A Letter to the Juniors
Joe Rogers, Copy Editor
May 31, 2010
Filed under Missions, Student Life, Top Stories
Class of 2011, there is no one who can tell you what to expect in Mexico. There are few who can put into worthy words what happened to them, let alone prepare you for the adventures you will find in the streets of Mérida, the huts of Tabi and Hocaba, and in the homes of a people you cannot hope to imagine. Mexico has changed the lives of three graduating classes already—expect only that you will continue the tradition.
There is a long history between Calvary Merida and Calvary Christian Academy in Fort Lauderdale, but no one trip is the same. I cannot tell you what to expect because I really don’t know. God is creative, and He will find a place in His plan for your class. We cannot fit God into our plan as well as He can fit us into His, so let flexibility and spontaneity rule. For a week, you could be an actor, a singer, a basketball player, a painter, but it’s guaranteed that whoever you were when you left, you won’t be any more. The God that is crucified, risen, and living in His followers is not status quo. Neither is His Body.
Ultimately, it’s simple: you cannot prepare your mind. There are names, faces, and places that will be revealed to you, every detail adding another color to the mental picture of Mexico you won’t be able to forget. But you can prepare your heart.
How can anyone understand a legacy they have not yet inherited? The richness, the fullness of a gift still to be received? There is nothing I can tell you but this: be ready, but even that won’t be enough. No one can truly “be ready” for the unknown, and I promise, you will be thrown wildly off course.
You are going to see a different country, culture, and people. You are going to speak another language, eat different foods, do things you never thought you could, but none of it changes the God who sent you. Nothing else will make sense but Him. You will be forced to leave every barrier behind, any comfortable limit, and it will feel as natural as breathing.
In a world you cannot recognize, the God you thought you fully understood is going to show you how little you understood even about yourself. Did you know that you can pet an alligator? Did you know that you can hold a conversation in awkward Spanglish and still get your message across? Did you know that you can fall in love with a family it took you seventeen years and a missions trip to find? Did you know that the God you serve has no borders, no boundaries? Guess what? Neither do you.
So be ready.