Learning from the Team

Our first visit to Mexico was in July 2001. We came for a month and worked solely with Fidel and on the streets. For a year beforehand we were preparing and meeting weekly with our group which was composed of people who had a gift and a burden for underprivileged kids and were very involved in our local church. When we arrived in Mexico we were 'chomping at the bit'. We had been learning Spanish for months as part of the preparation and were eager to give it a go. We had no connection with OMS other than paying a visit to Jonathan and Lupita Morton in the La Loma church.

When we came back with OMS in 2004 we quickly realised that the job of the missionary is not to go onto the streets ourselves but to take and train Mexicans to do the work. They are the best people to do the job as they understand the language and the culture etc. and they're definitely long term! The high percentage of time we spent in church planting reflected that priority.

When teams come to Mexico our aim is to give them a good overall view of what goes on here. They may be focused on one particular area (depending on the needs when they arrive) but they will see all of the ministries. Preparation for coming therefore is very different than it was for our team in 2001.

Most teams get about one hour of orientation when they get here before going to the streets. We explain the history of the project, our story and a few rules to keep people safe and happy on the streets. No matter how much we say or how many pictures people see it is never enough to fully prepare people for their visit. It is not uncommon for people to burst into tears when they see how these kids live. We usually make sure to tell people that it's common and it's ok to cry.

The difference with this most recent team is that their first street visit coincided with the visit of a couple who are extremely gifted and have many years experience in counseling. When the team got back from the streets this couple were intrigued to hear their response. Having never been to the streets themselves they identified behaviour and conversation which indicated that this team was experiencing post trauma symptoms.

We have talked about this since and are realising that we need to have a good follow up session to help people process what they have seen. It's always good to bring teams to the streets just to keep what we are working with fresh in our minds but it's easy for us to get so caught up in the task that we don't even consider the symptoms of street life. We don't remember feeling traumatised when we first visited the streets and wonder if the intense and specific preparation has something to do with that.

Pray as we develop this follow up material and execute it. Pray that it will hit the mark and that as teams come to the streets the experience though difficut, will be positive and one that wil prompt an appropriate response e.g. more effective, specific prayer for the ministry and more active involvement in ministries at home.