I just came home from my first international missions trip - which may come as a surprise since I've travelled internationally quite a bit recently and I love missions. I have just never combined the two until now. I joined Christ the Rock Church's annual mission trip to Múzquiz, México for a week this December, along with a Lawrence friend, Katie. We got on the bus with the entire team of 39 at 5am the morning after Christmas and started our nearly 30-hour trip south.
The four days we had in Múzquiz were filled with trips out to nearby villages to play with the kids and teach them Bible stories, along with crafts and songs, in the park. We heard that the kids are usually never out there playing, but they know the time of year that we come and hear about it through the church, so the park was filled with them by the time we got there. They were so fun and sweet, and they knew a lot of the games that we played growing up (Red light, green light = Semáforo).
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| The park at District 28, where we made most of our visits. |
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| Singing the Spanish version of "I've got the joy joy joy joy..." that was taught to us by some of the Múzquiz kids who were with us the whole time. |
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| Craft time at Infonavit! |
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| The jump-ropes were a bit hit wherever we went. |
We were connected with Pastor Juan and his church the whole time, and his brother graciously drove us around in the church's bus (when it was working). We would also have dinner over at his house, since they guys were living there instead of the hotel with families/girls. He and his family and friends were amazing hosts and so great to get to know.
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| La Gran Comisión - our bus that stalled every time Lalo (our driver) took his foot off the gas. But we packed it full every day anyways! |
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| Inside the bus. This is just the beginning... by the time we pulled out there were stacks of 2 or 3 people sitting on laps in each seat with the aisles packed. |
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| Pastor Juan's church. I wish I got a better picture! It was great to hear some people's testimonies (given through one of our team member's translation), and the few of us who speak Spanish led worship with some translated songs! |
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| New Year's Eve bonfire at Pastor Juan's house! |
Our first full day in Múzquiz, I could tell I was starting to get sick. I get sick with mild pneumonia-like symptoms every winter and I realized they were coming for me there. I stayed sick for the entire trip, and had to skip a few of our outings because my lungs/head were hurting too much to go. Having to stay back was really disappointing, but so was being out there and not having the energy to play with the kids or talk to anyone. I felt like I had no purpose on the trip and was just being a downer wherever we went. Further, I was afraid that if I took any time to stay back and rest, I would just get used to it and never push through my conditions and be positive. I saw the energy, excitement and joy all of the other people on my team were experiencing and really doubted that I was where I was supposed to be. I have doubted my ability to do missions before, because I usually don't have a lot of energy, and this made my doubts much stronger.
Despite these feelings of failure, there were things for me to learn on this trip. Most of them had to do with my team and how wonderful they all are. I was very inspired by the faith of those people and the love for others they have because of it. They were all very selfless and caring, whether they were bringing food and medicine to those of us who got sick, or actively encouraging people during our morning time together. I got to meet the Mission House team from this year and talk to them about their experiences (this is the program I hope to do next year) and it made me SO excited! Overall, I gained a lot from going on this trip, though I feel like I did not contribute much. But maybe that is okay. I wasn't going to personally change the world in 4 days anyways. What is important is the long-term partnership we have with the church there and the dedication on both sides to make life a little bit happier for the people of Múzquiz. I'm just a tiny part of that now, and that's fine.
