International Ministries

Where We Need To Be

December 18, 2002 Journal by Mercy Gonzalez-Barnes
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As I write this morning, I realize that Christmas is quickly coming upon us. This is not by a seasonal change, you understand, because things look about the same as they do during the summertime. The farm fields are continuing to yield crops, and are being plowed after harvest, and are being planted again. The sky is its beautiful blue, almost without exception. It is a little cooler here, with the days in the 70's-80's, and the nights in the 40's-50's, and my good friend of the night sky, Orion, is now visible at a more civilized hour. Realizing that my old stomping grounds have received snow a couple of times already, and that my daily exercise here continues to be biking, I can say there are some things I miss, but some things I don't!

For the last while, Mercy and I are getting more and more of the sense that we are exactly at the place we need to be, at exactly the right time. As you know, we were invited by the convention to work with them in planting churches. There is such a desire to plant it can be overwhelming! And this is not simply people sitting around a table wringing their hands and saying "we need to plant churches," rather this is a convention, and especially in the Mexicali valley, where churches are planting churches already. We can think of several churches that have planted missions already, and want to plant more. We see churches hungry to share the Gospel in different ways.

One of these ways was in the evangelistic campaign we just had in Paradones. If you look on a map of Mexico, even western Mexico, chances are you won't find it. In fact, Paradones is so small that the first time I went there for a meeting, I went right through it without realizing it. I went on another 15- 20 minutes before I stopped and asked directions. Sure enough, I went right through! The closest sizeable community is Algodones (cotton in Spanish), where many tourists, including retirees, cross the border to buy souvenirs and get their teeth worked on and buy their glasses. In this little tiny town, over the space of three nights, several of the churches of the convention on the eastern part of the valley got together with an evangelist and held outdoor services. As part of the Saturday activities, they had free haircuts, medical exams, fun activities (play and Bible stories) for the children, and even rabies vaccinations for the local dogs. While I think the time of the classic revival meetings has passed, there are some very useful things that can be gleaned by this type of activity.

In November, Mercy led a church-planting workshop at the seminary. In this workshop, we discussed the stories of plants that have gone well, and also of some of the mistakes made along the way. Mercy's portfolio while she was a resource minister in Connecticut included new church planting, and she now participates in the Church Planting Institute, sponsored by the American Baptist Churches, USA. But we both have a philosophy of sharing, rather than telling, and that sharing includes a great deal of listening. So when we lead or teach, it is with the expressed purpose of dialogue and exchange of ideas. This is a relatively new concept for many here, but they seem to be responding very well.

Mercy and I continue to teach at the Seminary in Mexicali. She is teaching Church Revitalization, and I am teaching the Practical Work of the Pastoral Ministry. Along with this, I am also the Field Education Director. We continue to see many of our students as being very bright, capable, and willing people, and we have high hopes for their future in ministry, and of the convention as they participate in it.

And as part of our work here, we are available to preach in the different churches of the convention. On the 8th I preached at Mision Sion (Zion) in Mexicali, and on the 15 at San Vicente. San Vicente is about an hour south of Ensenada, by a very twisted road. Many tourbooks advise Americans not to drive at night in Mexico, and I can see why. I have no more fear of intentional harm coming to me in Mexico than I do in the US. But the roads themselves can be quite a challenge, especially if there is a good deal of traffic on them. Also, there are many places in desperate need of a slow traffic lane, as there is a great deal of truck traffic. And, while they do use reflective paint and "Botts Dots (reflectors on the road surface)", the effect is remarkably less than on most roads in the US. Couple that all with the fact that in many places the roads follow the spine of a mountain, with 1000 ft drops on either side and no shoulders, and we can understand the abundance of roadside crosses. Now some roads in Mexico are of interstate quality, but we weren't able to use them on this particular trip.Having said all that, we made it down and back just fine, even though, because I preached at the afternoon service, all of the trip back was at night.

Our time in San Vicente was a precious one. Materially speaking, the people are struggling, especially from November to March, when the agriculture slows down in their area. There is much unemployment, and even the jobs that are there are not very well paying. Having said that, we felt very much welcomed with the very best they could offer. Yes, our stay included using the outhouse, and showering by pouring warm water. But it also included people willing to give and share of themselves in ways that felt very genuine and warm. As I said, I had the opportunity to preach there, and Mercy shared about new church planting, as they have a mission started a few miles down the road.

On the home front, the children continue to do very well in school. They are both in accelerated programs, and are doing great in them. In the state of California, they have the expectation that the children read proficiently. They measure this by assigning point values to books, which the children are tested on. The requirement is that each child have at least 100 points that their grade level by the end of the year. Aida already has over 200 points, and is qualified to read 12th grade reading material (she's in 6th grade) Richie is also doing very well, and especially shines in Math. They are both voracious readers.Aida is also involved in chorus at her school, and has a presentation tomorrow night.Joshua is enjoying his preschool a couple days a week, and at home is particularly enjoying getting into things scattering them all over! He enjoys train watching very much, and every once in a while; we'll steal away to watch some.

We have some needs and prayer requests we'd like to share.

Thank you for your continued care and support, shown in many ways. We pray that you find the Advent of our Savior and the Celebration of His birth particularly joyful and meaningful this year

In Christ's Love,

Rick, Mercy, Aida, Richie, and Joshua