As we drive through the desert during the two weeks we are in New Mexico, it’s not hard to see God’s beauty. Breath-taking rock formations, vibrant sunsets, and the smiles on the faces of the children all reflect God’s splendor. Even with the dust storms and harsh wind, God is there and He is at major work in the Navajo nation; He overcomes (and continually overcame) the small hindrances we faced while in New Mexico. On the night of arrival, we ate at a local restaurant named Earl’s. When our food was brought, Morgan prayed for us, and we ate. We conversed for a while, talking about the work to be done over the next two weeks, expectations, etc. Then, towards the end of our meal, our waitress brought us the check and asked if we were believers. We said yes, and she shared with us that she had been a believer for a little over a year now and that God had really pulled her out of some rough situations. She said that she saw us praying and that it really encouraged her to see other believers praying. What a great start to the trip! We are ALWAYS witnesses for Christ. Even when you’re just going to have some dinner and your mind may not be in “mission trip mode”…God is still at work around you! It doesn’t matter if you’re doing a VBS or not, if you’re on a mission trip or not, people are always watching…and God is always working somewhere. So, we must always be good examples of Jesus, because if she saw us, then others in the restaurant probably did too! As our two weeks continued, God taught me a lot about His provision and power over all situations. We may just be going for a drive to explore the city or going out to eat, but God has His purposes…so we must be sensitive to listen to His spirit and always be ready to share and to show the love of Christ.
-Lindsey Clayton (a.k.a. Rocky Top)
God has taught me so much while I was in New Mexico, but the one big thing that he taught me was how He can use my past to help others that are going through the same situations I went through or experienced. It all happened at a laundry mat. Every day a group of nine people would go to a laundry mat to share the gospel. We would walk in carrying a Bible and a little snack bag of laundry detergent. We just walked up to people in there and would start talking to them. On our last day at a laundry mat, there was a couple that walked up, but didn’t walk inside the building. I felt God telling me to walk over and talk to them, but we were about to leave. A lady on the trip, name Mikki, walked over there with me and we started talking to her. She told us about her son and her son’s father. The guy that she was with that day was not her son’s father. When this guy was standing next to her, she tried to act all cool and tested my faith to see if I really believed what I was speaking. It was hard, but God gave me the words to say. When her boyfriend walked off, she started speaking more about her life. She said that she was in and out of jail and did all kinds of drugs. She also said that she read the Bible while she was in jail. She asked her what she thought, but they were just words to her. This hit me hard because she was about my age, but it was as if I was standing in front of my birth mother and listening to her story. God used my past life to show her that God was love and that she needed Him. I could tell that she was hungry for Christ. This is a day that I will never forget. This young girl will always be on my heart and in my prayers.
-Brittney Cleveland (a.K.a Karate Kid)
It was a Tuesday morning in New Mexico, and the second time we had gone out as a group to a laundry mat. We all had our plans, our own ideas of how the visit should go, and were beginning to develop a set pattern of how the conversations should go so that we could share the Gospel with the people there. At least I did! But things were not to be so. At the first laundry mat we entered that day, the people were all closed doors. As hard as we tried, they simply were not open to conversation. My hopes and expectations for the day had been high considering how well the day before had gone, but things were not panning out that morning. That is, they weren’t until a little girl named Shelby walked in carrying a tray of jewelry to sell. She came up to me and a couple other ladies with our group, and we admired the various earrings, necklaces, and bracelets she had to offer, but did not have money to buy them. Instead we offered her something – a Bible with a tract tucked into the pages.. We told her we were with First Indian Baptist Church, and in response Shelby quickly said, “We don’t have enough money to go to church. We live in a hotel, and my dad is working so that we can buy a house. That’s why I’m selling jewelry – to help my family raise money.” We explained to her that the church didn’t want her money! That they wanted to share Jesus with her and what He has done! After talking to her a little more, she walked off to try to sell jewelry to the other people in the laundry mat, and we wandered outside to leave for the next stop. As we were climbing into the van, one of the ladies suggested we give Shelby a bag of toys that we had brought to hand out and gave one to me to chase her down with. By the time I made it over to her, she had already gotten into the car with her mom, so I bent over to hand it through the window. I could tell that Shelby was telling her mom what we had said. She smiled so big when I handed her the toys, and her mom began asking questions about the church. She told me she had been looking for a church, but hadn’t found one yet. I made sure she had all the information she needed about the church, and I told her that God had us meet that day for a reason and encouraged her to come to the church that Sunday so that they could just share and pour into her about what Jesus has done. You could tell God was working in the life of that mother. And I realized that they were the reason we were at that laundry mat that Tuesday morning. God’s sovereignty was displayed. His purpose was revealed. Though I felt rejected by the other people in the laundry mat, it was evident that God was not yet working in their lives. God was working in that woman’s life! He sent a group of 9 people to ensure she heard from Him! God showed me how He truly is working all around us, and it is often not in the way we expect!
-Morgan Eberts (a.k.a Una Sabia)
“The heart of man plans his way, but the LORD establishes his steps.” Proverbs 16:9
