Limitless Spirit
Doing short-term missions as a family
What if you could take a leap of faith and set out on an adventure that profoundly affects not only you but also your family?
In this episode a Canadian couple, Joel and Audrey, share how they did just that. They took their five children, aged between 3 to 15, on a family mission trip to Mexico – a journey that was about much more than just the adventure itself. In spite of some initial concerns and challenges, it was a voyage of spiritual growth, of forming a powerful family bond, and of spreading the love of Christ.
Joel, a pediatrician, and Audrey, a dentist, share their story with a candidness that is both inspiring and moving. They talk about their initial fears – the disturbing news stories about the dangers in Mexico, the practicalities of traveling with a toddler, and the physical and emotional challenges they anticipated. Yet, they chose to trust in their faith and step out of their comfort zone. Listen to their experiences of praying in the emergency room, doing things they have never done before, and the incredible impact of their mission on their children. Joel's personal faith journey from Buddhism to Christianity and Audrey's - from atheism to Christianity highlights the cycle of the Great Commission- "changed lives change lives".
The trip to Mexico was just the beginning. Audrey, a dentist and a busy mom of five, discovered her spiritual gift of evangelism during the mission, and their children were deeply influenced by the experience. If you've been wondering about embarking on a mission trip with your family, Joel and Audrey's story will provide much-needed inspiration and guidance.
To find out more about how you can become involved in short-term missions, visit our website rfwma.org
Thanks for listening! Visit our website rfwma.org and follow us on Facebook and Instagram!
Help us make more inspiring episodes: https://rfwma.org/give-support-the-podcast/
What if you could take a leap of faith and set out on an adventure that profoundly affects not only you but also your family?
In this episode a Canadian couple, Joel and Audrey, share how they did just that. They took their five children, aged between 3 to 15, on a family mission trip to Mexico – a journey that was about much more than just the adventure itself. In spite of some initial concerns and challenges, it was a voyage of spiritual growth, of forming a powerful family bond, and of spreading the love of Christ.
Joel, a pediatrician, and Audrey, a dentist, share their story with a candidness that is both inspiring and moving. They talk about their initial fears – the disturbing news stories about the dangers in Mexico, the practicalities of traveling with a toddler, and the physical and emotional challenges they anticipated. Yet, they chose to trust in their faith and step out of their comfort zone. Listen to their experiences of praying in the emergency room, doing things they have never done before, and the incredible impact of their mission on their children. Joel's personal faith journey from Buddhism to Christianity and Audrey's - from atheism to Christianity highlights the cycle of the Great Commission- "changed lives change lives".
The trip to Mexico was just the beginning. Audrey, a dentist and a busy mom of five, discovered her spiritual gift of evangelism during the mission, and their children were deeply influenced by the experience. If you've been wondering about embarking on a mission trip with your family, Joel and Audrey's story will provide much-needed inspiration and guidance.
To find out more about how you can become involved in short-term missions, visit our website rfwma.org
Thanks for listening! Visit our website rfwma.org and follow us on Facebook and Instagram!
Help us make more inspiring episodes: https://rfwma.org/give-support-the-podcast/
What if you had a guide who could tell you how to bridge a gap between who you are today and who you are destined to be? What if, each week, you could hear a story of someone who has tried and succeeded, or perhaps tried and failed but learned something in the process? Limitless Spirit is a weekly podcast where host Helen Todd interviews guests about topics and personal stories on defining life's purpose, pursuing personal growth and developing a deeper faith in Christ.
Speaker 2:Welcome to the Limitless Spirit podcast.
Speaker 2:I'm your host, helen Todd, and today we're exploring a unique and powerful way to connect with your family and make a difference in the world by fulfilling the Great Commission as a family. For parents, especially the parents of young children, the idea of traveling with their kids to a foreign country may seem daunting, challenging in so many ways their safety concerns, logistic concerns, and even if these issues can be overcome, is it really worth it in the end? My guests today are from Canada, joel and Audrey, liam, a pediatrician and a dentist, who decided to bring their five kids ages 3 to 15 on a mission trip to Mexico. Their story actually began even before Joel and Audrey met. Their fathers were led to Christ, but the same missionary in different countries, so it only seemed natural that their own faith journey brought them to the point where they were feeling a deep desire to fulfill the Great Commission. The challenge was that they were raising five young kids and wondered if it's even possible for them to fulfill this calling as a family.
Speaker 2:Hello, joel and Audrey, welcome to the Limitless Spirit Podcast. How are you today? We're doing really good.
Speaker 3:Yes, very good. How are you?
Speaker 2:I'm doing great. So I heard you just returned from a family trip to Scotland. How was that adventure?
Speaker 3:It was a very, with the time zone changes and so forth, it was wonderful. We went to Scotland, london, then Paris and now we're back. So we're still adjusting with our time zones, but we're back to normal.
Speaker 2:So you brought your entire family with you. Let's fill in our listeners on how many kids you have.
Speaker 4:We have five kids. They range in age from age four to age 15.
Speaker 2:So you took all of them with you on this trip to Scotland.
Speaker 3:Yes, so it's always an adventure when we have to take all five because of that range, especially with sleeping habits at different times and making sure kids get up at the right time to go on the tours and so forth and especially going through security and so forth through the airport. It's always been an adventure whenever we have to do something like that. So, yes, but it's fun, we make it, we take our time, we go through everything and we get to where we want to get, with Lord willing.
Speaker 2:I admire you so much. I only experienced that on a smaller scale because I only have two kids, and then nine years apart, and of course I've always taken them, chuck and I taken them with us on our missions whenever we could, but I never had to deal with two young kids at the same time. So by the time the second one was born, the older one was able to help me out a little bit, so it wasn't quite as dramatic, but it did feel. Each time we traveled it felt like we were moving. It seemed like there was a lot of stuff that you have to bring with your kids, but I admire you. In fact, what really connected us in missions work was your desire to bring your family on a mission trip. So you brought all five of them with you to Mexico last December and that's how our friendship and our relationships began. So we'll catch on that later.
Speaker 2:But the theme of our ministry, the slogan of our ministry, is change lives, change lives, and each one of you has a very interesting story of how Jesus touched your life. So we're going to talk about this first. So we'll start with Joel. Joel, your family came to North America from Indonesia. Right, that's right.
Speaker 3:I apologize for that phone that just went off.
Speaker 2:We have an emergency alert going on because of the rain in our area, so that was what you just heard, so no worries about that, and also, as a doctor, you're entitled to getting phone calls at any time of the day, so we're not going to worry about that at all.
Speaker 3:So you're going back to what you were saying. My parents are from Indonesia. Actually, in our lineage, prior to accepting the Lord, they were Buddhists. So in particular, my father was a Buddhist as a young child and his whole family was Buddhist. They live in a small village. All Buddhists and two missionaries came I believe they were from Hong Kong. They came down and they ministered to the entire village and his family accepted the Lord and that's how he became saved. I don't remember all the details on my mother's side, but as well in the generations past they were Buddhist and turned to the Lord back in Indonesia and that's how the family line started as Christians.
Speaker 2:That's incredible. So Christianity in your family came from missionaries, so you're essentially a byproduct of the Great Commission.
Speaker 3:then Right, exactly. And over time, because of the situation happening in Indonesia, they immigrated to Well. First my father did training, he's also a physician. They trained in Germany and then the United States. My mother went to actually Bible school in Minnesota. They got married and then my father established a practice here in Windsor Ontario and I was born and my family was born and we grew up in the church having that background.
Speaker 2:So do you remember that moment in your life when you actually committed your life to Christ?
Speaker 3:Obviously, when I observe people and observe different Christians, we have all our different stories. I'm one of those. I grew up in the church, so from a very young age I heard the Bible studies, we went to Sunday school, we did all the good stuff and from a young age I accepted the Lord, I was baptized. But when I look backwards now at that, I realized that the main reason I did it at that time was because I grew up in the church and there had to come a time where I had to make a decision for myself Is this what I want to do?
Speaker 3:And in fact, around the age of 10 to 15, the biggest thing that kept me as a Christian and hate to say this was fear, fear of going to hell. Because we would go to church in the morning, we'd have a Sunday service in the evening, would be an evangelistic service where it was always about are you saved? Are you ready If Jesus were to come tonight? Would you be ready If you were to die tonight? Would you know the Lord? And every week I would go to the front and say, yes, I accept Jesus again, every week.
Speaker 1:So I make sure every week.
Speaker 3:Hey, something happened the past week, so it was more of a fear. I guess you could call it the fear of the Lord. But over time, as I began my walk, continued my walk, reading the word, hearing the scripture, it changed from the fear to no more of a relationship. And it's hard to say for me to say when did you accept the Lord? I can say, yes, there were times when I got baptized. I know I went every week and I accept the Lord. But honestly it was a progression. It was a progression of coming closer to Jesus in every event that was in my life. Viewers say can you say it was December 20th, whatever date? I can't do that.
Speaker 3:However, at this point in my life I know there's a relationship and as I progressed with my walk with Jesus and reading the Word, learning to hear from the Holy Spirit, we got involved with actually a ministry called Holiness through Christ in my early 20s, which is when we went to Scotland.
Speaker 3:We visited the headquarters there where they taught us more to hear the Lord, hear the Holy Spirit, and improve or increase our relationship with Him and how we pray and how we talk. And interestingly and I don't know if we'll get to that later on in this talk. It's actually through that ministry that we got geared toward coming on our Mexico trip, which was a whole interesting story to begin with, but so with me it was a change of being scared of going to hell to finding out who Jesus really is and then establishing more a relationship where I can actually talk with Him and speak with Him and I can actually hear from the Holy Spirit and talk to Jesus and our Heavenly Father and asking is this what you want to do? In my life? And of course, there were different situations in my life experiences with exams and experiences in my training that had to turn to Jesus and say what's going on here and I need you. And over that time the relationship has improved.
Speaker 2:Listening to your story, it makes me think that, because our faith is so relational, it's not formulaic. You know. There's no recipe for the proper relationship with Jesus, just like there's no recipe for a happy marriage. It's it's, it changes, it evolves, it goes through phases and you were privileged to be born in a Christian family, in a in a with the parents who introduced you to Jesus at an early age. So I think it's an incredible blessing and it doesn't always work out in a positive way. Sometimes, you know, the children choose to rebel and and come to Christ in their own way later in life, and for you it was just a progression. So I think it's. It's very beautiful and and a great example that there is no right or wrong, as long as you do have a relationship and you discover all the riches and joy and beauty of having that. So, audrey, what about you? What's your story?
Speaker 4:So my story is a bit different than Joel's. I didn't grow up in a Christian home, although my parents did bring me to church when I was a lot younger. But we moved and then we stopped going to church for a while. So in my teen years I would have considered myself an atheist. But God brought in different people in my life that began to speak to me about Christ and at first I was very, actually oppositional towards anyone talking to me about Christ. I was very pro-evolution, you know, and I was pro, like, you know, all the liberal movements or whatever.
Speaker 4:But over time one of my best, who became someone who became my best friend, challenged me to go to church with her, and so I began to go to church and it was like, slowly, the seed began to be planted within me that I couldn't deny that the Holy Spirit was actually speaking the truth through the word of God.
Speaker 4:And then I ended up going to a Billy Graham crusade where I accepted Christ. It was actually one of his last crusades in Toronto, but I accepted Christ at a Billy Graham crusade. And then after that it was like amazing, because every time I would move like I moved away for school after that it wasn't with my friend who had introduced me to Christ, but every friend that he would bring into my life would somehow draw me closer to Christ, would bring me to church or show me a Bible study, and that's actually how I met Joel was through a friend bringing me to his parents Bible study while I was in university. So it became a progressive walk after I accepted him, but really exciting one because I feel like, you know, he's always active, always showing me that he's. He's active in our lives, and so I've just been amazed at everything, including this Mexico trip that we took in, how he's led every step of our lives.
Speaker 2:So, audrey, you're of a Chinese descent, so how did Christianity come to your family?
Speaker 4:Well, interestingly, like my great-grandmother, to my knowledge, was a Christian, so she was somehow ministered through missionaries in China many years ago, probably the early ones, and I probably had some Taylor's ministry maybe Taylor or maybe Watchman knee, I'm not really sure so probably through one of those individuals, because it was quite early in the 1900s when my great-grandmother was, she accepted Christ and then, on my dad's side, actually the same missionaries who went to Indonesia to witness to Joel's father was the same missionary who witnessed to my father's family in Hong Kong.
Speaker 2:Now, that is a Hollywood story right there.
Speaker 4:Right. But my father accepted Christ through this missionary who would come to Hong Kong.
Speaker 2:his whole family, so your parents came to the Lord through the same missionary. That is incredible.
Speaker 1:Yeah Well, is there any doubt in?
Speaker 2:your mind that God preordained this whole marriage, this whole family? What's a?
Speaker 4:late, now right.
Speaker 3:But we do agree that it's like a chess game. God has a chess game playing in this world and he knows the pieces and where the moves are. Then we don't see it, but we have to believe in faith that what he's doing are moving the chess pieces.
Speaker 2:Well, what an incredible story. So let's talk about how you decided. You know it's a busy time in your life raising a family of five kids and being both medical professionals. It's just a very busy time in life. So, coming up with the idea to take a family mission trip, there has to be some interesting backstory to it. So let's talk about that. How did you even come up with the idea of going on a mission trip as a family?
Speaker 3:It wasn't our idea, so it was my sister's fault. So she went on a mission trip and I guess she just went online and Google the whole different organizations and found your organization and started contacting you guys about it and saying can we do this trip with her family? She signs up and then calls me and says, hey, joel, you're a physician as well, do you want to come? And we say no, we're not going to go. And around that time there were stories coming in the newspaper this is in the spring, before the mission trip we were hearing news stories about how Canadians were killed as tourists in Mexico. So we said, okay, no, mexicans don't like Canadians, we're not going to Mexico, no way. Anyways, this sort of sat and sat in the springtime and we never really thought much about it. I threw it out to Audrey and she says, no, it's too dangerous to go to Mexico. And we were hearing all about the cartels and so forth. That was the worry.
Speaker 3:So anyways, once again I'm gonna bring up a ministry that we're part of called Holms to Christ, and on one of the retreats, at the end of the retreat, we do what was called a blessing time and we pray for each other, and in that prayer time, people give words of blessing and words of encouragement to go on and go forth with your ministry. This ministry is designed to draw us closer to Jesus. Well, in that prayer time, somebody mentioned Joel I see you in a Sarmarro that's dancing the Mexican hat dance or something like that to some degree. And somebody else mentioned something about Spanish. And we're going, and they had no idea that this was in discussions in the background. So we're going. Oh, my goodness, what are they saying? Is this, you know?
Speaker 3:So at that point, we, okay, we can rethink things. Well, maybe God wants us to go to Mexico. It wasn't, we weren't completely opposed to it, it's just that we thought we were just worried that Mexico was potentially dangerous. And with five kids in December my daughter's in grade nine, I believe, at that time, so high school was this a good time to go, Anyways. So we began to continue to pray about it and then, at that point, we said, okay, let's look, let's do the first step and call you guys and see okay, what's this all about? Is this something that you'd be? We could do? So when we initially called, I think. I think I spoke to you Can't remember who else I spoke to. But we spoke a bit and the initial discussion was well, the children have to be eight and above, or something like that. And I said, okay, there's our answer. We have a three year old Was it three year olds at the time? Okay, we can't go, we can't go. And then, for whatever reason, it came back Well, when you could bring him because this is a you could this could allow us to him to go, because it's just going south of the time zones aren't that much different. We're going to go visit school. So it sort of opened up the well, you could do it, but obviously it's officially not for his age. So we get to continue to pray about it and get okay. Finally, I said, okay, let's just try it, let's just see. If God wants us to be there, he'll open the doors, things will work out. The vaccines are all going to work, everything needs to get, we'll get set up.
Speaker 3:Obviously, I was a bit worried as a pediatrician that this is not really my field either, going to Mexico, because I figured they need more of something like a family physician or internal medicine, and Audrey, being a dentist wasn't really a need, or that wasn't the requirement to be able to go. So we began all these plans but, interestingly, talking to my parents once again, getting them involved this is something my mother has always wanted to do. She went to Bible school in Minnesota and she'd always expected or planned it to be a missionary to an island and go out and be a missionary. So then. But then she married my dad and, of course, they started practice. So that's not something they could have done and, of course, in their view, they feel that there are missionaries here in North America coming from out East, because they were saved out there, but now they're bringing the gospel to local people here in the church that we have here.
Speaker 3:So she was the one also who was saying go for it, encouraging us. This is not, you know, this is something that she's always wanted to do and this is what her one of her dreams was. So, taking that to heart, we just continued the progress and started doing all the steps. Of course, we were always worried about COVID and the potential blockages, but we said, lord, if this is what you want to do, you're going to open the doors. And it just happened and we just kept going step by step, once again, trusting in faith that this is what you want us to do, and there we are. We went to Mexico.
Speaker 2:So, audrey, well, as a mom, you know dads, I noticed. Well, at least for the most part, they're more like let's go ahead and do it. You know it's going to happen one way or the other. As moms, we're more like planners. And how is this really going to happen technically? Did you have any hesitations, or did you have any confirmations from the Lord that this was indeed the right time and place?
Speaker 4:Yeah, absolutely. I think all through the process I was praying and really telling God if you don't want us to go, then just close the doors. If you want us to go, then continue to confirm it in our hearts. And of course, I had trepidation and I have my worries, but that was part of, I think, the first step of trusting in Him. I think that the biggest thing that I learned in this trip to Mexico was just learning to trust in the Holy Spirit, in Christ and how he leads us in our lives. And so, interestingly, after we decided that we were going to go to Mexico because we were going to go to that small city called Pachuca we met several people from Pachuca or related to Pachuca like their families were from Pachuca along the way, like in the months preceding going on this mission trip, and we thought what is?
Speaker 4:you know, that could be coincidence, and so they would tell us little bits about the city, what to prepare for, whether or not we needed to bring, like you know, filtered water, different things like that, with us. So we became pretty prepared, I think, for that mission trip in terms of provision, like physical provision. Now, spiritually, that was totally something that I think we dove right into when we got there, because we weren't in terms of knowing what to expect. We didn't know what to expect spiritually there.
Speaker 2:So what about your kids? Were they on board with the whole idea? Were they sort of dragged into this?
Speaker 4:I think that the older ones were quite excited to go. The younger ones didn't really know exactly what to expect, but they are quite good travelers and they're willing to come with us anywhere that we go. They've never protested anywhere that we told them that we were going to go. So my youngest one, especially my three year old, loves vacations and so he thought it was the most wonderful place. Like even when he was there he felt he was on vacation the whole time.
Speaker 2:Which he was Well my favorite memory of him was when, in our prayer meetings, he was praying and worshiping Jesus. Watching this three year old beautiful boy having his own relationship with Jesus was just a blessing. So he was a blessing to the team. Well, let's talk about your experiences. So I'm going to ask again each of you individually what was the most memorable or impactful part of the trip. Let's start with you, joel, again.
Speaker 3:What was the most memorable or impactful. So I had done just a background to be able to compare. I had done a missions trip down the Amazon River from Iquitos in Peru and that was a medical and dental boat trip. But my role was just, you're the medical, you just see the patients witnessing going to the street ministry. We would do our thing in the bottom of the boat while the ministry team was outside doing Sunday school, showing the Jesus movie, that type of thing. So we were completely separated.
Speaker 3:So I sort of thought that would be the same idea here, not knowing that you were going to throw us in and that we were going to do more than I expected. I mean, it was just amazing that, especially with the translators, it was amazing that we could go to people and they were so receptive. I can't really name one area. I think there were different aspects. So going to the hospital and speaking to people in the emergency room and having a translator and being able to pray with people, drive them to the Lord, that in itself was memorable. I remember praying for a family where there were a son who was needing transfusions. They were waiting outside, they weren't sure where to go and they didn't have money and they decided to turn back to Jesus at that time. That was a memorable event with me.
Speaker 2:I bet you that was a unique experience for you because maybe for the first time you were in the hospital, not as a physician treating patients, but as a Christian sharing Jesus, treating their souls that had to feel different.
Speaker 3:Right, it was different In the fact that there's more of a freedom to speak with Jesus because you know that you're there. Obviously, in our North American culture and the societies were part of there are rules of which, when you can cross those boundaries or when you cannot, there was more of a freedom with it because that's your role, that's what you were there for. But the other aspect of it, though, is some of the patients or people there were willing to listen more to me because they knew I was a physician. So another time at that emergency room, there was a young girl who was there for asthma and breathing issues, and she was inside and the parents were all concerned about that, but I was able to speak to them regarding the asthma part of things and then go to Jesus and talk about Jesus in her situation. So I was able to combine the two because they knew I was a physician. So there was that aspect where they were told, because of a physician, they were more willing to hear, which was an interesting idea of witnessing, but obviously, as you far aware, on the Friday doing this, I guess, setting up a potential Bible study or church in I don't remember the names of these places, but setting this area where they don't have a church and the whole speaking in front of people and the outcome of that. So, obviously, looking at it from the outward point of view, we spend all day setting up this medical clinic. We were spending a lot of people to come for the medical clinic. It's going to be a draw for what's going to happen that evening where people can get witness to, but the point that my expectations was the medical clinic was going to be the draw and we get that all set up, spending all day. The people are going out handing out their flyers around that little city or that area of that city, and we show up that night and nobody comes to the medical clinic. I'm going okay, this is a bit odd, lord, what's going on here? I thought we were to be the draw and nobody's coming to the medical clinic. There are people here who are coming for the show, who are coming for the teaching, but they're not coming to me and my sister and the nurse practitioner who were there.
Speaker 3:And then, of course, during this time, we're watching the show and of course you come over, helen, and said, okay, you're going to give your testimony. Now I'm going to say what? No, I can't stop me. So I turned to my sister, nathania. I said hey, nathania, you're going to give your testimony now and she goes. She didn't tell me that. She told you that. I said no, she didn't. I'm telling you, all of you, you're going to give your testimony, because Helen was being to all of us as a group, not to me, and she's like oh yeah, I'm sure, I'm sure. So you take off and do your thing whatever. And we're waiting for more people to show up and they don't show up. So I'm thinking okay, lord, is this what you want me to do or not?
Speaker 3:And as they're watching the show and so forth, and once again it's just thoughts that come to my mind and the word witchcraft sort of came into my head. I'm going okay, I go to my translator and going in this area is there a lot of witchcraft? And he says no, no, no, there's no witchcraft here. We don't, we don't do that. They're the Roman Catholic or whatever. No witchcraft. Anyways, it was. It was a strong, strong thought and I didn't really know much about it or think much about it.
Speaker 3:But then, as nobody was showing up, the testimonies were coming out, the play was happening and then you call this up, our whole family is to come to the front and just show that we were there to help witness to people and bring people to the Lord. But that point I mean I'm making the sense of this is all or none. You either speak up or that's it. You're done with what you need to do at this place. And that's when I said, okay, lord, if this is truly you and I've never done this before, never spoke in front I do speak by, speak in medical clinics, medical conferences. I know how to do that. I speak at our church sometimes, but not in a big form of what you were doing at that location, and so you're speaking at the time, and I said, okay, let me give my testimony.
Speaker 3:And the testimony I gave about the fact that my family came from Buddhism and that there was a witchcraft in our family line and our family line. My father and my mother chose to deny that witchcraft, which of which the Buddhism, obviously the goal, is all about me, I power, money, being successful in the world, and that was what the goal of life was. And basically saying that there is no purpose in that, there is no outcome in that, and sharing that once again through a translator. I really didn't know what was happening. And at the end of after I shared our story about how my father came to the Lord and how we, as a result, turned to Jesus and our families were got saved and we now have a relationship with Jesus, I was going to hand the mic back and then you whisper behind me, going, okay, do the altar call.
Speaker 3:And I'm going what are you talking about? I've never done an altar call before. I've no idea how to do that. And just that whole thing of, okay, let's well, what does the Bible say? Just lead them to me, lead them to the Lord and bring them to salvation and accepting Jesus. And it's saying well, who here wants to know Jesus? And I was just shocked when, I don't know, I just saw hands go up. I don't even recall all the details, I just I was just shocked. And through a translator then leading them through, asking them or going through the gospel story briefly in a prayer form and confessing their, their acceptance of Jesus, forgiveness of sins, I was just amazed at the number that I saw that turned to Jesus at that time. And, of course, then we passed it over to the pastor who was with us. So that's still heavy on my mind that I that was an experience that I'll never forget.
Speaker 2:Well, joel, you will be happy to know that, as a result of your obedience and our presence there to participate in this church planting session, there was a little house church that started and now they're meeting on a regular basis, and who knows where the Lord is going to take this? It's not often that we see results so quickly. You know that we can actually witness the fruit of what we did, but I'm very excited to share this with you. So you made a step of faith, trusting the Lord that through him you can do this, you can share this testimony, and God did get. God held his part of the deal.
Speaker 3:But we're not have done it. It's your turn.
Speaker 2:I played a small part. Well, Audrey, what about you? What was your most memorable experience?
Speaker 4:Yeah, I think, aside from being able to be a part of that moment, you know, when everyone in that room accepted Christ, that was a very powerful moment. I agree with Joel Just standing up there, and I remember, helen, you talking about the family unit, you know, using our family, kind of standing there as an example of how God cares about each individual and a family. You know, I thought that was so powerful and it was like I was so overwhelmed by the presence of body, like I think I had tears, like you did.
Speaker 2:I remember seeing tears on your face.
Speaker 4:But I mean, aside from that, because Joel just talked about that I think that the first time I witnessed to somebody on the street, so like when we got dropped off that first day, we didn't know what was going to happen and we had tracks and there was a lot of team members kind of standing at the front passing out the tracks, so I thought I would just stand back and you know, anyone who is kind of we didn't get anything when they walked up to get something would come and so, amazingly, just people would, one after another, come up to me and ask me what I was holding and I thought, okay, this is my first step of faith, right? I mean, I know they don't really understand what I'm saying, but I called over a translator and the very first person who I talked to excepted Christ and I remember praying with them and I said I don't even know what I said to them, I don't remember. I just know that it was like the Holy Spirit that brought them there and that when they said, when I offered for them to accept Christ in their life and they were so ready for it, I thought is this even real, or is this like plan that these people come and like they ask them to come, and now they're just accepting Christ. But then I realized that these people are from the community. They're not, you know, people who are from the church or anything.
Speaker 4:So it just kept happening, one after another, where, when I took that step out in faith that these it could have ranged from anywhere, anyone from the hospital setting to even somebody who was running the inflatables in a park. I decided that I was going to because my kids wanted to play on the inflatables. I decided I was going to tell them about Christ and he accepted Christ. Then, and there, you know, just a man that was running like these inflatable castles that kids were jumping on Right, so they were glad, knew exactly who to bring into our path. And it just amazed me at his precision because I would say 90% of the people I talked to were willing to accept Christ or rededicate their lives to Christ.
Speaker 2:When I was there. Well, I also want to mention something. I remember watching you that day from afar and I could kind of see that people were very responsive. And I don't know if you have been told before this or not, but I think you definitely have a gift of evangelism. That's one of your spiritual gifts. You know, people are more or less receptive in different countries or different parts of the country, but there's also a spiritual gift of evangelism and I think that's one of yours. So I hope that you recognize it and sense it, hopefully. I'm just affirming what you have already felt, but it was really really impressive to see you being so effective there in the streets, even with the language barrier. You know this is Holy Spirit. You know this is a gift.
Speaker 4:Absolutely, I take absolutely no credit for it's totally all God. And you know I thought about it, you know as I was praying about it, and you know I always remember that scripture in 1 Corinthians 3, where Paul talks about it was. You know Paul is who watered and I planted, but it's it was God who caused the growth in the people, the harvest right.
Speaker 4:That's amazing. So I always remember that and it's it's never us, but it's that willingness that he looks for in us to be able to share his word right, because it's his word that actually pierces through to the hearts of the people, through the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives. This is very interesting it was just amazing for us to see that.
Speaker 2:Well, I have to ask the last question what about the kids? What was? I wish we had them here on the podcast, but I know that it's complicated to have so many people all at once, so I will take your word for it. What were their experiences or their impression of this adventure?
Speaker 3:So, just the first thing is, after our just recent trip to Europe, we asked the kids well, we asked some older ones which place did you like the best? Did you like France? Did you like London? Do you like Scotland? Do you like Mexico? Last year we went to other place in Ontario and interestingly I wasn't expecting this One of them said Mexico, I go. Why? I don't know. So the answer is I don't know, but obviously there was a spiritual impact. It wasn't a vacation where you sat around, you know, going to the sites, but there was a spiritual impact which impressed them and they can't explain it. I don't know.
Speaker 4:Yeah, and I have to say one of the most amazing things too was the fact that when we were at that hospital and we were in the dark and it was evening and it was so long that we were there, I was amazed that the Holy Spirit kept Corbin, who was three years old, right next to me the entire time.
Speaker 4:I didn't have to worry about him. He never stays that still, but the Holy Spirit had given him that peace to just stand by me and never leave my side and I could always feel his hand by my side as I was moving from person to person, as I was talking to them. He just stayed calm the entire time and I don't know if I could say that there could be any other three year old that would do that, except by the moving of the Holy Spirit within him. So I think he knew that the Holy Spirit was working and he just kind of stood there. And even at the market square he was always by my side holding onto my shirt and I thought here I was worrying. On the way there I had brought a little backpack with a leash on it. I never had to use it because the Holy Spirit just kept him there.
Speaker 3:So that was amazing for him. But the kids also saw the miracles and even the small things that were happening, that I mean we have the whole story of bringing over like a lot of medication that we weren't supposed to bring over and we got through it and through customs and because of their prayer, as we're going through security and considering taking it away, they were praying in the background, they were part of it. They were part of the whole mission, I guess, and being part of it, they see a purpose in what we were doing.
Speaker 4:Right, and they also really enjoyed visiting that school there in Mexico too. They really established relationship with those kids and it was pretty amazing because they don't speak their language. But yeah, Bethany was like, oh, I really want to go back and visit them because I missed the friends that she made there. So I think on many levels they really had such a rich experience going on this mission strip and we are definitely looking at doing it again. We just are praying about which one to go on and when would be the best time to go.
Speaker 2:So yeah, well, what I loved about you kids and it really impressed me that despite of their young age for some of them at least they were actively involved.
Speaker 2:They weren't just observers who were dragged by their parents and they're just complying with the rules. I watched them distribute copy and pastries at the hospital waiting room. Corbin watched him praying in our three years old in our morning prayer meetings. It was really wonderful to watch them engage, and I know it has to be the Holy Spirit again, like you say, because for children to be in an environment that is completely new to them, surrounded by a bunch of strangers which what the team members were to them at first, at least it had to be just God, using you as a family unit, and we don't have a huge number of families come on the mission trips because it does.
Speaker 2:I believe it does take a step of faith on the parents part just to trust the Lord with all the logistics and the small and big details. It has been happening actually more frequently lately and I do believe that there is power and value in that. So I want to thank you both of you for responding to God's call, being obedient to His leading and allowing your entire family to experience this and also to make the difference in Mexico. Thank you.
Speaker 2:Helen.
Speaker 3:Thank you.
Speaker 2:Helen, we live in the days when families are under attack from anti-Christian culture and values. Serving the Lord together as a family and experiencing a foreign culture through building relationships and making a difference is an experience you and your children will cherish forever. One is never too young or too old to be used by God. If you're willing to say yes and take a step of faith, you get to experience the incredible fruit of faith and obedience. At World Missions Alliance, we want to give the individuals and families the opportunity to do just that. We can help you overcome the logistical challenges of planning and preparation. I encourage you to check our website, rfwmaorg and learn more how you can become involved in fulfilling the Great Commission. Until next time, I'm Helen Todd.
Speaker 1:Limitless Spirit Podcast is produced by World Missions Alliance. We believe that changed lives change lives. If you want to see your life transformed by Christ's love, or if you want to help those who are hurting and hopeless and discover your greater purpose in serving Christ through short-term missionary work, check out our website, rfwmaorg, and find out how to get involved.