An Anointed Night
What happens when you bring together 25 young passionate American missionaries with 40 curious Mexican teenagers? God shows up! On Thursday March 19, 2009 the teens of the parish of Santísimo Cristo del Ojo de Agua stood united for the very first time alongside their brothers and sisters in Christ who were on spring break for an anointed night of prayer.
Since arriving here in Saltillo, Mexico in January, we have been so abundantly blessed to live, work, and pray with the young people of the parish that we have been sent to. Our team, or more correctly, our family consists of a humble servant priest, Padre Moy, our friend and Deacon, Claudio, and all our other brothers and sisters who work with the young people. The majority of our ministry has been with the teens but we also have been blessed to be able to visit weekly the five ranchos, or desert communities, with Claudio and to participate very actively in the life of the parish. For example we are involved in different music ministry groups, helping teach catechism classes for children and teens, aiding in liturgical preparations especially during Holy Week, and acting in the huge production of the living Stations of the Cross that the parish puts on each year.
One of the biggest challenges that we have faced in the life of our parish and in our mission thus far has been the need to come against spirits of division and disunity. Our parish community is divided into four sectors, three of which are chapels within walking distance and the actual Church parish, within which we live. The parishioners identify themselves almost solely with the sector that they belong to and not with the parish as a whole. We have felt convicted by the Spirit to stand unified as a team against this disunity in prayer and action, and to begin a unified youth group with all four sectors.
Knowing in February that within a few weeks the students from Franciscan University would be coming to spend seven days in General Cepeda, we began to pray that God would make it possible for them to come and share their faith and the reason for their hope with our youth.
That anointed night God “blew all our expectations and wildest dreams out of the water.” We had Spirit filled bilingual praise and worship, played some hilarious games on a small budget, heard some life changing testimonies, and our hearts were inflamed by the passionate fiery preaching of Fr. Denny TOR. And as if that was not enough, some of the women of our parish generously and lovingly prepared the biggest Mexican feast you can imagine. While sharing the meal, we also shared loads of laughter and joy, sang songs, told stories, and built friendships across borders.
God is doing great things in the lives of our teens and in the life of our parish and we feel so blessed and humbled that He has chosen to work through these three little missionaries. Please continue to pray and fast for us and for the faith community of Ojo de Agua. If you would like to follow us on mission as we continue to take Jesus at His word and preach the Gospel in Mexico check out our blogs linked on the FMC website. God be praised!
