Well – tonight we had 23 people from our MAC Mexico Mission (M3) Team Reunion at our house (the last pile left about half an hour ago). Mmyself and Corinna led a 25 person team on a trip to Tijuana, Mexico where we spent a week doing two Vacation Bible Schools a day to two different churches in two very different parts of the city – one upper middle class, the other very poor. It was one of the most testing, exhausting, fantastic things I’ve ever experienced.

I learned so much about myself and the people around me. I learned I had a greater capacity than I thought. I learned the people around me are capable of amazing spectacular things. I learned that I am part of a freaking amazing community of believers and I sometimes wonder what I did to deserve that. I learned I have a whole lot further to go and grow. A whole lot more to love. I learned I’m a pretty selfish person.

One of the things we did as a team at the end of our trip was to write a letter to God. Each of us composed our own letters to God about the trip. We could write whatever we wanted. Talk about what happened on the trip and what we hope would happen as a result. Then we sealed it in an envelope and they were all tucked away somewhere until this evening when we all got them back to read to ourselves. It was a pretty cool experience.

I can honestly say I love each and every member of the team. Every single one of them. We went through some pretty tough times together. Brutal heat. Exhaustion. Culture Shock. Relational strain. But at the end of the day each of us survived. We gave something of ourselves to the kids we met in Tijuana and to each other. We learned how hard it is to leave your home and culture to minister into the lives of others.

As I write this we are already planning next summers mission trip. It is local. We will be leading a team to the inner city to deliver a Vacation Bible School at a First Nation’s church. We hope to connect with the local mission as well. It’s scary and exciting all at the same time. I look forward to seeing what the next team will look like.

Anyhow – the evening was amazing. It was powerful and fun. It was comfortable which is good and I think God smiled (corny I know).