God has proved himself faithful with every step I have obediently taken with my eyes on the Good Shepherd. Kayla and Jocsan have amazing stories of what God had done in their lives to bring them to this point, which is a beautiful beginning to what God is doing through the vision he has placed on their hearts. God has taken a desire and turned it into a vision. He has taken a vision and is creating a reality as they faithfully take a step in obedience to his call.

Jocsan shared with us how exciting and encouraging it is for us to travel down and help them once a year. He confessed about the loneliness of being missionaries and the difficulty of holding the vision before their daily lives. All their work right now is focused on creating and orphanage for the kiddos, but there are not kiddos that they are caring for right now. Their heartbeat isn’t to build buildings but to build into lives of children. Having friends from Akron, Ohio that travel to work is a boost of energy and refreshing to their vision. Having a church family who is regularly praying and supporting them helps them feel less alone in the difficult times. Please commit to praying for Jocsan and Kayla and the development of Casa Abba.

This trip is completely different than last year’s trip. I don’t say this as a comparison or competition, each trip is a unique adventure that God gives to us. Several of us were on both trips and gleaned new lessons this year. This was the first international missions trip for some of our team members and I am so thankful that there was no separation between the returning members and the new members. However, each of our stories continue to build a bigger picture of the Kingdom of God in our lives and in our world.

I came into this trip more exhausted than I had realized due to a busy season. When I am exhausted, I can become a little short sighted or impatient. I must confess that after the first day, during debrief, I was a little short with the team trying to force the Spirit’s work. I had some expectations and tried to structure a specific outcome and ended up confusing and even frustrating team members. I wanted our debrief time to be a serious reflection of the spiritual lessons they are learning and not about joking around about poop stories (this is a missions trip staple) or “unspiritual” experiences. I know better than that, the icebreaker stories tear down the walls throughout the week and encourage vulnerability. But I wanted my way (notice how many times I said “I” in that paragraph).

Cindy took the time to stick around after our meeting and check in with me, at which time I began to I realize my own pride and desire for control. I wasn’t giving the team space to process and allow the Holy Spirit to do his thing. The next morning, I apologized to the team for being controlling and putting too much structure on a time that should be open and free to share whatever. I confess this because I want my team members to hear that I was not mad at anyone of them, and they didn’t do anything wrong. I became selfish, frustrated, and short sighted, but God is bigger and redeemed our time on this trip.

Today’s devotional is what I really needed to hear on Day 2. Jesus said, “I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete” (John 15:11).  Joy is an emotion of great delight or happiness caused by something that is good and satisfying.  I wasn’t allowing the joy of the Lord to direct me into delighting in him. However, as I sit here and look at my team and remember each of them sharing their experiences this week, I find great joy and happiness in them, and I am satisfied with what God worked out through this week and through their testimonies. I am thankful that God did not allow my selfishness to derail the trip.

Jocsan shared the story of the well on the property you can read my post from last year to hear the story

God allowed this week to be a lesson for me. I came in exhausted, and he led me to a place of refreshment and rejuvenation. Yes, I am exhausted from hard work and long travel days. But I am refreshed in my spirit because the Lord has done a good work in our lives this week. He’s not finished with us yet and I am “confident of this very thing, that he who began a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ” (Phil. 1:6).