God was moving in powerful ways on our missions trip to Vicente Guerrero this past week. Our goal was to lead a team of youth and young adults in partnering with three ministries in the area: Welcome Home, Oasis, and Hope Village. We got to witness the amazing work each of these ministries is doing to meet the needs of the local community and embody the gospel through a preschool, after-school programs for families who must work and cannot afford childcare, house builds for families in greatest need, and a transition house for women fleeing abuse. We spent the week participating in various work projects to improve these facilities and putting on a vacation bible school program for the children at Oasis.
Our 15 team members, along with 32 others from SouthRidge, were at the Abbotsford airport at 3:30AM on Friday, March 13th, where the adventure began. Right from the very beginning, we saw the Holy Spirit in action. I was so encouraged by the unity within the team and how quickly people learned each other's names and felt comfortable being together and talking with one another. This was just the beginning. As the trip went on, team members began to boldly encourage one another, pray for each other, and notice when someone was down and needed support.
Each morning and afternoon, two different team members would lead us in a charge. In one of these, we were reminded of the crucial importance of using our words to "Speak Life." This phrase became a kind of catchphrase for the trip, anchoring and fuelling us throughout the week. And I can't think of a better phrase to capture what we saw God doing—speaking his life over us and over the people we met and served alongside.
It was such a joy to see so many young people come alongside one another in this way and live out what it means to be the body of Christ. I hope, as a church, you can see the incredible impact this trip had on our young people. And this is just one of many stories, so I encourage you to speak with a team member and ask them to share more of what God did.
Thank you again to those who have prayed and given so generously to this trip. We hope you'll continue praying for our team as they transition back into life at home—that they would continue to live out God's mission. Our prayer is, as Paul says in Romans 12:1-2, that they would not be conformed to the patterns of this world, but transformed by the renewing of their minds.
Would you join us in praying that these young people would continue to be transformed by God and would "Speak Life" by sharing the story of the amazing work he is doing in the world and in their lives? And may all of us this week be emboldened by the Spirit to speak life wherever he has placed us. Amen.
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