I will praise my Lord (Part 2)
As much beauty as that first night bore, I'm so used to defining success
as big presentations, lights, noise, large crowds and everything just
short of fireworks that I struggled to believe that us missionaries, our
small stories, and the few people in that room would actually make a
difference for the Kingdom of God. I learned the next few days that
success in the mission field is defined by changed hearts, something
only the Holy Spirit can do, and something that starts with
relationships.
By the third night the square outside the chapel was packed with kids who excitedly swarmed the van as we pulled up! It was a beautiful site to see, so many kids coming to the Church out of excitement for the evenings activities. I think I bonded most with the children, especially because my Spanish is so poor.
The kids loved learning words in English, especially their names.
They would say 'Como se dice' (How do you say) and then their name and I
would tell them how to pronounce Laura or Jonathan or Ivana in
English! Then I'd tell them to practice saying it. Their curiosity was
infectious as I also asked how to say words like bench or ball. It was
also very endearing and was a great way for me to learn their names.
Some of their names were biblical or the same name as Catholic saints so
I would muddle my way through explaining that their name was in the
bible or was same as Papa Francisco, our Holy Father.
During our last day, of the three day series, I was surrounded by the boys of all ages on two of the pews. During his talk, Ben was asking those gathered in the church questions about what we learned the previous days. I would feed the answers in my limited Spanish to the kids and they would raise their hand and answer the questions, with great smiles on their faces when they got them right.
The highlight for me was singing, dancing, and praising the Lord.
FMC and the Mexican people are both big fans of songs! We do lots of singing every day. One of the Spanish songs tells of Jesus passing through and everyone being transformed. The sadness goes away and the happiness comes for you and me. There's a conga line in the song with other dance moves and we got the women, teens and younger kids conga-ing around the church praising the Lord with their whole body.
In college I worked for a mobile entertainment company where I was an interactive performer. I worked Bar/Bat Mitzvahs and engaged people of all ages by getting them up on the dance floor and teaching them choreographed dance moves. During these songs that night in the chapel it became clear to me that God can use any and all my experiences for his glory in missions...I was doing exactly what I had learned to to so many years ago!
In those moments of singing and dancing joy surpassed all language barriers because smiles are universal! I've shared a little video of us singing at a different rancho.
That third day we had invited Padre Antonio to come to the rancho. He came and offered confession to the people and a time of adoration. During Ben's talk the two pews full of boys I was sitting with disappeared. I thought they got bored and went to play outside, but as I got up to take care of Raeleigh I saw many of them in the line for confession. It blessed my heart to see them going to Jesus!
The final evening we had a convivio, banquet, a sharing of life...in America we might call it a pot luck! Between the singing and dancing and the food, I think that's why most of the kids showed up :). In America when you host a pot luck you make sure you have enough tables and chairs, enough food and the right utensils. For all intents and purposes we were unprepared by American standards. We didn't have any tables or chairs and we all congregated outside the church. On one side of the church a small light shown on a little beach where we served food and on the other side we served drinks. The rest of the plaza was illuminated by the night sky. We might not have had plenty of preparations, but we had plenty of JOY! Kids, including our little girl, were running around the plaza in between bites, squealing with delight.
Three women of the community made tamales for FOUR hours that day for the convevio. One of the young boys I had become friends with, Adrian, brought, special for the missionaries, his mother's homemade empanadas filled with caramel and pecan (pecans are harvested in this part of Mexico...in fact just down the street from the mission house is a pecan orchard). I saw the generosity of the poor in a multitude of ways that evening.
La Rosa will keep a special place in my heart, as will the people. These are the people that I see the face of Jesus in!
Jesus you assure us of your presence in two places, the Eucharist and the poor. May we always strive to see your face in your people!
By the third night the square outside the chapel was packed with kids who excitedly swarmed the van as we pulled up! It was a beautiful site to see, so many kids coming to the Church out of excitement for the evenings activities. I think I bonded most with the children, especially because my Spanish is so poor.
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| Click here for a video of the kids welcoming as the van pulled up! |
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| Kids love having their photos taken! |
During our last day, of the three day series, I was surrounded by the boys of all ages on two of the pews. During his talk, Ben was asking those gathered in the church questions about what we learned the previous days. I would feed the answers in my limited Spanish to the kids and they would raise their hand and answer the questions, with great smiles on their faces when they got them right.
The highlight for me was singing, dancing, and praising the Lord.
FMC and the Mexican people are both big fans of songs! We do lots of singing every day. One of the Spanish songs tells of Jesus passing through and everyone being transformed. The sadness goes away and the happiness comes for you and me. There's a conga line in the song with other dance moves and we got the women, teens and younger kids conga-ing around the church praising the Lord with their whole body.
In college I worked for a mobile entertainment company where I was an interactive performer. I worked Bar/Bat Mitzvahs and engaged people of all ages by getting them up on the dance floor and teaching them choreographed dance moves. During these songs that night in the chapel it became clear to me that God can use any and all my experiences for his glory in missions...I was doing exactly what I had learned to to so many years ago!
In those moments of singing and dancing joy surpassed all language barriers because smiles are universal! I've shared a little video of us singing at a different rancho.
That third day we had invited Padre Antonio to come to the rancho. He came and offered confession to the people and a time of adoration. During Ben's talk the two pews full of boys I was sitting with disappeared. I thought they got bored and went to play outside, but as I got up to take care of Raeleigh I saw many of them in the line for confession. It blessed my heart to see them going to Jesus!
The final evening we had a convivio, banquet, a sharing of life...in America we might call it a pot luck! Between the singing and dancing and the food, I think that's why most of the kids showed up :). In America when you host a pot luck you make sure you have enough tables and chairs, enough food and the right utensils. For all intents and purposes we were unprepared by American standards. We didn't have any tables or chairs and we all congregated outside the church. On one side of the church a small light shown on a little beach where we served food and on the other side we served drinks. The rest of the plaza was illuminated by the night sky. We might not have had plenty of preparations, but we had plenty of JOY! Kids, including our little girl, were running around the plaza in between bites, squealing with delight.
 |
| Adrian & his sister Laura gave us their mom's homemade empanadas |
Three women of the community made tamales for FOUR hours that day for the convevio. One of the young boys I had become friends with, Adrian, brought, special for the missionaries, his mother's homemade empanadas filled with caramel and pecan (pecans are harvested in this part of Mexico...in fact just down the street from the mission house is a pecan orchard). I saw the generosity of the poor in a multitude of ways that evening.
La Rosa will keep a special place in my heart, as will the people. These are the people that I see the face of Jesus in!
Jesus you assure us of your presence in two places, the Eucharist and the poor. May we always strive to see your face in your people!
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