A recent conversation revealed to me that as I have been sharing passionately about the direction the ministry is growing in and how the local Church is growing in its involvement, one could perceive that the future goal of the ministry is for less participation of teams from the US or Canada.
Is that our goal? Is that the big picture?
This past year I shared a number of times how we are witnessing God produce fruit through the faithful planting & watering of seeds in Ensenada, through the fifteen years YUGO’s Ensenada Outreach Center has existed.
I also elaborated on one of YUGO’s principle goals of equipping the local Church, and how we are seeing a momentum growing as the local Church becomes more engaged in the mission of the Great Commission in Ensenada.
As one member of many who have come together at EOC to form one body and become one community, I have delighted in seeing the percentage of this body reflect a larger local presence. And together we are pressing towards a level of local participation where it won’t be the exception to have a Mexican team participating in the Outreach Ministry.
As we get a glimpse of what may come, we also consider what that represents in the big picture or macro-view of what God is doing and producing here.
We are not hopeful for a day when there will be enough Mexicans participating that the teams from other countries will stop coming. We are hopeful that as people continue to come from all over the Americas (and the World) that this will become a sustainable ministry that isn’t dependent on any one country for its sustainability. Mexico has so much to offer this ministry, and so much to gain through the joy of participating. But the larger body of Christ IS made up of people of all races, genders, nationalities and denominations.
We don’t see that as more Mexican & Latin American teams participate that there won’t be the room for others, it’s just that the dependance on others will lessen. I was recently reminded of the transformation that takes place in the lives of those that come to serve. Its not an experience at the expense of the recipients, however, it is a reality that those coming to serve leave with a sense of equally benefiting. It is the beautiful reality of the transformation that takes place in all of us who come together to be with Jesus, as he builds his Church in Mexico.
There are many forms of poverty, blindness & captivity and Jesus came to set all of us free from these. How great that we can all come together equally in Him, to become his hands & feet in Mexico and around the world...so that He receives the Glory!
That’s our big picture vision going forward. Will you join with us?
