Random Crossings (or not)

Archival story: We met the two teenagers sitting on a bench in Tecate, Mexico. They had heard our music in the downtown square and had come to check out what the crazy foreigners were on about.

They not only sat through the whole performance, they also hung around to talk to us afterwards. And before we knew it, both of them were praying to become followers of Jesus, and eagerly taking the Spanish New Testaments that we had with us.

Then they did something I'll never forget: they asked for one additional prayer from us. Tonight was the night that they were determined to get across the heavily guarded border, hoping for a new life in America. Runaways from southern Mexico, they had been living on the streets in Tecate for several days, trying to figure out the best way to get across the border undetected.

Each cross represents someone killed in the attempt.

We didn't pray that they would make it, nor that they would change their minds. We prayed for God to watch over these young people, and keep them safe wherever they ended up. We came away thrilled that they had responded to Jesus, but deeply disturbed by the reality of their life in Mexico (and now maybe the USA).

I'm hoping to meet them again someday. I wonder if they'll tell stories about how, on the eve of their attempt to gain illegal access to America, they met these crazy missionaries in the border town of Tecate, and how that was the start of a new journey with Jesus. That's the story I'm hoping to hear, either now or perhaps in the afterlife.

I'm hoping that this was not just a random crossing of paths.