{"id":1982,"date":"2019-05-21T13:23:15","date_gmt":"2019-05-21T13:23:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ifesworld.org\/?post_type=conexion&p=1982"},"modified":"2019-07-03T13:20:58","modified_gmt":"2019-07-03T13:20:58","slug":"why-im-in-the-circle-of-silence","status":"publish","type":"conexion","link":"https:\/\/ifesworld.org\/en\/blog\/why-im-in-the-circle-of-silence\/","title":{"rendered":"Why I\u2019m in the Circle of Silence"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sunday, 10am, blue sky, 21<\/span>\u00b0<\/span>C. The morning sunshine lights up rows of brightly-coloured houses. The shops are just\u00a0<\/span>opening<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>up<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>for the day, but already there\u2019s a cheerful bustle in the streets. Tourists clutching selfie-sticks meander around the historic city, trying to take it all in: the\u00a0<\/span>23 metre-high<\/span>\u00a0aqueduct, the 17<\/span>th<\/span>\u00a0century architecture, the vineyards, the mountains. The locals, familiar with their idyllic surroundings, are busy going about their weekend errands or heading to church for morning Mass. This is Quer\u00e9taro: beautiful, vibrant, alive.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Y<\/span>et\u00a0<\/span>Quer\u00e9taro<\/span>\u00a0lies in an area<\/span>\u00a0of Mexico<\/span>\u00a0known by Christians as<\/span>:<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u2018<\/span>the Circle of Silence<\/span>\u2019<\/span>. Despite\u00a0<\/span>persistent\u00a0<\/span>m<\/span>issionary effort,\u00a0<\/span>the region<\/span>\u00a0has proved\u00a0<\/span>notoriously<\/span>\u00a0difficult to penetrate with the gospel, and the percentage of evangelical Christians remains very low<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Quer\u00e9taro<\/span>\u00a0is home to Monica, a staff worker with COMPA Mexico. She shared her\u00a0<\/span>reflections on doing student ministry in the Circle of Silence<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Closed doors\u00a0<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\u201cThe spiritual climate of the university is hard. There is a lot of opposition, a lot of indifference. Most students come from very Catholic families. Finding any who call themselves Christians is difficult. And when you find them, some do not respond to the call to share Jesus \u2013 they\u2019re not interested; they\u2019re not committed.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Many\u00a0<\/span>don\u2019t want to do evangelism because they\u2019re afraid of rejection in such a heavily Catholic environment.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"190319_dennis-schrader-1310843-unsplash\"<\/p>\n

Photo by\u00a0Dennis Schrader<\/a>\u00a0on\u00a0Unsplash<\/a><\/p>\n

Such was the case of a Christian student we met at the university. We talked about COMPA and what we did, and he seemed to respond well. B<\/span>ut when we began\u00a0<\/span>the<\/span>\u00a0train<\/span>ing he told us this was\u00a0<\/span>not what he wanted to do<\/span>; he appreciated our support, but he didn\u2019t want to start a Bible study group.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

W<\/span>e invited\u00a0<\/span>another student\u00a0<\/span>to join the\u00a0<\/span>ministry. She\u00a0<\/span>said that she\u00a0<\/span>was already serving<\/span>\u00a0in her church<\/span>. S<\/span>he was going to pray\u00a0<\/span>about whether she should star<\/span>t a Bible study group. But I never heard back from her.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It is difficult to\u00a0<\/span>meet<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>with\u00a0<\/span>these kinds of\u00a0<\/span>responses<\/span>. They discourage us and make us wonder if we should continue at all. It hurts us to see that in the Circle of Silence, it\u2019s common to experience opposition and rejection from both\u00a0<\/span>non-Christians and<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Christians.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"190319_naassom-azevedo-541454-unsplash<\/p>\n

Photo by\u00a0Naassom Azevedo<\/a>\u00a0on\u00a0Unsplash<\/a><\/p>\n

Why I\u00a0am here\u00a0<\/strong><\/h4>\n

It\u2019<\/span>s in these moments\u00a0<\/span>that<\/span>\u00a0I question the Lord’s call<\/span>\u00a0and wonder if I\u2019m<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>in the right place.\u00a0<\/span>But that\u2019s when God, in His faithfulness and grace, leads me back to the reason why I am here:<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cFor my Father\u2019s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.\u201d\u00a0John 6:40 [NIV]\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

This is His will. God has put me and a team of workers in this area with the purpose of making His Son known, so that students may have eterna<\/span>l life. That\u2019s\u00a0<\/span>why we stay. Even though the environment is hostile to the gospel and often the responses of students discourage us, the Lord helps us to persevere. We have confident hope that there will be some\u00a0<\/span>here\u00a0<\/span>who respond to the invitation to follow Jesus and proclaim His Word in the university.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Voices raised for Jesus\u00a0<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Praise God \u2013 t<\/span>here<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>are small encouragements along the way. I was looking at the Bible with one student recently, and he responded: \u201cIf I want to do mission and see my friends change, I first need to let God change me.\u201d Another student came along to an evangelistic event COMPA put on and told me: \u201cThis is what I need: to surround myself with people who<\/span>\u00a0help\u00a0<\/span>me to know Jesus and His Word.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s encouraging to see that, in a context of religiosity and indifference to the gospel, God is at work here, changing the hearts of students.\u00a0<\/span>I am learning to see and trust\u00a0<\/span>His sovereignty<\/span>\u00a0in this region.<\/span>\u00a0My desire is to see more students meeting Jesus \u2013 the real Jesus who transforms lives, who brings hope, who fills the spiritual void that exists in the university. May there be many students in this generation who raise their voice for\u00a0<\/span>Jesus in the Circle of Silence!\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Please join us in praying\u00a0<\/span>that the gospel would take root and transform the universities of the Circle of Silence.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":1984,"template":"","area":[460,633],"theme":[1219],"class_list":["post-1982","conexion","type-conexion","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","area-latin-america","area-mexico","theme-my-story"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nWhy I\u2019m in the Circle of Silence · IFES Conexi\u00f3n Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Sunday, 10am, blue sky, 21\u00b0C. The morning sunshine lights up rows of brightly-coloured houses. 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