Hi friends!
After a brief visit to see friends and family in Charlotte, I’ve now been back in Mexico for about a month! It was such a boost of encouragement to see so many special people with no agenda other than to spend quality time, and now I am so excited coming back to Mexico continuing life and ministry!
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So Lyndon, what’s new?
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Well, below you’ll discover some updates about some new opportunities I’m stepping into, a ministry highlight, and a video testimony from a man we prayed for in the street!
New OPPORTUNITIES
One of the fun aspects of being back on base is that I’ve recently joined the worship team! This has opened up opportunity to work with some brilliant musicians - I’ve been challenged (in the best way) learning to develop my own musical craft and have experienced so much growth in creativity, leadership, and spiritual sensitivity.
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Worship is one of the core values on our base and it really shows - the culture of worship here is overwhelmingly full of hunger and excitement, so it’s been an absolute joy to participate in a unified cry for our Lord! We have base worship every Monday morning, and then some rowdy worship nights throughout the week. Our team is also hoping to soon have a studio where we can record and release music - there’s much vision for what’s to come!!!
MOVING OFF BASE + SETTLING IN
A small, but important update: I just moved off base and will be living with two of my best friends, Asher and Jake! Asher has spent most of his life here and is one of the primary leaders of the Burning Hearts movement in Mexico - his parents were the founders and pioneers of the base here over two decades ago! And Jake is arguably one of the most sold-out people for the Gospel I have met in a long time… he’s a complete fire-cracker full of zeal and consistent joy that has no off-button. Spending time with these two convict me to love the Lord with greater sincerity, conviction, and intention. I’ve been so blessed by their friendship, and now having our own place off base will create so many more opportunities to invite people over, create healthy rythms of life, and cultivate community.
In all of it, life has slowed down a bit since coming back from the go-go-go of outreach and the constant travel of the last few months, and now I’m looking forward to settling in more, discovering more of the language and culture, and really developing deeper friendships and roots here.
New feature: MINISTRY HIGHLIGHTs!
One of my favourite components of our base is how many local ministries we run on a weekly bases. Whether it’s working with a rehab center, teaching classes for kids in cartel run colonias, ministry in skateparks, taking our ship to isolated locations/islands to provide healthcare, working with police/government officials, building homes for people, etc, I’ve grown to see the scope of the spiritual and practical needs provided to thousands around the city + internationally. I want to start sharing insight into these with you (too much to include all at once!) and hope to start including a “ministry highlight” in future newsletters to give some more context and visualization around some work we get to do and the incredible things I’ve been given opportunity to participate in!!!
The first feature ministry highlight for this newsletter is…. drum roll please….
BIBLES FOR MEXICO!!
Of the dozens of ministries our base runs on a weekly bases, I’ve recently invested a lot of a time into one called Bibles for Mexico! The vision for the ministry began years ago with the goal to END BIBLE POVERTY. The activation of this ministry started with hoping to reach every single house with a Bible in our city, Mazatlan, and we are now almost 80% complete! But it doesn’t stop there, we are currently expanding and working with strategic partnerships in the country to complete the full goal of providing a Bible to every house not just in our city nor just our state, but to every single house in Mexico. Sounds crazy? Yeah, a little… but we believe in a radical God who honors radical faith and desires to encounter His creation more than we ever could :)
One of my favorite components of this ministry is that we are beginning to go back to old houses that we’ve visited and are now cultivating discipleship relationships in order to create sustainable, long-lasting, and vibrant local/house churches and communities. Last week I was with some friends and we were able to go back to a family in a neighborhood that we met weeks back and spend the afternoon eating mango with chili, drinking coca-cola, and simply hanging out/praying together! Here’s a picture of us all together:
Testimony + a lifestyle of love
As our team goes through the day-to-day, I’ve been so honored to witness a constant willingness to meet with, pray for, listen to, and ultimately love people so intentionally. Whether it’s for physical or spiritual needs, as believers we are called to love others not as an assignment, but as a lifestyle and as part of who we are…
Here is a quick video of a man we met hunched over who now is walking away full of new life and confidence… both literally and spiritually ;)
What i’m learning
Even though things have slowed down some, I feel as though my daily responsibilities on base and capacity has grown and matured. Things can get complicated quickly and it can be quite easy to neglect the importance of rythms of rest and forget the simplicity of loving well (yourself, others, God). This last week I feel like something changed in my approach and perspective, and I was reminded of what my friend used to tell me:
“with a restless heart, places of rest are restless. But with a restful heart, places of restlessness become restful.”
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In other words, if my rest is based on my circumstance or an emotion, I will always have something to be stressed about. Yet, if my rest is dependent on the reality of a person living inside me (namely Holy Spirit), regardless of what is around me or the many responsibilities awaiting me, my soul can be at peace. Slow down! See other people! In the mix of everything, I deeply appreciate the simple instruction of scripture:
“above all, love.”
and lastly…
You all know how much I love each of you and how grateful I am for friendship and for partnership… but I won’t stop saying THANK YOU. This is a team story of what God is doing, and I’m simply undone by the beauty of being able to do it alongside so many incredible, purpose-driven people such as yourself. There’s lots to come in the next months and years, and I can’t wait to do it together :)
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In the beloved,
Lyndon Matthew Lloyd
“But I will sing of your strength; i will sing aloud of your steadfast love in the morning. For you have been to me a fortress and a refuge in the day of my distress.”
Mazatlan, MX
