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View from the High Dive

Gabriel de Guia reports from Mexico

iwitness from gabriel

• 07/01: View from the High Dive
• 07/03: Uniting Nations
• 07/07: Why I Feel Hopeful
• 07/08: Rain Makes the World Smell Better
• 07/11: God on a 3x5
• 07/17: Long Drive to the Prodigal
• 07/18: Holy Moment in the Underground Train
• 07/22: Mangling the Needle, Part One
• 07/23: Mangling the Needle, Part Two
• 07/24: Mangling the Needle, Part Three
• 07/31: Bringing Home More Than Souvenirs
• 08/01: Mission Accomplished

Tuesday, July 1

Does this objective sound like a bullet point for a Christian leadership conference for adult professionals?

Objective #4: To develop a realistic and measurable ministry plan for your life.

Think again.

This is an expectation set for the 65 high-school students joining us on the 4-week mission trip to Mexico City beginning today, July 1.

My wife and I are excited to join the leadership team for this trip. This is my 8th Campus Crusade summer project, but my first with Missionary Kid to Missionary Kid.

Sponsored by MK2MK, a missionary-care division for Campus Crusade, this trip aims to provide opportunities not found anywhere else for the children of missionary families.

Bringing missionary kids together to serve allows them - many for the first time - to embrace their own ministry (independent of their parents), enjoy "real" peers who share their unique cross-culture experience as missionary kids, and be inspired to reach the world around them with the love of God in new ways.

Not Too Lofty of a Goal

Go back and read objective # 4 again.

If you think that's too lofty a goal for a teenager to grasp and pursue, I'd like you to meet Jon Yturralde, an 18-year-old who grew up in the Philippines and now lives in San Diego, CA.

He spent 4 weeks on the 2007 MK2MK project to Uganda last summer. Immersed in this African nation located between Kenya and the Congo, Jon was gripped by the injustice and poverty that seemed to be everywhere.

Jon returned to his public high school in the fall, determined to make a difference. He mobilized the faculty and student body, organizing a "Week of Consciousness" at his campus which included:

• a school-wide silent sit-in to highlight preventable deaths worldwide. 
• donating hundreds of pounds of school supplies for impoverished schools in Uganda.
• replacing the weekly football pep rally with a "Rally for Peace"

Jon's extraordinary efforts were highlighted in the local news, crediting his faith in Christ as his inspiration.

Putting Objective #4 into Action

Today, 65 teenagers who have grown up in over 20 different countries collectively begin arriving in Mexico City for this year's MK2MK project.

Many will discover a deep level of safety in being with other kids "just like them" producing a newfound confidence in their faith, friendships and life purpose.

Engaging in compassion ministry among the poor of Mexico City, running a vacation bible school event for children, and being trained to communicate the gospel are activities that will leave a lasting mark in Mexico.

But historically, most of the transformation will happen in our students (and in us leaders).

Right now I feel like we're on the edge of a high dive looking out at a massive pool of change. We're jumping in today and we'll touch the other side in 4 weeks. What God does in between will be exciting to see.