Taxicab Blessings

Carla’s 15-minute ride to church may be the most important part of her Sunday routine.

A member of Cristo Arca de Salvacion church in Tijuana, Mexico, Carla rides a taxi to church every Sunday and strikes up a conversation with the driver.

“She opens up the conversation by asking her driver's name and the names of their family members,” said Abe Lee, who serves in Tijuana with Christian Reformed World Missions.

Carla writes down these names each Sunday, and, when the taxi arrives at her church, she asks if she can pray with the driver.

While she has had many meaningful conversations on the short ride, one experience stands out.

“Carla remembers a driver whose father was so ill, he was on his deathbed,” said Lee. “She shared a message from the gospel and prayed for the driver and for his dying father. The driver later told Carla that he shared the exact message from the Bible with his father that Carla had shared with him.”

The driver said he was thankful to Carla for sharing these words because he wanted his father to hear a story about Jesus but didn’t know which message to offer.

Church members like Carla encourage Lee and his wife, Elaine, as they carry out their ministry in Tijuana. One of their ministry tasks is leading Bible studies in the churches they serve.

Many of the participants are going through the Bible for the first time, which may prepare them for  the “taxicab” moments that Carla creates.

“We as Christians are called to make testimonies and praise stories about our God,” said Lee. “We have heard and seen this among our Bible readers.”