South Africa to Mexico: Vaya con Dios

Published: May 18th, 2009

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.
Mark Twain, USA

“She opened the suitcase on the table.  It was filled with photos and she began to share stories as we watched the different memories captured in faded colours. Her first communion as a little girl.  Her wedding day.  Her 5 year-old son's cowboy themed birthday party. 
We're in Tampico. 
The city where our friend grew up. 
We helped her move out of Boys Town and back to her family.”
Adri Roos, Mexico

"Boys Town" is a Mexican walled red light district where a small team of 24-7 Prayer activists are living, loving and praying in the Kingdom of God.  Beginning with Kelly (Greene) Tietsort (featured above), a former cheerleader from Oklahoma who moved to the town with no other strategy but prayer, a small team has gathered over many years to share the love of Jesus and restore dignity to the men and women inside the walls of Boys Town.  Adri Roos is one of the newest additions to the team and her journey to Mexico has had some surprising turns.

I first met Adri in a garden in Germany.  She’d flown all the way from her home nation of South Africa to be at a 24-7 Prayer international gathering. I remember being blown away that a woman I’d only communicated with via email and who really seemed to love the idea of praying 24-7 would make such a big sacrifice of resources to come "hang out".  As we shared a drink and enjoyed the sunshine I saw her eyes light up as she talked about her experiences of prayer.  

Within a year Adri responded to God’s direction and relocated to the UK to serve 24-7 Prayer.  “We were incredibly grateful that this bright young woman would want to support us with her time and energy,” commented Pete Greig, “myself in particular as Adri did a great job of helping me to bring some order to the wildness this movement has caught me up in… it makes for a very messy inbox!”  

Adri always struck me as someone who seized the opportunities God put in front of her.  Whether it was a small thing like picking up a book and deciding to try an extreme prayer experiment, or a big think like moving to another nation without any guarantees. Adri steps with quiet confidence into the paths she feels guided into.  It was with a lot of excitement balanced against much sadness that the Guildford Boiler Room community, which Adri and Pete are a part of, sent her off to yet another continent in response to God’s call.  Europe was but a stepping-stone it would seem. 

Now, just over a month since Adri arrived in her new nation she’s sharing the privilege of helping one woman leave behind the industry around sex and forge a new life…

“It was beautiful to see her excitement as she hugged her 18- year old son.  He showed me a tattoo on his back.  It was his mom's name and he got it last year as a Mother's Day present…  

I love how the Mexican culture values family and hospitality.  How they spend hours around the table talking, eating, laughing and sharing.

Our friend introduced us to her whole extended family, at least the ones that live in Tampico. We met her son, her sisters, nieces and nephews. They took us on a tour through Tampico; downtown, past the fish market to the beach where we saw some dolphins, to the lagoon where we watched the crocodiles and to a lovely little ice cream shop we ate cheese and corn flavoured ice cream, a real culinary experience.

Her mom also invited us to her house and cooked us a lovely seafood meal. Soup with crab (yes it had a real full crab in the soup!) shrimp with salsa and battered fish with rice. 

She welcomed us into her house like we're her own children. I even took a little siesta on the sofa in the roaring heat of the day and she adjusted the fan to blow some more cold air on me as I snoozed away.  It was a delightful day filled with Mexican hospitality. 

I feel honoured that I was able to share in this part of our friend’s journey and pleased that she decided to be back with her family. I pray that her decision to leave Boys Town will draw her deeper into the love of the Father.

We took some photos with her and her family while in Tampico and I hope that in 30 years time she'll sit around her table sharing these stories and photos with others who will cross her way.”

It’s a humbling privilege to be part of such a life changing experience and to receive such generosity and love from the very people you are there to serve.  If Adri had stopped at any point, she could have had a wonderful life in South Africa or England. But following the call of God, she’ll live out a more challenging and rewarding storry among the men, women and children of a walled red light district.  Please pray for the Boys Town team as they share Jesus and long to see more people free from oppression.

Carla Harding champions prayer in the International 24-7 movement.  Hailing from Chichester, England her life was hijacked by God in 1999 during a two hour stint in the first ever 24-7 Prayer Room.   Carla is very happily married to Stephen and loves worshipping, blogging, films, books, friends, food, live music and international adventures.  

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