Observations From The Field

Hey, everyone, live here on Cadre. I want to share today some of my observations from the mission trip I went on last week and just kind of want to process it out loud with you guys and just share, you know, some of the things I saw and just how it really hit me. It was a kind of an impromptu trip. I wasn't planning on going. I ended up going down to Mexico to just across the border. I live in San Diego and led a medical team down there. And it's really hard when you lead a group of medical professionals on a mission trip, because if they've never done mission work before, they don't understand the concept that we are literally dropping in for a day to provide them with the basic of basic band aids to help these people with their chronic illnesses and ailments.

And really, we see so much more mental health than anything. I can't tell you how many patients sat down and said to me, you know, this hurts. This hurts. I've had this going on for this many years, and once you start to talk to them about what their home environment is like, you realize that a lot of this stuff is psychosomatic. And they do have issues. They do have chronic issues, but most of this stuff is a manifestation of their emotional state and their mental health. And so it's hard to explain to a team of nurses and doctors that you go down with that.

Like, it's okay we don't have all the medications we have available in the states, because what these people need right now from us in this really brief encounter is hope and love, and that is what we're going to be able to provide for them. So it's really powerful to be able to provide that space for someone to share. And we basically do, like, one on one coaching and therapy with them and just really dig into, like, tell me what you're struggling with in life. Tell me what home is like for you.

And we learn about. I mean, they just open up. They just completely open up to us. And we learn about the abuse that they've endured. We learn about how their brother got killed by the military or the police. Two months ago, we actually talked to one of the, like, government officials in Mexico and learned that her husband was, like, murdered by the police. I mean, there's just so much corruption in other countries that we don't experience here in the US. I mean, sure, we have corruption here, but not to this level.

And so just hear their stories and then see them go about their day to day. Like, I feel like we take that for granted in the US that we have the opportunity to grieve. I mean, you can get bereavement lost from your job in the US at most places. And there's just a culture of understanding that when you go through something tough, we have resources. You know, we have eaps, we have counseling, we have coaches, we have, you know, church communities. We have communities for people and resources for them that they don't have in other countries, especially third world countries.

And they are just expected to like, pick up themselves by the bootstraps and go about their job because they can't afford to not go to work. And I mean, this is literally just right across the border from where I live and it is such a different world. And so to see people say like, yeah, I know I need surgery for that thing that's causing me all these other illnesses, but I can't get surgery because I can't afford to be out of work because I need to feed my family. The choices that they have to make at the end of the day are just not choices that I've ever had to make in my life.

And that just really hits me. There's just so many hurting people and I cannot get out of my head the image when we were in the van and we were in the line to cross the border back into California, just looking out the window and seeing the group of people on the sidewalk shooting up. I don't know what they were shooting up, but probably crack, heroin, something like that. And like, I don't want to get too graphic with you, but literally, like right in front of my eyes, 5ft from the van shooting up on the sidewalk and it's in broad daylight.

We are in a busy area and this is just a norm. Like, I know there are people that live with this norm in their life and they've seen this before and I've actually seen it in the hospital. I've found patients shooting up in their rooms, but like, to just see it in broad daylight in the middle of a busy area, I mean, there's a little bit more covertness when it comes to using drugs in the US and I know it's so prevalent in the US, but it is just such a different culture that like, this is just expected in Mexico or in other countries that like, this is just how we live and nobody's doing anything about it.

I mean, in the US they'd probably be arrested, you know, the drugs would be confiscated, but it's just like, ah, just let them be. Let them do their thing. I mean, there's like military police walking around on the sidewalks in this area. Like, this isn't like an area where there's nobody around. It's a busy area, and they're just doing their thing. And it took, like, every fiber of my being to not get out of the van and go out there and say, I want to talk to you. Let me help you. Let me talk to you right now about why you're doing what you're doing.

And I have never struggled with a drug addiction, so I can't even begin to understand what that must be like, to know that that is what you need right now in this moment. Like, that's where your hope is at, that you need to use a substance right now to make yourself feel better. I can't even begin to understand that and imagine that because I never struggled with it. But to just see the hopelessness in their eyes, I think was the hardest thing for me because this was just a normal daily occurrence for them.

And there's so many people outside of Mexico, in the US, right down the street, probably my next door neighbors, that have that same degree of hopelessness. But yet do I ever walk up to them and say, tell me what your home life is like. Tell me what's going on in your life. I want to be able to help you. I want to maybe just provide a safe space for you to share today. No, I don't do that. And I immediately felt convicted to start being more bold in how I approach people and show them that there is hope and there is love out there.

And I don't know if this speaks to anybody else, if this is something that you feel convicted to do, too. But I just. I have a boldness about me when I go on a mission trip, and I don't hesitate to talk to random people, and I don't hesitate to, like, dig deep and ask them the tough questions. But yet, in the culture that I live in, I don't do that. And I don't know why. I don't know if it's because I'm fearing judgment, if I fear that people are going to, you know, think I'm weird, whatever. This is my community.

I actually felt, like, really strongly convicted the other day when I was getting my oil changed. It was one of those where you, like, sit in your car and they just, you know, do everything. And she was obviously having a really rough day, and I felt this nudge to, like, pray for her and just, like, talk to her, and I ignored it. And it was so hard for me as I drove away. I was like, why didn't you do that? Why didn't you have a boldness to just say to her, hey, how's your day going today? And what could I do to make your day better?

How can I provide you with some hope? Laughter, light? Maybe you need a Starbucks. Maybe I'll drive and bring you a coffee. You're having a long shift and, like, you can't get any more caffeine. I don't know, but, like, I would do these things in a third world country, but yet I don't do them in my own neighborhood. And so I just want to encourage you, if you take anything away from just my, my rant here and my observations from this trip, to just be more bold. Be more bold. Like you would on a mission field, like you would if you were in a situation where you were encountering so many people who are hopeless and despair and struggling in life, you would reach out to them.

So who is it today that you need to reach out to? Who do you need to call up and say, hey, I see you. You're loved. And how can I give you some hope today? Because there's so much more than what you're going through right now. Today. There's so much more to this life than the depression that you're in right now. There is. There's something on the other side of this. So I just want to encourage you. Be bold. Ask people those tough questions. Don't worry about what it looks like or how you feel or a judgment that you might get, that you might seem weird.

Do it. Be bold. And I'd love to hear how it goes for you because I think we need to create a culture of this. I know for myself, I have given myself an oath that, like, I'm going to be more bold in my own community and I'm going to ask people, you know, tell me about your day. How you doing? What can I do to make your day better? Because really, at the end of the day, our life is all about connections and the people that we talk to every day. So I hope that encouraged you. Let me know how it goes.

I would love to hear stories and people sharing what this is like when you just make that decision to be more bold and ask people, how can I serve you? How can I love on you today? Thanks for tuning in on the live guys. God bless.