It’s the Final Countdown

Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

 Ephesians 5:1-2

Two weeks and three days left of CCP in Mexico. The past two weeks have been focused on having spiritual conversations with ITESO students. My ministry partner, Sarah Bujold, and I were able to study the Bible with two girls this past week. Everything that the girls said was extremely encouraging! They seemed to have a good understanding of the Gospel and want to know more about our faith. Sarah and I have been praying that they will accept Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior by the end of the summer.

Having spiritual conversations with the students has been surprisingly easy. Because the Mexican culture is so friendly and open, they have been so receptive of our beliefs. Since ITESO is a Catholic school, we’ve been able to use the topic of Catholicism as an opening to spiritual conversation. The Catholic Church in Mexico is seen as corrupt and evil to multiple students and professors that we’ve spoken with. One professor that Laura Caponigro and I talked with mentioned that her cousin was molested by a Catholic priest. Since then she has had many negative experiences with the church. We were able to invite her to our Protestant Church and plan to meet with her again for coffee. Laura and I prayed for our professor and hope that we can see her at our church on Sunday.

Sharing the Gospel with lost students has been an eye-opening experience for me. I have never intentionally spent time with people for the sole purpose of sharing the Gospel with them. Cross-cultural, relational missions is what I wish to pursue after college and I am truly getting a taste of that here. Though I am tired and sometimes tempted by the appeal of Mexican culture, Christ is becoming more and more constant in my life. I must be dependent and filled by the power of Christ in order for this mission to be successful. We praise God for the ways He has used us in spite of our tiredness and weaknesses.

To Him be the honor and the glory!

Hannah Swanson 

Clear Eyes Full Hearts Can’t Lose

In Him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of His glory.

Ephesians 1:11-12

As we press towards our goal in Christ the team has become unified and seen God work. We are three weeks into the summer and God has done so much! Every morning we pray together as we drive onto campus. It has been so sweet and humbling to pray for non-believing students at the university then start to have spiritual conversations with them.

Mike Caponigro, our team leader from Eastern Illinois University, decided to spend some time reading the Bible at ITESO. He was tired and needed to be filled by the Word. As he sat and planned to spend some alone time with Jesus, a student came up to him and started asking him questions about the Bible. Mike was able to do his devotions with a random, non-Christian student and share the Gospel with them. Mike explained that throughout his entire career with CO, this had never happened to him. The team prayed for the student and surrendered the whole experience to the Lord. Since then the student has been attending our Friday evening parties and getting to know other guys on the team.

The more we interact with the ITESO students the more we see that the harvest is plentiful for ministry in Mexico. Because the Mexican culture is so open and friendly, it has been easier than ever to get to know people. God has truly started to give us a love and a passion for these people. There are 5 weeks left of the summer for God to use us as He chooses in Mexico. To Him be all the honor, glory, and credit!

Hannah Swanson

One Goal

The team Minnesota CO Team and Illinois Team has conjoined and is slowly getting used to new surroundings. Last Friday we had orientation for Spanish classes at ITESO. Classes started Monday (May 29) and I feel a little overwhelmed. Everything is in Spanish and I can’t help but feel discouraged with the amount of learning I will have to do in order to communicate with students this summer. It has been a new level of surrender for me, being surrounded by a different culture. I think God needed to take me away from everything I’m used to (friends, family, culture, daily comforts) in order to show me that my dependence, confidence, passion, and life must be completely reliant on Him. Honestly, I don’t think I understand what it means to live a life that is “dying to myself.” Jesus gives us an example of this in His life and ministry. I had decided it was an unachievable, unrealistic goal. That is simply not true! We have the power of the Holy Spirit living inside us and we have the capability to love others the way Jesus loves us. I am excited to see what that will look like as the summer goes on. I want to live this summer by dying to myself in a way I’ve never done before. The team is going through the book of Ephesians, which we’re all excited about. The more I read through it the more I understand what God means when He tells us to live and walk in His wisdom. I pray that the more we seek Him and His wisdom, the concept of dying to our flesh will be more of an achievable goal.

~ Hannah Swanson