My cabin slowly awoke at 6:30 a.m on Thursday, our last day in Mexico. I walked across our camp to the bathroom where I washed my hands and put my contacts in and then headed back to my cabin to get ready for the day.
"Hey, guys! Guess what?" I said.
"What?" Emma asked.
"It's our last day in Mexico. And... we're not sick!" I exclaimed.
"YAY!" they replied in unison.
I walked into the main room to check my schedule. I would be going on another prayer walk in the morning. I had gone on one on Monday where we walked from house to house and invited the people to our clinics and asked them if they needed prayer for anything. That time, we had a Spanish speaker with us who did all of the talking making the entire thing pointless. Since I had no important role, Amy and I played a game called "who can count the most stray dogs in Mexico." I counted 17. She counted 10. Disappointment flooded my head as I wished I could've spent another day in the medical clinic.
But although I felt that going on another prayer walk would be a waste of my time, I decided to just go with the flow. I knew that although I didn't want to go, I was probably scheduled to go again for a reason.
We arrived at the teen outreach site and got into our groups. I was with my friends Tommy, Carmen, and Jonah. Burt was our translator, and we were with the same Spanish speaker I went with last time (I forgot her name).
But she didn't end up doing most of the talking.
The first house we went to ended up being super awkward. I went on the whole speel about salvation only to find out that the lady was already a Christian. She told me I was cute. After that, we decided that we should ask them if they knew Jesus first before going on a rant again.
"Tommy you should talk next," I said.
"Yeah, let's just have Tommy talk, then Lea talk, and go, Tommy, Lea, Tommy, Lea."
"No!" Tommy exclaimed.
"We should all talk. I'll introduce." I said.
"Then I can talk about how sin separates us from God," Tommy added.
"I'll ask them if they need us to pray for anything," Carmen joined in.
"And I can ask them if they have or would like a bible!" Jonah said.
We then met a lady wearing a brace on her back. We introduced ourselves, and then she told us her story.
"She was run over by a car a while back," Burt translated. "Although she's in pain, she says she feels so lucky to be alive."
I asked her if she knew Jesus.
"She says that the only reason why she was able to get through everything was because of him. She had to learn to trust him with everything afterwards. She says that he's the reason why she is alive today."
Silence.
"You're faith really inspires us," I told her.
"Sometimes bad things happen for a good reason," Tommy said. We all nodded. After Burt translated, a look of satisfaction emerged on her face.
We prayed for her back, her family, and for her to continue growing in her faith.
Encouraged, the 6 of us continued to make our way up the hill. We found a woman standing outside a tiny shack, and we introduced ourselves.
"She's inviting us to go inside," Burt tells us. The condition of her house shocked me. It was dark everywhere. It looked like a rusty cube with kitchen supplies spread out all around. There were no windows and the living space was confined. I wondered where she slept at night.
She began to tell us her story.
"All of her kids have moved out and she lives by herself most of the time. She lives this way because that's how God wants her to live. She has some health problems but she couldn't go to our clinics because the park is too far for her to walk to."
We prayed for her. She started crying.
"She's just so happy that people would come and visit her," Burt told us. We hugged her goodbye and continued up the hill. A wave of humility rushed over me.
At the top of the hill, we met another woman who was making tortillas. She invited us in her kitchen, and we all split one. Our Spanish speaker talked to her for a bit, then motioned to me. I had introduced myself to so many strangers today that I didn't think I'd ever be afraid of introducing myself to anyone again.
"We have been sent by God from the United States to tell people about Jesus." I started. When Burt finished, I asked, "Have you ever heard of him or accepted him before?" She shook her head.
"She hasn't because she lives isolated from everybody else. She doesn't really talk with people and lives mostly on her own," Burt told us. I immediately exchanged glances with Tommy, who looked at Carmen, who looked at Jonah. Finally. Someone on this hill who hasn't accepted Christ yet. A rush of excitement filled me.
"So there is a problem in humanity. God is perfect, and we are not, which separates us from having eternal life with him," I said.
"It's sin that separates us from God," Tommy said.
"But the good news is that a long time ago God sent his only son, Jesus, to die on the cross for all of our sins. This way, anyone who believes in him can have eternal life." I paused. "Would you like to believe in him today?"
"Si."
"All you have to do to accept this gift is pray a simple prayer. Would you like to pray that prayer with us?"
"Si," she said, smiling.
We all read the acceptance prayer in Spanish on the back of the track together. She repeated after Burt every single line.
And she was saved.
"She says that was beautiful," Burt told us.
When we left her house, her neighbor was standing outside. He had an extremely nice house. We complimented him on it, and he told us about how he built the entire thing himself, how he had a pond with turtles that ran away, and that his kids were all in college at the University of Baja. Afterwards, I introduced ourselves. He had already accepted Christ.
Then, an idea crossed my mind.
"Can you do us a favor?" I asked him, making eye contact with Burt.
"Si," he replied.
"Your neighbor over there just accepted Christ, and it's difficult to be a Christian, especially a new one without any fellowship. Could you maybe come alongside her and help her out?" I asked. Burt translated my request. He pointed in the direction of the lady's house asking if it was her, and we all nodded. He agreed to our request.
"Gracias," I said, relieved.
"De nada," He said, and continued on talking in Spanish.
"He says that it's a beautiful thing what we're doing, sharing the love of Jesus Christ," Burt told us. We prayed for him.
"Dios le bendiga!" we all said in unison, as we said goodbye.
Tommy and Jonah raced down the hill.
"I hope they fall," Carmen joked as we caught up with them, laughing.
It never occurred to me that I would lead someone to Christ, someday. I guess God wanted me here on this prayer walk after all.
