For the last month, we've been having mission term. During mission term, we have more rules and regulations that we have to follow. Things like using the internet only on the weekend, not texting, not watching TV or movies, and not using public transportation or eating out. It's been challenging, and it's forced me to grow and be a little uncomfortable and inconvenienced in a lot of ways. But it's been really, really good. That isn't what I really want to talk about today, though. Because...
MY CLASS AND I JUST GOT BACK FROM MEXICO CITY! And it was literally one of the most incredible experiences of my entire life. For starters, I CAN FINALLY SAY I'VE BEEN TO A COUNTRY OTHER THAN THE USA. Which is literally a huge plus for me.
Let me start off by saying that I love Mexico. I love the colors, I love the energy, I love the way Spanish sounds, I love the people. I really really really fell in love with this country, and I was only there for a week.
So many things about Mexico are different. And it's more than just the language, although not being able to read the signs on the side of the road really caught me off guard at first. I loved driving through Mexico. I liked the way that you could drive for miles and miles, see a little shack on the side of the road, and then drive for miles and miles more before seeing anything else. It just looks...tranquil. I love the mountains, and how green things are. It was totally different from my stereotypical anticipation of Mexico's countryside, honestly. Something that I really liked looking at was the trees...they reminded me of Dr. Seuss trees, and it made me smile every time I looked at them.
I really enjoyed how diverse Mexico City was. I liked that you could be walking down the street in a really upscale part of town, and then suddenly be in a poorer part, without even noticing that things were changing.
On Saturday night my group and I got the privilege to spend some time in a church member's house. We sang some songs with them (in Spanish, of course) and then had a little devo. We were blessed to hear some of their stories about their lives now, struggles that they have, and also some stories about how they were converted. The people there were incredibly generous, and made us some really great food. They totally touched my heart, and I loved the chance to spend some time with them, even though we spoke a different language.
Sunday was probably one of my favorite days there. In the morning we went to church. We sang songs in Spanish, which was incredible. Seriously, it was so eye opening, because during that worship time, it really hit me that there are people all over the world who worship the same God I do. Even if we don't speak the same language, we all have hearts that are full of praise for the same God, and that's the same every where. The songs that we sang were songs that we sing in the states, too, just in Spanish. Spending time worshipping God at this church just really solidified in my mind that we're although we're all different and uniquely created by God, he gave us all this similar quality in our heart, the quality of worship. It was one of many, many, many, eye opening experiences for me.
Sunday afternoon we went to this place in Mexico City called Coyocan, and I adored it. I love the atmosphere. There are tons of people all over the place, it's totally crowded, with tons of people performing, and trying to sell things. I really enjoyed shopping in the market there, with all the Mexican decorations and stuff like that. It was just a really cool experience for me.
Monday we went to a city about an hour away from Mexico City called Cuernavaca. When we first got there, we went on a mini hike into this jungle-like thing and did some singing, and had a little devo. From there, we split off into different groups to do some things to help out the church there. The group I was in went to a busy street and handed out flyers inviting people to the church there. My job was to wait until the light turned red and then walk between the cars handing out these flyers. When they first told me to do this, it totally freaked me out, because that's just not something you really see done in the states. But, in Mexico it's just commonplace. Like, there was another guy walking between the cars at the same intersection trying to sell things. The cool thing was that my intersection was kind of more at the end of a street, so a lot of the cars already had flyers from other AIMers. That was cool because I got to see people stop their car and then pull the flyer out and read it. Seeing that made me feel like we were really doing something worthwhile, and something that may grow God's church.
The most impacting day of the entire trip, hands down, was Tuesday. This day totally, 100% broke my heart. This was the day that we went to the Basilica. I think the hardest part of this was seeing these people, and their genuine love for God, and their passion about it...but seeing how misguided it is. Like, the people would crawl on their knees because they feel so guilty for the sins they commit. There are literally bloodstains on the ground outside because people crawl for so long to get there. Don't get me wrong, I think humility is great, but this totally transcends that. It makes me so sad, because Jesus is right in front of their face. All the time, you see depictions of him. But the part that's so sad is that you only see him dead, on the cross. You never see him resurrected or anything like that. Like, they see Jesus all the time, but it's like they stop at the part where he dies...they miss the good part, the beautiful, incredible, restoring part. The part that means I don't have to feel so guilty that I can't stand because I'm a sinner. It's like they miss GRACE. I can't imagine how they must feel, because I can't imagine how I'd feel if I didn't know beyond a shadow of doubt that I'm forgiven. I probably wouldn't be able to stand, either.
We also went to the Tower of Latin America. At this tower, you go like 40 something stories up, and then you're on the roof of this building, just kind of caged in. And you can walk around the roof of this tower, and you can see TONS of the city. With the images that I had in my head from that morning, standing on this tower I could only imagine all the souls in this huge city that are in danger. These souls that may never get to know The Lord. It lights a fire in me. It makes me want to tell everyone about Jesus more than I ever have before. It makes me desire for everyone to be saved even more than I already did. I think I finally experienced that heartbreak that Pat was talking about during one of the first weeks of AIM.
This trip sincerely changed my perspective on a lot of things, and really just made me think. In a really really good way. I'm just ready to go out and tell everyone about Jesus.
