The Rocio Project: Week 6

As a display of typical Paraguayan dress,
Analia and I got to wear beautiful skirts and
blouses all night!!!

The pen scratches across the paper for a moment, and then pauses as I glance up, trying to find the words to capture my thought. In my brief break of focus, I notice Analía flip a page in her book across from me. The click of typing behind me says that Tanner is hard at work as well. Stifling an inward groan as the clock lets me know how late it is, I finally catch a vague idea of the words I need to express this sixth principle. The pen begins scratching again, the English in my brain somehow coming out in Spanish on paper. Six down, four to go.

Last week, we studied the role of the local church in community development, both through teachers and this amazing book, “If Jesus Were Mayor” (Bob Moffitt). What am I taking away? The vision of reconciliation that God has is whole-istic-- physical, spiritual, social, and intellectual. As we develop communities (that’s people), our view needs to be broad and go to the root of the problem. Whenever possible, community development needs to happen through the local church. The church is uniquely positioned to influence every sphere of society and every area of life, long term. When a local church catches a glimpse of God’s wholistic agenda and applies it to their lives and their community, nations are discipled. This vision of the local church as a team guided by their Coach and united around outward-focused goal breathed life into me and made my box get a little bigger ; ).

This week’s topic of transcultural ministry involves one of my favorite topics- how to understand other cultures and minister effectively in them. Culture shock, types of cultures, how to learn customs, and the heart attitude that reflects who He is are a part of this teaching. All the stuff you wish you would have known ; ). This week marks the halfway point of the school- it feels like it’s flown by!


Every other week we have a “family night” as a base, and our class works together to present a community we’ve researched and pray for that community. It raises awareness of the needs of the world around us and even the cultures you maybe don’t hear about so much. Last week, my roomie, Analia and our classmate Rene took this project a step further and invited the Paraguayan Ambassador to Costa Rica to come share about their beloved country. Check out the photos!

The Ambassador's party, Analia, Rene, and I- "the Paraguayans" of the night!

I'm loving my classmates and my school staff! Here, we pose
with the ambassador and his wife. From right to left, it's Analia,
Kevin, Alex, Johann, Amanda, Yoel, Tanner, Elizabeth, the ambassador,
his wife, advisor, Giacomo, me, Jose, Marianela, Elsi, and Rene.

I've enjoyed practicing my Spanish with Analia and learning more
about her culture. She's got this amazing passion for her country
and the drive to actually do something about the problems she sees.

The Rocio Project: Week 4

Roots=Belief
Trunk= Values
Branches= Behaviors
Fruit= Consequences (Poverty, addiction, etc.)

New Ideas. . .

My pen can't move fast enough as the lightbulbs come on in my brain. The speaker, Christine Colby, has been showing us how we have to look deeper than the obvious problems and needs we see in communities- we have to go all the way to the root. Poverty is a mentality. We have to change the ideas and beliefs that cause the problems. It's what sets us apart from other, secular compassion projects- recognition that there is always a deeper issue than malnutrition, or illiteracy, or bad water, or consumerism. Unless you deal with the deeper issue at the root level- the belief- your program will not be sustainable and transformation is impossible. And unless your own perception or worldview has been transformed to God's, the change you bring to others will just be a reflection of your culture, not God's intentions for that community. Our hearts.

Deal with the root before you touch the fruit. Don't point out the speck in the other person's eye before you get the log out of your own. And seek God in the details- ALL of them.

Meet Tanner, Amanda, and Alex, fellow participants

in my school! There's 3 different countries represented

in this photo, and as we learned this week, 4 different

worldviews!

Whew! Talk about brain overload. Every week, the teachings just get me more excited- it makes so much sense! Suddenly, community development becomes much deeper than handing a skinny kid a bowl of soup. It's relationship and trust and commitment and teaching new ideas. But always relationship.

This week we'll be focusing on Dynamics of Development- I'm excited to put legs on these ideas and find out some practical steps of how to bring biblical worldview, and through that, transformation, to a community!
On a Personal Note. . .

As you can read, I'm loving what I'm learning. And surprise! All of my homework needs to be done in Spanish! Quite the challenge, but it's making me grow in my language abilities- like a built-in language school for free! I'm pretty sure my English spelling is getting worse, though. And then there's the random moments where I can't remember what the blasted plastic thingy with the handle that you drink coffee out of is called in either language. . .

 I translate for Amanda (costumes included!)
Every other Wednesday, our class
researches and presents a community
at our basewide "Family Night".  Amanda
and I were in charge of the first one-
Hispanic gang culture in East L.A. A drama,
statistics, and intercession were all a part
of getting the needs of this community out. 

I'm continuing to build friendships with the other students and staff here at the base and enjoying them. I had the chance to let off some pent up energy and see a little bit more of Costa Rica white water rafting on Saturday- can't get much better than a good adrenaline rush and some beautiful tropical mountains! Rice and beans are a steady part of my diet- like 2 times a day, but they do a good job of flavoring it up a bit. Still miss tacos, though!

My Paraguyan roomie, Analia, and I escape to MacDonald's
to research our communities and learn more about each
other's cultures. Creativity sometimes gets killed sitting
in the same bunkbed trying to concentrate for hours
every week, so we grab every opportunity to take our
work elsewhere!

I've been struggling with some mental fatigue in the last week. Apart from my classes, I've been trying to be more disciplined in my relationship with God (i.e. spending time with him, taking every thought captive, letting truth into the dark places in my heart), and I don't think Satan's appreciating the effort. But God has surprised me again with how He knows how to speak to my exact need and I'm loving Him for it! Please pray for a stubborness to not get lazy and good rest.Well, that's about all for now! I love hearing from people, so if you have a couple minutes, let me know what's up with you!

The Rocio Project: Week 1

A few miles south of Ensenada sits Maneadero, a few stores, taquerias, and auto repair shops encircled by a rapidly growing diaspora of roughly constructed “houses.” Surrounding and breaking up the myriad of structures many Americans wouldn’t even consider a proper shed, fields of vegetables and large white tents patchwork the valley, a growing and packing industry fed by the proximity of the LA and California markets (ever wonder where those tomatoes come from?). The life and blood of this industry has cautious dark eyes, a petite frame, a gorgeous embroidered blouse, and speaks Mixteco more than Spanish. The indigenous Oaxacan migrant worker may make only $5-$7 a day, most likely doesn’t have proper drainage or consistent electricity, and doesn’t know he has a right to insurance, health care, or decent work conditions. These tribal communities of travelers have been the focal point of hours of research this week.

Each of us built a profile of a neighborhood or community that we would apply the teachings and principles of development to as we learn them. Population, ethnicity, language, culture, public services, infrastructure, schools, families, history, natural resources- all of this and any other details we could find (or a take our closest guess at) about how the people of the community live made up our profile. I’ve chosen the indigenous migrant community of Maneadero as my profile community, and the work me and God invest there I'm calling The Rocio Project.


It’s been a crazy blur of classes, homework, work duties, 6:30 breakfasts, outings to downtown, new faces and new ideas. I love my 10 classmates- we’re a funny mix of personalities, nationalities, languages, and hearts that take in everything. From Paraguay to Canada and several countries in between, we’re in Costa Rica to learn!


Last week focused around orientation to the Community Development school and it’s purposes, in addition to team dynamics. As we consider development, understanding not only that we need each other but also that the relationships, dynamics, stages, and elements that make up a team are important to understand. Not only in the team we take into a community, but also the community members we partner with.

One of those principles is that God has to be at the center of everything we do as a team or in a community. Before he can be the center of my team, He needs to be the center of my love relationship with him. And that’s what this week’s classes will focus on- Intimacy with God and understanding our destiny as His lovers and beloved. The gospel that we take to the world.

The absence of rain drumming on the roof feels strange. I can hear the shuffling of feet and voices in the hallway, with the hum of crickets singing in the background. For the first time since getting here, it’s the San Jose traffic buzzing instead of my brain! But breakfast comes sooner than I’d like and so does my first book report, so I’d better sign off for now!


Some Favorite Quotes from this week:


Giacomo Coghi, Team Dynamics


“When we think of developing communities, we need to think of developing people.”


“We don’t wait for them to come to us; we go to them.”


“Unity moves the hand of God, releasing blessing and power and bringing life.”


“Active listening is a ministry and spiritual warfare.”


“Every time a new person comes on to a team, a new team is created.”


“Preference is not a value or an ethic. It’s just a preference.”


“The deeper the understanding goes, the greater the potential a relationship has.”


“Trust is the bridge that supports the weight of truth.”


Vanessa Pavely, Intimacy with God

“The closer you get to Light, the more obvious your darkness and brokenness become.”

“Love cares enough about our pain that he came to suffer and conquer the power of sin and death so that we could be free of our brokenness.”

“God’s justice is motivated by Love . . . our works of justice need to create lovers of Jesus, not just comfortable people.”

“We were created out of the presence of Love, not the absence of it.”

The Questions that Are Becoming More

I could only discern a few stars through the smog as I padded softly across the roof. A mile away, I could hear the faint blare of car and bus horns, and imagined them weaving precariously between rickshaw drivers and donkey carts. The stench of the drainage ditch and open sewage in the street a few stories below rose in the cold night air as I glanced toward the invisible Muslim slum a few blocks from the base. I had only been in India for a few weeks, but the things I had seen and heard in that short time troubled me. Seeing greed, ignorance, corruption, poverty and misunderstood truth chaining people in an endless cycle of hopelessness grieved and confused me. “Where would I even start if I wanted to help?”

A year later, I met a little girl (and her little girl) in a migrant camp in Southern Baja who drove the desire to help even deeper in my heart. Read her story in my entry from January 2009 entitled “Unspoken.” Since then, many more encounters and people have left me with questions. Questions about our hearts and our brokeness and how they affect the injustice we see in developing nations. Questions about the root of poverty and the right way to help. Questions about how I’m supposed to be involved.

Unlike many assume, the root of poverty is not a lack of resources. Poverty begins our hearts, with our worldview. "Ideas have consequences." (Darrow Miller, Discpling Nations)

YWAM San Jose in Costa Rica started the Foundations of Community Development school (FCD) to address these questions and provide practical skills needed to work in areas of community development. With Jesus, commitment, and eyes that look deeper than the surface, change is possible. As I have prayed, I feel the FCD is the next step to discovering how these questions, ideas, and experiences combine with my gifts and abilities to produce a role in His dreams for people.

Read more about the FCD.

Learning how to aid the transformation process of a community 
 is part of the goal of the FCD. The first phase of the FCD costs $1800.
I am still praying about going on the practical application part of the school, and the cost of that portion will depend on the location.

I’m leaving for Costa Rica in a month, and I’m inviting you to be a part of my journey. I’m not okay with leaving things as they are. However, there is a right and a wrong way to do discipleship and development, and I want to start with a strong, clear foundation. I need people who will back me up in prayer, accountability, finances, and shared vision. Together, and only together, we can change life as it is for so much of the world.

Please let me know how you want to be involved!


The best way to contact me is via email: amy_beth87@hotmail.com or on Facebook.


Checks can be sent to:


YWAM San Diego/Baja
100 W. 35th St. Suite C
National City, CA 91950


*If you want it to actually get to me, please include a note stating that it is for Amy Esh! Thank you!


“How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!"
(Romans 10:14-15)

Seed of a Vision

Nato squirms and smiles, trying really hard to pay attention as I slide another popsickle stick up from behind my hand. "Ahora, cuántos son?" I ask, hoping this time he'll remember that four comes after three, not five. "Uno, dos, tres, cinco, siete. . ." Haha. Well, we'll give it another try.

A few months ago, Kirsty and Oscar, the couple that heads up the Homes of Hope department here, got the vision to begin working with the kids in a colonia outside Ensenada. What began as a soccer game and coloring sheets every Wednesday afternoon has developed into parachutes and 3 different tutoring groups (not that we cut out the soccer game ; ). I'm excited to see where God takes this ministry! Check out a few of the pics!

View of the valley from the cement slab that we do kids' ministry on- many families in this colonia and the surrounding area are migrant workers from down south. As you drive through the area, you can see fields of vegetables and huge tents where tomatoes are grown and packed.

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Kirsty points to the animals on the card and has the boys count with her. She and I work with the youngest group of children-four to five little boys each week between the ages of 4 and 6. Right now, we're working on teaching numbers up to ten.

My friend Nato tries to pay attention but there's just so many more interesting things you could do with the popsickle sticks! But with his big eyes and toothy smile, it's hard to stay irritated for very long ; ).

Josh and Caleb perch on the rocks to work with the oldest group of children while Oscar helps a new kid sign up. We try to get a little info from each child and then visit their parents, explaining our heart for their child and beginning to build relationships with the whole family. Some of these kids are from families that we've built for in the last couple months.

Montse and Cole work with the middle group of children. The lesson of the week is how to tell time. Montse and Kirsty spend hours each week coming up with new ideas and cutting out and laminating the materials for each group. Uno is one of the children's favorite games- we like it because they learn numbers and practice their colors!

Our group of wiggly, eager learners and a couple volunteers, Abby and Katie. After going over lessons for as long as the kids (and teachers ; ) can handle, we clear the cement slab and play a game of soccer. And in case you were wondering, yes, half the kids are way better at handling the ball than I am! Thankfully, everyone's welcome at Kids' Ministry, even those of us who can't kick a ball straight!

When Isabel met Olivia

From above our heads, hammers ring loudly through the thin, water-splotched walls, mixing delightfully with the teasing and busyness bouncing around me as I try to help prepare lunch for the team outside. Just a few feet from the kitchen door, sheet rock, electric wiring, window trim, and shingles are somehow managing to fit together into a new house. Around the crowded table in the old house, onions, batter, fresh fish, and cactus will soon be mouthwatering fish tacos with all the trimmings. Between slices of cucumber, I enjoy watching the three women I'm working with interact. You can tell they've known each other for awhile- for all the teasing, Isabel is undisputedly the one in charge. In her late fifties-early sixties, she's had a lot of practice leading at her 7 day/week job supervising vegetable packing at some of the farm operations, the huge white tents just tiny specs in the valley below the build. Her eyes are warm and deep, her face telling a hard story. But she's a survivor- not the bitter type, but the one who's chosen reserved, dignified gratitude to a new-found Jesus. The kind of person who has your respect in the first few minutes of a conversation. And her friend, Irene, is all braids, honesty and exuberant life. Easily letting Isabel call the shots, but not afraid to shush her fretting and make her relax.She's the one who let me in on my favorite discovery of Mexican cooking- fish taco batter comes in a Just Add Water mix, available at any supermercado! And their third friend, who's name escapes me, adds a little quiet sweetness to the blend, trying to let me feel like I was actually helping.

Just as the cooking crew of the day is special, so is the team outside. John and Jane Ray have been part of our Ensenada family for years (even if they actually live in Arkansas), blessing us with their caring hearts, love, and expertise on responsible support raising and how to do it (Jane is the one I mentally beg for forgiveness from when I get lazy about keeping up this blog!) This summer, I got to meet their daughters for the first time (because I'm newer to the base than they are, not the other way around). Sadly, I never got to meet their youngest, Olivia, who died in a car accident last fall. This team is made up of people from different parts of the country who love Olivia and her family. It's in her memory that they are here, representing a whole community of people who gave financially to make this and three other houses possible so far. And despite having a good time and working hard, I can sense the seriousness with which they work. This house isn't just about feeling good- it's about love.

For the Olivia's Basket team, this home is an extension of their love for one little girl. And I know Isabel and her family felt that love deep down.

 The fish tacos were a huge hit (I believe I ate four myself), barely a scrap left over in the aftermath of bowls on the kitchen table. And a few hours later, as the keys to Isabel's new home are being passed around and each person has a chance to share his heart, I sense something that I'm just now putting into words. I may never have met Olivia Ray, but I think Isabel and her family did that weekend. I think they understand who Olivia was everytime they walk through the door of their home. And even more, they understand a God who collects our tears in a bottle and refuses to waste our pain.

Isabel's grandchildren and friends play follow the leader- the 4 yr. old in pink takes after her grandma's management skills. Isabel's husband, Ramon, watches quietly from the background.

Haley carefully paints a sign with Isabel and Ramon's family name to hang on the outside of the finished house. Go, Haley!

The aftermath of fish tacos and ensalada de nopales (cactus salad) for 30 people. Good times!

Jane's fabulous instructions for the paint crew adorn the corner of the port-a-pottie.

Impromptu soccer games are always hit in any Mexican neighborhood, especially since school's out for the summer.

This lovely young woman is doing an excellent job of painting the interior. Notice the drywall cutting going on behind her. Multitasking is the bottom line of getting a house done in a day and half.

During the dedication of the house, Isabel's sister and friend both thanked us for blessing her with a home. From the amount of tears shed in English and Spanish, I don't think that Isabel was the only one blessed by this outpouring of love.

Not So Ordinary

I’m pretty sure it started with the bed bugs. Yeah, there actually is such a thing. They like to come out at night and bite poor, unsuspecting high school girls down in Mexico on their first mission trip. Did you catch the first part: at NIGHT. Like say, about 1 a.m. just as you’re brushing your teeth and giving yourself a lecture about staying up too late. But another room, bunch of sleepy girls, an empty bottle of raid, a fumigator, and 15 bags of laundry later, I think we’re beginning to get on top of it. (Although unless someone else is more on the ball than me, there’s still several bags of bedding sitting next to the frozen veggies in the walk-in freezer- turns out bedbugs don’t like cold weather any more than I do).


Just the way I planned on starting my week. And it’s kind of set a trend for how the rest of the week’s gone.


Take today, for example. I’m in one of the guest rooms, wiping the bathroom floor for the third time because that’s what happens when Caleb is trying to fix the sink and I’m trying to clean the room for tomorrow at the same time. Just as I’m sticking the cleaner back under the sink and standing up, I hear water running. So naturally, I test the faucet to see if we’re all good for tomorrow. No water comes out. Yet, I still hear water gurgling. Opening the cabinet door, I find water spurting out of the pipes. Not quite a water hydrant but definitely a fountain. Panic hits as my mind pictures water puddling all over the room (this is while I’m sprinting down the stairs and manically pushing buttons on my pager thingy). And yet again, four bath towels, one Caleb, a few helpful volunteers from the rehab center, and another pass over the floor later, the room is ready for tomorrow.


Afternoon comes, and my friend Shelby and I combine our shopping trip for hospitality supplies (yes, my parking job was amazing even in a 15-passenger van- at least the first time) with blizzards from Dairy Queen. When she got here a couple weeks ago, I was the first to introduce her to DQlandia (ironic, huh? Kansas girl introducing California girl to DQ in Ensenada, Mexico). Since she’s headed out tomorrow, we took our break with a blizzard and a conversation about life (which was actually better than the blizzard).


My day is looking up, especially as me and a couple friends start toward Centro in a borrowed car to get our hair trimmed- mine’s needed it for like 4 months. A couple miles from the base, I get a call that the team that got in a couple minutes ago has 2 more people than anticipated and therefore don’t fit in the room I assigned to them. Thankfully my friend/ ministry team leader was at the base to handle the situation, so I told them to hang tight and I’d figure it out when I got back. Which was dinner time. By that time, Gemma had creatively rearranged people and we ran around trying to make sure beds were made for the guys that were going to be staying in the team’s new second room (as Gemm’s husband shows the guys around the base).


In the middle of the craziness, I hear my name across the courtyard and am nearly knocked over as 3 of my favorite little Mexican girls try to give me bear hugs at the same time. I was one of the staff that took DTS students to their parents’ soup kitchen every week last fall, and since then, we occasionally get to play when their daddy comes to fix the frequently broken washing machines and fridges on base. So as soon as the last bed is made and I’ve had time to microwave my dinner, we sit and talk about how Irahi and Maya want to be in YWAM (maybe in a decade, girls), Berenice playing peek-a-boo from underneath the table.


And even now, I shake my head and smile at the same time. Because weeks like this week drive me crazy. And I love it. I found out I can make it down 3 stories of stairs in 12 seconds flat. And that bed bugs die in the freezer. And how much I need the people on my team. And that I love blizzards and good conversations and haircuts and besos on the cheek from tiny brown-eyed two year olds. My ordinary is nothing close to routine. And crazy as it sounds, I wouldn’t change it for anything.