Cody, Daniel and I flew to Cabo san Lucas on Thursday morning and returned Sunday evening. When I sit down to write about Cabo, I don’t know where to begin. As a result I have not yet sent the thank you letters to those who supported my trip last year. When I think of all that God did last year, and all that he taught me, the pen drops from my hand and I sit in silent awe. Thankfulness fills me and I am blessed that God allowed me to show up and be a part of what He is doing there!
Around two years ago, Daniel and I went on our first short term mission trip. Neither of us was uber excited about it and considered ourselves to be “doing our time.”
We’ll go God, but then we’ll return to our normal lives and probably won’t go again.
This was our thought. We went and it was a good trip. We worked with Elsa, who runs a Christian school in Cabo san Lucas, and Donna, who is from Bosnia but works in Cabo as a missionary. She runs a food program in the poor areas, providing food for children and the many single mom’s who live in the barrios. Returning to the States, I did not give much thought to Cabo. Daniel too, got caught back up in normal life. But then God started moving Daniel’s heart. There is more to be done in Cabo.
Daniel’s thoughts and heart began to dwell on the people in Cabo and he caught the vision of ministry there. When Daniel shared what God was putting on his heart, I knew it was God moving his heart because we had spoken about the fact that we wanted to experience a mission trip but weren’t interested in making it a long term committment. The more Daniel shared, the more I saw that God was stirring him. A wise friend once gave me advice, Deanne, if you want to be a part of what God is doing, look around, see where He is moving, and show up. God will use you. You just need to show up.
God was obviously moving and so I committed to being involved because I wanted to be there.
Last year, Daniel and I headed up a team to Cabo. The vision in our hearts is to work with the local churches, to support them and help them reach their communities, the poor in Cabo. In scripture, God talks continually of the poor, the fatherless, the orphans, and so we know they are important to Him. In June of 2008 a team of thirteen of us went to Cabo and built a house for a young pastor and his family. It was an amazing trip. The relationships and connection made between the church and our team were deep, and we were able to participate in their children’s program. The first year I went to Cabo, the prinicpal of the school, Eric, had led some of our devotional times. He is currently the Pastor of the Spanish ministry. When our team arrived in Cabo the first year, one of the first things he shared was, You think you are here to do construction and build, but God brought you here to build you. You are His building and that is His focus.
During our 2008 trip, I saw this to be true. During our evening sharing/devotional/worship times, we were each changed. God taught us so much on that trip, and I saw his fingerprints on each person. God is building His church! The 2008 trip was amazing and as Daniel and I began to pray and talk about the next trip, I was nervous because I couldn’t imagine anything topping that trip and I didn’t want to be let down. We knew that we wanted to continue helping the local church (this is after all the vision:)) and many of the pastors in the communities do not have church buildings because of lack of funds. Our current mission is to build churches that will act as community centers. This means the food ministry can be started there and then carried on by the church. The buildings we construct will be sturdy and will act as a shelter from hurricanes. Most houses in the area are made out of pieces of wood, steel or cardboard and will not withstand the type of weather Cabo sees in the winter.
We gave Elsa and Donna the task of finding a church for us to build. They had a couple of options in mind, but Elsa did not feel peace about them. God, show us where YOU want us to build the church, they prayed. They drove around the different areas, praying and looking. Suddenly they saw it, a corner lot with a tent and a small building made of palettes. On the side of the lot was a sign with the service times. Elsa returned for one of the services to make sure the pastor preached the word of God, and then, without telling the pastor why, she arranged a meeting with him on Friday. The day after we arrived, Cody, Daniel and I met with the pastor. He had also brought some people from his congregation. We asked him some doctrinal questions to make sure he was on the same page. Then we looked at each other and nodded and Daniel shared the story of why we were there and that we would like to join with him and his congregation to build a church. The meeting then branched into a time of sharing. Everyone was of one accord and it was reiterated again and again that this was not about us, the church building or our glory. This project was for God’s glory and for the good of the community.
One of the women shared as tears ran down her cheeks, We have been praying. God has given us this land, but we had no funds for a building. We had no idea God would answer our prayers so quickly.
The next three days of our time in Cabo were filled with meetings and planning. Everything we needed, each question we had…was provided and answered. Before meeting the pastor for the first time, we were praying for a translator, women from the congregation who would be willing to cook for the team at the construction site, and people from the congregation who would be willing/have construction experience to work with us on the building. Elsa had not told the pastor why we were meeting, but the members he had invited to the meeting included: a translator, women who gladly volunteered to cook for the team, and a construction contractor who said he would be there to help us build. AMAZING!
God was ahead of us for the whole planning trip and I can’t wait to see what He will do in June when we return with the team!