I didn’t realize just how special my friendship with Debi is until this past weekend. Her younger sister, Loida, and I set out early Friday afternoon for Rancho Chico, Puebla. This little dusty town that I like to call “la tierra de Debi” or “the land of Debi” has taken a special place in my heart. I guess you could call it my home away from home. My first memory of Rancho Chico is of me walking down the streets of dust and everyone turning their heads to look at me as if I was an alien. It felt like an old black and white episode of the Twilight Zone. Debi explained to me that I was the only guerra (white girl) that many had seen in her town. Taking in the surroundings of this new environment that I found myself in left me pleasantly surprised at how dissimilar Rancho Chico, Puebla was from my ever familiar Cordoba, Veracruz. Let’s just say that Cordoba is covered in lush green while a thick blanket of dust covers the ground in Rancho Chico. Cordoba’s palm trees adorn the verdant environment while cactuses dominate the land of Rancho Chico. Cordoba is full of Abercrombie clothed city boys while real life cowboys with Levi jeans and spurs ride horses and donkeys in Rancho Chico. Horrendous thunderstorms threaten Cordoba while the wind likes to pick up, throw around, and twirl dirt in rotating spirals in Rancho Chico. One other austere difference is the issue of water. 100% of the time water flows through the facet in Cordoba while in Rancho Chico you would be lucky to take a bath with running water one or two days out of the week. So how in the world did I ever find this place and how in the world did a dust bowl with hardly any running water become a second home to me? The answer: Simply put, it’s Debi’s hometown and her family has become like my own…
Loida and I arrived around 6:00 that night, and just like the first time I went to Rancho Chico the Gonzales-Sanchez family welcomed me with open arms, doing everything to accommodate me and love me. During this quick trip home, Loida and I spent the days visiting family and friends. I left this weekend understanding the grace of God a little bit better and completely overfed from the abundant supply of meat and homemade corn tortillas. I do admit that it was difficult to understand their Spanish every now and then because I didn’t have Debi with me. It’s hard to explain but the last couple of times I was at her house Debi was my translator. This might seem absolutely absurd considering the only words Debi knows in English are “God bless you” but yes she would translate from Spanish to Spanish sometimes for me. All I can say is that God has created a special bond between us. I can only describe it as one of those extraordinary relationships where spoken words aren’t always needed to communicate. I have never met anyone who can so easily read my moods and at the same time discern my future actions and thoughts. She knows and understands me so incredibly well and I don’t understand it all because I can be a very closed off person. Like I said, I don’t understand it but I thank God because she has been a huge blessing in my life.
It took me going to Debi’s house without her to realize just how much I miss her. Debi is a fourth year student, meaning that she is in her year of practice. She is currently serving the Lord in a village in a mountain in Oaxaca. It’s going to be nearly impossible to try to explain in this blog how God created such a beautiful friendship between this American girl and a Mexican chica who thought she could never love or grow close to an American. Our friendship started two years ago in the kitchen of MITC. She was the one in charge of cleaning and what started with a couple jokes turned into a water fight and that’s when I knew I found a friend. Later I gave her a sour Warhead and told her that this candy from the States would help loosen her tongue so she could speak English better. She quickly unwrapped it and popped in her mouth only to be bitterly surprised. Our friendship which started with these practical jokes turned into a true comradeship. We have shared so many experiences together including going to Tlacotepec (yes this word took me the whole the week to learn how to say) and when we were there I was the one who ended up giving her my Pepto Bismol after she was so sure that I was the one who was going to get sick…. haha… and that’s not all that happened on that trip… She has made such an impact on my life and I can honestly say that I am a better person from knowing her. Over the past two years she has been there for me. I don’t understand how she sees things coming and I don’t even have to explain things to her before she already knows what’s wrong. For instance, how did she know that guy was lying to me? How did she know that I was going to make that decision? How did she know that I was crying? How did she read me like that? I thought I was unreadable but she sees right through me. And the beautiful thing is that she’s not American, she doesn’t speak English, she couldn’t read this Blog if she tried, she didn’t grow up with running water, and she has never stepped foot in an air-conditioned church. With that being said, we have all these differences but we have the most important thing in common; we serve the one true living God. It’s so significant to understand and at the same time so completely spellbinding to comprehend that Jesus Christ is not a white American with blue eyes and He did not die just to offer abundant life free from the punishment of sin to American citizens. Traveling in Europe and living in Mexico has made me realize that the US is not the center of the universe. America is an incredible country full of opportunities and freedom and I am proud to be an American but we must realize that our national identity doesn’t make us the chosen people of God. Our decision to repent from sin and follow Jesus makes us His people. Jesus Christ died to offer true life to people of every nation, every tribe, and every tongue. Debi and I are from different nations and of a different tongue but we both serve the Lord God Almighty and the Holy Spirit lives inside both of us and that is what makes this friendship possible. And that sweet reader is the Gospel…. and I dearly miss my sister in Christ.
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