no.294 140218 Thank you for the heart to give

Mexican pesos

After my lunch, I made a quick visit to the currency exchange centre to do some business. This was something I wanted to do ever since my visit to Santa Maria (SM) church in Mexico that very saturday. SM church that my short team mission team visited was one of the Rolando's churches in Mexico. I've previously shared about the saturday breakfast program there that the church provides for the kids in the neighbourhood. If you want to find out what my team did, you can read my older post here.

Santa Maria is a really poor neighbourhood, and not many people can afford much food there. After watching the children eat that saturday, especially seeing with my eyes how hungry they are, and how much nutrients they need (they were drinking pop for breakfast), God opened my eyes and my heart for these rowdy children of Santa Maria. I wanted to give more to these children. It was great that my team was able to provide the meal for that day, but I didn't want it to be a one time only thing. God has given me a heart to feed them. Not just once, but multiple times. Not just bread but more importantly, the word of God.

I'm praying about Santa Maria, and God's vision for me. I feel like God is expanding my heart for Mexico, especially towards Santa Maria. Perhaps there is something that He wants me to do there. Perhaps, He wants to use my talents and energy that He's given me there. I still don't know whether I'll be needed, nor what kind of work I'll be doing. Praying is all I can do at the moment, and wait for the Lord.

Although I didn't physically make a piggy bank to save money for the children in Santa Maria, I've been making a conscious decision to spend less. I've been making lunch to work and I've been gone out less since I came back from Mexico. I've definitely done less shopping compared to before Mexico, and I'm actually pretty proud with myself. So the amount that I could've used on eating out with my friends after church over the past months, I'm giving it as my offering to Guadalajara. I'm planning to send it with the men of faith team, who is leaving at the end of February for their short term house construction mission trip. It's not that much, but I hope that it will be used to feed the hungry children in Santa Maria.