SPOTLIGHT ON MISSIONS: AJ • Reaching the 10/40 Window

Editor’s Note: For security reasons, this missionary’s name and ministry location are not being shared.

The passing of time here continues to confuse me. On one hand, I am shocked that I will be home for Christmas break in just a little over a month. On the other hand, I can’t believe I have only been here for two and half months. I feel like I have lived an entire lifetime in that short amount of time. How can time pass so slowly and so quickly?

So many things have occurred over the past month since my last update. I experienced the rental car process here and got to visit another city in Baja California, Mexico with the other single girls. We visited the beach, downtown, drove through Valle de Guadalupe and ate some yummy food! It was such a great time getting to know each other and deepening our friendships.

I also got to visit a Mexican hospital — an experience I did not expect to have while I was here. After taking some antibiotics for a respiratory infection, I immediately had a severe anaphylactic shock reaction to the medication. Thankfully, our campus director just lives three doors down from my room and he and his wife rushed me to the hospital. The doctors were amazing and got it under control quickly. I had to spend a full 24 hours in the hospital, just so they could make sure the medication did not cause another reaction before it completely left my body. I left feeling thankful God would allow this to happen while I am here, surrounded by so many people and great medical care. Who knows how far I might live from medical care in the future? I am grateful to know now that I am severely allergic to something so I can be proactive. That being said, I am now the proud owner of an epi-pen.

This month, we have also been busy hosting so many guests! We have had several previous students come to visit and recruit for their teams across the globe. We have enjoyed getting to ask questions and gain all the knowledge we can about life on the field. We also hosted a parents’ weekend where everyone’s parents and families were invited to spend the weekend in Mexico learning about the program and seeing how we live our daily life. I was blessed to host my mom and brother. I got to show them all over our city, and I am sure they slept for a week straight when they got back home. I got to do the same two weeks later when two wonderful ladies from the BMA office came to visit for our open house days. Again, it was so fun to show them around this city that I have come to really love.

Last but not least, we got to experience some festivities of Día de Los Muertos. If you have seen Coco, the Disney movie, you probably have a decent understanding of what Día de Los Muertos is all about. Those who celebrate will create altars (ofrendas) for their dead loved ones. They believe that on this day, their loved ones who have died will come back to visit them. They leave their favorite foods/drinks on the ofrenda for them to take. Cemeteries are filled with marigolds. Stores, homes and other businesses almost all have an ofrenda with pictures of dead loved ones, sugar skulls, more marigolds and food. After observing the festivities and talking with locals about the beliefs behind these traditions, it was just a reminder about how eager we all are to share the good news.

We are learning more and more about the importance of language fluency for gospel clarity. While it is frustrating to not be able to share the gospel to our friends here (because we lack the language ability), we realize that it is so important to be able to communicate clearly before sharing the most important truth of all time. If we communicate poorly, the gospel could get distorted. It could lead to confusion and a combining of current traditions and beliefs with their distorted view of the gospel. That is not the goal of the task.

“So that at the name of Jesus, every knee will bow of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Phil. 2:10-11 NASB).

The task is urgent, but it is not to be rushed.

I will be home for about a month starting mid-December. I plan to be in Arkansas, back and forth between Conway, Greenbrier and Clinton. I would love to meet with you for lunch or coffee and share more about what God is doing during my training and among the unreached. If you are not in these areas, I can also do a Zoom call!

I have started to create my calendar for Christmas break, please email me so we can schedule a time to talk! Contact me at arkslp@protonmail.com.

Prayer Requests & Praises

• Pray for the deepening of relationships with local friends.

• Pray for a fruitful time at home with family during Christmas Break.

• Pray for the continued improvement of my language skills and time management with culture and language acquisition.

• Pray that I will be able to discern teammates, a place and people group to serve among long term.

• Praise God for great doctors and quick healing from the hospital visit.

• Praise God for the hosting opportunities and sharing about my training.

If you or your church are interested in supporting me on this journey, please contact me at arkslp@protonmail.com. Support can be mailed to BMA Global, P.O. Box 878, Conway, Ark. 72032 or given online at bmaglobal.org (Select “Designate my offering” and choose AJ.)