My Fall into Infamy

Have you or someone you know ever gone on a short term missions trip with the desire to make a difference in the world at large? Not sure exactly what you can do but hoping that the Lord will use you to help however He can?

Well, when I was 15 years old I went on a 2 week missions trip with MTW to Mexico City, Mexico. We were there to help with building a church addition. On my second day at the site, I had an accident. We had been working on the third story of the building. There were no stairs leading up to the third story yet. To get down you either had to go on a ladder or climb down to the adjacent building. I was afraid of heights so I opted out of the ladder. I had straddled over the wall and was standing on a ledge. I only had to jump about 6 inches to the next roof, but I was still a bit nervous. One of the guys I was walking down with jokingly suggested I jump on what we didn't realize at the time was a sky window and then down to the roof. (I am sure you see where this is going).

I didn't realize he was kidding. I also didn't realize it was a sky window. It was made of ceramic tiles not clear glass.

The poor guy in our group had walked on down when he heard the crash. I am sure he was thinking, "Oh no, she didn't!"

But, yes, I did!

I fell 15 feet into a bathroom of the neighbors home. As I fell, for whatever odd reason, I had this image of baby Jessica falling into that well in Texas and I thought, "I'm going to be here for 5 days." When I landed, I landed standing up. I truly believe it was a miracle from God that I didn't hit my head or anything. I broke my foot because of the impact of landing on my feet. I remember looking up and seeing one of our youth leaders and some of my friends peering down at me with concern. The first thing out of my mouth was, "I'm in a bathroom!"

No one was home when I crashed into the bathroom so they had to figure out how to get me out and if I was ok. All these people were staring down at me speaking Spanish (which I only knew un poco). I was still marveling at the fact that I wasn't in a well. My fearless youth leader jumped down with me and they lowered a ladder which I climbed up and they lifted me out.

I then had to go to the hospital. Imagine how difficult it was to follow directions for the X rays when I didn't understand any Spanish. The nurses would act out what position they wanted me in and then I would follow. Finally I was given a cast and sent back to my group. Don't I look lovely sitting with my feet up while me team dotes on me? I spent the rest of the trip as the group, "encourager" as there was very little I could then do on the work site with a crutches and a cast.

Being the good daughter that I was, I called home to let my parents know about the accident and that I was alright. However, they weren't home at the time so I left a message with my 12 year old brother. Being the stupid teenager that I was, I never called back to actually talk to my parents and reassure my poor mother that I was indeed fine. So, my parents got home and my brother told them, "Crystal called, she says she fell through a roof and broke her foot, but she is OK." My poor parents had no means of getting in touch with me for the next 10 days. I never called back because I thought it would be expensive to call from a foreign country and figured they knew I was OK. As a mother, I can only imagine how worried and frustrated my parents must have been. My mom said she spent lots of time praying and clinging to Scripture during those weeks. Incidentally, anytime I left home ever again, they always stressed that I could ALWAYS call home, no matter the cost, to check in and if I did get hurt, to please, please make sure I talked to them.

Turns out God did use me to make a difference. No, I didn't do much church building or witnessing, but I did provide MTW with a classic example with which to teach leaders about the kind of bizarre accidents they may encounter in the field. About 5 years later my Dad and brother went on a missions trip with a different church, in a different state, but the same organization. As they were going through their orientation in Moose Factory, Canada, someone asked about injuries on short term trips. The MTW worker said something about how they don't usually have a problem, but one time there was this girl who went to Mexico and she fell through a roof... My dad and brother just looked at each other, knowing who that girl was. Way to leave a mark on the world, huh?

For more pictures and stories from the past check out We are THAT Family's Sincerely Fro Me to You Carnival.