If honest, I'd have to say that my Mexico experience thus far has been neither boring nor predictable. Over these past three months, God has been showing me more of my sinfulness and more of His righteousness than ever before in my life. He has consistently shown me that I have very little real faith in what He can do and very low expectations of what He will actually do, "Look at the nations and watch— and be utterly amazed. For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told." (Hab. 1:5) Granted, I think this verse is talking more about Israel's looming captivity under the Babylonians, but it nevertheless also points to the coming and ultimate redemption of God's people in Jesus Christ. All that to say, God has been reminding me lately of my utter inability to comprehend the unspeakably glorious symphony of redemption that He is writing and will continue to until its completion the day Christ returns. I can't wait to hear the finished product, can you? That day, all of Creation will gasp, "Oh, so that's why He did it that way. Praise Him!"
I start with that to try and segue into this next story. In telling it, I believe it will be more effective if I spare none of the details. So, I'm officially giving it a rating of PG-13. Consider yourselves warned, all you 12-and-unders.
Ever since our arriving in Mexico City, our leadership encouraged each of us on the team to find a language partner with whom we could meet weekly to practice Spanish. Excited at the prospect, we all began searching. Not long after I started looking, I met a really cool guy named Mauricio working at the Starbucks near our apartment and asked him if he'd like to meet weekly to practice Spanish (for me) and English (for him). He gladly obliged, and we immediately began meeting once a week there at Starbucks. As the weeks progressed, in addition to getting to know him better, I also got to know many of his co-workers. As a result, it wasn't long before, every time I went to Starbucks, I would be warmly greeted by five or six people upon entering. I still marvel at the wonderful relationships that God has literally laid in my lap with the folks there. So cool. Anyway, having that as a little background, fast-forward to one night about a month ago. I had had a long day and felt like some decaf. I also needed to check email, so I decided to stop by on the way home. As I walked in, I was met with the usual chorus of friendly greetings. After saying hello and ordering, I was standing and talking with the girl at the register, when I felt someone poke me on the shoulder. I turned around to see a man who looked to be in his late thirties and was wearing an Abercrombie shirt. He said his name was Miguel.
Miguel was curious as to how in the world I knew so many people at Starbucks and asked if I'd like to join he and his companion outside on the patio. Somewhat hesitantly, I agreed. So, I joined the two of them, the other being a woman named Gris who looked to be in her late twenties, and they both began to ask me questions about myself. I told them why I'm here in the city, what sort of work I'm doing, and why Jesus Christ is the most significant part of who I am. From there, as we started to discuss religion, I learned that Miguel grew up Catholic, but ran away at 15, both from home and from religion, because of his abusive, alcoholic father. In his early twenties, he converted to Judaism just so that he could marry a Jewish girl. After several years, they divorced, but he retained his Jewish faith, at least to some degree, he claimed. Not long after, he started a very successful web-design company (which Gris is employed by) and has become quite wealthy as a result. Also, that night he confessed that recently, he had come to the conclusion that all religions lead to God and that it's egotistical and pretentious to claim anything else. We ended up talking for a couple of hours more (well, mainly Miguel and I, Gris didn't say much) before exchanging contact information, promising to be in touch soon and going our separate ways.
Two days later, I received an email from Gris saying that she and Miguel would love to have me over to their office/apartment that night for pizza, but only on one condition: that we not talk about religion, as she said that religion, politics and soccer are all the same. Everybody has a strong and different opinion about them and you can spend hours arguing about them without getting anywhere. I wrote her back saying that of course I'd love to come and no, we didn't have to talk about religion anymore if she didn't want to. So, that night over Papa Johns, we discussed the differences between American and Mexican culture, and which of the two I preferred. This went on for most of dinner, until completely out of nowhere, Miguel turned to me and asked if I agreed with him in thinking that God doesn't like sex. I immediately flashed a desperate look at Gris, as if to say, "He brought it up, I didn't say a word!" She rolled her eyes and smiled, which I took not so much as her approving of it, but more as her willingness to temporarily tolerate Miguel's controversial new tangent.
As we moved our discussion into the living room, I began to explain what the Bible says about sexual purity, why God designed sex to be enjoyed exclusively in the context of marriage, and that I genuinely believe that God is not a kill-joy; on the contrary, He created the Law because He loves us and knows what is best for us. He created us to know intimacy, including sexual intimacy, but sexual intimacy can only be properly enjoyed when it's coupled with faithful monogamy. At this point, Gris spoke up. With no warning, she asked me if I was a virgin, and, laughing a bit out of surprise, I said yes. Awkwardly, I then tried to steer the conversation in a new direction. But, to no avail. Miguel was amused by her question, even more at my response, and proceeded to ask me several more even less appropriate questions. Fortunately, they did eventually tire of it and we went on talking for another hour about some of the other claims of Christianity before I finally thanked them for the evening and left.
I didn't hear from them again until I returned from Acapulco. The night I got back, Miguel called me and said he'd love to meet for coffee the following night. I told him sure. So, the next night, we met at Starbucks, but this time Gris wasn't with him. We began to talk, and right away I could tell that there was something on his mind. It was no surprise then, when he confessed that he needed to tell me something. He asked me if it had struck me weird at all the way he had approached me that first night in Starbucks. I said not really. He then proceeded to begin talking about Gris. I wasn't sure why he had changed the subject to her, but I listened. He told me a little about her upbringing, what a great girl she was and how lucky he was to have her working for him. He then told me how, several years before, she had fallen deeply in love with a man and that they were soon engaged. Then, several months before the wedding, he got into a car crash and died. Miguel said that, shortly afterwards, she abandoned her Catholic faith, swore she would never try to marry again, and began pursuing one-night stand after one-night stand with men. I was beginning to see where this might be headed. He added that she hated being pursued, instead preferring to do the pursuing. So, he continued, "Basically that night, she saw you walk in and asked me to bring you over. Also, it was her idea to ask you over for dinner, but after learning that you were a virgin, she lost interest." He paused to see how I would react. Honestly, I had no words. In that moment, God was breaking my heart for Gris. I was sorry that she had given her heart away, only to have it broken. I was sorry that, as a result, she had sworn never to love again, for fear of having it broken again. I was sorry that she thought that giving herself to guy after guy would heal her broken heart. I was angry that she has to live in a fallen world where a malevolent Being is actively seeking her misery and destruction, and she doesn't even realize it. I wanted so badly to tell her that she has a infinitely powerful Heavenly Father who has counted all of her tears, and who loves her more than she could ever imagine. I wanted to tell her that she is beautiful because she has been made in God's image. I wanted to tell her that her identity, therefore, rests in who God says that she is, not in what any man may tell her. I wanted to tell her all these things, and so much more. But, she wasn't there, so I couldn't. I wanted even to tell all this to Miguel, but all that ended up coming out was, "I'm so sorry to hear that about her fiance." He nodded, then changed the subject to something else and we continued talking for another hour or so. Then, we said our goodbyes and I headed home, completely overwhelmed by all that God had shown me that night. Honestly, I still am. God still has much work to do on me, but I've never before seen the power and truth of the Gospel as clearly as I do now. Praise Him!
Miguel and I haven't hung out since then. I hope we can soon.
Please be praying for the souls of Miguel and Gris, that God would reveal Himself to them and rescue them from their bondage to sin. Please pray for me, too, that, by the power of His Spirit, God would grant me love and wisdom in my relationships with them; that in all that I do, that I would point them to Jesus. What a creative and incomprehensible God we serve, who takes the most corrupt and perverted motives of the human heart and creates an opportunity for the Gospel to be preached. Truly, what man intends for evil, God intends for good. I'll keep you updated. Thanks for taking the time to read all this.
In Christ,
Tim
Greetings everyone!