Baja Missions Trip 2023 - Day 6 "Outreach Day"

Today was a day where being flexible was key. BCM put together another outreach for us in a community they've never been to, and with a Pastor they've never worked with before. The Pastor leads a Pentecostal church about 30 minutes from the house build site. The area is predominantly a squatter area, with the ramshackle homes we had become so familiar with in such a short time in Mexico. But I'm getting ahead of myself. 

The day started with a wonderful breakfast at an ocean front restaurant that is one of Eric's (Director of BCM's) favorite spots. The restaurant was called Los Pelicanos, or as I'm sure you can gather from context The Pelicans. I had huevos con chorizo y pepas, eggs with chorizo and potatoes. The food was amazing, and the view was spectacular, the Pacific Ocean stretching as far as the eye could see. We stopped briefly on our way out, and there was a cowboy who was riding a beautiful buckskin colored horse down the beach doing maneuvers. 

After our decadent meal we piled back into the van and headed to the bodega to pack food kits for the community we were going to be ministering to today. The food kits consisted of dry goods, rice, beans, oats, and some essentials kits of veggies, fresh fruits, toiletries, and Clorox. It didn't take long to assemble the kits, and we didn't need to be at the outreach site till about 1:30, so we sat around talking for a while. 

I spent a lot of time in an interaction with Angelo, one of the kids who BCM is apprenticing, Lucia and Squeaky. Angelo only speaks Spanish so the interaction largely happened through Lucia, who would interpret what he was saying as I intently listened, trying my best to understand what he was saying before Lucia translated for me. The time was spent learning about Angelo, how he lost his front tooth, that he only finished middle school, and that he's an artist. He has more aches and pains than someone who is 17 should ever have to worry about, dislocated shoulders, broken thumb, bad knees from various sports. The kid has had a hard life and he's only 17. 

I think now more than ever I'm motivated to learn Spanish so when I come back I can more easily communicate and learn people's story in their own language and on their terms. 

After about 45 minutes we loaded into the van and began the 1.5 hr trek to the outreach site. It was a particularly rough road to get there, and the last 30 minutes was really slow going. Once we got to the site parking was a whole other issue due to the recent rains washing the road out in spots, but Eric got us turned around and parked on a slight incline so we could disembark. 

Once we had critical mass of people it was time to start sharing testimonies, unlike yesterday where we had another source of entertainment to draw people in, the testimonies were all we had. Baja Josh went first who shared more of a mini sermon than his testimony. The BCM team strongly believes that you need to have a 2-3 minute Gospel presentation ready at all times. I think even we here in the states should be prepared to do this. After Josh a number of our team shared their testimonies, first Stefan, then Squeaky, myself and finally Cory. 

Afterward there was an oppurtunity for us to pray over people or help prep the food and since I prayed yesterday I went to help prep the food. While we were prepping the bags Pastor Nico invited people to come and receive prayer but it was clear people were hesitant to step up. So Pastor Nico started sharing a little bit of his story, how he was worried to step up and follow Jesus because he was worried what his friends and family might think. 

Because no one stepped forward for prayer Pastor Nico and the Pastor of the local church started praying out loud. This wasn't your typical prayer however, they were praying out loud and they were praying very loudly which quickly escalated to more yelling over each other. It was somewhat off putting for many of the Wisconsin team as we weren't really sure what was going on, everything was being said in another language and it seemed as though both the Pastors were in competition with one another. 

After that robust prayer session people still weren't coming forward for prayer until we started calling on people and inviting them for prayer, and slowly people started trickling forward. We prayed over a women who has been offered the purple book before but hasn't been able to make it through due to spiritual attack and that was a powerful prayer moment to witness. She is a woman who was walking with the Lord, but her son got into the drug trade, couldn't deliver on promises to the cartel and they came and took her house as payment. These people make due with so little and this woman had her home taken from her because of a poor choice her son made, it's heartbreaking. 

As the prayer time was wrapping up the local Pastor gathered us together to take a picture before we headed back to Rosarito. We took a picture in front of the "stage" inside the church, the building much like all the other buildings were put together with whatever they could find, and a look up at the ceiling shows the panels used as a roof were riddled with holes, evidence that every bit of this building had been recycled. But where 1 or 2 are gather, the Lord is there. 

We piled back into the van for our return trip, which due to traffic was closer to 2 hours. Everyone in the van was definitely tired after the days activities and people looking out the windows pensively, not talking, or sleeping signaled that. Once we arrived back at the connections house, a few of us walked up the street to get gelato. 

The day ended with dinner and a short devotional with the team, some people started a bonfire after our devotional time together as I write this. I'm wrestling with how to bring all of this back home and to have a ministry even as I work. Help me Lord to be a light in my workplace and to always be ready to share about you.