Moving to Mexico...

I hope you are doing well. It is amazing all the change that has been happening. A new president was elected, gas prices have gone up and down, it’s a new year, and… I am moving to Mexico!

God changed my plans last summer at the tail end of a short-term mission trip to Mexico that I co-led with my youth group. I was attending a youth conference in Mexico and the worship band was leading worship in English. I realized that I was not singing in my first language, but in Spanish instead. The Lord then dropped this phrase in my spirit, “this is obviously more than a vacation spot.” The rest of the conference I was listening to what the Lord might be specifically speaking to me. Through a prophetic word that confirmed some things in me, I finally felt the release to go. I then made the decision to move to Morelia, Mexico, in the future.

Now the time has come. I plan to leave in early June to spend at least 15 months in Morelia, working with Vida Abundante, the church that I have already spent 15 weeks working with over the past 3 years. I will be the Missions Coordinator, which will involve coordinating the details (ministry opportunities, accommodations, meals, scheduling, etc) of short-term mission trips for teams primarily from the US. I will also help develop, organize, and coordinate an internship program that the pastor wants to start, and working with the youth and young adults of the church.

I am excited to be able to help prepare opportunities and create an environment for God to encounter the young people that will be coming to Mexico on mission trips. I can honestly say that my life has been changed by short-term mission trips. It was on a short-term trip to Honduras when I was 15 that the Lord first spoke to me about going to Mexico. It was on that trip six years ago that the Lord began to transform the way I thought about missions. Short-term trips for just a fun trip’s sake are pointless. My desire is to create an environment where other young people can have a life-transforming encounter with the Lord. I want to impart a missions mindset into the young people from the States who come to Mexico. I don’t want them to just say they had a good trip, but that their lives will be so gripped by the Lord’s heart for the lost that they will commit to His purpose for their lives.

After all the summer trips, I will work on developing an internship program. We are hoping to have young people from all over the world come and spend three, six or twelve months in Morelia. Our goal is not to keep them in Mexico, although some may stay, but to impart into them a heart for missions and send them out to the nations after training and equipping them. I want to stir up a passion for the Lord and ignite a love for missions in the young people that come to Morelia, whether they come for a few weeks or a year.

I will also be working with the youth and young adults in the church. The opportunity to invest into the lives of the young people of Mexico is just as exciting as working with the short-term teams and interns. I don’t want to see just Americans going into the nations, but Mexican youth as well. There is nothing I enjoy more than seeing a young person doing what God has created him or her to do. Whether it be through leading a small group, sharing at youth gatherings, or just hanging out with friends, I can’t wait to challenge and provoke the young people of Mexico.

It is amazing how God has been preparing me for this over the past few years. I have had extensive training and experience in logistics, event planning, and detail management while working as the Events Coordinator at Elim Fellowship the past two years. Recently I have also had the opportunity to learn more about ministry and how to invest in others’ lives, especially young people, as the interim Youth Director and as a young adult small group leader at my home church, Elim Gospel Church. It’s cool to clearly see how His hand has been guiding it all and preparing me for what He has in store for me.

If you asked me to describe what I understand God’s purpose for my life to be, I would tell you, “My purpose is to help others discover the call of God on their lives and to equip them to fulfill it.” I am so excited to be able to do this in Mexico!

If you would like to join my prayer team and receive regular updates from me while I’m gone, please email me at teecav@gmail.com. If you would like to be on my team through financial support, you can donate online at www.elimfellowship.org by putting my name in the designation field or email me at teecav@gmail.com for more information.

Love you all!!!