A Look Back: Reflections on Oaxaca 2009
At the end of June, Parkside sent a team of high school students to Mexico to spend a week with supported missionaries Mike and Joan Ross. The students blogged about their experiences while in Oaxaca and Amoltepec. Upon their return, we asked one of the trip leaders, Olivia Lin, to share her thoughts about their time away.
After we returned from Mexico last month, I really struggled to respond succinctly to questions about our trip. Looking back, it’s hard to believe that a single trip—not to mention a single week—produced so many different experiences. Scenes from our trip are varied: walking past the Spanish colonial architecture of downtown Oaxaca; playing with children on the gravel playground of an orphanage; flying to the mountain villages in single-engine planes; and worshipping in English, Spanish, and the native language of the village of Mamey in a freshly painted adobe church. Despite the diversity of what we experienced, I think a theme that emerged for me is the blessing of co-laboring for the gospel. Paul once wrote to the church in Philippi: “I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.” (Phil. 1:3–5) For me, being in Oaxaca revealed the power of partnering in the gospel in a few concrete ways.
Fundamentally, this trip reminded me of how the gospel crosses borders to gather people from “every nation, tribe, people, and language.” Before we flew out to the mountains, Edgar—a church planter working alongside Parkside missionaries Mike and Joan Ross—spent a night sharing with us the story of Mamey, the village where we stayed for two nights. Because Mamey is located in such a remote area, it never became subject to Spanish rule, and preserved its indigenous culture and language (“Mixteco”). Edgar described an isolated community subject to inter-familial violence and alcoholism, and captivated by the occult. In fact, he told us that prior to missionary efforts, Mixteco contained no words for “faith” or “grace.” When I asked Edgar how many believers lived in Mamey—a town of a few hundred people—he guessed fifteen. In light of that history, it was a powerful witness of the gospel’s reach to meet Pedro, who pastors the church in Mamey, and later worship with the believers there in English, Spanish, and Mixteco.
I sensed the joy of gospel partnership again while spending time with the Rosses. Mike and Joan graciously navigated us through an unfamiliar culture. As we stepped into church forty-five minutes late, they assured us that culturally, we were right on time. When our plans to fly out to Mamey gave way to bad weather, they encouraged us that “flexibility is a part of missionary life,” and we later saw how the Lord’s timing afforded us an opportunity to spend time at the orphanage Edgar runs. And casting a vision for their unique ministry, they explained that our forty-five minute flight replaced what would be a fourteen-hour trip by road. Although our short, busy trip to Oaxaca sometimes felt like a sprint, the Rosses are pacing for a marathon. They modeled for us faithfulness on the mission field, and that helped increase my imagination for where the Lord might be calling each of us in the future.
Finally, we received so much encouragement from partnering with our own church family. Keeping a blog while in Oaxaca proved to be just as much a ministry to us as a means to keep our friends and family informed. Every night, we’d convene around the Rosses’ laptop to record the day’s events, read the latest posts, and add any missed details. Each comment from home reminded us of the praying community that sent us. What a blessing! Thanks for partnering with us through the entire process.
A week is not a long time, and I felt a very real sense of loss as we left new-found family in Oaxaca to return home. But there’s so much security in trusting the bond of Christ that allows us to continue partnering in the gospel. In all those relationships, whether here, Mexico, or elsewhere, we can echo Paul’s confidence that “He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”
For more information about the students' trip to Mexico, read their blog, view their photos, or watch some videos of their flights to Amoltepec.
