Mexico Part 2 - The Team

April 05, 2010 | by Jeep Collins

Last summer my daughter and others traveled to central Mexico for a medical/evangelism trip. In the mountains to the east of San Luis Potasi there live an indigenous people that call themselves the Pame. We had learned from pastor Felix Diaz Lopez that there was a high mortality rate among their young children and Felix asked if we would come and do a clinic for these people.

On returning from this trip we learned that a hospital in North Texas had given a large amount of medical supplies to our work there.

These supplies were of the type used in surgeries and not suitable for use in the basic medical clinic we did in the mountains. So we planned to take and donate them to a hospital in Ciudad Victoria in the state of Tamaulipas four hours to the south of Reynosa.

My good friend Tommy Shields set up this most recent this trip. I met him on a mission trip to the Caribbean in 2001 and have returned to the Caribbean many times. On those trips we took teams to do door-to door evangelism and help local pastors plant churches. Tommy and I have been through much together, and I have come to consider him my closest brother in Christ. I have never met anyone who could so quickly connect with people. He is a natural leader and people are drawn to his quick smile that reveals so quickly the heart of the Savior that lives within him.

One of the things so appealing about these trips is the lack of a day-to-day agenda, leaving it to the Lord to guide us. Between us we say we have no leader but God himself. This is true but as soon as we cross into Mexico the man we look to is Sammy Garcia. Sammy grew up in the little ejido of Naola. At the age of 17 he came north into Texas to find work. After working for several years in landscaping, he one day found the Lord and later became a pastor. He now has a Hispanic church in Dennison, Texas but continues to return to his native Mexico, serving as a mentor to the young pastors there. It has been a privilege to get to know him and be one of his "sidekicks" in the work he is doing.

Originally it was to be the three of us going, but one day I got a call from my friend Tim Bolton wanting to know if we had any trips to Mexico coming up. Tim is probably the most driven evangelist I have ever known. He lives for three things: to preach the gospel to the lost, his family, and to sell furniture in his "Homestead" store. Wherever Tim goes (he has traveled the world) his 14-year-old son, Mac, goes as well. I doubt that there is a boy of his age who has told more people of the saving grace of Jesus Christ than Mac.

And so the team is assembled.

to be continued...