Today we drove around Matamoros visiting the locations where groups will be working this coming week. Several youth and adults will be staying here at The Gateway this week and doing ministry around the city. One of the places the group will be working is Colonia Libertad (for those of you who don’t remember, that is the neighborhood I lived in for the majority of my time in Mexico as an FYM during the 2007-2008 year). We went back to the church we lived in and it was a bittersweet experience. Seeing a place I loved and called home that looked so familiar yet so different than I remember was hard. I was overwhelmed with emotions and wasn’t exactly sure what to think as I remembered the whirlwind of events that eventually had us leave Castillo del Rey, move homes, and ultimately caused some teammates to go home. A place I loved and spent so much time with great friends was overgrown with weeds, doors had been removed, the kitchen was cleared out, and the building was empty. All that to say, one of the groups this week will be doing construction at Castillo del Rey so it can open as a training facility for students wanting to go into ministry. Though it was difficult to see a place I hold dear changing and it was hard walking through the emotions of past difficult events, it is so great that it will be used as a place to train students to be faithful followers of Jesus. I remember writing a blog called “Castle of the Kingâ€�during my year as an FYM when we were leaving the church, and I wrote about how I hoped it would be a place where God would eventually be glorified. How cool is it that the exact thing God placed on my heart then is coming to fruition now? I’m thankful and humbled to be able to be here and see it with my own eyes. In light of all that, Isaiah 61:1-4,7 has really been on my heart and mind today (especially verse 4-even though the context is not Matamoros, Mexico in 2009, the words remind me of what is happening here):
“The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion-to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendor. They will rebuild the ancient ruins and restore the places long devastated; they will renew the ruined cities that have been devastated for generations…Instead of their shame my people will receive a double portion, and instead of disgrace they will rejoice in their inheritance; and so they will inherit a double portion in their land, and everlasting joy will be theirs.â€�Â�
Praise the Lord for His heart to restore. He has done and is doing great things and I am privileged to bear witness to His working here in Mexico. I will continue to write as I have time, and for more information on what is going on here in Matamoros and on our trips in Galveston, Texas, visit:
