Today is the day!

AIL Mexico Coordinator Becca Freitag with Ely, Mariné [in pink] and Cesar "Today is the day! I'm so happy, my friends are coming." Those are the words of Mariné [pronounced maar ee nay], a friend of mine from Mexico who is like a daughter to me. She wrote those words on her Facebook page the day I was bringing a team of short term missionaries to serve at the church she and her husband Martin pastor. I have known Mariné and her family for almost 20 years. Literally since I began a life of missions work in Mexico. I have watched her grow up, marry, and become a wonderful young mother. Her daughter, Berenice, calls me Abuelo Dr. House. Go figure. Anyways, I was there this week hosting a team of short term missionaries from Los Angeles. They are part of the Asian American Christian Fellowship. This particular group has partnered with Martin and Mariné in ministry for about 6 years. Now what I like about this group is this. Their focus isn't on projects, like a lot of missions work in Mexico. Nor is it on telling people how sinful they are and how they are in danger of going to hell. Their focus is on building and maintaining relationships. Relationships that lead to community. Because those relationships, and that community, can be life changing. It is that life changing community that Luke talks about in Acts. A community where people share their lives, meals, and hopes for the future. It is a community that is built over time and is connected through a series of intertwined relationships. It is the type of community that leads Mariné to say "Today is the day! I'm so happy, my friends are coming." As I think about Christian mission work in general, and Mexico in particular, I am challenged. Challenged to be faithful to my calling to preach Christ and His message of the cross, and yet also to live the words of St Francis of Assissi who once said: "In all things preach Christ, and when necessary, use words."