Adventures on the (Part-time) Mission Field {5}

          I'm back again with another story, this one a little more spiritual than the last.

          It was a crisp November day, and my dad and I were in one of our favorite places: Mexico. Our church goes there four times a year on mission trips, where we build houses, relationships, and hang out with our sponsored kids. This was my eighth trip and, as for my dad, we have lost count. I was so happy to be there, since the last time I had gone was eleven months before. That previous trip we had built a house for a family with a four year old who would be starting kindergarten the next fall. We fell in love with the family, and soon started sponsoring the little girl. Now, almost a year after meeting them, we were having lunch with them and their cousins, whose daughter is sponsored by a friend of ours. Most of the group was in the house eating, but my dad, Michelle's (our sponsor girl) parents, Michelle, and I were outside making rainbow loom bracelets and playing soccer. Then, my dad decided that right then would be a perfect time to open up a conversation about Jesus. With me as his translator, my dad asked Michelle's parents if they knew what it meant to be a Christian, and they did. Further questions proved that they were followers of Jesus, so my dad asked them if they went to church. They didn't. My dad didn't ask why, but rather encouraged them to do so, since church is very important, especially for their daughter. I didn't exactly use the word "encourage" because I didn't know how to say it, but they got the point. Later we found out that Michelle's father's brother had a conflict with the local church, and that they were essentially thrown out. The conflict wasn't big and it wasn't a salvation issue, but it affected his family greatly. From this I learned two things: 1) You shouldn't be disappointed when the people you are witnessing to are already Christians. Instead, you should rejoice with your newly found brothers and sisters in Christ. 2) We should avoid fights within the church at all costs, because Jesus teaches love and unity, despite our differences.

-Emily
Te amo!