Hey! Wow, the last couple weeks have been a whirlwind. After leaving Ensenada on December 21 and staying with friends in Hermosillo and Mazatlan, we arrived in Guadalajara on December 23. The YWAM base we worked with is just outside the little town of Chapala, about a 45 minute drive from Guadalajara proper.
During our ten days in Chapala, we got to work several days with an orphanage for adolescent and teenage boys, playing soccer and doing VBS, helping with some painting and other projects, and hanging out with these amazing young boys.  Jorge, one of the men who runs the home, explained that in Mexico, boys and girls can only be together in orphanages until the age of 8. Unfortunately, there are not many homes that take older boys. Many are placed in juvies and rehab centers because there is no where else for them to go. It's hard for me to realize that without this home, many of these sweet, energetic, bright-eyed young men would be placed in very difficult places. They blessed us with their enthusiasm and warmth!
 Some of the staff from the base in Chapala are building relationships in a small village called La Pila, where they have a desire to do development and reach people with God's hope. In a village of around 300 people, there are only a few Christian families (the entire state of Jalisco is only 3% evangelized). Our team split into small groups for the afternoon and went out to milk cows with different families in La Pila, finding out about a different way of life, attempting to help the families with their chores, and drinking warm milk straight from the udder- believe it or not, if you mix in a little Nescafe and sugar, it tastes like a latte! In the evening, we did a program in the little plaza in the center of town with our dramas and kid's songs and testimonies. We were treated to homemade carne asada, beans, hand made corn tortillas, and cinnamon tea by one of the Christian families. Singing worship with them under the stars on a very chilly Mexican night encouraged everyone involved.
After spending a day doing work projects around the base, we spent New Year's Eve and day hiking and camping up on a high ridge over looking Guadalajara and Lake Chapala. While we were on the mountain, the team was split into groups doing teambuilding exercises and intercession for the base in Chapala. And yesterday, our final day of ministry, we drove into downtown Guadalajara and went to a cultural market where many young people go to spend Saturday afternoon. There are booths set up with everything from Hell's Angels T-shirts to metaphysical books to tatoos to bead weavings. Our heart was to talk with people and pray for this area, as the Chapala base would like to set up a booth and become a presence for ministry to these young people. It was amazing to hear about the divine appointments that God set up for member of our team there. Last night, we got together with some of the staff from the base, most of whom are just arriving home from Christmas vacation. We spent a couple hours praying and worshiping together, remembering Who all this is about and with and for.
Many of us felt God's presence in a very tangible way during our time in Chapala, as well as the staff we worked with from their ministry.It was cool to see as we reach out to bless other people, God shows up and surprises us with how much He can bless us.
Now we're on a 3 day drive to our next ministry location- Chiapas! As I sit in a hotel lobby very early in the morning and reflect on the last 2 weeks, I'm humbled and blessed by what God's already done in my students, through our group, and in me. I'm excited to see what else he's got up his sleeve!

 Prayer Requests:

-That the seeds that were planted in Guadalajara will continue to grow and be watered, and for blessing for the base and staff there. They went out of their way to spend time with us and help us out!

- Our vans! They're well loved and well used, and are feeling it! We've had some problems with the ball joints and weird clunking sounds that I don't really understand. Thankfully, Jake one of our dads on the team, has a lot of mecanical experience and has been doing constant work. We've still got a lot of miles to go, so please pray for wisdom for our drivers and mechanic, and for safety on the road!

- Continued growth of relationships and unity in our team.

- My co-leader Giezi has been having some minor respiratory stuff going on in the last couple days and my  stomach's been having some issues of it's own for about a week, so if you can be praying for health for us and the rest of the team, that'd be awesome.

-We're still short on our budget, so continued financial provision and wisdom in how to direct the finances we have.

-For clear direction from God as we minister in Chiapas and willingness to obey!

Impact a Generation

Monday, December 7

Scattered here and there over chairs and the floor and shoved together on the couches, our Mexico outreach team chatters in the few minutes before Giezi calls the meeting to order. After handing it over to me, we begin with a few minutes of prayer. I know there’re a few things we need to talk about, but I sense that I need to let the prayer time go a little longer. And people begin to pray, one at a time. There’s a quiet excitement in the air, but I can also sense the tension of our situation. We leave for Guadalajara, our first ministry location, two weeks from today. And we are thousands of dollars short of our budget of $45,000. With our base struggling financially, there are no backup funds available if the support for each of our students does not come in. But even in the limbo, I can sense something else: hope. I can hear it in their voices and words as they pray. I hear in the conversations I’ve had with: 

Jake and Rachael Christensen, as they look at bills to pay back home and 4 young daughters to feed and keep healthy. Even with thousands of dollars of need staring them in the face, they committed to pray faithfully that God would provide. And they’re already seeing Him do it, a few hundred dollars at a time. Their faces radiate their growing faith as they trust God and take baby steps out onto the limb of obedience.

Fernanda, Ever, Said, and Martin, whose families are trying to support them in their call to missions. In a culture where the church is used to being the mission field, it is often difficult for Mexicans to raise money from their church families. But with their culture’s emphasis on family relationships, they know that their families will do their best to back them up. Fernanda says, “I trust in God and that if my dad says he will get the money together, he will.” Her faith is amazing in a country where many only make a hundred dollars a week.

Tim and Ruth Powell, who take every opportunity to pray for the team and research the areas we’re going to. In a time when they took a step of faith to follow God from London to Ensenada, they’re excited that for the first time in their lives, they can give to others. And they do quietly, at every opportunity they get. 

There are so many more. And as I sneak a glance around as they take turns praying, all of a sudden my heart swells. I am so honored to have the chance to walk a part of these people’s journeys with them. To watch as God plants seeds and surprises them with who He is. To have their trust. To learn from them.

I’m inviting you to be a part of their journey, too! After living, talking, discussing, eating, praying, challenging, dancing, learning, and laughing with them for the last 11 weeks, I know they are worth investing in. Each of them is responsible for $2,500, the cost of driving, living, and ministering for 8 weeks in Guadalajara, Chiapas, and Cozumel, Mexico. We will be working with so many types of people, from the wealthy foreign tourists in Cozumel to Mexico’s poorest people groups, the marginalized indigenous people of Chiapas’ highlands. You have the opportunity to be blessing to each of those touched in the next 8 weeks through our ministry and to be a part of training the next generations’ worship leaders, activists, missionaries, pastors, youth workers, and parents. 

“HOW CAN I HELP?”

1) We are in urgent need of funds! If you feel led to partner with us financially, please make your check out to Youth With A Mission and send it to:

Youth With A Mission San Diego/Baja

100 W. 35th Street, Suite C

National City, CA 91950

IMPORTANT: Please include a note indicating that it is for “Ensenada Fall ’09 DTS Mexico Outreach.”

OR:

Go online to www.ywamsandiegobaja.org and click the green button titled “Donate” at the top of the page. Select “University of the Nations Student Outreach Fund” from the drop down list and click on Make a Contribution or Payment. Fill out the short billing information form on the next page, making sure you put that it is for the Ensenada Fall ’09 DTS Mexico Outreach in the Description box at the top of the page. Complete and submit the form.

Note: All financial gifts are tax deductible.

2) Pray for our team as we’re on outreach! Nothing can happen in the physical until it’s happened in the spiritual. Your prayers are a huge blessing and support to each of us.

3) Keep updated! I’ll be posting as regularly as possible during outreach, and we are in process of setting up a YouTube channel where you can meet the team and see videos of what we’re doing. I’ll be sending out the link as soon as we have it all set up!

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.

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 ; ).

Never Leave a Man Behind

Several hands shoot up as one of the students states her opinion during the debrief of the balance beam exercise. Across hot, sweaty cheeks, lively and cautious eyes, and sprawling bodies, the discussion about individual participation versus team responsibility rapidly criss-crosses the DTS classroom. Some readily interject their opinions, others observe attentively, while a few sit wide eyed. Emotions are running high and personalities are rising to the surface. And after this week, everyone knows how to recognize them. Four days of sharing, taking personality tests, intentional games, and physical challenges has aimed at getting this team to become exactly that- a team. Not just a bunch of individuals going through the same program, but healthy group that work hard for trust, honesty,effectiveness and relationship.  Our masks are beginning to wriggle off and the team is learning how to process "real". It's good. It's just the beginning of a molding and integrating process.

As he was praying for our team, our speaker Tim Pratt was reminded of the phrase used by the U.S. military: "Never leave a man behind." And he's repeated it several times in the last four days, trying to get us to grab it and weave it into the make up of who we are as a team. For situations like the one that's sparked this discussion- when someone either got left out of the exercise or chose not to participate and not many people noticed. The way that we process as a team in the classroom will determine how effective we are as a team outside of it- and whether or not we model Jesus' love to each other and others in real life. So I hope we learn well, and choose our actions and words carefully. It's beginning here. And in our brokeness and free will, there's no guarantees we'll be a success. Success will depend on how much we choose to trust each other, how humble we're willing to be, and how much we listen to and obey our Team Leader. As Tim and many others have said, the point is not the goal- it's the journey.

Off and Away!

A sweet awe hangs in the air as guitar strains sing softly, our voices now silent, letting the moment linger. Tonight, this green team of 31 new DTS students is practicing their newest lesson- intercession for the area and people in Ensenada's zona rosa (redlight district). In just a couple minutes, half of them will be following their prayers to the zona rosa, armed with soup, smiles, and a loving touch. For many, looking drug addiction, homelessness, prostitution, and drunkeness in the eye will be a new, uncomfortable experience. I hope it breaks their hearts. Just I'm leaving the room, one student is getting a group together to pray for the ones who are going out. This is what DTS is about. Perspective. Relationship. Learning the necessity of us and Him. Warfare.

In the last six days, I've had the opportunity to get to sit down with many of these students. Hear their stories. Eat lunch with them. Randomly dye our hair together. Mess up their names. Say "I'm not sure" to their questions about Ensenada and Wal-Mart and where the closest ATM is. They are a great bunch of people. And I do mean a bunch! With 31 students, nine staff, five kids, and one adorable, chubby cheeked 7 month old,  this will be the biggest DTS I've been a part of (not that I'm intimidated or anything ; ). Our passionate, untameable, gentle God's got plans and appointments with them- I can feel it. And I can't wait to hear about it.

As I've been settling into a new base, group of people, and rhythm of life with the students, I've had a chance to talk with Tym and Sarvia (who lead the DTSes here). I'll be cleaning, restocking, and setting up the speaker's room each week, helping out with some admin stuff when they need it, and being the "book girl" (making sure small group leaders have and hand out the next book to the students). I get to meet twice a week with a small group of 6 girls, helping them process DTS and lecture and what God's doing. I'll also be  following up individually with each of the girls, seeing how they're doing. Days will be full with lectures, staff meetings, exercise, local outreach, grading book reports, reading journals, and host of other "unexpecteds". The staff will also be going through some extra training in leadership, complete with our own classes, journals, assignments, and reports. It'll be a bit crazy, but I know that I'm in the right place for now. So as I take a couple minutes to let the day wind down, drink a cup of tea, and wait for the students to get back from the zona rosa, I'm also buckling up and leaning into this next adventure!

24 Hours

24 hours ago, I was hurriedly packing and cramming all of my stuff into suitcases, boxes and garbage bags. Now, I'm on staff with the DTS in Ensenada.

In the last week, God has been doing interesting things in the TJ DTS. Due to beginning with samll school of 10 girls, our leadership began wondering what was going on when 3 of our students cancelled or requested to be transferred to the Fall DTS in Ensenada. After several days of long meetings, prayer and conversation, the leadership team decided to combine our school with the DTS in Ensenada. Many of our students were surprised, but have agreed to transfer an hour further south. We don't know what God has up His sleeve, but are trusting His faithfulness.

Interestingly enough, throughout the last year I have always had a sense of peace when I am at our Ensenada location. In the last several weeks, that peace has come back very strongly. Last week, I spoke with Rob, the DTS director in TJ, and Jim, the base director about what had been going on in my heart. We were processing what that could mean or look like and waiting on God to speak into the situation when our studetns began to be directed elsewhere and the decision to combine the schools was made. When Tym, the DTS director in Ensenada informed my leaders that he was in need of one more femail staff memeber, they asked me Wednesday afternoon if I would consider helping with the DTS in Ensenada. I said yes. AS the DTS students arrive on Saturday, I moved down last night, got unpacked, and am getting caught  up to speed  as much as possible before the school officially begins on Monday. 

While there are certainly challenges with all the rapid change, I feel that God has His hand in all this. He's a master weaver of lives and circumstances, and I'm learning to trust His judgment : ). Right now, it's off to a meeting and a new adventure!