So
we just got back from our missions trip to the state of Oaxaca. I don’t want to
cram everything into one giganto post, so I’m going to just brush over a few of
the important-er things through several bittier posts.
We (nine of the viñeros-one stayed
back- Rene, the pastor, and Fabian, the supervisor) visited three pueblos in
Oaxaca: Chalcatongo, Itundujia, and Hidalgo. At each of them is a different
church branch of Naciones, the churches that Jerry planted originally, part of
the ministry of Living Hope International. We did two services at each branch,
one structured like a normal service (worship, sharing a message, prayer) and
the other a more intimate worship session with praying for others with physical
or emotional needs (we call them CIA’s). They were all different but all
beautiful, and for each one of them we also had a kid’s class prepared
separate.
We got to see different walks of
life, different manners of living. For
example, on the eleventh, in Hidalgo, I journalled:
“Most extreme missions trip, in terms of
living differently than the US. Haha. Latrines with designated sections for
your pee and poop. Better aim careful! Also, there’s not a lack of little
venomous scorpions in the area, and we slept on the concrete floor last night!
Honestly, I tried to sleep on two chairs, but after two hours, ya no aguanto.
It was almost unbearably hot to sleep in my sleeping bag, but I didn’t want to
sleep in the open air for fear of bugs. We were pleasantly woken up at 5:30 by
a rooster on his way out of this world. May your exit be quick and painless.”
This not to say I
wasn’t grateful for their hospitality and generosity- moreso, just to mark the
difference that there are different
ways of living, in contrast with the States, that function well. It just took a
bit to adjust to.
Each one of us had to “preach”, or
share a message, for at least 15 minutes, during one of the services. I spoke
on change, leaving things behind to encounter God’s will for your life, and it
went well. I was a bit nervous, and spoke somewhat fast, but I think all in
all, it went better than I thought. Slowly learning to guts up.
This trip brought us all so much
closer together. It’s sad that we’re graduating in a week, but at least most of
us are staying for the internship and will be able to see each other again.
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