Martha Rita Colonia

            "We were walking down the dusty street of the Martha Rita Colonia in Matamoros, and I was so glad that the weather had finally warmed up! The coldness of the previous day had caused us to bundle up in what warmer clothes we had brought, but the warmth of the sun today was an extra-special blessing from the God who created it all. As I walked, I looked at the houses and wondered about the people who lived there, and how we were supposed to approach them, and how culture and language played into the whole situation, and tried to overcome my nervousness about sharing my testimony. We had actually walked past a small house that looked just like all the other small houses in the neighborhood when our translator, Eleazar, asked us to turn back and go to that particular residence. He approached the door, calling "¡Buenas tardes!" A young girl responded and came to the door. We introduced ourselves and he talked to her for a few moments, finding out that she had a baby boy whom she had just laid down to sleep. She invited us inside the small home, where about four or five other people where sitting and moving around, and introduced us to her mother and sisters and a friend. Her sisters and the friend soon left, and we sat down to speak to the girl and her mother, Mary Carmen. Although it was our initial encounter with Mary Carmen's daughter that had brought us into this situation, we soon discovered that it was Mary Carmen herself whom we had been sent to minister to, especially because all of Mary Carmen's children left and she was the only one with whom we carried on conversation. David Kirkland, the campus minister of Truett-McConnell College, shared his testimony through Eleazar's translation, and Mary Carmen in turn told us about her faith in God and what He had done in her life. She told us that her daughters were not Christians and about the burden she had for them, and she also opened up and shared that she was still grieving over the loss of her twin babies, who had died only a month ago. This struck a kindred cord in James Dodds, who shared with her about his family and in particular about his sister, who had lost her seven month-old baby. Although James' sister had not been a believer, she eventually came to salvation in Christ, and James told those stories to identify with Mary Carmen in her suffering and encourage her by testifying of God's mercy and His power. We prayed with Mary Carmen and expressed our desire to visit her again and hopefully talk with her daughters, and we left that house feeling that we had not only met a sister whom we were able to come alongside and help, but that we had made a friend with whom we had connected through a common love for Jesus Christ. Other stories were made that day which include salvations and seeds being planted, but our time with Mary Carmen stands out in my mind as an incredible portrait of the all-surpassing greatness of God's compassion, which knows no cultural or lingual boundaries. "

       -  Kelsey Smith

Summer Preparation