At our last mission trip meeting a member of our team spoke up in an unassuming voice, "Since when does God move in neat and orderly ways?"

The reality of this statement is that God moves according to his good will and that doesn't always match up with our plans. The Mexico mission trip team is currently learning this lesson first hand!

Just a week ago, I received a phone call from Karl Peterson (one of two missionaries we support in Mexico), who has been our point person in organizing our trip this June. In our conversation I learned that because of some recent events the city of Cuernavaca has become less safe, and under the guidance of Pastor Poncho (pastor of our sister church there) we were advised to postpone our trip to that location. This was not the news I was expecting on my day off (and opening day of the baseball season!).

You can imagine the emotions and confusion that comes with news like that after months of preparation have gone into a trip like this. It reminded me of a time when I was a junior in college. I was hoping to spend another summer at the Bible Camp that I grew up attending and had served the previous three summers. I was crushed and confused when I received news that they weren't going to hire me back. I wondered what God was doing and why he wasn't functioning according to the plans I had made. As one door closed, God was in the process of opening another door. This door led to a period of tremendous personal growth and eventually led me to meet Maria.

When the door we were walking through for the mission trip to Mexico closed I really wondered where this was going to lead us. As it just so happens, Karl Peterson and Jo Ellen Reaves were traveling together to a mission meeting, and out of that conversation came a new vision, an "open door" for a mission trip experience that would allow the team to still pursue the same ministry areas but in a different and safer location. Through many conversations, prayer, and listening we feel that new vision is a door that God has opened for us and invited us to walk through.

Instead of Cuernavaca as our destination, we are going to travel further south to the city of Oaxaca. This is Jo Ellen's home region and is far removed from what is taking place in Cuernavaca. We are serving a Covenant church that is located in a community very similar to Xoxocotla. We are expanding our VBS and soccer ministry to five days and continuing our plan to do daily health screenings in a community with great need. Another church in the area also is interested in health screening and is going to join us so that they can take this ministry back into their community. It’s information like this that has us convinced that while we may not see the whole picture of where God is moving with this, there is a hope that we can be used to serve His kingdom this summer in Mexico.

We have every intention to maintain our sister church relationship and are looking into the possibility of inviting a contingent from the church in Cuernavaca to join with us to serve together in Oaxaca. The road ahead of us is not perfectly clear, but a door has been opened for us and we are going to walk through it and see where that leads us.

In Acts 8, Philip is told to "Go south to the road- the desert roadthat goes from Jerusalem to Gaza (verse 26)." Philip doesn't know what awaits him, but he walks through the door that was opened and there in the middle of his journey is a man spiritually hungry and in need of someone to explain the scripture to him. Our prayer is that we would have open eyes and ears to discern where God is leading our team and to be ready when we meet our Ethiopian sitting in the chariot, reading scripture ready to engage with the Risen Lord! Please continue to lift up this team as they prepare and listen to the Lord's leading on what we believe will be an eye opening experience!