January 01, 2000 by Jennifer Potts

Tossing and turning in my bed, unable to find comfort from my raging stomach pains and queasiness, I found myself arguing with God. Building churches and helping with vacation Bible schools were activities on my mission agenda. However, the adventures on God's agenda for my time in Puebla, Mexico, made my plans seem insignificant.

I never dreamed I would hike four hours on a soggy, washed-out trail leading to a hidden people tucked deep in the mountains of Oaxaca, Mexico, who I believe truly are God's people. I never thought sunrises could be as beautiful as the one I was blessed to observe from the doorstep of the mountaintop church, surrounded by my new brothers and sisters in Christ. Nor did I anticipate that God could bring glory to Himself through my contraction of both typhoid and typhus soon after returning to Puebla from that overnight visit.
  
Jennifer Potts (right) with long-termer Nicky Pena Throughout my illness and the struggles it brought, God showed me that my trip was not about me at all." 

Throughout my illness and the struggles it brought, God showed me that my trip was not about me at all. It was about learning how God is more interested in people coming to be with Him than He is in people coming to work for Him. The expectations I carried with me to Mexico were centered around me and what I could do for God. While sick, my life turned around from what I could do to what others could do for me. The strength I lacked was abundantly provided for me by my adopted family in the local church. Homemade chicken soup and daily prayers were just a few of the ways they drew me into their family circle.

I journeyed to Mexico full of aspirations about how I would impact the people I met. I returned knowing that I had a new family in Puebla. And, without my realizing it at the time, God revealed to me the true goal of missions: To trust God at all times, to allow the Holy Spirit to work through all things, and to follow Jesus in all circumstances.

Jennifer Potts was a Short-term volunteer with Wesleyan World Missions.