The Power in Simplicity

– Week One of CSOM –

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Only one week of the Calvary School of Missions has passed by and already so much has happened! Throughout this past week, I have learned so much about missions, fellowshipped frequently with the other CSOM students, and been pushed to do plenty of things out of my comfort zone. It’s been AMAZING!

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Everyday (except on Sundays) we have a class after breakfast where we are taught different topics such as our calling as Christians, the purpose of the church, the importance of prayer, etc. These are all very foundational topics to learn and the incredible thing is that they all tie in with missions! My favorite part about the classes is that our teacher, Pastor Trent, is simply just teaching the Bible the entire time. It made me realize that, as great as supplemental materials written by great intellectuals are, the only material we really need is the Bible. The Bible is the book we should go to first for our questions about what the church is for, what is our purpose, how to do missions, etc. The answers are all there. And even better, they’re all the right answers because it is the Word of God. If we don’t go to God’s Word first, then our Christian world views are going to be skewed and heavily influenced by our American culture.

Besides the “learning inside the classroom” aspect of CSOM, I’m also excited to share my experience in serving outside of the classroom in Mexico. In the past week, we’ve done 4 outreaches in different parts of Baja California. We visited families devastated by a recent neighborhood fire, went street witnessing, served families at a community called Home X, and evangelized to some people at the park. Although all these experiences were a great blessing, one in particular stuck out to me the most.

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Serving families at Home X
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Street Witnessing in La Gloria, Mexico

On Tuesday we visited some homes next to the city dump that had been destroyed by a fire that occurred only 3 weeks prior. The couple whom my group visited were only left with one room in the back of their property while the rest of it was completely gone. We visited with the couple for a while, asking about their experience and how they were afterwards. We shared the gospel with them, gave them the Book of John in Spanish, and even read a few verses with them. Each of us got to share with them what we like most about reading the Bible personally. Before we left, we also were able to give them some groceries, water, and prayer. Although I’m not completely fluent in Spanish, I was happy to be involved in asking them different questions and I even learned a new word that day! Apparently “cables” is “cables” in Spanish. Pretty complicated, I know.

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What I took away most though, from that first outreach, was the powerful simplicity of it. All we were doing was talking and getting to know that couple in their own home. We were just showing the love of Christ to them and showing that we cared despite only just meeting them. Most importantly, we shared the Word of God with them and discussed what it means for us, and what it means for them. It just goes to show that you don’t have to put together a huge, elaborate event to reach people. Although those can be good and effective, simply just going out to minister to people on a personal level, showing genuine care and interest, is also very impactful. This is something any of us can do no matter where we are. In fact, it’s what we’re called to do as Christ-followers. 

“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” – Matthew 28:19

I would just like to say thank you to everyone who has been supporting me both financially and in prayers. Your support means a lot to me and I can’t even begin to tell you how grateful I am. Being a part of the School of Missions is such a huge blessing, and I’m so excited for what’s yet to come! If you would like to partner with me financially click the link below. Partnering with me means you are investing in my spiritual formation as a missionary as well as investing in eternity as I seek to be an effective witness of Him here in Mexico. Thank you so much for your prayers and for considering being a partner with me for the furtherance of the gospel.

Sincerely,

Lydia Boubion