AIM's base in Matamoros is called the Gateway. The facilities are on sixty acres of land between Matamoros and the border. (Please forgive my spelling) There is a comidor that feeds 150 people at a time, dormitories that sleep 300+, a bodega (garage) to maintain a fleet of 6 to 7 vans and 3 buses, sleeping areas for staff, and offices for the Mexico branch of AIM. All in all, a very good facility. Everything is air conditioned, except the comidor and the garage, and there is hot and cold running water and internet access for staff - as is evident...
All AIM activities in Matamoros start from the Gateway. Participants drive over the border and stay in the Gateway for the length of their trip. They wake up in the morning, have breakfast, do devotionals and chores, have praise and worship, then head out into Matamoros to do ministry. As an aside, there is another AIM ministry that stays in Matamoros all the time, the First Year Missionaries.
A typical day has participants (who are all in teams of 6 - 10 with an adult leader), going out into the community to minister to the locals. The teams go in two shifts, the first in the morning, the second in the afternoon. Who woulda thunk? For example, a team would do VBS in the morning, then, after a lunch break at the church, do door-to-door in the afternoon. The next day, the same team may do praywalking, construction, visiting a rehabilitation center or the youth detention center, and so on throughout the week.
All activities in the city of Matamoros are focused on whichever church AIM is helping that week. This way, the local church benefits, not AIM. When participants are doing to door-to-door and someone makes a decision or requests more information, those details are given to the local pastor. When participants give a VBS, it is usually done at the church, but always in the name of the church. Sometimes, as is the case this week, a project is so large that it requires two ministry sites - this is AIMSpeak for the church in a colonia (neighborhood).
Yesterday, 6/7, I was in the evangelism coordinator for site 2. Basically, all I had to do was make sure the groups had their materials and knew where they were going. I also had to make sure that they turned in any response cards at the end of the day.
Tori and I went out on door-to-door with one of the groups. Actually, I forgot Tori at the VBS site and had to go back and get her...oops. Anyway, the group was pretty solid, so Tori and I just hung back, watched and did the prayer walking thing. First, they went to a house they have visited the day before. The guy there had seemed very interested in what they had to say about the gospel and had requested they come back. They stood outside the fence and called to him and, just as we were walking away, he came out. He was pretty young, maybe 25. Some of the participants talked with him and shared scripture with him while the rest of us prayed and talked. After some discussion, he accepted Christ as his savior. Sorry about the dry sounding report, I was standing in the back and couldn't hear...all I know is that there is another brother in the kingdom. Amen.
The group then went to another house and talked with the lady there. As we were leaving, another lady came up to me and motioned for us to go to her house, which was next door. Through one of our translators, she asked if we had any holy water. She said that her son had seen a red-headed doll walking in the house and that she felt a demonic presence. She wanted us to come in and pray for her and her family. We prayed as a group, then sent in Mike, one of the adult leaders, and Trinity, the translator. Three of the participants also went in - they're all seventh and eighth graders and are mostly all very bold in their faith. The rest of us stayed outside and prayed for their protection.
I don't know exactly what went on inside, but outside we had church. I was able to lead the group in prayer and they jumped in. We prayed, read scripture and sang. Totally awesome.
It was a great experience for me to be there and to be a part of what God is doing in Matamoros. It is different, being a staffer and not a participant. That is a story for later... The most incredible thing, for me as a father, was to see my Tori. She did not want to be there and wanted to be back at the Gateway in the air conditioning. Through some circumstances, she was not able to stay at the Gateway and I had to take her with me (Carla was following the project leader around for the day and Kaylie was at the Gateway). I talked with her about letting God help her make it a good day, rather than dwelling on the circumstances that kept her away from the ac. Apparently, she did it. While I was talking with a young man who had brought his daughter for VBS, Tori took his daughter to the playground and played with her. He accepted Christ as his savior and I can't stop thinking that Tori had a significant role in this by playing with his daughter and allowing him to focus on our conversation. When we went on door-to-door, she was very bold, walking up to mothers and children and, with the help of a translator, engaging them in conversation. I even saw her praying on the curb as others of our group talked with someone.
Please don't think this is one of those, 'look how great my kids are' things. Although, of course, it is. This is an answer to prayer for me. Tori can be very compassionate, but only does this from time to time. I have been praying about this and it is wonderful to see it happening.
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