A couple of years ago, I wrote about an old high school friend who serves as a missionary/church planter/orphanage director in the North Mexico city of Matamoros. We reconnected on Facebook, and have been corresponding ever since. Tony and his family have been there for a number of years, laboring under difficult circumstances to reach people for Christ and improve the lives of the people in that city. They have sacrificed so much in the name of the Gospel, and they count it all joy.
Back in high school, Tony's nickname was "Mumbley" by his friends. He was shy and quiet, didn't talk much, but when he did, he had this deep, low voice and southern drawl. And he always has a smile on his face. Hard not to like him. I never would have pictured Tony as a preacher/teacher, and a missionary in a foreign land.
But Tony is my hero.
Over the past 4 years, around 30,000 people have died in Mexico in the drug wars between the cartels, the Mexican police & military, and innocent civilians. It truly is a war zone down there, along the border between the U.S. and Mexico. Whether you are for or against amnesty for illegal immigrants here in the U.S., it hard for us to imagine the hellish nightmare and fear people live under down there every day. Little wonder so many want to flee across the border.
Tony lives and serves right in the middle of all this in Matamoros. He sees not only poverty, disease, and despair daily, but he also witnesses the crime, the death, the destruction of the drug war. Mexico is a country suffering a slow, painful death, and Tony is right there, reaching out to those in need, touching one heart at a time with the love of Christ. He sometimes sends out messages to us back here in the States, simply asking, "pray for peace in Mexico" and "pray hearts will turn to Christ, the only hope for Mexico."
Sometimes when I reflect on the fears we face back home here, I think of the uncertain economy, rising prices, rising taxes, job loss, healthcare issues, and so on. All very real concerns, no doubt. Then I'll get a message from Tony, and I'm reminded of how he, his family, and those they minister among fear for their lives, daily. Sobering thought.
And so I pray for my friend, serving Christ by serving "the least of these", in a war-torn border town called Matamoros. May God protect him, provide for him, multiply his work, and richly reward him one day.

I don’t watch it very often, and the few times I do, I really have to be in the right mood. I hate what it does to me. I’m talking about the TV show, “Extreme Home Makeover” with Ty Pennington. If I sit through an entire episode, I know what will happen at the end- in the show, and to me. After watching their heart-gripping story, the featured family is bused back from an all-expense paid vacation, during which their house was being remodeled or completely rebuilt. With Ty and his crew present, and surrounded by the entire local community, Ty shouts to the bus driver, “Move that bus!!” The family gasps, screams, cries, falls to their knees in utter amazement, joy, and thankfulness.
And I am undone.
I always choke up, my chin quivers, and I get teary-eyed. That moment grips my heart, every time, especially when I see the children’s reactions. Their wonder is priceless. I love that show, I hate to admit…
I think the reason each episode grips me so much is because each family has a unique story, told at the beginning of the show. Some are single parents, some out of work, some living at or below the poverty line, most barely getting by. Yet they always are doing the best they can, where they are, with what they have. And they often are very giving and selfless, from what little they do have! Then suddenly, their homes are transformed, and so are their lives, beyond their wildest dreams. It’s beautiful.
I am reminded of Jesus’ poignant promise in John 14:2-3, when He states, “In My Father’s house are many dwelling places. If it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you…” As Ty and his team work hard to prepare a new home for each family, our Lord is hard at work preparing a beautiful new home for each of us who have believed in and loved Him. As we live out our own stories in this at times difficult life, He gives the hope and promise of a much better life to come, filled with wonder, splendor, beauty, discovery, adventure, intimacy, joy- beyond all of our wildest dreams. And I’m sure our reactions will exceed even those on “Extreme Home Makeover”.
“No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived, what God has in store for those who love Him.” -1 Corinthians 2:9
I think we often have misconceptions of what Heaven will be like. We often think of it as a place of clouds, white robes, harps, choirs singing, etc. And when you read Scripture, there certainly will be all of those- especially at the beginning, like a universal Olympic opening and closing ceremony before the Throne of God. It will be colossal, magnificent. But that’s only the beginning. Everything we have ever been amazed by, awe-struck over, and dearly loved in this life, will be magnified and multiplied a million times over in eternity.
Life however is full of hardships as well as these joys. I know friends who have lost their jobs, families who lost their homes, had children who ran astray from the faith, had to hospitalize or bury loved ones. Marriages have fallen apart, lives have crumbled. We all have experienced these, will sometime in the future, or know some who has. And yet as Christ-followers, we have promises like this from our Heavenly Father- “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.” -Romans 8:18
Those who have gone before us can’t wait to see our faces, watch our reactions, when we get there ourselves. Talk about the ultimate “Extreme Home Makeover”! It makes me want to bring along as many as I can, share this Good News with as many as God brings across my path.