A Mission On Fire

This week we took the missions team from Montana to a Kid’s club that is run by a lady named Maggie. Maggie is originally from Guymas Mexico, a city near San Carlos. She later moved to the United States where she raised three kids. After her kids were grown and out of the house she felt the Lord was calling her back to Guymas. She sold her house, packed her bags and moved back to a small rundown house that her mother had left to her when she passed away. When she got to Guymas, she used some of the money that she had gotten from selling her house in the states and used it to buy an empty lot right next door to the house that her mother had left to her.

 Since moving back to Guymas, Maggie has turned her house and property into a mission center. Her goal is to provide the children of the community a safe place to spend their time and also to teach them the Gospel. To attract attention, she offers English classes every day. Besides English Maggie also teaches the kids form the Bible and also teaches them how to worship God.

The English classes are held in a building which she constructed on the empty lot. Unfortunately there is not enough room in the building for all the kids who show up so three of the four English classes which she offers are held outside of the building. She currently has plans to build a 2^nd story on the original building to offer more room for the growing ministry.

While I was there, Maggie gave me a tour of her home. She lives in a small four room house along with three other single mothers and their children who she warmly welcomes into her home. She shares her room with the three women while the children occupy the other two rooms. The kitchen sits just off her bedroom and offers just enough room to turn around in. For this reason a good part of her cooking is done outside.

When she was showing me her house, she mentioned that the roof has some major leaks. When asked about repairing the roof, she said that for now she wants to put all her money toward building the addition on the class building. The other reason that she doesn't want to repair the roof is because she has a vision for adding a second story onto her current home so that she can offer shelter to even more single mothers and abused children. If she repaired the roof now it would be a waste of money because she would have to take it right back off in order to build the second story.

The majority of the children who Maggie takes in and works with come from very broken backgrounds. Most of them have no father. If the father is involved with his family at all, he usually is very abusive. In many cases, the mothers are forced to choose between prostitution or dealing drugs in order to put food on the table for their children. Despite their broken backgrounds, it is amazing to be able to see the transformation that has taken place in these children as they are loved and learn more about the Gospel message.

Maggie made a strong impression on me. Despite all the comforts and ‘necessities ‘ that she has given up, Maggie is one of the happiest and most dedicated Christians that I know. She has given up everything to serve those in need and count’s it all as joy. The joy of the Lord is constantly radiating from her. Having the opportunity to work alongside her in her ministry is a truly humbling experience and challenges me to be more faithful in my own walk with the Lord.

Last but not least, the Lord provided me with an affordable flight back to Michigan for Christmas. Since things looked pretty slow around the mission I decided to take the opportunity to visit my family. I’ll be back in Mexico next week. Until then, God Bless and have a Merry Christmas!!