While many of us across the US have been hunkered down and encountering all kinds of winter weather these past few weeks, this month’s MATS ministry spotlight lands us in the warm, sun-soaked Baja desert of Mexico. Former clients of MATS, Pete and Emily Johnson and their family work with a ministry in La Paz called Rancho el Camino.

We’ve turned the page from 2020 into 2021, and it seems clear that this new year comes with continued challenges that linger from last year, but also arrives replete with fresh opportunities that lie ahead. For those in ministry, this past year has likely proven to be full of the unexpected and may have even been discouraging and draining.

We’ve rolled right on into 2021, but is your car ready for the road? As car experts, we’ve compiled a short list of things to check as you cruise on into the near year. 

One of the ways we love to support our friends in ministry is by capturing their story and using it to inspire our readers toward the work of the ministry. We caught up with Zac West with Jacksonville Young Life this past week and are excited for you to hear how the Lord is using this challenging season to grow trust in his providence but also inspire innovation and creativity. 

The internet is full of used-car horror stories. One of our favorites is from a man named Eric, writing to Popular Mechanics. He tells the story of winning an auction for a used but pristine Acura TL, towing it home full of anticipation, and opening the hood to find…nothing. The engine was missing.

The first thing you need to navigate the world of used auto sales is a map. Luckily, marketers and dealerships themselves have given us theirs—a glimpse at the way they approach the car selling process. 

So, you’re ready to buy a car. You know what you’ll be using it for, you’ve got a price range in mind, and it’s time to start looking at your options. What’s your first step?

Used auto sales is a rigged business. Dealerships aren’t designed to let customers choose the product they want, they’re designed to get customers to buy whatever car happens to be on the lot. To make that happen, dealers rely on a group of advantages that combine information asymmetry, pure mathematics, and human error. It’s the exact same strategy used by casinos.

You need a new vehicle, and you’ve settled on what feels like a nice safe choice: a Toyota Corolla. You want something recent but not too pricey, so you’re shopping the 2017 model. At time of writing, that gives you almost 30 options in your area. How do you pick?

A future where human beings have been separated from the world around them, relying on digital representations of it to make decisions, live their lives, and direct their actions. A future where the virtual world can be manipulated to mislead people into believing things that aren’t true.