I am a missionary in Mexico. Part 2.

Hello everyone!

My first full week in Mexico is done, and I have to say...I have not been this tired in a very long time. A typical day so far looks like this...

7:30 AM - Wake Up/Eat
8:10 AM - Catch a bus (camión) to the Metro @ Indios Verdes
8:50 AM - Ride the Metro to Juarez Station
9:30 AM - Arrive and walk to the church
10:00 AM - Spanish Class begins
1:00 PM - End Class/
1-5:00 PM can change depending on the day but we leave anywhere between 4-6 PM
5-6:30 PM - Commute home
*The commute to and from our house to the Spanish Classes can take anywhere from 1.5 to 2 hours depending on the weather.

That is it for the set schedule we have for the next four weeks, in the mornings at least. We may have team meetings, prayer and accountability meetings, one on ones, or a church service. Either way, the thing that tires us out the most isn´t the waking up early or the standing for over an hour in a train muy lleno (full) of Mexicans, rather the mental fatigue that occurs from having to learn a language not only to survive, but to build relationships and share Christ with the people. Back in the states, I never understood or felt this ever constant longing and need to keep my mind and heart solely on Christ. Without it, this may as well just be a vacation (which it does feel like at times). This creates an interesting tension that needs to be addressed. The struggle is pretty complex and consists of many parts but boils down to a few things. First, there was the realization of the seriousness of my purpose here and the seriousness that the Christians here have towards us as missionaries. Secondly, the question of "How am I to preach Christ in all that I do?" when I don´t really know what to do in this foreign land. Lastly, fighting the doubts and sense of being a burden instead of a blessing here. That probably doesn´t make much sense..but it doesn't really make much sense to me either..so I guess you can be praying for me about that. (Discernment of my struggles, thoughts and feelings). I'm not sure how many of you have had this tension, but if you have, I'd love to have some light shed onto this situation. Anyway. Enough of that.

There are some things that I have been thinking about that I would like to share.

First off, there are two things that I recently found out about Mexico that kind of scares me. The biggest of all is the idolotry disguised as Christianity. I've been trying to reconcile this in my heart for a while but I have come to the consensus that although good things may happen as a result of praying to these "Saints", they are not of God nor do they give him any glory. When Jesus is not getting utter and total devotion or worship, this is not a work of the Spirit and therefore not of God. These things people are worshiping may help but do not save; treat but do not heal; they postpone death but do not give life eternal. The basic facts of life still remain in spite of these miracles. You are still going to die. It is the after-life that the focus is taken away from, for in Christ alone there is life eternal. To know the one true God and Jesus Christ whom He sent. He alone is worthy of our devotion and worship. To rest assured that our blessings are coming after death and it is only through the death of our own selves that we may truly live. That reminds me of some notes I found the other day...I´ll put it into a nice paragraph...

So. The movement towards righteousness starts out kind of like this..as we could see in the disciples or in those whom Christ preached to. They were invited first to Come and See by Christ. To follow in the footsteps of Christ and bear witness to the truth. Once it had been revealed to them, a new commandment was given. Now. Go and Die. Go. Go and make disciples. Die. Die to the old self and live toward righteousness. We can see this in Mark 8:34, Luke 14:26-33 that this death to self is more than just a suggestion. A reason why I see a need to Die to Self is that if we acheive our own goals, we end up making much of ourselves and not much of God. So that means that we need to rely soley on the Power of God in us, which comes solely from the Holy Spirit. (which is definitely something I want to learn more about while I am here)

That is about the gyst of what I had written down.

Without that, how can Christ be made known? How can God's power be exhibited? The life that glorifies God, decreases so that Christ may increase. I honestly do not live this way all the time but I am realizing all the more that it is how it must be. To be the light in the darkness.

All that said, please pray for us as we continue to follow God´s will for Mexico and in our own lives. Pray we would set aside our own lives to experience life and bear witness with that life. Pray that Spanish would not be an obstacle but a tool to share Christ's love with the Mexicans. Pray for physical and spiritual endurance as well.

Thank you for taking the time to read this too!

¡Dios te bendiga!
-Patrick

I am a missionary in Mexico.

¡Hola desde Mexico!

(I apologize for any incoherence. My brain is tired.)

So, I've been in Mexico for almost a week now and I have to say that it is quite an experience. A great one at that! The first few days, the team was living in the Hotel Stanza in the middle of the city and it felt like I was on vacation. It was a very weird feeling because we were learning and talking in English the whole time. So when our host families came to pick us up on Saturday, it felt as though I was packing up to head back home to the states. Since I had that mentality (sort of), there was a bit of a culture shock when our Papa, Pastor José Luis Hernández, picked us up in his truck and we drove to the mountains where we are staying (pictures to come...hopefully). This was the moment where it hit me and I thought to myself, "Oh man, I am in Mexico and everyone speaks Spanish." It seems pretty silly, but if you have ever had to work with the people in a country for the first time and you have no idea how to communicate in the language, then you probably know what I am talking about...either way, I suppose you could call it culture shock. Fortunately, I learned a pretty nifty song and some coping mechanisms for this dunk into the culture tank. The truth about it all is that there truly is no amount of training that could prepare me for what I have been experiencing.

The thing that I cling on to and gives me hope is the fact that Christ is the one that has brought us all together and that God has created language, both body and verbal. Remembering that I can go to him through the Holy Spirit with full confidence that He hears and answers.

My goodness. There are so many more things to say. Unfortunately, I tried writing a post earlier, but I accidentatly exited out of the window instead of making it smaller...something got lost in translation. Which means, for you guys, you get the shortened version that my mind can handle.

Quick schedule update though.

We are starting our Spanish classes tomorrow, Tuesday, and it takes 1.5-2 hours to travel to where we are having classes. I am now living with the family, on the North side of D.F. with a lovely fellow named Daniel Coots. We are working with a Baptist Church in a part of town that has a big influence of Mormons on the right and Jehovah´s Witness on the left and also a huge prison as well. We will be working with the youth here by playing sports with them and having a camp for them as well.

blahhhh. I´ll try and share more soon. The cool thing is that I am starting to think in Spanish...it's kind of weird because I never understood what that meant until now. To be honest too, there are times where my brain just shuts down because it is so tired of all the learning...which makes me think of how amazing baby brains are to learn so much. I guess I understand why they cry and eat so much now...food for thought...
¡Adíos!

In Him,
Patrick Hing