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A Lasting Impact in Mexico City
When Lee Morgan arrived in Mexico City this past summer, he knew barely a word of Spanish. For him, orientation was quickly followed by disorientation, as he found himself living with a local family (who didn’t speak English)—without even the benefit of a roommate, thanks to an odd number of men in his group. ¿Habla Español? Not really, Morgan had to answer.
But being immersed in the language and culture paid immediate dividends. Morgan, a student at the University of Texas-San Antonio, quickly learned enough to become conversational, sharing the Gospel face-to-face during the day. By the end of the summer, he delivered two sermons in his church.
“Because I was alone, I was able to connect in greater ways to my host family,” he recalls. “And I had to work on my Spanish much more than I would have with a roommate because I didn’t have anyone to talk to if it wasn’t in Spanish, and I didn’t have a roommate’s Spanish skills to rely on to communicate.”
Welcome to Spearhead.
Spearhead, a short-term program for college students and young people run by Latin America Mission for nearly 40 years, aims for more cross-cultural exchange and deeper relationships than a typical one- or two-week short-term project.
“Since it was one of the first short-term programs, it’s modeled a lot more on what a long-term missionary would do, shortened down to eight weeks,” says Jim Jordan, a former Spearheader, having gone to Mexico for both the eight-week summer program and a subsequent yearlong project.
Eight weeks, changed lives
Cultural immersion, deep relationships and lasting impact—both in local churches and in project participants—are Spearhead’s goals. For the eight-week program, participants spend three days in orientation upon arriving in Mexico City before being matched with roommates (usually!) and picked up by local hosts, who serve as surrogate families for their guests. The next four weeks are devoted to language and culture, as participants work in a local church, take daily Spanish classes and live as temporary Mexicans with their families. Then the last three weeks are spent in a ministry project chosen by the local church—everything from putting on a vacation Bible school to tutoring to door-to-door evangelism.
“God became flesh to communicate His love to us,” Jordan says. “So in the same way, when we go into another culture, we seek to become like the people as much as possible, out of respect for their culture. And through that we can share Christ’s love with them.”
Spearhead also has a yearlong version, which is where Lauren Zuber now unexpectedly finds herself. “I remember when I first heard that phrase, ‘Eight weeks to change your life,’ and I thought it was so cheesy—who made that up?” says the recent Gordon College graduate, chuckling. “But it’s so true! I went into that eight weeks thinking I was going to do this for the summer, go back to the U.S. and was going to teach, and there was my life. But it’s totally changed the direction of my life and made me consider, what is missions? What should it look like in my life? So I’m dedicating this year to figuring that out.”
Difficult, yet enticing
Talking to Zuber quickly dispels any myth that missions need necessarily be a life of constant sacrifice, to be undertaken with grim resolve. As a lover of Mexican culture and food, now blessed with deep friendships, she’s clearly having the time of her life. “I’m working with students who are a little behind in school and need extra help on Fridays and Saturdays,” she says, explaining what her current project entails. “And I’m teaching English—everyone wants to learn English. It’s busy, but I love it!”
Jim Jordan shares a similar story. He signed up for Spearhead not because of any particularly deep love of missions, or of Mexican culture, but from a perceived need to broaden his cultural horizons and spend some time serving after graduation from the University of Maryland but before pursing a career.
“I was thinking that I wouldn’t enjoy this, but that it’d be good for me,” he recalls. “What I think surprised me the most is how much fun I had with the Mexican people—the family I was living with and the church where I was working—even though I knew very little Spanish in those first few weeks.”
Must pack: humor
And like any career missionary learning a new language and adjusting to an unfamiliar culture, there are always moments of misunderstanding that cause one to remember that perhaps the most important asset to carry to the field, aside from a deep understanding of God’s grace, is a well-developed sense of humor.
As Lee Morgan says: “One of the funnier moments of the trip came on the very first day I came home to my host family. I stayed with the pastor and his family of Iglesia Bautista Odre Nuevo, so when I arrived at the home all the women of the church had decorated with balloons and streamers and a large ‘Bienvenidos’ sign. They also had cooked me an amazing meal.
“I was very impressed, and grateful to these women. But during dinner one of the women asked me in Spanish if I was impressed with the decorations and the food. The obvious answer was ‘Yes!’ of course, but in my limited Spanish I thought she had asked me if I wanted more cola. So I answered her question with a polite ‘No.’ The room got silent, and the women looked saddened by my comment. I felt terrible, but one of the women explained it to me the best she could, and as I apologized we all laughed about it together. So my first impression with my church was me telling all the women I wasn’t impressed by their decorations!”
Lasting relationships
Humorous misunderstandings like these are bonding experiences, and most Spearheaders remain in touch with their hosts long after their experiences are over. “Relationships are really key to the program,” Jordan affirms. “I built a relationship with my summer hosts that I’ve continued to build on. There are Spearheaders that went 20 years ago and they’re still coming back to visit their families.”
Lauren Zuber, who’s already worked in a trip back to visit her summer hosts (from her nearby yearlong home), figures to be one of those.
“I fell in love with the culture and the food and the people,” she says. “I feel like God opened up a lot of doors and opened up a lot in my heart. So through that church and through experiencing the Holy Spirit, I really felt touched and really felt called to stay for the year, though that was not my plan at all.”
Now, in the midst of her yearlong stint, living with a pastor and his wife (aka “mamá and papá”) who also lead a private school, Zuber is using her education in ways she never imagined and soaking up the culture in a way that’s only possible when living in a Mexican household.
“Right now it’s just me and my mamá and papá,” she says. “I’ve learned a lot from them. My mamá has been a teacher for so long, so she’s helped me with lesson planning ...We have a great relationship because they know so much, and a lot about Christianity in Mexico, which is so different from Christianity in the U.S. And I have 10 aunts here. My mamá has nine sisters. It’s a huge extended family; always people coming and going.”
So what’s next for Zuber? “I don’t know. Maybe you can tell me?” she replies with a laugh. One thing is for sure: her involvement with Spearhead has given her a lot to think about. “I thought I’d be teaching in the U.S.—but maybe He’s called me to a different place.”
