April 4, 2007
Sometimes a city bus is faster than a car, such as when entering
the United States from Nuevo Laredo, Mexico.
I did not anticipate a pleasant ride in the small squeaky city
bus that was barreling towards me. I never would have ridden it
if it were not for the painfully long wait at the bridge to cross
in a vehicle from Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, to neighboring downtown
Laredo, Texas, where I check Proyecto Amistad’s mail. The
bus only gets as close as seven blocks from the international
bridge, and so I walked the rest of the way.
On my last trip, I walked down the main tourist street here in
Nuevo Laredo. As I walked I realized that the only Anglo Americans
I had seen all day were the ones drinking and hanging out in the
bars in this area. I was approached four times by Mexican hawkers
offering “girls, prescriptions, whatever you need.”
I then realized that, among the people of Mexico and the United
States, there exists a serious image problem.
This image, shaped by the bad elements of our respective societies,
does not fairly represent either country, of course. Just a few
blocks beyond the hawkers and hangouts for “party worshippers”
are neighborhoods filled with people focused on family life and
living as best they can. Also, the heavy-drinking, disrespectful
Americans like those I saw in the tourist area are not the majority
in the United States. To form a view about an entire country and
its people based on any minority is foolish, yet many times we
do just that. This foolishness even affects the Christian body.
The body of Christ cannot function in isolated segments where
one segment despises the other. Many times, short-term mission-team
members experience a reversal in their opinion of Mexicans after
encountering the generosity and kindness shown to them by their
Mexican brothers and sisters in Christ. One team member admitted
recently that not all Mexicans were “criminals” wanting
to enter the United States illegally but, instead, those she met
were nice people she had things in common with. We might scoff
at this person’s naiveté but, if we face the truth,
that kind of thinking seeps into our hearts and minds when all
that we listen to and look at is the negative. Let us actively
seek out the truth.
Time spent in Mexico with Christians provides a grounding experience.
I can attest that God does a lot of shaping and molding of us
in these cross-cultural relationships. Let us strengthen the Church
by committing ourselves to healthy relationships across borders.
We might find that some of our impressions in life are wrong.
I now find that riding that squeaky little city bus is something
I really look forward to. Besides avoiding the lines and saving
money, I get to meet more people!
Blessings to you in Christ,
Chris McReynolds
Proyecto Amistad U.S. Coordinator
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