I wrote this all down so that I could remember it and always have these records of what God has done and continues to do.

On Wednesday night, the Pastor's young daughter and I hold a kids missions class at church. We started it several months ago with the goal of exposing the children to missions and the work going on around the globe. It was our desire to burden their hearts for other countries and people, in addition to teaching them to be missionaries to their own communities. Although they have been excited to learn about missions around the world and have even started inviting their unsaved friends to church, I still wanted to see them realize that being a missionary was something they could be every day in their own neighborhood.  Tonight, we finally saw these little missionaries in action! :)

They have been behaving so well and paying such great attention, I decided to give them a break from the normal routine. We have recently been doing a series on the life of Amy Carmichael and the kids have been very impressed with her fearless determination to minister to the people of India. Tonight, we studied a time in her life when she reached out to prostitutes and girls in hopeless situations. So... we opened up with the familiar song "Jesus Loves Me" and reminded the children how God loves everyone- rich or poor, old or young, clean or dirty. We followed it with a short skit about a modern day "Good Samaritan" and then went into the lesson about Amy Carmichael working with these women that no one else cared about.

After that, we let them walk to the basketball court in our church neighborhood. I would say park, but that would probably inspire much too pretty of a mental image to be accurate. :) Our "park" consists of one actual basketball court, a dirt area where they play soccer and a few old swing frames (no swings attached). There are 2 old pavilions with concrete tables which are covered in graffiti, the entire place is overgrown with weeds and littered with trash. The main noises you hear are the sounds of American hip-hop from teens' radios and the traffic as it drives by on the overpass.

I smile as I write this because it is a scene very familiar in many parts of Mexico. The sun starts to set, the heat starts to fade, the kids and teens comes outside to play, and the adults sit at their doors and windows watching the people going by. Despite the trash scattered about and the gang graffiti everywhere, it is actually quite peaceful. This is my favorite time of day in Mexico and these neighborhoods are the places where I live to be.

By the time the class made it to the park and started a soccer game with some neighborhood children, I noticed another group was starting to form. A group of older teens and college aged men. They sat on the sidewalk, watching the young kids play and laughing at their "skills".

Even with the disappearance of the sun, it was still very warm. I sent one of our kids to the little store down the street to buy ice-pops for everyone. I also sent her to get a stack of tracts from my car. She returned and the kids all got ice-pops and tracts and starting handing them out to the neighborhood kids and teens. One of my little girls said "what about them?" and pointed to the group of older, rough guys. I told her to give them icicles too and a tract. However, most of the kids eagerly handing out tracts just a moment before suddenly disappeared. But this adorable, brave little 8 year old girl got a determined look on her face, just gathered a handful of tracts and ice-pops and went over. When she showed this courage, several other kids followed- ice-pops and tracts in hand. I watched as they stood there talking to the group of men, shyly handing them their snacks and giving them the small papers with God's Word. They came back a few minutes later smiling and proud. A moment later, the little girl who had first braved up to talk to them whispered excitedly in my ear, "Look! They're reading them!" Sure enough, I looked over and saw them reading the tracts and eating their ice-pops like happy children. Even a few of them had joined in the soccer game, but in between kicks and running continued to eat and read. :)

That inspired the kids to give out more tracts, so they ran to give tracts to some of the adults sitting outside their houses, to the teenage girls walking by, to the older man watching the game with interest. Every time they handed out a tract, they came running back happy and with cheeks flushed asking me for another one for "that man over there" or that "lady by the house".

 The night could have ended right then, and I would have been encouraged and blessed. To see these kids so happily running all over the neighborhood passing out God's Word and inviting people to church. The moment we had prayed for had come... they were realizing what it meant to truly be a missionary and that is was possible to be one right in your own community.

 What a great night!

I looked over at the group of young men still reading their tracts and talking, and I realized that there was something I was supposed to do as well that night. Gathering up nerve, I said to the kids who had been passing out tracts, "Well, before we go back up to the church... I guess I need to go witness to them."

The brave little girl cried "Yay!" and told me to hurry. Then they all just stood and watched expectantly. I picked up a Bible, looked again the group of guys and... I froze.

I don't freeze easily. Not usually, at least. But something stopped me just then. Pride, self-consciousness, and fear. Yes... fear. I admit it, I was a little scared. You see, the thing was I had seen some of these guys before. I knew what they were like, I had heard some of their comments when girls had walked by, I knew that these guys were the toughest guys in the neighborhood- the ones the little boys looked up to and respected, the ones the little girls were intimidated by. All these thoughts were going through my mind, but meanwhile the kids were just standing there, waiting for me to go and start talking to the rough looking group.

Peer pressure. lol

I swallowed and started to talk, interrupting their game... "Um, excuse me. Before I have to go back to the church, do you think I could maybe talk to you guys for a minute?" They looked at me, then looked at each other. There were 7 of them, plus a few younger ones standing nearby to see what was happening. They were your typical "thugs". Several of them had their heads shaved. One of them was shaven completely bald, except for a long tail hanging down his back and a soul patch on his chin. One big guy in a gray t-shirt had huge silver earrings in both ears. The others were dressed in shorts and t-shirts or wife-beaters. Finally one of the oldest ones said "Sure" and motioned them all to come sit down.

Whew. Sitting down in front of me on the basketball court, they didn't seem so scary. They almost seemed like little kids, as nervous of me as I was of them. "Stop being so silly!" I thought. "They are no different than you or anyone else you know." I started talking and told them I wanted to ask them a question, then share 3 verses of scripture. I looked at them and said, "One day, we are all going to die. Maybe some of us soon, maybe some of us when we're old. No matter what though, we're all going to die sometime. When you die, where do you think you will go?" I looked for an answer at the guy sitting to my right. He smiled mischievously and replied "I'm going to heaven. I'm no sinner. I've never done anything wrong." They all laughed loudly.  I smiled but continued, "So Mr. Perfect over here says he is going to heaven, but what about the rest of you?" One by one, they shook their heads and said they didn't know. One said he would like to go to heaven, but he probably wouldn't ever go. 

I opened my Bible to Romans 3:10 and asked for one of them to read me the verse. They looked around embarrassed. A skinny boy in a blue t-shirt had admitted he didn't know how to read, the rest of them just mumbled and finally pointed to one of the younger guys in the group. He was nicer dressed than the rest and seemed to be about 18. He came over and started reading the verse I pointed out "There is none..." he stumbled over the word, "...righteous. No not one." He then went on to read 3:23 - that all are sinners and have come short of the glory of God. "Know what that means?" I said. "It means everyone, even Mr. Perfect over here, is has messed up and sinned. No one is perfect." He laughed good naturedly and I continued talking. We read Romans 6:23 and talked about how we deserve a punishment of death and hell for our sins, but how God provided a way for us to be forgiven and cleansed from those sins. Then we went on to Roman 10:13 and read how that all who call on the name of the Lord will be saved. I told them how it was a gift, not something we could ever earn or win. Just a free gift that could be accepted by believing on the Lord, seeking his forgiveness of sins, and accepting Him as their means of salvation and forgiveness. I told them how simple it was to start this new life in Christ, but that it took a lot of courage to make that change.

I tried to keep it simple and straightforward, and ended by simply asking them if they were ready to make that decision to follow Christ and repent of their sins. I told them I could pray with them right here if they wanted. The big one in the gray t-shirt responded by getting up and running away... literally. He took off running and didn't stop. They all laughed as he went. Mexican culture is big into being "macho" and teaching that religion is for women and children. As we stood there watching that guy running off, I reminded them that it took a much bigger man to be brave enough to do what was right in front of his friends. Most of them just looked at the ground.

Suddenly the young one who had read the verses spoke up quietly, "Well, I'd like to pray and get saved right now if that's ok."

I smiled and he looked back shyly. That was all it took, 4 others spoke up and said they wanted to do this as well. I told them I would pray and help them, that they could pray out loud or in their hearts if they wanted. We started praying and their voices were so soft at first I could barely hear them, but as we continued they got stronger and a little braver. Each one asked Christ to forgive them of their sins, to cleanse them and give them new hearts and lives. They prayed and invited Christ into their hearts and accepting Him as their means of salvation.

When we were finished, they laughed a little awkwardly but were all smiling. One of them spoke up and asked if he could come to church tomorrow. I told him we didn't have any services tomorrow night. He looked disappointed and said "Well when will someone be there? I want to come talk some more and get someone to help me pray about some things." I told him the pastor would be there Friday at 5:30 PM and he could come talk to him then. "5:30?" he asked. He must have double-checked the time a dozen times. I reminded them all that in the meantime, God was with them in their hearts now and they could talk to Him anytime and anywhere.

I got their names and told them I would continue to pray for them - my 5 new brothers in Christ.  I gathered my stuff and headed back to church. By this time the service was long over and the only student still with me was the brave, little girl who had started it all by passing out her tracts to that group of men. We walked back up the hill to church and she took my hand, chattering excitedly. I was lost in thought, but her little voice suddenly broke through with a question. "What did you say" I asked her. She never missed a beat, "I said now that they are saved, we can go get them on Sunday and make them come to church!  Do you think they will come? I know where they live, because I have seen them before in the neighborhood. I can go visit them and remind them when church is about to start. Do you think they will want to get baptized? Maybe we should ask the Pastor to go tell them about baptism. Or maybe next Wednesday after lesson, we can come back again and talk to them ourselves about baptism. Do you think they know what baptism is? I can't wait to tell mom about everything that happened..." Her voice continued expressing her happy thoughts as she bounced from ideas to plans and back again.

And as the sun finally set and the basketball courts were hidden in the shadows below, I just smiled as I listened to her excited voice and prayed a silent prayer...

"Thank You, Lord."  

Amy Mussell