Merry Christmas from Mexico

Dear family and friends,

Feliz Navidad! Here’s a brief Christmas tale from Torreón, Mexico:

“Mira, mamá – un bebé!” Trinity was tugging at my arm and pointing to the stroller right next to us. I nodded and tried to distract her, but she was insistent. Heart sinking, I turned to my right and faked a smile at the image I'd been trying to avoid.

I had seen the baby when his older brother first wheeled him into place, right next to my chair. In the stir of people getting ready for the Christmas service at Cristo Rey (Christ the King), a church with only half a roof and a dirt floor, I looked at the baby in the stroller to my right. Our eyes met, and all of the surrounding noise faded away until it was just the two of us in our own world.

It was his feet that made me want to cry. Barefoot, sticking out of ratty red sweatpants, they were covered in dirt and the skin was cracking in a few places. The grimy toes belonged to a one-year-old with a sad, serious face.

His eyes were big and brown. No smile came from them - or his lips - during the service or the activities that followed. After his eyes, the other distinguishing feature on his face was his mouth. A ring of dirt, food, and other grit formed a circle around it.

While I stared at him, my heart breaking, he gazed back at me, only half-interested. A million questions raced through my mind. Where was his mother? Did he have any shoes? What health conditions did he have? And then, almost at once, I couldn’t take it anymore and turned away. That is, until Trinity guided my attention back to him.

And it’s a good thing that she did. Smiling and waving at him, she doted him with praise. Then the service started. Hymns, Bible readings, a children’s play, a closing prayer.

It was during the story of Jesus’ birth that I looked at him again. He sat strapped tightly in the stroller, his face still without expression...and yet I wondered: what about his heart? What about his soul? Were they expressionless too?

As Mike recounted Jesus’ amazing journey on earth and talked about the wonders of childlike faith, the little boy watched him closely. Images of the Holy Spirit at work came to my mind, and I thought of how God brought this little one to hear his Word that day. No matter what his living conditions were, how his parents treated him, or what his future held, both law and Gospel reached his little heart that day.

After the service and the meal that followed, I watched the two boys retreat. The big brother, about 10 years old, pushed the stroller toward home. The baby was fast asleep, his head resting on his shoulder.

I’ll be thinking about that little boy during the rest of this Christmas season. While he may not have many earthly possessions, he has heard about the greatest treasure of all: faith in Christ. A magnificent fortune awaits those who cling to the manger and all that it holds.



Family and friends, thank you for your continued support while we serve in Mexico. It’s for little ones like this boy that we are here and so motivated to continue. We want to reach the young, the old, and everyone in between with the Gospel while it is still day.

May the treasures these boys heard about on Sunday be with you during this Christmas season. Rejoice with us in the riches of our Savior’s birth, and roll with us into the new year with vigor to continue carrying out His work.

With love,
Mike, Rachel, Trinity and Noelle