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by Jason Lee
Over 150 missionaries gathered for a week in the dusty town of San Telmo this July with the desire to encounter the living God personally, and to bear witness to the saving work of Jesus Christ. Brothers and sisters from New York, Chicago, Washington, Southern California and numerous local churches from San Telmo to San Quintin partnered alongside us for what was going to be a powerful time of refreshing, believing, and hoping again for the youth of this generation, both domestically and internationally.
There’s a certain tension that hangs in a room when a group of people gather together hungry and expectant for God while in a foreign and different place with people they’ve never met before. Fear, nervousness but with a longing heart filled with a desire to meet and see God move. Despite all this, as the students bustled into their first worship service for their first night in San Telmo, they began to tune into the presence of God as praise began to rise from that sanctuary. Pastor Eleanor shared about the testimony of San Telmo, about the ground upon which they stood where hundreds of people had given their lives to Jesus Christ, and God’s miraculous saving power over the last 20 years. As the word of God went out, faith began to rise in the room, almost to prophecy to what the next few days would be like.
Over the course of the week, students began to radically encounter the living God as we witnessed times of deep repentance, brokenness over personal sin, and genuine commitments to love and serve the living God. Closed hearts that had hardened over the past few years and dried spirits began to beat and breathe again as the Gospel was proclaimed and the Holy Spirit gave afresh to the youth.
These students, filled by the Spirit, began to pour their blessings to serve and testify to local San Telmo churches. Through skits, games, decorations, messages, and VBS, our teams were able to bless and encourage the churches in Mexico through their hard work and preparation. Although often times it seems trivial to some that missionaries come to these churches, it is a reminder for many of our San Telmo brothers and sisters that God is faithful and still
sees them.
The remainder of the mission trip was filled with continuing to witness the power of the Holy Spirit and the faithfulness of God’s love to His people. At rehabilitation centers, we witnessed men young and old who were bound up in strongholds of addiction weeping in repentance as they were being with the love and redemptive power of God. During our time of bonfire, students shared powerful testimonies about what God had done in and through them.Many testified to being filled with the Holy Spirit for the first time, while others testified of their freedom against guilt and shame, while others spoke of personal deliverance, all giving thanks to the glory of God.
At Estero beach, it was a beautiful time of witnessing over 50 people getting baptized as they committed their hearts and lives in surrender to God. The sun shone beautifully over the beaches, so as to testify to heaven’s witness and the joy of the Father of children returning home.
To close the entire trip, it ended with whom it had started: the person of Jesus. As students prepared to go back home to family and friends, and return to their regular comforts, they were reminded of the body that was broken and the blood that was shed for them through Communion service. They had met with Jesus, heard from Jesus, served with Jesus, and now were going back home with Jesus. They ate and drank of Him, and packed their bags onto the buses that would bring them back to the States.
Mexico Youth Outreach was a week full of grace. Dozens of students encountered God and weresaved. Local churches were encouraged and strengthened by the presence of the Holy Spirit and the Word of God. Pastors and youth groups were encouraged to love the Lord again. It was a reminder to a tired church that Christ is still alive and enthroned, that God is still working in the nations of the earth, and that Jesus still saves.
Let the nations be glad!
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