Vida en Mexico

Sunday, May 26, 2013

Praying for Mitzia

At the local English speaking church, San Carlos Community Church, I have the opportunity to be a part of a committee that oversees the dispersement of a fund raised within the church for use to reach out and have an impact in our local community.  This was part of a vision to "Touch San Carlos" that our pastor (who unfortunately recently returned back to the US to be closer to their kids and grandkids) introduced to us a couple of years ago.   $50,000 US was raised and has been at our disposal to have an impact for Christ here in San Carlos.



Over a month ago we were introduced to a young girl, Mitzia, who is seven years old and has had to have dialysis since she was seven months old because her kidneys were failing.  Out of desperation, the aunt of this young girl's mother, who is a Christian, got in contact with us because for a number of years already the doctors have had her slated for a kidney transplant yet nothing has happened.  She came to us to see if there was anything that we could do to help with the situation.  Several years had already passed with the family being in limbo, waiting for the transplant to take place and for whatever reason they kept getting different reasons or excuses from the doctors that they couldn't do it yet, even though they already had a donor in place, the little girl's grandmother (who is only probably in her 50's or so...)  Though there really is very little that we can do other than come alongside them and put the situation in God's hands, I also thought of a good friend here in San Carlos, Juan Carlos, who has many connections to people in different areas of the public medical system and other people of influence.  He's been knocking on those doors to see if he can pull any strings and to see if there is any way to apply some pressure on the situation and get things moving beyond this limbo stage that they've been in.

Of particular concern, a bit over a month ago little Mitzia began to take a turn for the worse and the regular dialysis that they were doing with her at home was not longer effective and they've now had to take her into a children's hospital in a city about an hour and a half away three times a week to have it done there.  This is not a family that is particularly well off and the burden of having to go such a distance so often is taking it's toll on an already difficult situation.

They came to us not knowing what else they could do.  A couple of days ago, my friend and I decided to go pay them a visit to encouragement them and see if there had been any developments on their end with the doctors.  Unfortunately there weren't any changes in the situation, just that the doctors kept giving them different excuses for why they couldn't or wouldn't schedule in the transplant.  To help give you an idea of the medical system here in Mexico, it's a mix between public and private health care.  Those who have good jobs or the means to pay for it have access to good medical care.  For those who don't, there is a public system in place for them as well, though it is a slow, cumbersome process, sometimes full of bureaucracy.  It would seem that for whatever reason, this poor family has been getting the run around with little hope in sight and a little girl in desperate need of help.

As we sat there visiting, Juan Carlos challenged them to put their faith in the Lord in the midst of this situation, knowing that He is ultimately in control of each of every situation.  He encouraged them to trust the Lord to go before them, and make a way where there seemed to be no way to go.  We prayed with them but before doing so, Juan Carlos took Mitzia's hands and asked her some questions.  "Do you believe in God?"  An innocent, childlike "Yes," was the reply.  "Do you believe that God made you?"  "Yes."  "Do you want to thank God for your life?"  "Yes."  "Do you believe that God can heal you?"  "Yes."  I don't remember what other questions he asked but each one was responded by a simple yes that you know came from a simple, childlike faith.  And with that we prayed.  There was such a sweet sense of God's presence as we prayed one couldn't help but be moved.   As the tears flowed down we acknowledged together God's presence with us and His sovereignty over even this situation.  We prayed that He would bring healing to her body in whatever way that He chose and that ultimately He would be honoured and glorified.  I don't know who's prayers rang louder in God's ears, whether it was any one of ours or whether it was Mitzia's own prayers, but I do know that God heard us and filled us with a sense of His peace and presence.

As you think of her, would you lift up a prayer?  This coming week some of Juan Carlos's contacts are having a meeting with some people of the leadership of that particular hospital and it would be great to either get some answer as to the incredibly long delay or to put some pressure on the situation, to get something done.  Pray also for this family.  I know that the aunt is a believer and though the others would way they believe in God, I don't know whether they truly have a personal relationship with Jesus.  Pray that above all, God would be honoured and glorified in that family!

I'll be back soon to give you more of an idea of what I'm up to these days and to keep you informed on some of these things that I've been sharing about.  God bless!

Thursday, May 9, 2013

Rehabilitation and Renewal

I'm gonna take a break from sharing about our students to give you an update on a young man named Alex.  Many of you have probably read about him in previous blog postings and some of you have most likely met him if you've spent some time down here in San Carlos with me.  I've shared over the past years a little about his history and testimony (which you can read about here), how he has been on his own since the age of 12.  After traveling around in a traveling circus for a number of years, he found his way into a Christian home, being taken in by a pastor couple and came to know the Lord.  However, he has battled many things in his life, among those the pull of a lifestyle of drugs.  Last year I shared how he had falled back into that lifestyle and to be honest, that's been a common theme in his life.  He'd just hang in there, coming clean for a bit, and then go back to his old "friends" and back into that lifestyle.  It seemed that he would say he wanted to change but in reality he never seemed to truly want to make that decision and turn his life around.  I remember having conversations with him about all of this but he never seem to be able to or willing to break out of that cycle. In fact, things seems to slowly get worse and I've really seen very little of him over the past number of months as he's isolated himself having been caught up more and more in that lifestyle.



This all began to change just over a week ago and as Alex shared with me yesterday, he started to realize the depths to which he had fallen.  He shared with me how one high was only leading to another and he had this sense that someone was coming after him, following him and he was living in fear.  He came to that point where he knew he needed to change and called up another good friend of mine (Juan Carlos).  They went to check out a local Christian drug rehabilitation center, my friend with the intention of leaving him there and Alex with the intention of just checking it out.  As they were there and talking with the director, he put the choice before Alex: "Are you going walk through those doors and make a choice to change your life or will you let the devil continue to have this foothold in your life?  My friend was afraid that he would turn and run but there on the spot Alex made the choice to stay.

Yesterday marked the 8th day of his time at the center and I have to say that I hardly recognized Alex!  I saw a sincerity and a brokeness in his life that I have never seen before!  He wept as he expressed sorrow for the ways he had treated so many people in the past, people who had only tried to help him.  He had actually been a student for a short while at the school I'm now at, four years ago, but for various reasons it had not worked out and Alex ended up leaving because he just wasn't showing any signs of truly wanting to grow or change at the time.  He expressed regret and sorrow for the way he had treated the staff at the school who had been their to encourage him and see him grow spiritually.  We had a very encouraging time and I was blown away to see how deeply God had touched his heart and truly changed him.  I've seen him making changes in his life in the past, only to turn back and fall back into the old lifestyle.  But this was one of those times where I truly believe that he will never go back.  I really believe that God has some huge plans in store for his life as he continues to surrender to Him.

That's not the only huge encouragement and blessing from yesterday.  I went to the rehabilitation center with several other guys, two of whom some of you may know as well.  There are two guys from Empalme, from the church that Pastor Omar and Cristina used to pastor.  One is a younger guy, father of a couple of children, and the other is a bit older with a family of his own.  These guys too had been involved in a lifestyle of drugs, something so common especially in that community in Empalme.  But they came to know the Lord and had left that behind.  However they too had fallen back into that lifestyle and for a number of years were really struggling, no longer going to church.  The younger guy had once been heavily involved in the youth program and in leading worship as well but he had left all of that behind and returned to drugs.   Their names are Rojo and Guadalupe; some of you might remember them from time spent down here.  God has done an amazing work in these guys as well, let me tell you!  They came to the rehabilitation center with us yesterday to share their testimonies and to encourage those who were in the center.  It was so awesome to see them minister in prayer and boldly sharing what God has done in their lives.

It's awesome to see what God does through people who have truly given their lives to the Lord!  It's too bad that for many of us it seems to take this rock bottom experience to truly get our attention but whatever the method God needs to use, He seems to do what He can to get us to truly turn our focus on Him.  And what a blessing when we do!  I know that many of you have offered up prayers for these young men, perhaps it's been a while since you've last done so but how about we offer up a prayer of thanksgiving together for God's powerful and gracious work that He's done in the lives of these men and in each one of our lives!  Amen!