Welcome to Mexico, Darrel!

Today's blog post is written by a Godly young man, Darrel Current.  You will be hearing more from Darrel in the coming weeks and months for several reasons.  First of all, he is currently living and serving at Refuge Ranch until the end of July!  We are blessed to have his help in school and especially, like today, with the area of communications.  Secondly, he is also our youngest member of the Fishers of Men Board of Directors.  Since a very young age, Darrel has been involved in Fishers of Men, having already served at the Ranch on mission trips with his family.  Darrel's father, Don Current, is the Fishers of Men treasurer and his mom, Dyan, passionately shares about what God is doing in and through Fishers of Men with anybody who will listen!  I know you will enjoy Darrel's perspective on life with Jesus at Refuge Ranch!

It’s hard to believe I’ve already been here a week!  Although my days have been busy, they’ve been filled with adventure and family, so I’ve enjoyed every day.  Last I left you, I was on my way to Mexico city preparing to begin a whole new adventure.  Well, that adventure has begun and I have much to tell, so sit back and enjoy the tale of my week!


After I landed in Mexico City, I found my way to the curb to be picked up after a bit of people watching.  Especially when there’s traffic, it can be quite the drive from the airport back to the Ranch.  If you’ve ever been to a foreign country (non-first world), you know that driving is always an experience.  Personally, I love it.  Watching the vehicles flow adeptly through the streets so closely together without crashing is always fun for me.


Thursday, my first full day there, was spent relaxing from travel and adjusting to my new life at the Ranch.  My Mexico siblings slowly became more talkative as the day went on, although they still prefer to talk in Spanish rather than use the English they’ve been learning.


The next day I got up and ate breakfast (prepared by the wonderful chef Rosa) before starting a day of blog writing and helping the kids with their school.  I’ve discovered I will be a lot busier than I had thought here, which thrills me.  I didn’t want to be simply a guest here, so I’m glad I have plenty to keep me busy.


Sunday was a fun day.  Most of us kids (other than those who are too young or busy with other events) went to youth group, which takes up most of the day here.  To be fair, that’s partly because the church is anywhere from one to two and a half hours away depending on traffic.  Since only the kids need to be there, Julie (founder of FOM) drops us off at the bus stop to take public transportation.  Talk about fun!  I love riding the busses (whether the big ones or smaller public transports) around and staring out my window at all the shops, cars, and people nearby.

Both youth group and church the next day proved to be excellent opportunities to absorb more of the language, which I’m learning slowly and steadily!  It was fun to hang out with a group of people my age who I can laugh and joke along with even though we don’t speak the same language.

Church on Sunday has to be one of my favorite things about Mexico and other countries in general.  The service was two and a half hours of pure joy.  We sang our hearts out, listened to the pastor give an amazing sermon (which I managed to catch parts of) and partook in communion together.  Words cannot describe how wonderful it is to hear Christ worshipped in another language.  Although you may not understand all the words, the joy is tangible.

Afterward, we share a meal provided by either the worship team or children’s ministry.  I’ve never had food there that I didn’t like and getting another chance to hang out with my Mexico siblings and the other youth is always a great time.  We stayed for a while, so I wandered out of the church compound (most properties in Mexican cities are walled in with a courtyard inside the gate) with some of the kids.  I say kids but really they’re my age.  Can we really be considered kids?  Anyway, we walked around for a bit and I bought some amazing sweet bread called a concha.  It only cost about 20 US cents!  Not bad!  That’s another of my favorite things about Mexico, all the little street shops with any food you can imagine.  I forgot to take pictures of my Sunday this week but in the future, I’ll try to remember to snap a few.

Most evenings here are spent hanging out with the family playing games, telling stories, and laughing a good bit.  So far my time here has been amazing.  Not that I expected anything different.  I’ve always felt much more at home out of the United States than I do in it, although I must admit that I miss my family there.  Aside from that, I’d be fine living in places like this forever, a fact I’ve reminded my mom of on multiple occasions.

While God doesn’t call everyone overseas, I know He’s certainly called me.  There’s so much to do with our time here on earth, and I’d much rather spend it sharing the Joy I’ve found with others than remaining comfortably in a familiar place.  Wherever God has called you to serve, are you doing it?  Are you spending the time God has given you wisely?  Decades from now when I look back at my short trip to Mexico, I pray I will be able to answer those questions well.