Thursday, November 26, 2009

Week 9

As I let the phone drop into the receiver and Giezi and I continue our brainstorm, a hidden knot in my insides releases. After a week and a half of playing phone and email tag, we've got all of our main outreach locations set up. Knowing that we have a place to sleep for our team of 24 people for the next 2 months is huge!
For the first ten days of outreach (excluding driving days), we'll be in Guadalajara, a principal city in the Mexican state of Jalisco. Then for 2-3 weeks, we've arranged to work through the base in Cancun to reach 2 cities in the southernmost state of Mexico, Chiapas. From there, we'll travel through the Yucatan peninsula and ferry to the island of Cozumel for the last portion of our formal ministry time. Altogether, it's a distance of over 6,250 miles. As our team has been praying, we've felt that God has led us to focus on orphanages, kid's ministry, sports ministry, and worship. He's also reminded us that our outreach begins as we leave Ensenada, not when we get to Guadalajara. We're excited to see how He'll put it all together!
And I've been learning what it means to let Him be in control and not trust in my own ability to organize or communicate. God knows how to push my buttons, and I'm trying to let Him. I have to realize that I'm not as smart as He is and  all my worrying and planning won't determine the success of the outreach. That's up to Him. Easier said than done. But worth it : ).
Please pray for our team, that God will begin to prepare each of our hearts for what He wants to show us and do through us on outreach. That He will give us His dreams for the people we'll meet and our fellow team mates. Pray for Giezi and I as we learn to how to lead this team together and with Him. And pray that we will be able to take everything that God wants us to have out of these last 3 weeks of lecture phase. I know He's got cool things for us in the moment and in the not so distant future. Thanks for being a part of what He's doing.

Friday, November 6, 2009

As I sit here in the DTS office listening to the printer slowly churn newsletters out, I try to keep my eyes open and focused on the screen. The last several weeks have been amazing- so intense, but so incredible. I'm exhausted, but the good kind. Let me share a few of the highlights. . .

Week 4: An electrifying peace thickens the classroom as one student sings out their own phrase of worship. Across the circle someone picks up the words and puts notes to it. Within a few moments, all 37 or 38 people in the room are singing a unique and never heard song as the simple chord progression thrums underneath their voices. Worship is the theme of this week's teaching, but the students are learning that worship is not defined by songs and instruments. It's defined by trust, repentance, and obedience. A lifestyle, not an hour every Monday and Thursday morning. They have risen to that challenge this week, and I can see the change in their faces. Some have called parents and been transparent for the first time in years. Others have acted on hearing God's voice in their personal lives, even when it was awkward and painful. Some have asked forgiveness from each other. And now their words come from experience as they sing their new song to God.



Week 5: Nervous titters and anxious looks dart up to the front of the room where a couple staff members are sorting through the slips of paper the students just turned in. The names that have "Gold" written above them are scribbled on one side of lined notebook paper, and the ones that say "Silver" across from them. Tonight's presentations of our outreach locations has also been an exercise in hearing God's voice. After hearing the locations, the students were given about 15 minutes and asked to pray that God would give them one of these two colors. Now they are anxious to hear not only who else is on their team, but which location those colors stood for. But the leaders are in for a surprise as well- due to two student leaders receiving "Gold" instead of "Silver", we have a quick prayer session of our own. At the end of the night, 14 people get together to pray for their new focus: Chile and Argentina. And my co-leader Giezi and I watch as our team of 18 students and the five kids run over to the world map and point to what is now the focus of at least 30% of my thoughts for next 3 1/2 months: extreme southern Mexico. 


And today, at the half-way mark of lecture phase, I look around at the girls in my small group, flopped at every angle over the couches in the worship hall. They laugh and exchange embarrassing stories and paint their nails as I pepper them with questions about their experiences so far and their opinions about this week's lecture on the heart and relationships. Some readily and stongly voice their feelings, while others have a little more trouble. While they have formed a rhythm and place to express themselves, I can sense a deep tiredness and a little frustration in all of us. It's normal at this stage of the DTS to come out of the "honeymoon stage" as we all find the pattern of life and the newness of people and surroundings wear off. 


But as I gather the last of my newsletters and pack up my mochila for the day, I recognize that God's got so much more for all of us in the next 6 weeks of lecture phase. He'll be settling some lessons deeper into our hearts and revealing new things. But in order to be awake enough to enjoy them, I'd better head to bed ; ).