The Whole Summer

During my first year at Northland Baptist Bible College, I began thinking that I would like to spend more time in Mexico City--- a lot more. I wanted to spend the whole summer there. The question was, would the Goldfusses want me to spend a whole summer there? When I finally worked up the nerve to ask, I found out that they too had been thinking of having me for the summer as a sort of intern.
So in May of 1998, I traveled again to Mexico City and spent eleven great weeks there. Some of the things I did that summer was man a literature table in the weekly market (oh, the stories I could tell!), preach through the book of 2 Timothy (in Spanish, no less) on Sunday evenings, and hold youth group meetings on Saturday afternoons. I was also able to receive credit for this summer of ministry as a Missionary Apprenticeship Program for my major in Missions.
I learned many things that summer, but the biggest difference was getting past the "tourist phase." I wasn't just visiting for a week or two anymore, and I started getting used to life in the biggest city. I read several books, some of which greatly influenced my thinking. I specifically remember reading the autobiography of John Paton, the biography of William Borden, and In Pursuit of Purity, a history of American Fundamentalism. What a great summer.