How can we not care? Plastered across the cover of this month's TIME magazine is the ongoing drug war in México. My first thought is, "Great, publicity is going to run rampant, the phone is going to ring off the hook at the office, and the teams that are already scheduled to come and build the rest of the summer are going to have to fight to make that happen." Then I looked at the cover. I saw the pictures of this terrible drug war, and for a moment I became just like everyone else that sees this. These pictures are terrifying. A fellow coworker said that he got the magazine at his house and never saw it because his wife threw it away. As a missionary to Juárez, México, we have to decide every second whether we will continue to serve God here or walk away. And flipping through photos of a drug war that we know is happening, usually does not make that decision much easier.
We are human. We have families. We have friends. We have a God that we love and want to serve, but we have the same real fears and decisions to make that you do. God has called us to serve Him here. Every one of our staff knows that beyond a shadow of a doubt. With this knowledge, everything else should fall to the wayside. We have been called to serve. The creator of the universe has burdened our hearts to serve the people of México, whom else shall we fear? "The Lord is my light and my salvation- whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life- of whom shall I be afraid?" Psalm 27:1 This scripture sounds wonderful from a safe church pew or as we read our bible in a small group with friends. However when faced with images of a drug war and the call to go and serve in that same place, this scripture has to hold the exact same truths. What changes however, is us. Our fears, our questions, our unknown. Sitting by and flipping through pictures that will only create fear in hearts that God has called to "GO," is not the best way to handle this call on our lives. He tells us to focus on "whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable. If anything is excellent or praiseworthy- think about such things." Phil 4:8
We encourage you to do the same. We are faced with the same decisions that you are. We serve the same God you do. We are broken, weak, human beings that God has called to go and bring glory to His name. We want to walk beside you as you choose to leap out on your faith, clinging to nothing but Jesus Christ and trusting in His promises. We want to bring life to scripture and watch the words fly off of the pages. We want to fill this city with light from a risen savior rather than with the darkness that hovers so closely. We want these families to hear praises to our God and see His love and provision rather than the desperation that they struggle to live within daily. We are not asking you to walk blindly into a city that has seen a great deal of violence or ignore the realities of what is happening here. We are asking that if He has called you to go, that you will fill your mind with what is pure and holy and trust more on His promises than the pictures of fear and destruction that the media will throw your way. More than anything we are asking that you would trust your Father above all else; to let His words become flesh and life and live them out. We will cross this border together, and stand strong in God's amazing grace.
~Brittany Girle
Amen.
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