Outreach News

The Freedom of Forgiveness

2012-01-16T22:36:00.005-08:00

Testimony by James Legge

On Friday Caleb talked about Forgiveness at the camp and how it was important to forgive each other. After he was done we split into small groups to talk about the teaching and 6 out of 8 young men asked God to help them to forgive the people that had hurt them in their past. 3 of them broke down like each of us had in lecture phase when we had a week on forgiveness and repentance. It was awesome to see that and to be on the other side of it rather than being the person doing it. I know how hard it is to forgive someone that has done something to hurt you in your past that you never really forgave. I know God was really at work during this time in the youth and me both.

Trading my sorrows... la, la, la

2012-01-16T22:36:00.003-08:00

Testimony by Cori Cook

I had two favorite parts about being here in Fiji. The first one was going and doing hospital visits in Labasa and visiting with the kids. When we visited them we got to talk to them, paint their faces, and make balloon animals for them. One time when we visited Michael Camden dressed like a clown and we thought the little kids would love it, but they were scared instead. Every time we went it was such a blessing to God and the people, because sometimes they had visitors there while we had visited. Then later when Christmas came we went and sang to them, it was a lot of fun to do.

My second favorite part would be in the village of Dreketi, we lived beside a river and the kids from the camp called me Rico. So if I was sitting on the deck, I’d hear someone calling my name from across the river, “Rico… Rico!” I felt loved being there by the family we were staying with, the camp kids and of course God. One night walking back in the dark from the fun night at camp, all the kids started singing, “Trading my sorrows… la, la, la”, it wasn’t just the song, it was the way they sang it. It was filled with love, fun, happiness and joy. It was the most fun I’ve had here in

Fiji

Outreach in Fiji coming to an end

2012-01-16T22:35:00.000-08:00

By Candace Reeves

Labasa, Fiji

Our time in Fiji is now coming to a close as we started our 8^th week on Monday. It is a bittersweet feeling for us as this is our last week, we have really grown to love this country, but are happy and excited to see what God has in store for us next when returning home back to America.

Our last week of ministry was spent in a village called Dreketi where we got to stay in the home of a family who blessed us in many ways. They were such a sweet family, we really felt at home and all enjoyed staying with them during that time. The second day there we were able to introduce ourselves and perform the dance “We Speak To Nations” at the church the family attended. Later some of us attended the afternoon service where they did the dance “God is Good.” Monday-Friday we got to lead a youth camp for the youth nearby. And since the family’s home was across the river, we got to take a boat back and forth everyday in order to go anywhere. (We also got to swim in the river just about everyday whether it was our choice or by the family pulling us in.) Our theme of the camp was a “Mini DTS” (Discipleship Training School). We got to plan the whole thing with teachings, games, sports, team building activities, discussion groups, worship, soaking times, pretty much everything you do in a DTS. We also got to do another Purity talk for the girls and boys. I know this was a blessed time for us and the youth and they were all sad that it was over and to see us go.

Saturday, the family took us out to an island for the whole day where all we did was swim, eat, play volleyball and just spend time with one another. And our last day concluded with visiting a different church where we got to lead the service. Our team did the drama “Set the captives free”, Cori gave a testimony on her time here in Fiji, we did the drama “Masks”, Michael Tully gave his chapel talk, the girls did their dance called “Your Name” and Brad taught the sermon. I’d say that spending our last week of ministry in Dreketi was the perfect way to end it. Thank you Jesus for this wonderful and blessed time!

Please be praying for our team as we will be debriefing and traveling all this week. Thank you so much for reading and I will see you all next week in America!

Gone from Chico

2012-01-16T05:44:00.000-08:00

Val and I left yesterday morning (Sunday) to head back to our home in Florida. We said our goodbyes throughout the day and evening. The staff staying on the base will continue to enrich the lives that come and go to Springs of Living Waters, a refuge and retreat for the weary and seeking. We students are leaving with a sense of purpose, knowing at last or once more God loves us and has wonderful things in store for us. These wonderful things are in YWAM, other ministries or in the world. We will be seeking these out these next few days, weeks and months. We'll be praying for all you YWAMers we met and y'all pray for us. It's been the best week ever! :)

Black Beans and Rice

2012-01-13T17:03:00.000-08:00

You ever have any of those moments or experiences that left you just not wanting anymore of it? When my daughters did DTS many years ago, they came back from their outreach not wanting to even see any of the food they were eating in those places; they never wanted to see or eat rice!

Well, we finished our lecture phase 8 weeks ago and Wednesday we got back from Guatemala and today we’ve finished our debrief; what does that mean? It means that we’ll be heading back or towards what God has in store for each of us. But what is truly remarkable is I still like black beans and rice, after all we did eat a lot of black beans and rice on our outreach. And as much as I want to go back home, no matter how much I miss my family and friends, no matter how much I miss my church family; I am hungry for more. The title of this blog entry implies it is only the food of Guatemala I miss but it is truly much more than that. These past 2 days we’ve been here in Chico with the friends we made in our CDTS (Crossroads Discipleship Training School) family, the many friends we’ve made at the YWAM Chico base and of course my deepened relationship with God. There was a fear that just as my daughters didn’t want any more rice that I’d not want any more of YWAM, the people here or any more ministry. Ah, but I want more! Much more!

So, what’s going to happen? What will we do? All of us that have been in this CDTS thing will have some time to reenter our normal cultures, our normal relations, our normal lives but are we changed? I trust we are and will reenter with humility and grace and love. And maybe a huge portion of Black Beans and Rice!

End of the Road

2012-01-10T05:21:00.000-08:00

Today is our last full day here in Guatemala; this adventure is coming to an end. What have we done? Has any of our ministry been effective? Have we been part of anything that will last for eternity? The prospect for change in anyone's life is all about attitude; the attitude of the one receiving ministry and the one giving out ministry. We saw hundreds, if not thousands of smiling faces in several locations around the country. We were in urban churches large and small, rural settings in buildings and out. We've visited families, we've made friends, we've had our moments of joy and moments of tears. What does it all come down to? Obedience, not obedience to some schedule or responding to someone's last minute request for ministry but that sense of obedient service that when your heart is right and humble before God you'll see that one little smile, get that one hug that shows God was there in that one important moment. We had many of those moments.

Tomorrow we head back to Chico for a couple of days of wind down, a couple of days where we prepare ourselves for a world we left several weeks ago and must now reenter either eagerly or reluctantly. I have mixed emotions for this pivotal time; going back to family and friends we left behind in August but at the same time leaving new friends we've made these past few months. Mixed emotions indeed!

So we'll leave Chico, we'll depart from those friends we've made these past few months, we'll go down the road towards a future that is ripe with anticipation. We'll return to our lives with a better understanding of what God wants for our lives, a better understanding of God but most importantly, a better relationship with the creator of the universe. He is the one that leads us and the one guiding us and the one that we will live for these remaining days of our lives. What will we do? That is not anywhere as important as how we live out our lives and with God's grace, His abundant favor it won't be too hard as long as our focus is on Him.

Treasure Hunt

2012-01-07T00:57:00.003-08:00

Testimony by Michael Tully

A part of my testimony I want to bring up is about a treasure hunt we did on Tuesday. In my group were James, Elizabeth and myself. God showed us characteristics about a college age male wearing jean shorts and a blue shirt. This was really hard for me since everyone I saw that was wearing jean shorts and a blue shirt was older or under the age, but since I kept seeing those qualities a lot it kept me encouraged. So I decided to step over the chicken line when I saw someone that looked like he was college-age and wearing jean shorts and a blue shirt. I stopped him by saying, “Excuse me, I am on a treasure hunt and I think you are my treasure.” He looked at me in a state of confusion, I showed him my piece of paper with my characteristics and he didn’t quite understand. I asked him if he needed any prayer for his family and he looked at me in confusion and said, “No.”

So we started walking and found another person with the same characteristics that really stuck out. So I walked up to him and told him the same thing that I had said to the last person. So he looked at me with a little interest in his eyes and I showed him my piece of paper just like the other guy. I asked him if he needed prayer for family and he said, “Yes”. So after he said yes, I prayed for him and his family. Afterward, he started asking me a few questions about myself and what we are doing here. I answered and told him about the school we are in and how we are staying at the base here in Labasa. It so turns out that he happened to be the cousin of a staff member at the base named Milli. He then asked me how I liked

Fiji

and I told him “Its an experience I don’t regret.” and we parted ways. I thought it was really cool that God highlighted Milli’s cousin to me and that I was able to step over the chicken line.

Last Week in Labasa

2012-01-07T00:31:00.000-08:00

By Candace Reeves

Dreketi, Fiji

Good afternoon everyone!

I hope all is well. Starting Tuesday this was our last week of ministry in Labasa. That day started out a little tough for our team as we spent it just checking our hearts and having short accounts with each other. We were able to get some things out in the open and we are doing a lot better now and are even more united.

Later our team was treated to lunch in town which we all very much enjoyed. After lunch we got to have some worship in a little grassy area. Following worship our team did another treasure hunt around town. In the evening we visited the hospital again, the men’s, children’s, and women’s ward. Michael C. was able to pray over a man multiple times when he experienced healing in his leg. Michael C. and James also got to pray over another man who experienced a decrease in symptoms of a fever and headache. I know it really means a lot to the patients that we come and see them. Another man thanked us and told us how special it was that we came all the way from America to visit.

In the next few days our team visited some homes, and revisited a home where the family had asked us to come again. Some of us went prayer walking around the neighborhood, praying against darkness and declared things that God was showing them. We also got to visit a senior citizens home. Our time there was spent doing some cleaning, serving pie and juice, and singing and doing a dance for them. Our team decided to do some deep cleaning here at the base and we did some bus evangelism, where we got to talk to people on the bus and pray for them. I got to pray for a woman who was really going through a hard time. She was really touched by God and kept telling me, “There is a reason God had me sit by her today.” Our team also went to a small Bible study where Jenna and Brittaney shared their chapel talks and we performed a dance we learned here “God is good”, “Masks”, and “Who’s Next?”

And lastly we spent a day planning for our ministry in Dreketi, some of us visited two homes in a poor area with a Pastor at a local church and visited the hospital one last time. Please be praying for us as we will be doing a Youth Day Camp where we will be completely in charge for most of our time here in Dreketi.

Thank you so much!

San Juan Sacatepequez

2012-01-03T12:21:00.001-08:00

Well, not really….. we're actually closer to San Pedro Sacatepequez but we're way up on a mountain and if it were clear we would probably be able to see for miles.
We left Antigua yesterday, (January 1st) after church and lunch and met up with Stuardo Colom at 3 PM and took the trek over hill and dale through towns and villages and then up the road to the Icthus camp here. The camp is a Christian Youth Camp designed to handle about 80 kids but this CDTS of 12 (and 3 interpreters are all that are here.
We're in a chalet style building with 4 bunks rooms, 2 baths and a fireplace. As we're over 7,000 ft here, the fireplace is a welcome feature. We no longer have the noise of traffic, business, and fireworks to distract our discussions or sleep and that is very welcome!
We are winding down to last few days of ministry, 5 days and 5 kid's clubs in 5 different locations. The first one that was scheduled for today at 3 has been postponed to this evening at 6 due to rain (it's been raining all day!). The location also has been moved from an outdoor area to indoors.
God is good and this time is a welcome change of pace from the bustle of the city. We'll be heading back to Chico soon and it is difficult (at least for this writer) to focus on finishing here in Guatemala. But the kids are precious to God and therefore to us as well and with God's grace we'll finish strong. We don't have any internet where we're staying so …….

I didn't get the chance to post this yesterday so I'll just add a bit ....... We spent the morning driving to a field about 12 miles from where we're staying to have a Kid's Club for about 50 kids. We had breakfast at 7 and then drove for about 2 hours (we picked up Manuel along the way in San Juan) arriving to see over 150 kids waiting for us. It was a wonderful morning; we sang our standard songs, played some games and Tom gave a lesson of each kid's value in God's eyes but it was each child creating their own crown that really lit up their eyes. We also spent a lot of time talking with, giving hugs, taking photos and sharing the smiles with all the kids. Right now the ladies of our group are spending the afternoon with the ladies of a church in San Juan. Fortunately for me there was an internet cafe just across the street.

We'll be in touch!

Chico DTS in Fiji Times Newspaper!

2012-01-02T11:00:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago while visiting a village for the day, the guys from our team got to be a part of building a home for a man that had started building the house, but then had become blind. The house had not been touched for years. As our team started helping people became inspired and offered to finish what we couldn’t. This made such an impact on the village and even the country as the Fiji Times newspaper came out to interview the guys in our team, this article made the newspaper on December 29^th. We were so thankful to have helped this man out. Here is the link to the article.http://www.fijitimes.com/story.aspx?ref=archive&id=189581

New Year's in Fiji Means Water Fights

2012-01-02T10:59:00.001-08:00

Testimony by Elizabeth Garcia

Laucala

Wow! New Years here in Fiji has been quite the experience! I never thought I’d be having a water fight at 12am on New Years, but I also never realized how fun it would be; it was amazing!

This week we helped run a youth camp at a village called Laucala. The staff from the Labasa base were running the camp, but we were all very much involved. We led discussion groups, a purity talk and a few from our team actually taught some sessions.

Leading the purity talk was something totally new for me, but I really enjoyed it. It was great to see the campers asking questions, and they all said it was really helpful for the as they were just at that age of where they needed to make decisions about being pure. That discussion really caused the girls to open up and I felt like for the rest of the week they were so open and honest, it was great to see that!

Being so involved in the camp was really fun for me. I loved making relationships with the girls and being able to answer their questions or just talk to them, it was a great experience!

With only 3 weeks left I’m looking forward to what God is still going to do. I have confidence that He will continue to use each one of us to spread His Kingdom!

See all of you soon!

Water, Water Everywhere!

2012-01-02T10:58:00.000-08:00

By Candace Reeves

Labasa, Fiji

Here we are at the beginning of our 6^th week, only a few more weeks to go. I can’t believe how quick it has gone by. These last 5 weeks have been tough at times, but very good I’d say.

This last week went well as we started off with some house visiting. One half of our team visited an Indian community while the other half of our team did a Bible study at a woman’s home. This was the third time we had visited this widow’s home and Caleb got to share some very powerful and encouraging words to her. In one of the earlier times when some of us got to visit her they were able to pray for some healing over her, when they had finished her symptoms had decreased.

Later in the evening the girls went into to town to do some worship on the sidewalk, after a few minutes some officials asked us to leave because we did not have a physical copy of a permit to be doing ministry there. Back in 2006 a law passed that one needs an approval from officials to do any type of ministry or anything of the sort; ever since then it has been a lot harder to do ministry in Fiji in general. While that was going on, the boys visited some billiard places to do some fellowshipping.

Wednesday we all crammed into a truck with our luggage for a very bumpy 2 and a half hour ride to go to a village called Laucala (Low-Thala) to help lead a youth camp that was from Wednesday night to Saturday morning. Our team got the opportunity to step up and lead discussion groups, the girls led an elective on Purity for the young women, the boys also led an elective on Purity for the young men, and Brad, Rosie and Brittaney got to do some teachings in the daily sessions. We also got to pray and give words of encouragement/ knowledge to the campers who were very impacted and thankful for the prayer and words we had given them. A few of our team members got to lead worship one morning and put on a kids club for the kids in the village both days of the camp.

Since the camp ended Saturday morning, we spent the rest of our day going to a New Years Eve service (the entire service was very loud!) where we performed the dance “We Speak To Nations” and the drama “Masks”. Then we went to the beach for the afternoon, and later at night celebrated by having a big water fight. (That is how we Fijians celebrate New Years in this culture.) Sunday we performed all of our items at the church service in the village. Quite a few people were brought to tears and the Senior Pastor of the church was so thankful that we had come. We were one of the first teams to lead a youth camp in Laucala and in that area. God was really at work during our time at the village. Later, we had some more water fights and off we went back to the base in Labasa which is where we are now.

Thank you so much for all your prayers and please be praying for some of our team members as they are not feeling so well.

Thank you once again!

Small country...Big city!

2011-12-28T04:48:00.000-08:00

By Robin Oosterhouse

After our week in chilly Sololá we headed to Guatemala City for a week of VBS with Iglesia Cristiana de Jesu Cristo. They haven't done a VBS in a few years so they were thrilled at the idea of doing one with extra helpers. They had the schedule all planned out, the teachers in place and only about 25 children so the week was much different than the previous week in Sololá. We plugged in wherever we could by helping prepare the snack, classroom control, songs and crafts. We also had time in the schedule to do what we wanted so we did some teaching, games and crafts all focused around the theme of our identity in Christ and His love for us. It was so different to go from a group of poor, Compassion sponsored kids to those in the middle/upper class. I think it was good for us to work in very different neighborhoods because it forced us to work and reach out in different ways!

While we were in the city we split up and lived with different families from the church. Each assigned home fit our team members perfectly and we thoroughly enjoyed our time together and grew to love our host families! They were such a blessing to us by feeding us breakfast and dinner and driving us around for the week. Two of the host families are on staff at the city YWAM base and we plugged into many ministries with them.

One afternoon we visited children at the Ronald McDonald house and did a craft with them. This is a place where children with cancer stay close to the hospital either because they live very far away or are too sick to travel a short distance for treatment. Another day we visited a group of guys participating in the Teen Challenge program. We joined them for worship, gave a testimony and a short message. It was a joy to watch them sing with all their heart and they sounded fantastic!

One evening we joined the base for their weekly homeless visit. They brought a hot, nutritious drink and we sat on the sidewalk and played Uno with some homeless people. I think we were all touched by the experience to just sit and show that these folks have value. This was the same motivation behind our visit to a safe home for abused women and their children. The guys entertained the kids with balloon animals and face painting while the ladies gave the women and older girls manicures and pedicures. We explained that we wanted to bless and pamper them to show them how precious and beautiful they are to God. I really enjoyed watching their facial expressions change from slight embarrasement to pure relaxation and joy! We couldn't resist (buying) their beautiful handmade jewely that they make to supplement their income. Our last ministry event for the week was Saturday night youth group. They are a great bunch of kids and we enjoyed getting to know them a bit and worshiping with them.

Aside from ministry we also enjoyed visiting the local malls and Wal-marts (more than once) which are very much like in the US. Being surrounded by many familiar restaurants and stores almost gave a sense of being back home and no longer on outreach. We had a Guatemalan with us almost all of the time partly to guide us around the city and partly because there is so much violence that it's unsafe to be alone as foreigners. The traffic was unbelievable, you never knew how long it would take to get somewhere since you could be stuck at a snail's pace for a long time.

Our family visited the city zoo and we couldn't believe how big and beautiful it is, the boys especially loved seeing all the animals. The most memorable event for me was climbing an active volcano on our day off. There was a good size erruption last spring so since then it's been pretty quiet. We were disappointed to not see any running lava but it was still an adventure to climb around on volcanic rock and we did go into a small, warm cave. It was too dangerous to go to the very top because of the wind but we could see 3 other volcanoes from near the peak and the sunset through the clouds was breathtaking! It was a great ending to a great week, the next day we joined the city YWAM base for a powerful time of worship together then headed back to Antigua.

Treasure Hunt

2011-12-25T01:04:00.001-08:00

Testimony by Jenna Bryson

On Tuesday afternoon we got to go on a treasure hunt. A treasure hunt is where we ask God for clues and then we try to find our treasure (usually a person). I was in a group with Cori and a staff member here at the base named Sikeli. It was really cool because Cori got the clue “supermarket”, so we looked there and I saw this lady in red, whom I felt strongly to go pray for. I went up to her and asked if she had pain in her right knee (that was one of the clues I had), and she did! I prayed for it and then after I asked her if it felt better and she said, “Yes.” I am not convinced that she was telling the truth, but I think it was really cool how God showed me who to pray for. I am still praying for her.

Then later we were talking to an Indian girl and she was telling me how Hinduism and Christianity were the same. I got to explain to her how our God is different and then I got a word from the Lord for her. She seemed really encouraged. Overall it was really awesome how God used us to touch strangers’ lives.

Healing at the Hospital

2011-12-25T01:02:00.001-08:00

Testimony by Adam Mansfield

On Monday morning, Jenna, Elizabeth, James, Michael T, Brittaney and I went to the hospital to pray for the kids and men there. I personally was going to see the men and just to be able to pray for them. Before I went, I asked for a divine appointment that would change my life. That opportunity came shortly after. We arrived at the hospital a couple of minutes before 11 AM. The visiting time was from 11-12. That is not much, but that was what we had.

We divided into groups, and the girls were going to the children’s ward to paint their faces and pray with them, while the boys were going to the men’s ward to pray for the men. Michael T. prayed for the first guy who had knee problems. We prayed and were able to talk with him. I prayed for the second guy, and this is where my story comes in.

Now this guy had breathing problems and a note of “Death Notification” on his tray. I immediately started to pray against that paper proclaiming that death has no hold over him. Our guide and translator, Junior, told me to pray and I did. I prayed that breath of life would come and rest in him and that he would be able to be with his family for Christmas. I also prayed for peace. Then I walked out of the room. We prayed for the last guy and waited for the girls to be done. We walked with our guide and translator, Junior, down to the first floor. We found some benches and so we sat waiting. No more then 2 minutes later, the guy that I had prayed for came walking out with his wife, she told Junior something in Fijian and he translated that the man was told by the doctor that he was healed and was able to go home! The wife said, “God is good! God is good!”

I thought Michael T. had prayed for the guy, but when Junior told me that it was me who prayed for him, I kind of freaked out. I have never believed healing stories that I had been told by others until I saw this man healed. I guess I am just like any other man asking God to show miracles just to believe, like Thomas in the Bible. I will never doubt again!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Love and miss you,

Adam James Mansfield

First Week in Labasa

2011-12-25T01:01:00.001-08:00

By Candace Reeves

Labasa, Fiji

Our first week here in Labasa has gone quite well. Labasa is very warm and even more humid, yet it rains more here, it also is quite a bit smaller than Lautoka. We are starting to get more comfortable and used to our new home here and I believe we are all very much enjoying it.

Our team had quite a busy first week here. After settling in, we started our ministry Monday morning with half of our team visiting some homes to do follow up on some new Christians that had just gotten saved by another YWAM team that had been here recently. Meanwhile, the other half of our team went to visit the hospital at the same time. The next day we did the same thing, but the two groups switched. Later in the afternoon we did a treasure hunt. A treasure hunt is where you wait upon God for things and clues about certain people and then you go looking for your treasure (the person). Throughout the rest of the week we visited a village where the boys were able to help build a home and the girls put on a kid’s program for the children. Later as the boys revisited the home they were building to finish up what they had started. Us girls put together boxes of food to take to some families that live in the slums of Labasa.

In the last two days we visited some widows’ homes again to bring them fruitcakes and pray for them. We were also able to visit the slums again to do some caroling and a small children’s program. On Christmas Eve, we did some more caroling in the front of the base, and Christmas day we visited the children at the hospital again, cooked/baked, ate food and relaxed. Wednesday we will be leaving to run a camp again in a village near by for a few days. Please be praying as we will be teaching and helping out at another camp.

Thank you!

God bless and Merry Christmas!

La Noche Buena

2011-12-24T07:34:00.000-08:00

Here it is, Christmas Eve in beautiful Antigua, Guatemala. We had what started out as a quiet week with some ministry plans falling through, but God placed upon our intrepid team people to meet and places to go as surprises.

The first surprise came on Tuesday after Connie and Camila went to the clinic to get some cough medicine for Camila. They were told of a family with a daughter, Sandra with pancreatic cancer. Several of us went to their home just up the street to pray, share comfort and some crayons with her. On the way home, we made balloon animals for many of the children along the way.

The next day we helped prepare a Christmas dinner for the homeless. Generally on Wednesday's the YWAM group here does a "soup run" but this night before Christmas its turkey, mashed potatoes, vegetable, rolls and cookies. 50 meals were made and distributed to some of the homeless in Antigua.

Thursday was preparation for Kid's Club here at the base. About 60 kids showed and with their mothers we have a crowd of about 80. We sang songs, did coloring (this is the moms' favorite!), played games and told the story of why a candy cane has its color and shape. On the way out everyone got a Christmas cookie, candy cane and a cup of punch (papaya and pineapple). It was definitely enjoyed by everyone.

That night after supper, we went into Antigua for caroling along a main city street to the Central Park. The group included our CDTS, some of the YWAM staff here and several other English speaking Christians here for various reasons. All in all we numbered around 30. We picked up some singers along the way for a few carols and then they would depart with the blessing of Feliz Navidad! At one of our stops we were invited to go to a particular location so a TV crew could video tape some carols to be shown on local TV Christmas Eve (tonight!). We all drove there, were greeted with smiles and then we sang (I don't see any recording contracts though). Mark Annand was also able to have a gospel message recorded as well.

The second surprise came in the form of a ministry that YWAM has not worked with previously but the base director had made contact with last week. Yesterday, we got up early to go to an orphanage for disabled children in Chimaltenango about 40 minutes away. We were able to work with all the children, visit with the director Maureen and do a few chores. Right before lunch, Josh broke his collar bone and the main concern for the rest of the day was for him. He spent the night at a hospital in Antigua with Robin. They're stilling waiting to decide if surgery or immobilization is what is best.

Well, today is "La Noche Buena" - the beautiful night, which is more significant than the actual day of Christmas here, and it starts promptly at medianoche (midnight) and will continue (we are told) until about 5AM - lots and lots of fireworks - I'm taking a nap this afternoon. Going to make a fire and roast marshmallows on the roof tonite. Tomorrow we are planning to make a semi-traditional turkey dinner. I say semi because there are lots of items we are unable to locate - items for stuffing, cranberry sauce, etc. That's ok- we will work with what we have. For now, Merry Christmas from the land of Eternal Spring. Fireworks for Sale

Finishing Up in Lautoka, On To Labasa, Fiji

2011-12-20T01:59:00.000-08:00

By Candace Reeves

Here we are with our 3^rd week in Fiji coming to an end. We are now currently in Labasa, Fiji (pronounced “Lambasa”) after a long 21 hour boat ride. Thank you so much for your prayers; everything went well with our travels here.

Our team had our last ministry work in Lautoka this past week. We spent these last days reaching out to people that live in a dump yard and putting on a kid’s program for the children. These people live off of what is in the dump and get their money from recycling waste such as plastic bottles, cans, and scrap metal. Later in the afternoon we went prayer walking in town. The next day we went to a fisherman’s village (called Natawarau) where they live off of the sea. Here we also put on a kid’s program and visited some homes around the area. Our last day of ministry, we went to the village of a man who has been ministering with us in Lautoka (just for your imagination, he is the 3^rd tallest man in the world, standing at 7’9”!). There, we once again visited some peoples’ homes and got to pray for them. We also jumped into the river in the village!

Over the weekend our team was preparing for departure to Labasa, travelling to Labasa and then settling in our new home which is at the YWAM base here.

Please be praying for our very busy first week here as we will be doing ministry and building relationships with the people here. Thank you once again!

Dump Ministry, Fishing Village Too!

2011-12-20T01:52:00.000-08:00

By Michael C.

Last Tuesday we visited a community that is by the dump in Lautoka. It was interesting to see their lifestyle. The people pretty much built their houses out of what they could find around them. We did door to door ministry, and played games and had activities with the children in the community. The kids loved the activities and games! The people are somewhat open to talk and I got to pray for some of them. It was fun! But I did feel bad for the children because some of them may not (be able to) afford all of the schooling that they need.

The next day, we went to a fisherman’s village located near a town called Ba. It is a nice community. The men go fishing all day and the women stay back to cook and take care of the kids. The kids were nice, and we again did some kid’s ministry. Both kid’s and adults liked it! We performed a drama, a skit, our puppet show and dance. I got to play games with the kids, like "Red Light, Green Light", and afterwards we played a game they taught us. There was also a game of soccer that the older kids started that I got to play in. It was a lot of fun!

Solola, Guatemala

2011-12-13T10:13:00.000-08:00

Well, this past week we spent in Solola was great! We were at an elevation of over 7,500 feet and even running across the street got us out of breath. We mostly worked with a program that Compassion Intl has in place in Santa Lucia (in the district of Solola) The program that Compassion runs is for about 160 ninos for ages 5 to 11. They only have 5 or 6 teachers and they very very happy to have the extra help. Tom, Connie and Debbie came up with a terrific program that engaged all of the ninos really well. There was a drama, a skit, an interpretive dance by Camila, crafts & coloring, games and singing - it really was a great time.

We stayed in a church on the floor (all 15 of us in 1 big room – and believe it or not snoring was not an issue!) with outdoor bathrooms (shower and toilets) – none of he buildings have heat, many openings don’t have any windows (didn’t see any bugs) and it got pretty cold every night. The ladies of the church prepared our meals. Lunches were the best and were absolutely wonderful – stir fried rice, chicken and pasta things! Most of us got fairly tired of all black beans, eggs and tortillas that we had for most of our breakfasts and dinners.

One work project we did for our host church was to paint the interior of the building - everyone got into the project and we got most of it covered with 2 coats of paint.

Friday evening we participated in the church’s youth program for the young adults. About 20 ladies and gentlemen showed up. We did an icebreaker game, sang some songs (we didn’t know any of them), Camila gave her testimony in Spanish and Tom gave a message through an interpreter to encourage them. Afterwards we all roasted marshmallows on a fire outside under a beautiful full moon.

Saturday morning we packed up and headed to Guatemala City with a detour to Panajachel on Lake Atitlan. There we had lunch, took a boat ride on the lake and did a bit of sight-seeing.
We got back on the road around 2:30 to head to Guatemala City and the 1st 12 kilometers was a very steep incline and the van I was driving I had to drive the van in 1st gear due to the steep incline. We’re now safely here in Guatemala City each family unit is staying with a different family. We are really enjoying the hot showers with copious amounts of water. And of course we have the more familiar food and the sights and sounds of a big city. don't forget the traffic! Thanks for praying for us! Check out all the new pictures that have been posted to our album.

Vunavutu and Word of Knowledge

2011-12-11T23:14:00.001-08:00

By Caleb Townley

Wow! Since the first day this past week God showed up in ways that I don’t think I have ever experienced Him. Even on our first morning in Vunavutu village, some of us took the preschoolers off to a different building during the teaching session for the older kids. We were totally unprepared. But, even though we were unprepared, somehow we managed to get the kids’ names and keep them engaged for 45 minutes! Which, if you have ever worked with preschoolers, is a miracle.

The next day when we came back from the preschool class, God gave a word of knowledge to Auntie Ru that some people were thinking about committing suicide because they had bad relationships with their fathers. Two people, a young man and young woman, started weeping. That, I think, was the most powerful word of knowledge that I have ever watched happen.

Even throughout the week I feel like God blessed me with little things like giving me great sleep even though I slept on a hard wood floor without a mat, and being able to connect with the adults and older teens during the break times. Sometimes, even with a little bit of a language barrier, I was comfortable enough to start conversations, which was crazy because I was worried the whole time that I might offend someone accidently. I believe we didn’t, though, because they asked us to stay an extra day to help out with a community Sunday school service.

Ministry outside Hospital, at a Prison, and in Vanavutu

2011-12-11T23:13:00.001-08:00

By Candace Reeves

Lautoka, Fiji

Bula everyone!

Wow, what a week we had! First, starting back to last Friday, our team went to again visit some peoples’ homes that attend the local church. Within the next few days we picked up trash around the hospital near us, and then we were able to take part in a church service for a friend of ours that is the pastor of the local church. Our program included a drama called “Simon”, Jenna explained the drama, I gave a message and we performed the dance “We speak to nations.” Immediately after that, we all hopped into a bus to help lead a church service at the prison we had previously visited. At the prison we performed a drama called “Masks”, Elizabeth explained this drama, Adam spoke on the Father’s heart, our team again did the dance “We speak to nations” and performed a few dances with the Fijians that helped lead with us.

Sunday afternoon our team, along with the YWAM base here in Lautoka left to Vunavutu. This is a village about an hour and a half away where we led/staffed a kids camp there. The camp was pretty tough with there being over a hundred kids and more than half of our team got sick in the first few days. But we pulled through and God got us through that. We were a part of the staff and led the sports (games/activities) which could be frustrating at times, but I believe we all ended up enjoying it. I know that God was at work even if we didn’t always see it or the impact that we made.

Saturday, all of us from Lautoka and some people from the village spent the day at the beach near by. It was the most beautiful beach I have ever been to. Our last day in Vunavutu was spent leading a youth service with our group from Lautoka where the boys performed a puppet show called “The Joy Stealer”, the dance “We speak to nations” was done again, and “God is good” dance also. Friday we leave for Labasa (sounds like “Lambasa”) which is on Vanua Levu, the other main island.

Thank you so much for all your prayers!

And please be praying for us on our boat ride to Labasa which will be about 8-10 hours.

Pomegranates

2011-12-03T09:05:00.000-08:00

By Debbie Ormsbee

Whenever I go anywhere new, one of the first things I’m drawn to are the different plants – so much so that my daughter made me promise that I would take pictures of more than pretty flowers during my time in Guatemala. That being said, it shouldn’t be a surprise that I’m loving the colorful variety of flowers & trees that are so abundant here or that God uses them to speak to me.

The dirt yard of the house on the other side of the wall from where we are living holds many fascinations for me. The home is quite modest but there is a very large gardenia bush covered with creamy white blossoms, a stand of banana trees, a blue hydrangea bush in bloom, at least one rose bush, as well as a fruit tree and some other flowering bushes that are new to me. What has amazed me most though, is the pomegranate tree. The base in Chico has one and the leathery skinned fruits had all turned that deep pink we are familiar with seeing in the grocery stores. However… the tree here in our neighbor’s yard not only has the brightly colored ripe pomegranates, but there are also deep orange blossoms and immature fruit all on the same tree.

God said our lives are like that tree. There are some areas in our lives that are a beautiful, fragrant promise of future fruit, like the blossoms. Then there are those areas where He is growing us and we are able to see more clearly the vision of what He is moving us toward, like the still green fruit. And, by His grace, there are still other areas that have matured and produced good & pleasing fruit.

This reminded me of Rev. 22:2 “…..On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month.”

I’m so thankful that God is such an excellent gardener! As Phil. 2:13 says, “for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to His good purpose.” There is great comfort, encouragement & rest for me in the example of the pomegranate tree!

Fiji!

2011-12-01T21:53:00.000-08:00

By Candace Reeves

Lautoka, Fiji

November 28^th, Monday morning at 5:30 a.m. we arrived in

Fiji

in a town called Nadi where our team was greeted by Dale Harrison, the YWAM Chico base director. We then were taken to the YWAM base in Lautoka, where we would be staying for our first week.

Fiji is absolutely beautiful, with it being so green and lush! We are all enjoying Fiji very much and its tropical climate. Even though it is quite warm, we usually get some rain and wind in the afternoons to cool us off.

The first few days were filled with settling in and exploring. So far our ministry has included prayer walking around the different areas of Lautoka, visiting a prison here, where we were able to perform a drama, a dance, and a few people got to speak. We also prayed over the men, giving them words of encouragement and the Fijians that went with us performed a few dances also. Our team also has been spending some time with the staff/students here at the base. They had a welcome celebration for us where they performed dances and taught us a dance of their own. We too were able to perform dances for them. And then Thursday, we went to some peoples’ homes that attend a local church here, to spend some time encouraging and praying for them. Sunday we leave for a village to staff a kid’s camp. Please be praying for us as we spend a whole week with these children, ministering to them.

Vinaka vaka levu! (Thank you so much!)

Moce! (Goodbye!)

Prison Ministry

2011-12-01T21:48:00.000-08:00

Testimony by Megan Kelly

Wednesday, the team and I went to a prison here in Lautoka to do ministry. I was very scared about going and being around all of the criminals. I was also afraid because it was mentioned that a lot of the men haven’t seen women in a long time; especially white women. So I had expectations of being looked at as a piece of meat, and being violated with nasty looks and words. When we got there, as the guard was walking us to the cell we were going to, the prisoners in other cells waved out the windows and shouted “Bula!” to all of us; they seemed friendly!

Our ministry time went so well, and the prisoners were very respectful and kind, much to my surprise. A couple of things did stand out to me and provoked a lot of thought within me. First, I noticed how dingy and third-world looking the prison cells were. I automatically started comparing their prison to our prisons in America. I noticed that our prisons in America are nicer than Fiji’s. I also noticed, in contrast, that the prisoners in Fiji are very respectful and open to the gospel, and to Christians and what we had to say. I couldn’t help but think that the prisoners, or people in general, in America wouldn’t be the same way! I wonder why it’s that way. I also noticed, secondly, that I get very uncomfortable in environments that aren’t very nice looking, or like I am used to. I didn’t like that. I started thinking about missionaries in Africa, China, India, and other places in the world. I’ve noticed that missionaries do face times when they’re uncomfortable, but they seem to find a place of contentment in their lives.

In the midst of a rough environment and rough circumstances, they find something that makes them able to live in less than preferable circumstances. It made me wonder what they have. What’s the difference between me and them? What’s the difference between where I am and where they are, in heart, mind, and attitude? Part of me wants nice things and comfortable living. But a bigger part of me wants to be able to be okay and live in a grass hut with a dirt floor if I had to. Maybe it’s a learning process, I’m not sure. Anyway, the prison ministry time took my thoughts all over and I know it’s quite a trail. I hope I can develop and gain the heart, attitude, and I guess “tolerance” that the greatest missionaries have. I hope God doesn’t call me to live in a grass hut with a dirt floor, but I want to be okay and have a great attitude even if He does.

From noisy, beautiful, volcanic Guatemala!

2011-11-29T19:08:00.000-08:00

This is Connie Hellmuth (for the CDTS team) reporting in from noisy, beautiful, volcanic Guatemala! Who needs TV when you have a live volcano spewing lava and steam into the sky periodically? We’ve seen lava a few times, but several of us were on the roof when it spewed lava tonight, and because it was dark it was very visible. Robin called to the rest of the team, and they all ran up the stairs to see the spectacle. It was not something to be missed. The kids are enchanted. The adults are too!

As we flew into Guatemala City, I felt the Lord speak to me that we would be seeking treasure here in Guatemala. That we would see many beautiful, natural things, but that the people are His treasure, and that He has placed a unique piece of himself in these people. Our joy will be to seek that out. And “Kid’s Club” has been the beginning of that discovery process. What a privilege we have been given—to know God and make Him known!

Friday was our last day of “Kid’s Club” this week, and we had another good turnout. The kids seemed to really retain the messages, and many of the Moms thanked us for our partnership with them. One of the things that really touched all of us was the response to our “craft.” The craft was a simple coloring page, and the kids were super excited to be coloring! They don’t have crayons at home. It also became apparent from the first day that the Moms enjoyed the activity as well. It was a sweet sight!

Saturday we joined the local YWAM team for a prayer walk in the central square of Antigua, then we did street evangelism that night. Many of the team had great conversations with people, and we are looking forward to doing it again next Saturday. What a joy to be able to share the love God has for people with those people He is longing to reach.

Sunday was church, and in the evening we went with the local YWAM team to show a movie on the side of the bus to a homeless community. This included serving them popcorn and just loving on them. Around 10-12 people showed up and three responded to an invitation to commit to following Jesus after the movie was completed.

Monday we did “deep cleaning” around the base and shared at the Monday night English service that YWAM provides here in Antigua. Valerie shared her testimony, and Tom brought the message. It is always so good to worship with other believers, and our team did a great job sharing.

Today was Tuesday and we went to Hope Haven which is a ministry that makes and distributes wheelchairs—at no cost--in Latin America. The women sorted records, the guys organized and moved boxes of donated equipment, and the kids sorted nuts and bolts. They employ half a dozen people who are wheelchair users, so it’s a work of the heart for them. Their lunchtime game of wheelchair basketball was an inspiration for all of us! We go back tomorrow for more of the same.

Leading Worship at Gleanings for the Hungry

2011-11-25T18:59:00.000-08:00

Testimony by Brittaney Chellsen

This past Wednesday I was given the opportunity to lead worship for YWAM Gleanings' morning chapel time. My prayer for this was that (1) God would be glorified, and (2) something good would happen-- people would be drawn closer to Him. Asking God for songs I should play, along with my team (Caleb, Jenna and Elizabeth), I felt as if He gave me 2 specific songs to play and let me choose the rest.

One of the songs I chose was a song called “I Will Go”. It was new to me as it was to everyone else as well. However, with its chorus being,

“I will go, I will go, I will go
Lord send me to the world to the lost
To the poor and hungry.
Take everything I am
I’m clay within Your hands
I will go, I will go, send me,”

I found it rather applicable to all of us YWAMers, and something we all could make our prayer. Being my second time leading worship, I was a bit nervous. At the end of it, I felt it had gone fairly well, but I began telling God, “But see… don’t You see the mistakes I made? I didn’t play that part right, I sang that wrong.”

“But what is it you asked in the beginning?” God interjected my thoughts. I told him, “That You would be glorified and that something would happen,” I replied back in my head. “I was glorified, and something did happen” God reassured me. Wow, this was so good to hear. Honestly, I am so thankful that God can use me and still be glorified even in the midst of my mistakes!

First week of Outreach Fall 2011 DTS

2011-11-25T18:10:00.000-08:00

By Candace Reeves

Here we are at the end of our first week of Outreach at Gleanings For The Hungry, a YWAM base in Dinuba, California.We had many opportunities to serve this week which included working at the soup plant, doing some construction, leading worship, and helping with kitchen duties. Working at the soup plant was definitely some hard work, but we were glad to help, especially knowing we were involved in the feeding of 806,544 people.

Working in the soup plant included putting a spoonful of soup base into Ziploc bags then adding the mix of the soup, getting the air out of the bags and packaging them into boxes for them to be shipped out. We also had a few people working in the construction site outside preparing the ground to have cement poured for short term volunteers traveling in RV’s.

Our team was asked to lead worship for the base on Wednesday morning for chapel time. Brittaney, our designated worship leader along with Elizabeth, Jenna and Caleb led us all. When volunteering at Gleanings For The Hungry, the staff ask that we participate in the kitchen. Throughout the week we were able to prepare meals and clean up after them, yay!

This has been a challenging week for our team as we are adjusting to the different environment and circumstances. We’ve had some tough times just within our team, but as we are working through those times we are becoming stronger. This has been a nice transition going to Gleanings for out first week of Outreach. While we have been experiencing some uncomfortable changes, we still have some familiar comforts and are grateful that everything that is to come was not thrown at us all at once.

We will be departing at 2 p.m. for a 4 hour drive to LA and then off to Fiji we go!

Please keep us in your prayers,

Thank you!

Day off in Antigua

2011-11-25T06:28:00.000-08:00

Okay, we got a day off and it happened to be on Thanksgiving Day as celebrated in the US; so what did we do? We played the role of the typical tourist in Antigua. But first a report on what we did Wednesday:

Kid's Club - we had about the same turnout Wednesday as we did Tuesday - about 90; there were a lot more mom's for the 2nd day though and fewer kids. We did some of the same activities but changed it up just a bit; they really loved it. There is this one song (with motions) where it asks (in Spanish) who is the king of the jungle, sea and heavens and the answer is Jesus but there are some really fun hand motions. All the kids sing very loudly when we do this song and they demand at least one reprise.

Debbie (translated by Nelita) gave the lesson that Jesus is the good and loving king that wants to love each one of them and be their own personal King.

Wednesday evening, Mark Annand (YWAM staff here) does a soup run for the homeless. He and a couple of other YWAMer's take a pot of soup (this week it was lentil) and a bunch of tortillas to several locations around the city. The soup is really secondary to Mark's life mission of being a friend, someone they can trust when they really "need" something. We gave soup and tortillas to about 25 people. We were able to pray for a couple of the folks; one man had hurt his hand and foot, and we prayed for healing.

Thursday being our day off, we went to Antigua around noontime and walked up and down the streets. We broke up into 2 groups and went out separate ways. We had a great time, only stayed in town about 5 hours but we were all exhausted from all the walking and the intense sun - the elevation here is just over 5,000 feet and we enjoyed clear skies most of the day.

When we got back to the base, I asked Florisita what was for dinner and she informed it was a "¡Sorpresa!" (surprise) and yes, we were greatly surprised with the wonderful meal on our traditional Thanksgiving Day.

Be sure to check out all of our pictures - CDTS Outreach 2011 - the link is on the right side of this page.

First Ministries!

2011-11-23T08:19:00.000-08:00

We started out Monday night at an all English church in Antigua! Mark and Dayle Annand (Staff with YWAM Antigua) have been going to this church since they came to Guatemala. Anyway, the service was attended by mostly English speaking people here in Guatemala to learn Spanish; there were a few others there that were Spanish speaking learning English. All in all there were about 30 folks there including us.
After a few worship songs and the service was turned over to our outreach team. Dan did a few introductions and then it was on us to minister how has God has gifted us.

Debbie gave her testimony! It is really cool to see how powerful God has moved and changed this wonderful woman. She received many comments afterwards how her testimony resonated in their own lives.

Next, Camila did an interpretive dance to a song describing her journey as a foster child from Columbia to being adopted by Connie and Tom. She had worked out about a minute and half of the choreography but performed the rest extemporaneously - it was a beautiful dance!

John gave the message and I really felt that it was something that there was at least one person attending there needed to hear. The subject was "Let down your net on the other side of the boat". I was amazed that I wasn't scared or nervous and just delivered it.

Tuesday, we lead the first of a series of Kid's Clubs that has been going on at this base for a while; not creating something new but stepping in to provide a different personality, a different flavor of God these kids may have not seen. We were told to expect anywhere from 50 to 100 kids and 90 showed up, many with their mothers and older siblings - yikes! The question now is how many will show up today.

We feel we had a good turn out and are confident God is the one who can make a difference.

Be sure to check out the picture link for our outreach to the right -Fall 2011 Guatemala Outreach

First Day

2011-11-20T18:49:00.000-08:00

Our first day is now under our belt, we met our cook, Florecita and her husband, Antonio and her daughter Edilma - we're all looking forward to her cooking! We've heard rumor that folks lose weight on outreach (and I hope that is true) but I don't think that is going to happen here in Guatemala with us.

The purpose of this particular post is for our valiant readers to guess the contents of the sandwich Caleb is getting ready to eat - BTW he ate it all and said it tasted good:

Here is the whole gang having supper this evening:

The Annand clan came over and prepared supper for all of us. That's Paola (our interpreter) there looking towards the camera almost in the center of the frame.

We're here!

2011-11-20T08:53:00.000-08:00

Well, for those of you that don't know the Fall 2011 CDTS (Crossroads Discipleship Training School) from YWAM Chico, CA has arrived in Guatemala! We all arrived safe and sound here in Antigua very late last night if you didn't change your clock from Pacific time or very early this morning if you changed your clock to Eastern time (Guatemala is on Central Standard Time - same as Chicago)
When we arrived at the base last night, we were assigned our rooms, had a brief orientation of some of the do's and don't's - #1 on the list is "DON'T DRINK THE WATER!" and all that does is make you thirsty. I have a feeling my colon will thank me for paying attention this one.
The top priority this morning was to find the coffee pot, find the coffee, find the water and then find the cups, cream and sugar - mission accomplished!

The base here is an open courtyard with rooms opening to it on 2 floors. The roof is like a real big deck where you can see for miles in all directions. I'm attaching some photos so you can see as well.

looking south (I think)

Looking west

Looking north

Looking east

We're laying low today recovering from all the travel. Ministry starts tomorrow evening with an English church service and then the rest of the week is VBS (vacation Bible school)

2011-05-24T04:02:00.001-07:00

Manlleu, Barcelona

We've now spent two weeks "up north" in Barcelona, staying in a beautiful town named Manlleu that was founded 1100 years ago. We've been flooded with blessings staying here. One of the most notable: through a series of unexpected circumstances, our hosts were able to give us our own apartment (!) belonging to a woman they've never met, who agreed to let us stay here while she was out of town. Incredible! Another blessing has been the hospitality of our hosts; the Alfaro family has had us over for lunch every day, and has happily included us in their lives since we've arrived.

Our ministry work has included speaking at a lot of cell groups, going prayer meetings, prayer-walking through town, leading a women's group, running Sunday morning Sunday school, doing balloons and face painting at the mercadillo, and helping out with the church's first youth group meeting. On top of that, we got to go on a "field trip" of sorts to a beach town called Malgrat de Mar and hang out with a church and youth group, fellowshipping at the beach and staying overnight with host families - we were really blessed by the warmth and love of that congregation as well.

Manlleu has been a warm mix of worship, teaching, and simple conversation; we've really been met with open arms by this church and have had heart after heart opened up to us in cell groups, church services, and beach days alike. God has been so faithful with His words here: the theme for this time has been refreshment. We've been refreshed as much as anyone, but God has also allowed us to be refreshers and restorers of His faithful children here, who have been pushing through tough spiritual territory for years. Thank You, God, for Manlleu!!

2011-05-24T04:00:00.001-07:00

Makaela's Story

In a time of prayer before coming to Spain, I was told that God had a gift waiting for me here. Last night I was reflecting on this, and there is one unmistakable and unexpected occurrence that I'm sticking in the "gift" category. This took place in Jaen, in a Monday night church service. Nix had just gotten up to the front to teach after worship when she called the worship team back up. Now, one thing has to be said to paint this picture accurately: the worship team in Jaen is no ordinary worship team. That night it was comprised of three gypsies, a Spaniard, and the Salvadoran pastor. Each and every worship time we had to stop ourselves from whipping out our cameras and just recording the entire thing. But that night, God wanted to take things a step further. We had strongly felt that God was wanting the worship to break into making new songs, and Nix asked each of them to begin, one at a time, to play completely led by the Spirit. Soon the music began to swell and flow, and it was beautiful... and then, God took me a step further. Nix asked me to come up and begin singing in the Spirit along with the band. THIS WAS NEW. God is so faithful, and He had already been putting new songs into my heart throughout the worship earlier on, so it was just an awesome experience for me. Pushed me further, stretched my faith in how I could worship God, and was a beautiful time for us all. That's my highlight!

Slade's House building Vlog

2011-05-19T11:25:00.000-07:00

After innumerable technical difficulties in getting this video online, it's finally here! (This is from the previous DTS outreach, from Fall 2010. We took a roadtrip that included 2 weeks in Mexico, one week of which we spent building a house for a Oaxacan family.

Spanish Gyspy Culture

2011-05-18T08:36:00.000-07:00

By: Jennifer Paola Colom

As you already know, we are a very multicultural team. We have been sharing with many kinds of cultures here in Spain, one of them is the Gypsy culture. They invited us to have lunch one Sunday with their families, we ate paella, meat potatoes etc... it was amazing! They received us with open arms.

They were very impressed by what we were doing, traveling, sharing the love of Jesus, sharing to others who He really is. Okay, Gypsies are a very CLOSED culture. Most of the time, they hang out with other gypsies. They are very close-knit and they hold on to their traditions very strongly. Having that in mind, I wanted to share a story about Ana. We went to Ana's house and she started to talk to me. She said that she was thinking about us the night before and she realized that in God there are no cultures. We are just one culture in Him, we are one KINGDOM culture. Her words to me were: "all of you come to Spain from different countries, cultures and families, but all having one thing in common and that is the same God." I was so excited because I realized we are touching people's lives by being ourselves. I have learned the power of walking and being who God made us to be and how it is this that impacts people's lives!

My Best Experience about Outreach until Now

2011-05-16T08:39:00.000-07:00

Status: Speechless

By: Nelita Saravia

Everything has been amazing, such a great blessing and so difficult to put it into words as well as narrowing it down to just one experience. I will do my best in giving you a glimpse of what my time has looked like here in Spain.

Being able to see the blessing that we as a team have been to others' lives just by going to their homes, getting to know them and love them has definitely changed my perspective of how God works through me. With my presence I can bless others because it is the presence of the Lord that's in me.

One of my best memories has been the opportunity to meet gypsies and get to embrace their culture. Our last Sunday in Jaen, a gypsy family invited us to a FAMILY lunch. It was awesome, not only because of the food but because family gatherings are so special to me. Everyone was there, from the great grandmother, cousins, brothers and sisters, to aunts and nephews. It was amazing to be able to go into their homes spend and evening with them and bless their lives as well as ours.

My most Heart Filled Moment here in Spain

2011-05-16T08:37:00.000-07:00

By: Mackenzie Santos

My most heart-filled moment here in Spain has been the relationships that we have been able to build. I have enjoyed getting to know the families and friends. I loved the times that we would just go to a simple place to get a coffee, and just talk and got to know each other. Relationships are a big part in everyone's lives and I like how they value this in Spain. They have really changed the way I would get to know someone and I like it!

The Jaen Update!

2011-05-07T09:15:00.001-07:00

We have had some great times of worship, attended many small groups, and participated in several church services since being here. We have had times of worship outside - in a park, out by the cathedral, and at the castle, by the cross overlooking the city - and have led worship inside as well, in small groups and church services. We've been INCREDIBLY blessed by our home church's worship team, which is comprised mostly of gypsy musicians. Last Monday, Nix was teaching at the night service, and before starting her message, she called the worship team back up and asked them to simply be led by the Spirit in worship. It was powerful. Since first hearing the church's worship, several of us felt that God wanted to lead them deeper, especially into creating new music. That night was a beautiful step into that.

We have not only been blessed by this church's worship; we have also been blessed by their hospitality. Several families have opened their homes to us, and our closest friends here are not only the pastor and his family, but Diego and Mari, Janet and Camila, and Patricia, a sweet girl our own age.

Other highlights of our stay in Jaen include a heartfelt women's small group in which some women opened up their lives to us and allowed us to pray into their lives, tasting Diego's own olive oil with fresh Spanish bread (in a million different combinations), and going to an all-gypsy church worship service. Jaen has been a full-on cultural experience as we've spent time with Spaniards, gypsies, and South American immigrants. The ethnic mixture keeps everything interesting, and has been so much fun!

Please pray for the team's well-being; Nix and Paola in particular seem to keep getting hit with health issues. Also keep us in your prayers as we leave for Barcelona at the beginning of next week! We'll be taking the train north and beginning to work with churches up there for three weeks. We're excited to see what God has for us, especially as it wasn't in our plans to go to Barcelona at all.

Week 2 - Madrid

2011-05-04T14:18:00.001-07:00

We ended our first week in Spain by spending Saturday night with the youth group of a nearby church, the same church we had worked with in the food giveaway ministry on the previous Wednesday and Thursday. The night was ours to run, so Nelita and Makaela led worship, the whole team performed our Drama "Thief," Paola and Makaela shared testimonies, and Nixaliz spoke on fear. It was cool seeing how God worked through even those simple things: Makaela tied the Drama and her testimony together using the concept of fear as a way the devil controls us. Nix wasn't planning on talking about fear at all, but felt God had led her to that topic. Likewise, we also weren't initially planning on using that Drama, but switched last-minute. It was exciting to see God coordinate what we had to offer, even unbeknownst to us. After Nix spoke, we got to pray over each person at the youth group individually, which was a good time of us participating in God speaking to people's hearts.

Then we were in for a surprise! The youth invited us to the pastor's house to watch the Real Madrid vs. Barcelona game. Blessed! We got to spend more time with the youth and get to know them as Makaela and Kenzie watched their first "real" partido de futbol.

On Sunday we returned to the church at which we'd attended a prayer meeting earlier in the week, and again played a few songs, performed a Drime, and shared testimonies. Later that day, we went with a ministry that is part of that church, Remar, to Valdemingomez. That was a new experience for us. Valdemingomez is a drug-based community on the outskirts of Madrid. We drove to the centre of the shanty town to talk with and hand out bread and yogurt to the community's inhabitants.

Culture shock. We were bombarded by the smell and feel and sounds and sights of a day-to-day existence. Spiritually, the atmosphere was thick and dark. Visually, we were surrounded by glassy-eyed, vacant stares and over-punctured, throbbing veins. Half the battle was remaining present - no, we are not in a movie; focus. A few of us spoke with Alexander, who used to live there, for the majority of the night, and others spoke with the ministry's volunteers; guys who themselves had once been addicts, some specifically there in Valdemingomez. It was an eye-opening night! God had given us a word while still in Chico that we would be going to some of the darkest places to love "the unlovables" - we hadn't anticipated how dark some of those places would be. We now have a place in our hearts for this place of addicts, prostitutes, families, dealers, pimps, and teenagers, and a conviction to pray for the darkness to be overcome and for God's favour to fall on that ministry, Los Angeles de la Noche. Appropriately named.

Monday morning was the base meeting, and Nix shared our base's heart as well as her own for the vision God has given her for Spain as she spoke with the staff of YWAM Madrid. We prayed over them, and the latter part of our day was spent finishing the painting and organizing of the other half of the apartments' top floor, readying it for this fall's coming DTS.

Paola led the Wednesday morning base intercession, and we had a guitar-and-jambe group, a prayer group, and an artistic-expression group going as we prayed over the base and various requests. It was fun to see people's natural gifts come out, especially with Goyo on the jambe and Nestor creating intercessory art. Nestor brought out his art portfolio after the meeting and showed us both other works of intercessory art as well as a number of incredible paintings that he does on his weekends in Madrid's Plaza Mayor.

That evening we went back to the Remar and ironed clothing for their second-hand store for a couple of hours. When we returned home, we had a bit of a debriefing and regrouping as a team as we refocused - what has God been doing? what is He showing us? God reminded us that it's both His outreach and each of ours, individually.

On Friday, after a morning run in the park, we joined the base for a huge paella lunch in the newly renovated flat. That night, we went to la iglesia El Calvario, and joined with their youth group in evangelizing at Torrejon's Plaza Mayor as well as at the plaza by the train station. They sang "Lead Me to the Cross" (en espanol, of course), we performed a Drime, and they also did a drama. Paola and Makaela met about ten girls in the plaza mayor, all of whom were very excited to talk with them, and we all talked with various couples and singles around both plazas. All those we spoke with were invited to watch "The Passion" the following night, which we watched in El Calvario. In the afternoon, before going back to El Calvario, we walked around praying and looking to talk with anyone we saw. Pao and Makaela got to speak with a Nigerian immigrant whom we'd talked with briefly in the past on our way into the grocery store. He shared some of his story and his hopes, and we got to pray for a breakthrough of a solid job for him, as well as give him the address of El Calvario, which has some Nigerian members. He promised to visit, and we're praying that God will bless him with some substantial work.

Easter Sunday was celebrated with a huge potluck brunch with the base. Oh, the food! It was a great way to spend our last full day with YWAM Madrid's staff and families, and we worshipped, prayed, took communion, and talked. We finished the day with packing, cleaning, and real, Domino's pizza with Emmy and AJ. We're already excited to return "home" to YWAM Madrid at the end of May before heading back to the States. The people and the purpose God has there is exciting and a blessing to be around.

MONDAY MORNING: it was go-time. We attended our last YWAM Madrid base meeting, were prayed over, sent off, and promptly left for the train station. Despite our unfamiliarity with the Spanish transportation systems, we made it safely to Jaen right on time. We were in awe of the Spanish countryside - at least to this Canadian, the word "Spain" meant "land parched by sizzling heat... with beaches." Sitting next to a man born and raised in Jaen on the train, we were on a guided tour as we sped past castles and pueblos, rivers and mountains, and innumerable olive groves. Jaen, we now know, is the olive oil capital of the world!

We were picked up by Pastor Saul and a couple of guys from the youth and taken to the church, our new home for the next two weeks. It's a converted warehouse, and we're living in the office loft (and washing our dishes in the shower). Outreach adventures have begun! That night, Saul, his wife Noemi, their friends Diego and Mari, and 19 year old Patricia showed us an evening of true Jaen culture. From 9pm until after midnight, they took us from place to place, sampling tapas and drinking mosto and eating Argentinian paninis. We were led through street after street of ancient architecture juxtaposed together with modern apartments, walking cobblestone streets that led us to cafes and cathedrals. We have arrived in "real" Spain!

Tuesday we settled in and bought our groceries, had lunch with Saul, Noemi, and their baby Ruth, and attended their evening service. There's so much to say, but most striking was the worship - this small church is anointed. Drums, bass, flamenco-style guitar, piano, and violin flowed together incredibly, with Pastor Saul leading. Nix spoke on identity (with Nelita translating) and we met part of the congregation. Now, on Wednesday, we will be going to Mari's house to be a part of her cell group and get to know more of the women in the church as we talk and ask questions and spend time together.

Winter DTS 2011 Outreach

2011-04-17T21:44:00.000-07:00

DTS Outreach to Spain, Week One

2011-04-15T12:50:00.001-07:00

If one conclusion could be drawn from the Chico DTS 2011 outreach trip thus far, it is that God is good! Our flights went smoothly, and we were treated to seats in an empty half of the airplane on our DC-to-Madrid stretch. By the end of the flight, other passengers had clued in to the spacious seating, but each of us still had a row to ourselves. What a blessing! We were picked up by our YWAM Madrid hostess, Emmy from the Netherlands. She's been incredible to us; full of joy, helpful, and hospitable. She took us to our apartment at the base, which is an old brick apartment building that used to be US military housing. It's nestled right up against a big, beautiful park that fills up with people of all ages every night. We're a quick walk from downtown Torrejon and any place we may need to get to for groceries or ministry supplies.

The weather has been perfect for the various ministry opportunities in which we've participated this week. On Tuesday, we split into two groups: three of us helped clear the massive basement of old appliances, YWAM relics, and scrap metal, and the other two girls helped repaint the other apartment sharing our floor to prepare it for the incoming fall DTS.

On Wednesday, we began with putting together bags of food to give away in a local church ministry. That evening, we attended a prayer meeting of another church, listening to and sharing testimonies as well as praying with a room mostly filled with men, most of whom have immigrated to Spain, and many of whom are in the process of coming off of addictions and need to see God meet some immediate needs. The testimonies shared that night were great, and we're excited to return to that church to run the service this Sunday!

On Thursday morning, we went to the first church and participated in their food giveaway ministry. Makaela played guitar as Nelita sang "How He Loves" in Spanish, followed by Mackenzie and Paola's testimonies. After the pastor shared, we mingled with the people receiving the food as they waited for their turns. We met children, teenagers, parents, and grandparents! There were many Muslim immigrants from Morocco, and we girls connected with one girl in particular who was just 19 and had been in Spain only four years - her friendly conversation and excitement to get to know us won our hearts immediately. Nix was also able to talk with an Ecuadorian teenager with a hungry heart for God. She encouraged him to look into this fall's YWAM Madrid DTS, and he was thrilled to hear about it! Nix, Makaela, and Kenzie prayed over him and spoke words of life into him, and our morning ended as we prayed over a Colombian woman whom Nix had gotten to know. In the evening we headed out to a big park closer to the heart of Terrajon for some children's ministry (playtime!). Paola and Makaela were dressed in clown outfits and armed with weather-worn balloons that they shaped into swords and dogs for the kids. Nelita headed up group games, and Kenzie helped by painting faces. The kids loved it! We stayed for just about an hour and a half, playing and laughing and chasing. It was a great and exhausting time for us all.

As for answered prayer, a highlight is that we've already begun seeing responses to things we'd written in our prayer book throughout lecture phase. From prayers that we would be here to refresh leadership (which has been an awesome privilege as this base goes through a season of transition) to prayers for provision for a food ministry (which we didn't know existed) made a month ago, it's been great seeing how God has spoken into this trip, and is encouraging as we look forward to what is to come!

People Respond to Holy Spirit in San Quintin

2010-12-31T18:16:00.000-08:00

by David J. Thuman

In a church south of San Quintin, Baja California, Mexico, God made an impact in the lives of broken people who were desperate for God. The needs of these people were great since they live in little wooden and cardboard houses without heating or electricity. Of the lifestyle of these people I know nothing at all, but from the look of the village it seemed desperate. I understood at once the reality and the emotion of their poverty, as they came up for prayer after the message, these people cried out to God for his mercy and his justice.
A couple days before we ministered at the church we interceded on behalf of these people for what was on the heart of God. Their greatest need was peace and this would only come out of a desperate cry for God to guide them.

The message I preached in fact was on by discovering the glory of God. I did not expect the way the people responded to the Spirit. These people really needed peace and I believe that they will have it as God reveals his glory to them. They will have peace as God deals justly with their circumstances. They will know his true character and know that they have a loving God who cares for them.

People stood at the alter crying out loudly, so dependent on the Holy Spirit to move that they did not care what they looked like. Many were sobbing so badly that snot and drool dripped from their faces. These people were humble. The Holy Spirit moved silently in others as we prayed, elders also spoke out in prayer on behalf of the church. We ended the night by praying for the families that God would bless them.

What I learned from this is that blessed are the poor for they shall inherit the kingdom of God. What I learned about myself is that God is worthy. We don't do ministry because we have done enough or are good enough. We serve because he has qualified us by his blood he has justified us by his death and He is exalted.

Divine [Orthodontist] Appointment

2010-12-24T14:17:00.000-08:00

By Holly Williams

During my time in Vicente Guerrero, Baja Mexico, I broke my braces. Twice. I went to the orthodontist in town and I was borrowing money to pay him. When I asked him to cut off the piece that was broken, he refused, saying that he didn't want to set my braces journey back a few steps. He wanted to re-cement the pieces and he asked me to come back at the end of his day. He did a great job on my mouth and while I was in his office, he asked me why I was in that area of the Baja. I explained that I was working with a house-building ministry and the orphanage in that town. He got excited and told me that he used to be involved with Youth With A Mission in Tijuana. I told him that I was part of a DTS that was on outreach and we both shared some YWAM stories. We also shared a little of our testimonies. I think that he was really encouraged by seeing God moving in someone's life. I was very encouraged by our conversation. Not only that, but he insisted that I wouldn't pay him though he worked for about an hour on my braces. It was definitely a divine appointment.**

Home Building Opens Eyes to Modern-day Slavery and Exploitation

2010-12-23T11:48:00.000-08:00

The house we built was for the Perez-Espinoza family above.

By Bill Hall

Have you ever been desperate enough for something that you ended up falling for something that got you in more trouble? That's what I found out has happened to the Oaxacan (pronounced Wahawken) people we met and ministered to in the Baja. Indigenous to the mountains of Oaxaca, Mexico, they were promised a home and good wages to work for a wealthy landowner who provided transportation to the lowlands of Baja, Mexico. They were given some wood and some cardboard to build a house, and are paid with a check that can only be used at the company store with outrageous prices, so they keep getting further into debt. When they realize their mistake and want to leave, they owe so much money that they can't, and couldn't afford transportation home anyway. There seems no hope when you owe your soul to the company store. And I thought slavery was no more! Uh Huh.
Praise God, though I don't know how they do it, there are some who are manage to save a little money, enough to buy a tiny piece of property on credit. It's a place to call their own, but it has no power, sewer or water. While we were at the IDT Base in Vicente Guerrero, Baja Ca, Mexico, we (The DTS & CDTS) Team were able to build a 24x24 ft house with 3 rms. (walls, siding & roof, on a concrete pad). Their old home was some wood & cardboard, 2 rooms on a dirt floor. We were also able to give them a prefab outhouse, and we painted it to match the house. Most people in the country have outhouses. After they moved in to the new house, some of their extended family was going to move into the old one. Even with the new house it wasn't much by our standards, but they were delighted. It was such a blessing to bless them. I was very disappointed to learn the people are still being enslaved in this day and age, and so glad that we could partner with God to bring hope to one family. They are new Christians, being discipled by a local pastor, and will be a real testimony of God's goodness to their friends, family and neighbors.

Coming to a Deeper Understanding- a Little bit of Hopi History

2010-12-23T10:50:00.000-08:00


We have been asked not to take or post any pictures of the Hopi reservation, homes or people. This map shows the area where we are currently staying and ministering with the Hopi.

By Margie Hall

     Wow! How God keeps enlarging my picture of Himself, and my awareness of many things! But beware, until the 4th paragraph, below, I am sort of (?) on a soap box. When our country was very young, our government broke many treaties with the original inhabitants of this great land, the people we call Indians. Though not proud of it, I must admit I gave it very little thought overall. Now I think "How arrogant we were, to think we had the right to move in and take over the land of another people, just because we wanted it and because we could do it!! They were willing to share, but we took it all, "generously" allotting them a tiny fraction of "our" land.
     What I did not know was that our government forcibly removed Indian children from their homes and placed them into boarding schools, in order to brainwash them and turn them into white people. Not only did our ancestors wipe out many unintentionally through disease, because their bodies had no immunity to some of the sicknesses they brought with them, but they slaughtered many deliberately and cruelly, in addition to those killed in battle. There was at least one instance where so-called Christian people burned women and children alive in their village. I can hardly imagine such a thing, but it is true; and all because we considered ourselves and our culture to be superior. We didn't understand them, and they got in our way, so we either eliminated or degraded and quarantined them on reservations.
     The very worst part is that so many of the people doing these things considered themselves to be Christians, and somehow deceived themselves into believing it was okay. Boarding Schools, Christian and government alike, taught the children that being Indian was all wrong, even evil. They were punished even for speaking their own language. I wonder what Bible these people were reading. God NEVER forces himself on someone. Love cannot be forced, it must be won; that is how God captured us, and how we are to represent him. And before we Americans were here the Spanish Conquistadores came in, conquering, enslaving and forcing their brand of "Christianity" on those they conquered. Is it any wonder that so few native people are Christian, and the rest are so resistant?
    Okay! I'll get off my soapbox and share a little of what we have learned about the Hopi people, and how God has enlarged my very small mind and heart a size or two. The Hopi people are a peace-loving, gentle, non-nomadic people who prize character qualities that we would call Christian. I just talked with a missionary woman here who has known native peoples all her life. A Hopi man who was a close friend of her late husband told them that his grandfather told him that their people, long ago, knew who Jesus was and they followed him, but that over the years the truth became diluted and other things came in that polluted their religion. They had a prophecy that one day white men would come, bringing a Black Book that would show them the truth.
     The white men with the Black Book did come, but they got so caught up with greed over the gold they found, that they themselves forgot all about what that Black Book taught, and instead followed the ways of the evil one, as I mentioned above, and that is what our own ancestors did. Sadly, many in the church of today still believe that everything of native culture is evil, and they are making the same mistake as the Judaizers of Paul's day, who wanted the Gentiles to become Jews. God wanted both Jews and Gentiles to follow Jesus, and redeem their cultures from within, discarding only those things which violated God's character. We Christians have taken some pagan symbols such as Christmas trees, and even the day on which we celebrate Easter, and infused them with new meaning. The Indians should be allowed to do the same thing. God made us different and he values each of us. Whether we enjoy all worship styles or not, God does, and he is more interested in the condition of each man's heart than he is the worship style.
     Through all this, and more, I have realized that I have been looking through a very narrow lens. When I visualized God on His throne the picture was more like a square or rectangle, with God at one end and everyone else before him. Now I see the throne room as circular, with God in the center and surrounded by people of every tongue and tribe and nation (a very large circle!). Since the Resurrection of Jesus from the dead "...there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved." (Acts 4:12), but that doesn't mean that he has not been speaking to and drawing people to himself from every place to which people went after the Tower of Babel Gen. 11:4-9. He only tells us part of His story (history), the part having to do with the beginning of all things, the entrance of sin, and the preservation of the seed of our Savior. The story of the Bible is one of redemption, and it's all we need to know in order to recognize our need of a Savior, and to know our incredibly wonderful and loveable God, what He is like and how he wants us to live.
     I don't know what God is going to do with this 70 year young woman when our Outreach is finished, but I know it will be good. I am learning to trust him for more and more, as he stretches me more and more, and as I obey, often with fear and trembling. Someone once said to Corrie ten Boom that Corrie had a lot of faith. She replied that no, she just followed a big Jesus (or something of that sort). That's what I am doing -- because He is worthy, and I do so want others to know our awesome God. Oh my! What we have yet to look forward to!

What Happens When We Lay Down our Expectations

2010-12-21T22:22:00.000-08:00

By Dee Bradley

When the opportunity for our outreach group to spend an extra week in Mexico at an orphanage called Hogar Para Ninos, I was very excited. It would be something to look forward to because I love children’s ministry. However, we soon found out that daily interaction with the children directly was not planned for the group. They set up jobs for us in the fields and bakery. I was disappointed. Upon finding out our duties, I contemplated for the rest of the day why we’d come to an orphanage and not have children as our direct focus. That night, I accepted that God wanted me to lay down my agenda and expectations. If working in the bakery was how He wanted me to serve, that’s what I needed to do. The next day, the job coordinator asked if anyone would be interested in serving in the orphanage’s day care for 3-5 year olds from single parent households. I volunteered, and was able to do all week what was only supposed to be a one-time-only thing. The school leader in charge of the preschool requested that I could assist for the week. I was so happy. The kids were so cute and loving. The preschool does a lot for the children too. They get bathed daily and changed into uniforms, while the clothes they arrived in are washed. They also get their hairstyle (mainly enjoyed by the boys getting their faux hawks gelled) Outside time, two meals and a snack, music, crafts, movies, and of course naps makes up for a full day. I loved their energy and happiness. They remind me of Luke 21:34, which I call the “Don’t Worry, Be Happy” verse. God really opened up an opportunity for me once I surrendered what I assumed He wanted me to do. I never have to worry because everything works out. I will never forget my time at the orphanage, being with the kids at the day care. I will look back at the pictures and remember the joy I experienced being with the little ones. I would love to return to Hogar Para Ninos, and if it’s part of God’s plan, I know the door will be opened for me to do just that!

Communicating Beyond the Language Barrier

2010-12-20T09:03:00.000-08:00

By Marci McCloskey

What is a divine appointment? I didn’t know the answer to that question until I was given one.

Before we left Chico, we were asked to pray about our road trip and some of the places we were going. I was focusing on Mexico when in my mind I saw a very old woman, gray and weathered, hunched over and dressed in a long skirt with several layers of clothing and a scarf on her head.

While we were in Vincente Guerrero building a house for a needy family, everyone in the neighborhood gathered to watch us. I was awed by the resourcefulness of these humble people and their ability to make homes out of scraps of metal, wood, plastic and whatever else they could salvage, There was a small campfire burning next to the crude dwelling where family and friends stood to keep warm in the chilly morning air. A young girl was offering an array of hand-made, string bracelets, colorfully arranged on several wire coat hangers for $2 apiece.

I noticed a very old woman sitting with a beat-up aluminum walker, watching us as we worked. Toward the end of the day, I went to sit with her for a moment and greeted her with one of the few words I knew in Spanish; “Hola”, I said. She started talking to me and I knew she was asking me a question, but of course I didn’t understand. With a little help from Asher, we figured out that she had been waiting all day to ask if we could charge her cell phone on our generator. Though that was not possible, Asher suggested I take the phone back to the base and charge it overnight. He explained it to her and she got up and started pushing her walker over the rocky terrain. I asked Asher to tell her I would help her home and get the phone from her.

I took her arm and we started down the road. Though we didn’t speak a common language, we engaged in a kind of gesturing with a few words of Spanish and English mixed in. Her home was quite a distance away, sloping up and down over the uneven surface of dirt and stone. She spoke to me and I apologized for not understanding, but she was motioning to me with her walker and I realized she was telling me how much faster she could walk with my help. We “conversed” about the weather, the road and the beautiful day.

When we finally reached her house she motioned for me to sit down as she dusted off a rickety old chair. We smiled at each other for a few awkward moments and she introduced me to her husband, who went inside to fetch the phone. She pointed to her knees and pulled her skirt up just high enough to reveal severely arthritic joints. I sympathized with her and rolled up my jeans to show her the surgical scars on both my knees. We nodded at each other and non-verbally commiserated about how old age had treated us. I couldn’t help but to silently acknowledge with great gratitude, the grace I had been granted to have readily available medical care and I wondered why I had been so blessed and she had not.

I asked if I could pray with her by putting my hands together and motioning to the sky. She nodded enthusiastically as we held hands and closed our eyes. I asked God to embrace this woman, taking away her pain and pouring healing warmth into her knees. I would like to say that in a flash, a miraculous healing took place, but it didn’t. I finished and looked up at her and she was still praying, so I waited silently. Suddenly I realized she was praying for me!

When she finished, I stood up and we hugged each other close. She gave me a kiss on the cheek and got up with her phone to walk back to the job site with me. I told her that I would take it and bring it back to her “mañana”, and motioned for her to stay. “Gracias! Gracias!” she said as I was leaving. I looked back to wave goodbye and realized she was the old woman I had seen in my vision weeks before.

As I walked the distance back to the site, I was amazed at the way God had touched me in such a personal and intimate way. It was a bittersweet moment though, as I looked around at the poverty that surrounded me. “Why not me?” I asked God. Though I didn’t hear His voice, I knew He was showing me His heart, and I was overcome with emotion. I thanked God for loving me so much and allowing me to reach out and share His love with someone I never would have met otherwise. Divine appointment? I believe so.

A Dream Come True

2010-12-19T13:52:00.000-08:00

By Kaylan Keith

When we were at the orphanage in Vicente Guerrero for a week I got to work in the nursery twice. With one other person each day I helped watch five babies: Elias, Sebastian, Lucy, Leah, and Juanito. There’s just something about the babies down there. They are so sweet and easy to handle. Of course, any baby has his moments, but overall they were amazing. I had a dream about Lucy a couple of months before I saw her. The dream was just of a baby with huge brown eyes and when I saw her I knew it was her. I asked about the babies’ parents and it turned out that most of them had one or both parents that were in prison or lost in their addictions. It is heartbreaking to see such great and beautiful kids in that kind of situation. It is so easy to get attached to them when they have no reservations about the love they give to you. My times in the nursery were win-win because they needed love and I loved to give it.

Learning the Value of Relationship

2010-12-19T13:45:00.001-08:00

By Holly Williams

My most impacting experience in DTS outreach so far, has not been in any particular place or time frame. For me, in this season, God has asked me to focus on my relationships. I am learning how to better relate to people and I am healing from former hurts. I am going though this process by interacting with those on my team and others that we meet along the way. Through this, God continues to give me powerful revelation of His grace and love toward me and through me. I am learning to better recognize other people's feelings and put them before mine among other things. Overall, I am learning the value of relationship and what it truly means to give.

Reciprocal blessings at the Rehab

2010-12-18T11:18:00.000-08:00

By Ben Balusek

One part of this outreach that has really impacted me so far was in a little rehab center in Mexico. We showed up to minister at this place one night not knowing what to expect, besides that we were doing a drama and sharing a message with a testimony. It turned out to be a pretty small place with 10 to 15 guys who were all saved from their addictions to drugs and alcohol. These men were real in who they were and they were truly in love with Christ. We were able to minister to them and love them, and they also were able to minister to us. All the men from the rehab sang us songs and many of them gave us their testimonies. One man let me use his guitar for a drama that we performed, after I had forgotten to bring one. Even though I regretted forgetting to bring a guitar, I think God used this to connect me to this man who also played guitar. It was a lot easier for me to connect with him after he let me play his guitar. After a few testimonies, a message and some music, I was able to talk and pray with this man and really encourage him. It was a really cool time of God being able to bless and encourage each of us through each other. I remember him telling me, "You are a great guitarist Benjamin, and you will be the best one day if you keep doing it for God". It was truly a blessing to be able to speak and pray into his life, and receive the same thing from him. We went to bless these men, and we did, but I really feel like I was equally or even more blessed back from them. It seems like God always does things differently than I tend to expect.

Epic Bethlehem

2010-12-17T15:59:00.000-08:00

Wiseman Matt and plastic Jesus

By Matt Martens

Ok, so we did a Christmas play in Mexico, called "Night in Bethlehem", and guess what? Yours truly was the star... Well ok, I wasn't the "star" of the show but I was royalty! They took one good look at my face and said, "Let’s make this guy a wise man". Haha They even paired me up with a Robert Downey Jr. look-alike, and he gave me a couple of tips for my future acting career. The play was awesome! We did about ten shows in three evenings, and an estimated five thousand people showed up to watch in total. Epic! And at the end of every show we offered the crowd hot chocolate and bread along with prayer. And many people made Jesus Christ their personal savior... Hooooraaah!!!!!, and people were also healed (ain’t that cool?). It was awesome. God is awesome, He keeps throwing us opportunities to love people and to show His love. And we still have lots more time to share Him. Haha, Yay God!

Matt takes his wiseman gift down the aisle during the Night in Bethlehem play

Matt and David (the Robert Downey, Jr. look-alike)

What (else) we do on outreach

2010-12-16T07:44:00.000-08:00

From

Vicente Guerrero, Baja

2010-12-08T20:30:00.000-08:00

Hey everybody!

We spent our Thanksgiving weekend at Gleanings for the Hungry in Dinuba, California cleaning and cutting dried fruit that they send to starving people all over the world. They shared their amazing Thanksgiving meal with us and showed us great hospitality. It was a nice rest from San Francisco. After that we headed down to Vicente Guerrero, Baja and have been serving here for the last week and a half. Last week we stayed at a missions organization called IDT and built a house for a young couple and their two kids. The family included Felipe, 29, Lucia, 20, Jose Felipe, 4, and Joan, 9 months. It was a dream come true for them. They didn’t even know they were getting a house until a few days before we showed up to build it! We did everything from framing walls, roofing, sawing, painting, you name it… During the evenings we did local ministry. One night we took over a complete church service. David shared a message, Holly shared her testimony, and after we performed our skit, Everything, we split up to teach the children’s classes. It is hard to teach a class when most of you don’t speak the same language, but we conquered the challenge and it was awesome, as usual. The next night we went to an extremely poor village to give out rice, beans, and water. We did a little worship, Kaylan gave her testimony, and we prayed with them. We also went to a men’s rehab center where we performed a skit and Marci and David ended up sharing their testimonies. Some of the men shared their testimonies and we got to pray with them. It was awesome being face to face with people who have come out of prison and now have their hearts captivated by Jesus Christ.

We are now staying at a place called The Mission just a few minutes away from where we were staying before. It is an orphanage, so we get to love on the cute little babies and play soccer with the kids. We all love the kids here, they have such amazing attitudes! This place has so many different opportunities for us to serve. They have a large macadamia nut farm where we have helped pull weeds and harvest nuts. They have a bakery where we have been helping use the macadamia nuts in baked goods as a means of making the orphanage some money. Something really unique that is happening this week is that they are putting on a huge play called “Noche en Belen” which is the story of Jesus’ birth to resurrection. Last year it was viewed by 5,000 locals that they bus in to see it. As soon as we got here they recruited us to be in the play. Some of us are wise men, disciples, vendors, or serving hot chocolate between plays. It’s really exciting to be here during this time with all the buzz about the play going around. We will be doing the play Thursday, Friday, and Saturday night, so pray that all goes well and the play is a huge success in reaching people with the gospel!

Working With the Homeless in San Francisco

2010-11-25T21:08:00.000-08:00

San Francisco was an intense place to start our outreach. Several of us were stretched out of our comfort zone from the very beginning. Our ministry focus was toward the homeless. The YWAM campus we stayed at was right across from Glide church which hands out free meals every day, so there were always tons of homeless people lined up on the street. YWAM San Francisco’s Ellis Room is open to the public from 9:30 am to 4:30 pm where people from the streets could come play pool and have a place to relax where they don’t have to constantly be on their guard. Monday and Tuesday a few of us worked in that room just talking, playing games, and praying with them. One afternoon we picked a spot on Market Street and played worship songs. Ben played guitar and sang, David played the djembe, and Carlos played his saxophone. That attracted attention from lots of people and one girl from France even joined in with her flute which led to an opportunity to pray for her. We went on prayer walks where we would approach whoever God pointed out to us and ask if we could pray with them. We went to Haight Ashbury to do a ministry where we took a bag lunch for ourselves and an extra one for someone else that we wanted to reach out to in hopes to eat, talk, and pray with them. Each night we walked around the Tenderloin district offering free hot chocolate. Several of us loved the way this worked out because it was a cool conversation starter and if they didn’t want to talk it was a good way to bless them anyway. A lot of times they are starving for conversation so they are just thrilled that someone would stop and listen to them. It’s so interesting, and sometimes heart-breaking, to hear their stories and how they got to where they are now. From listening to their stories we learned that a majority of them had loved ones die and they just lost it. A woman named Tanya who was wandering around holding her mother’s ashes didn’t want any hot chocolate, she just wanted prayer for her health, happiness, and her 9 kids. That same night a few members of our team asked a man named Lee if he wanted some hot chocolate. He was experiencing the manifestation of the Holy Spirit and said he was being blessed already. Overall, it was a great outreach stop! We were blessed to be blessings and bring the light into the darkness. =]

CDTS Update- How God is using us in Labasa, Fiji

2010-05-17T14:29:00.000-07:00

Transitioning to Vanua Levu, the second largest of 330 islands in Fiji has brought new joys, new challenges and new relationships. It has been a great joy to the team to live with sixteen staff and students of the campus in a large home overlooking the mountains and sea of Labasa, Fiji. Watching the passion and brokenness of the students has greatly challenged and encouraged our Crossroads DTS. These ywamers have learned the power of worshiping our great God, the key to overcoming the spiritual forces of darkness where youth suicide and sexual abuse is greatest of any place in Fiji.
Worship has created a healthy climate inside and around us, to minister God's love among the children here, in the prison, hospital, riding in the bus or taxi or wherever we are.

MARK AND GREG use Beaky the puppet to bring laughter and the gospel to the children of a squatters' area, a very poor community where inexpensive housing is provided yet no guarantee of of permanent residency as they could be asked to move tomorrow.
Muslims, Hindus, and Christians; Indo-fijian, and Fijian reside in this needy area.

RANDY, our clown, instantly draws crowds with his tricks, a perfect opening to teach children the truth of Jesus and deception of Satan.

KATHY'S smile, warmth and compassion build immediate relationships wherever she is.

ALLEN'S humility and love for many fatherless young boys and men bring a father's image, hope and comfort.

JIEUN's insatiable hunger for the Word of God bears much fruit as she gives words of comfort and encouragement in the many homes we visit as a team.

JIM AND JUDY continue to build relationships with old and new friends and had great joy in teaching "Renewal of the Mind" and "Spiritual Authority" to the Labasa DTS.

MAY GOD ALONE GET THE HONOR. HIS KINGDOM IS MOVING FORWARD.

THANKS for your prayers!!!! They are greatly valued. Please pray we finish strong in His strength. Our return date is May 25.

CHICO CROSSROADS

Some Images from Outreach

2010-05-13T13:45:00.002-07:00

Power drama @ Dreketi church

Praying for moms on Mothers Day

Praying for a Hindu lady (Door to Door)

Singing songs @ a kids club VBS

John talking to some teenagers about life decisions.

After 10 days in Dreketi...

2010-05-11T23:06:00.001-07:00

bula, Greetings once again! This time we come to you from Lautoka. We made it here on Tuesday, May 11th after spending two days traveling. We came to here after spending ten days tenting in the village of Dreketi. We camped out on the lawn of the church we worked with (Holy Cross church) for the full ten days. Our entire team had a very blessed week in Dreketi, and we all came away feeling extremely blessed and transformed. We experienced a whole new way of living during our stay in Dreketi and God really spoke to our team through our ministries and through the people we were able to connect with. We did some door-to-door ministry to get to know the surrounding families that lived near the church where we got to pray and of course have tea while getting to know them. Most of the families that live near the church are Hindu and so it was really neat to reach out to that community. Our team also ran a children’s program for three days, and the outcome was amazing. We had 40-50 children come each afternoon with smiles that filled their faces. We had a lot of fun singing, story-telling, playing games and doing crafts. The children really blessed our team and in return we were able to teach them about the love of Jesus. We were also in charge of both Sunday morning services, and on the last Sunday the church blessed us with a Fijian feast! It was amazing! It was a great week of getting to know people while being blessed and transformed! Here are some of our experiences; (included are our new Fijian names)

Minsoo (Mesu) – I really loved the children. I would love to write all of their names, but I don’t want to make a mistake and miss one of them. Fijian and Indian children are my love. I also loved the awesome hospitality. I loved the beautiful stars in the night sky, being at George and Anna’s house on the dock, and going to the island on our day off.

Kayla (Keleni) – I think some of the most impacting times in Dreketi were doing the kids ministry. It was amazing to see our relationships with them grow from day to day! I also loved praying for the mother’s on Mother’s Day. We were so blessed to share that time with them. I already miss our dear friends in Dreketi.
Makayla (Maki) – Half way through the week we felt God calling us to have a 3 day “kids club” tons of kids came as well as some of their parents. God really gave me a heart for those kids. I was really blessed by that ministry. The kids were so wonderful and I loved being with them. I really felt God move in the kids and their families. I love them! I also felt a huge freedom through dance. I have never felt closer to God then now!

Emily (Emilini) – Dreketi really had a gigantic impact on me! I was blown away by the people’s hospitality and genuine love for us and for one another. It was a time of personal growth in the Lord and a new found appreciation for the simplicity of life and what it means to truly love others.
Jonathan (Jonacani) – While we were in Dreketi one thing I found the most impacting was the relationships that we built. We made a lot of good friends through the Holy Cross church and through ministry, they blessed me a ton as we ministered to them.
Mambo (Maikeli) - Dreketi was the best time so far. I really like the people there. One of them was John, who is a pastor from the church. Kid’s ministry was also really funny. I enjoyed the times we had. Door-to-door was my best experience so far, I really enjoyed talking with the Indian people.

Denis (Denisi) – Dreketi was a wonderful place! I really enjoyed visiting the chief’s house, doing door-to-door, and kid’s ministry was amazing! I loved playing soccer with the Indian guys and watching how they started asking questions and showed interest about knowing more, not just about soccer, but about God too. It was a big blessing and spending time with John and Nasa was great too! Dreketi has been my favorite place so far! =)
Shea (Selena) – Let me just start off by saying that I’m in love with Dreketi…’twas an amazing week. One thing that impacted me was talking to an Indo-Fijian about God and Christianity. He came up to me and had many questions. Normally I would have gotten overwhelmed because I wouldn’t know what to say- I’m not always the best at conveying what I mean! But I got to see the lecture side of DTS at work. Information that I had learned the last few months came to mind and I was able to share with this man about lots of things! It was really neat. Please pray for him as he continues searching!
Cheyenne (Saini) – I knew coming to Dreketi that it was going to be a very transforming week. When we first arrived I did not have the greatest attitude and I wondered how I would survive sleeping in a tent, on the ground for 10 days. However, God gave me a piece of His heart for Dreketi and I immediately fell in love with the village. It was in Dreketi where God really solidified who I have become since DTS. The people and the children were a huge blessing to me! I love Dreketi!
Cynthia (Senijiale) – This week I was really impacted by each of our team members. They have truly been putting into practice the things they have learned throughout lecture phase, letting go of the past and now walking in their true identities in Christ. Personally, I have treasured each of the new friendships than have been developed here in Fiji. Spending time in this wonderful culture with relationship based people, has changed me forever.

Jake (Sekope) – It was amazing for me to be back in Dreketi. I had last been there in 2002. I was able to see many people that I had met before who remembered all of the teams that had previously been there from YWAM Chico. When I was there last time our team had spent a lot of time encouraging Fijians to go into the mission field. And now there are Fijians from the village in Cambodia, S. Korea, Mongolia, China, and New Zealand. Mk. 16:15 Our entire team was inspired through our experience in Dreketi and the people who shared with us along the way. The people there have places in each of our hearts and they will be greatly missed. We continue to pray that God would shower down His love over that village and that the seeds we planted would continue to grow into God’s glorious Kingdom. Blessings, Chico DTS Team

DTS Ministry Update from Labasa, Fiji

2010-04-27T14:12:00.001-07:00

Bula from Labasa!

We are nearing the end of our stay here in Labasa after a week of ministry. We have been welcomed with open arms and amazing food here at YWAM Labasa. Our week has been busy with all kinds of ministry including: door-to-door, prison evangelism, children’s ministry, leading home cell groups, hospital ministry and church ministry.

A few members of our team were able to go to a place called Baily’s Welfare where they packed groceries to meet the needs of some people in the community, and the rest of us went to an old people’s home where we had a lot of fun, to say the least. Most of the elderly could not speak English so we spent time singing and sitting with them. One lady decided to give her life to the Lord and it was so neat to see God at work in the lives of these people.

From DTS & CDTS Outreach

Cynthia – We spent time offering to pray with the elderly. I had the privilege of sitting with a Hindi lady in her 80’s. I prayed with her in English for a time, but she only spoke Hindi, so I knew she could not understand. I was believing that God would work beyond the language barrier. I started to pray in my spiritual language and noticed that she was nodding often while I was speaking. I know that God had given me a different language for that particular moment with this lady, though I cannot say if she understood anything, but I knew God was there. Afterwards, I got one of our Fijian friends who spoke Hindi to translate the things I had been praying for her. One of the things was that I had felt, was that she had been forgotten, that she had no hope. As I told him this, his eyes widened and he told me that while I was speaking this to him, she had just said the exact same thing to him in Hindi! Well, this lovely lady had been searching for many years, waiting for someone to come and tell her about the Jesus she had once heard about while she was young. We had the honor of leading her, to finally, meet the Lord and break down all the walls of the many gods she had grown up with. She said that NOW, she has hope!

Our team also led the whole Sunday morning service at COC (Christian Outreach Center) which is the church we have been working with. It was a lovely Sunday morning with worship, testimonies, dramas, communion, prayer and Michelle bringing the message. It was absolutely incredible to see members of our team reaching out and praying for different individuals from the church, sharing with them what we have been practicing and learning all throughout DTS. It is just amazing to see the changes God has made in every individual on our team.

We spent two days reaching out in the men’s prison. The first day was on Saturday, and we spent the morning leading a bible study with men who had already made the decision to accept Jesus into their lives. It was so powerful to sit with them, sing with them, and share with them. You can definitely see the work God has done among some of these men. We went back again on Wednesday afternoon and had more of an evangelism focused time, where we ministered to men who did not have a personal relationship with Christ. Near the end, Denis (who was sharing the message) invited anyone who wanted prayer or to accept Jesus as their Lord to come to the front. Several men came forward to ask for prayer and to accept Jesus into their lives. Praise the Lord!

From DTS & CDTS Outreach

As a team we have also been able to work along side the Labasa DTS during children’s ministry and hospital ministry. We spent one afternoon in groups going through the hospital and praying for patients. It was a really neat experience to have the freedom to minister to the patients in need of healing as well as their families.

From DTS & CDTS Outreach

We have had a lot of fun here in Labasa ministering, evangelizing, and creating more relationships with the Fijian people. Our team has also had time in the evenings to worship and fellowship with the staff and students here at YWAM Labasa and once again God has blessed our team with wonderful friendships.

We will be leaving Labasa Friday, April 30^th for the village of Dreketi where we will spend 10 days before heading back to Lautoka. Thanks to everyone for your thoughts and prayers. We are excited to see how God will continue to work in and through our lives to reach out to the Fijian people! It is always an adventure with God!

YWAM Chico, Winter DTS via Labasa

CDTS Serves with Dental Clinic in Solovi, Fiji

2010-04-27T13:49:00.001-07:00

Dear Family and Friends, (Bula from Fiji)

Proverbs 13:12 states, "Hope deferred makes the hear sick but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life".

For our team it was a longing fulfilled to meet felt needs in the rural Solovi area in the small home of Uma and Prem, who some of the recent Chico teams will remember, where a free dental clinic was conducted this week for three days. It had made our hearts sick to see diabetes, heart kidney and dental disease stealing the health of these precious people. It is not uncommon for these people with their beautiful smiles to have several teeth missing by age 21.

The word was out by day three of the clinic, thus the waiting crowds were growing larger each day, Muslims, Hindus, Christians, Fijian, Indofijian, the young, the old came with expectant hearts for taking away pain in their mouths. The days were long for the workers from Emmanuel Worship Center, Lautoka Marine Reach and YWAM Chico Crossroads, but God's promise is, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness". II Corinthians 12: 9-10

It was a joy to be able to teach healthy diet and tooth brushing. Many extractions were performed as well as some cleaning and fillings. Though the conditions were far from what we are accustomed to in America, many were encouraged by the gospel of Christ, by worship and dance in the waiting areas, by words of knowledge and wisdom.
More than 200 people received dental care. We believe many would say we had "touched the hem of Jesus" together this week.

ALL PRAISE AND GLORY TO OUR GREAT AND WONDERFUL LORD JESUS CHRIST!

Thank you for your support and encouragement and prayers.

Allen, Kathy, Greg, Randy, Mark, Jieun, Jim and Judy

Ministry Update from Labasa, Fiji

2010-04-27T08:47:00.001-07:00

Bula and blessings!

We are enjoying this time in the Fiji islands. The opportunity to be here is a privilege, and we endeavor to be good stewards of it. God has been gracious in revealing His purposes for each location we have stayed in and leading us in how we as a team can share our specific gifts to the best of our abilities.

Already, here in Labasa, we have seen fruit of our labors. As we have shared in the local prison, bagged groceries for distribution to more than 250 poor families, prayed for the sick in the hospital, visited the elderly in a nursing home, shared in a couple cell group meetings, and held a kids’ club and church service, people have opened their hearts. We have seen God save people, heal them, and touch their hearts.

One month into the outreach we have been able to pray for various ministries as well as specific individuals. The YWAM ministry here in Labasa, called “The Lighthouse” focuses on community outreach and strategic prayer. During our 10 short days here we have been working with Christian Outreach Center. On Sunday, I preached a word to the church and we prayed for church members and spoke prophetic words over them. I felt moved to pray for the children and the Pastor and his wife. There are many Indian families in the neighborhood surrounding the church which the Pastor has a heart to evangelize and disciple. We blessed him and his wife and felt God would increase the ministry of the church very soon, including salvations among the Indians, women’s ministry through the instruction of the pastor’s wife, and people being raised up to lead and minister the Gospel. The church members are invited to a weekly family night here at the Lighthouse where we play games and eat refreshments.

There are a couple stories Cynthia has told me that I’d like to share. In Nadi, she got to talk to some Japanese students who were studying English. They had never heard of Jesus or God, so she had a fun and interesting time trying to find the words in English to describe God with them and the idea that He wants to have a relationship with them. She was trying to explain that there is a book from God that He wrote for us called the Bible. She described it as an “e-mail”, which they understood! It was a great experience for her to explain the Gospel to people who had yet to ever hear it.

Earlier this week at a nursing home Cynthia sat next to an elderly Indian woman who seemed just like a grandma to her. The woman allowed Cynthia to pray for her and held onto Cynthia’s knee the entire time. The woman said that she felt like Cynthia was her daughter. Through an interpreter the woman told her that she had felt lonely and without hope, which is exactly what Cynthia felt God say as she prayed for her. Cynthia told this to the lady and told her own story, about how Jesus gives us hope and in Him, we need never be lonely. The woman received Jesus into her life and was encouraged to hear that she would one day meet Cynthia again, in heaven! They smiled and laughed- it was a great time for them both.

Jake shared his testimony in the prison last week. He shared his own personal account of having spent time in jail for a day, due to some unpaid debts from his past. We had to go back to his old hometown and hear from the judge what the charge was. The judge told him that he had to pay some outstanding fees. When we went to the place to pay, a woman handed Jake a paper releasing him from the charge and stamped in red on the paper were the words, “Paid in Full.” Jake told the prison mates that that is what Jesus came and did for us. He paid our debt in full and we are free and given a new life.

God uses the girls to share the gospel, too. Our family was in a taxi and the driver was Hindu. I felt like God wanted him to know the story of Jesus. As soon as I had that thought Kiera said to me, “Mommy, Jesus died for us didn’t he?” I said, “Yes, Kiera. He did.” She then asked, “Why did he die?” I told her, “Because he loves us and he wants us to love each other.” We talked for a couple minutes about that. I wonder at God’s ability to speak through our kids by them just being the gifts that they are. I hope the taxi driver heard the truth being shared in our conversation.

This base- the staff and present DTS- has blessed our team! It started with them showing us our beautiful rooms and serving us coffee and fresh doughnuts! Each day we have shared wonderful meals, sang, worshiped, and played together. After a week full of ministry some of us took a break and watched the movie “Up” last night. That was fun! One day there was a huge rainstorm with incredibly strong winds. The next day a haze stretched across the town. (There is a great view of the town of Labasa here from the Lighthouse, as well as a view of the ocean.) That morning after the storm we had breakfast outside on the patio overlooking the view- it was beautiful.

This is a funny story. Julianna has been making more baby talk and on Sunday, upon meeting the Pastor, she literally said, “Bula!” to him! Ha-ha! The perfect baby syllables came out of her mouth. “Bu-la!” How cute!

It is wonderful to have the joy and love that Jesus brings to those He loves. My encouragement to you today is to spend time with the One who holds your life in His loving and kind hands. It is so good to spend time with our Savior, friend, and Lord!

“The very same God, who put things in orbit, runs to the weary, the worn, and the weak. And the same gentle hands that hold me when I’m broken, they conquered death to bring me victory! I know my Redeemer lives… I know my Redeemer lives. Let all creation testify and this life within me cry, “ ‘I know, my Redeemer lives!’ “

May His rain fall upon you!!!!

Michelle

for the Chico DTS team

Latest Facebook updates from the teams in Fiji

2010-04-26T14:47:00.001-07:00

Kayla Klassen Loving Labasa! Kids ministry.. prison ministry.. church ministry.. busy, but lovvvvving every minute! Not to mention the intense rain we had this morning.. and wind! wwwooowww!

Makayla Gaylord Just got out of prison and I'm going back on Wed.

Jake Findley Hello from Sunny Fiji.

Shea Martens misses chocolate milk and cheese...and menno food. hmm. but its a good think i love rice. really. i do. the food here is great! not kidding. seriously. just getting my point across...not lying. :) for realz!

Latest Facebook updates from the teams in Fiji

2010-04-19T20:52:00.001-07:00

Cynthia Hood ...off to Vanua Levu Island...Labasa & Dreketi...people are seeing God's love and commiting their lives to Him. The team has been greatly encouraged to see, hear and be a part of God's work here in Fiji. Thanks everyone for your prayers!

Kayla Klassen we're heading over to Vanua Levu in a few days! yay! And yes, I may not be in Canada.. but all the same.. Go Canucks GOOOO!!!!! :)

Jonathan Grigg time here in Nadi has been amazing! i'm going to miss all my friends here. I hope to work with them again soon.

Makayla Gaylord I love God so much. Just thought the world should know how great He is but then I realised that there is no way I could even begin to describe how truely AMAZING He is. So I'm just gunna say that I love Him. So much. ^_^

Shea Martens only a few more days with our vunayasi friends. :( then off to our next destination of lautoca! haha i have no idea how to spell either of those!

Denis Garcia mOving On!! Vanua Levu.. Labasa.. Dreketi.. here we gO!! =) this is an incredible experience!! yeah!! =)

CDTS sees family healed and meet Jesus

2010-04-19T11:42:00.000-07:00

How awesome it has been to serve our Great God here in Fiji this past week as YWAM Chico Crossroads team followed up on an unforgettable visit in the Nadi hospital where a Muslim family was desperate for God's intervention. Others had sown seeds in this family while we simply watered those seeds as we prayed for and saw immediate relief of chest and abdominal pain, immediate improvement of eyesight due to cataracts among family members. A few days following hospital release of the patriarch of the family our team visited the family in thier home in rural Nadi. Jesus Christ again was present to heal emotional and physical pain, but the greatest miracle of all was when Abraham, we"ll call him, said , "My God is not working. I choose Jesus Christ today".
On another follow up call a Bible was left with the family and a leaky flat tin roof was repaired. Please pray for this family as it is common to endure family alienation and other serious repercussions when they make such important decsions.
Last week brought endless other opportunities to visit Indofijian homes, encourage, pray into physical and mental disease and to bless with prosperity. On Friday after meeting with Ratu (Chief) Osea from Cuva village and after we ceremonially offered the village gifts of flour, sugar and rice we were released to play with and pray with and teach around 200 children. They showed us where they catch fish in their backyard sea. We taught them how to catch fish for God, to become "fishers of men".
THANK YOU FOR YOUR ENCOURAGEMENT AND PRAYERS!
Crossroads Team, Greg, Randy, Kathy, Allen, Jieun, Mark, Jim & Judy

Thanks for reading our blog!

2010-04-19T10:43:00.000-07:00

Please feel free to leave comments! As you pray for our teams, if the Lord speaks to you, please let us know. Thank you for your prayers!

DTS Team meets a young man they had interceded for while still in Chico

2010-04-19T10:23:00.002-07:00

April 19, 2010

Dear loved ones,

Here we are in Fiji- ministering to the lost and seeking the heart of God in this country, wherever our feet go! May God bless you with His grace and peace as you read this letter today.

So far, it’s been 2 weeks that we have been here. There are many changes in Fiji since the last time I was here (6 years ago). The city of Nadi has developed, with numerous businesses and hotels. It gives me mixed feelings. For one, it is great to see the island growing and changing. But it cautions me to hear the heartbeat of God for the Fijian people that they would not be swept up in the commercialism of the West but maintain the simplicity and kindness of their land and culture.

It is a land of beauty and life! I love Fiji so much! They have much to offer as a people and it feels as though things are just getting started.

Praise God, there are many people being raised up as missionaries in Fiji. At the YWAM base we have been staying at there are several people heading out to the nations. One friend, Marika, goes to China at the end of the month. Another YWAM staff person is going to India. (Please pray for their financial and visa needs as they go out). The DTS from YWAM Vunayasi is headed to Suva and the Yasawa Islands here in Fiji for their outreach.

Three weeks ago, while our team was at Gleanings for the Hungry in Sultana, CA, I heard a guest speaker share. He is the base leader of a YWAM facility in South India. It was encouraging hearing what he had to share and challenging also. It behooved me to continue praying for God’s work among East Indians. I also felt that we were to pray specifically for salvation among the East Indians here in Fiji, which make up almost half of the population. The first time the team went out in groups of three to talk with people, two weeks ago; I stayed back with our kids and prayed. I felt to pray for them to meet individuals with whom it would be a “kairos moment”- type of meeting. When the team came back and shared they said they had a conversation with a young Indian man named Sunjay. We feel that he is close to coming to know the Lord. We also looked through the intercession journal recently and saw that Brad, Jake, and Minsoo had received Sunjay’s name in prayer weeks before in Chico. “Lord, continue to reveal Who you are to this man and raise him up to be your disciple, we pray.”

YWAM Chico, thank you for the scriptures and words you shared with us via e-mail. It came right on time! I was feeling fear and worry over traveling to Vanua Levu with the girls because it will be a long day of traveling and I feared that I couldn’t make it. Someone in Chico gave Jake and I the word, “Don’t be afraid to go the extra mile,” (found in Matthew 5). I knew God was saying that we/I could make it, by His grace and His strength and through the help of others on the team. I know I am to daily lean on the Lord and seek His strength, for He gives daily bread to those who seek Him. Amen!

Speaking of the girls, they are doing well. It has been an adjustment with sleep, mosquitoes, and the heat, but overall we love it here. Kiera and Julianna are loved on by everyone. The Fijians will come and just take the baby and carry her around to show her to other people! We had Kiera’s third birthday party at Mama’s pizza in Nadi-town one week early. We are traveling to Lambasa, on the other island, this Wednesday, the 21st, which is her actual birthday. Kiera was so blessed to have her birthday party with our DTS team. You could see on her face how special and loved she felt. She got a princess outfit from her Auntie April, “princess” heeled dress shoes, and her ears pierced! She looks very pretty. Julianna is a big 6- month old! She is making more baby-talk sounds and laughs a lot- what a little cutie- we are enjoying her so much. She swam in a pool for the first time over the weekend.

Well, we feel at home here and are adjusting well after 3 weeks on the road. If you would have told me that I would be having my daughter’s third birthday party at a place I went to on my DTS outreach, nine years ago, I wouldn’t have believed you, especially if you told me I’d be married to Jake too! Ha-ha!

God is so good and His mercy endures always. We will write again in a couple weeks. This week we are going to Lambasa, spending 10 days there, and spending 10 days after that in Dreketi. Our friend Marika will guide us there, before he leaves for China. I had one of the best weeks of my life in Dreketi during my DTS in 2001. We are going to minister with the same Anglican church, with Pastor Henry Bull. It is so exciting to go there again! Also, the YWAM base in Lambasa is a new one. The woman who runs it is named Gi. I prayed with her and Va, in 2001, about the future of YWAM. It is good to see God answer those prayers. I will be blessed to see her again.

We also have a friend in Suva, Joan McGoon that we hope to connect with.

Please pray for us as we travel over the next few days. It is a four hour bus ride and 4 hour ferry boat ride to Lambasa. Pray that the girls would adjust well and we would have grace in dealing with the heat and lack of sleep (Julianna is a light sleeper and she is teething). Thank you. We hope to share much more good news from here with you. God bless your remaining month of April.

With love, The Findleys

CDTS in a Nadi Hospital

2010-04-18T15:27:00.001-07:00

Thank you for your prayers for 8 of us in Fiji. Having completed our first week our team adjusted to food, water and heat yet they are on fire as we watched the Kingdom of God come down in power several times this week. The most memorable for me was in a dismal, hot feces-smelling room in the Nadi Hospital where a Muslim family pleaded for prayer saw God remove chest and abdominal pain, and restore sight to eyes with cataracts. As we were about to leave one of the brothers embraced Randy with tears running down his face saying. "You are my brother", to Kathy "You are my sister", to Mark "You are my son", to Judy "You are my mother", and to Allen "You are my brother".
Needless to say we were amazed. Never before in Fiji have we seen such receptivity among the Muslims. Pray we can follow though with this family who have invited us to their home. We than you for your partnership with us!!
Jim and Judy

Latest Facebook updates from the teams in Fiji

2010-04-17T18:50:00.002-07:00

...seeing God work in Fiji! What an adventure! -Cynthia

we're almost two weeks into outreach now. things are going great, the Lord has been blessing our time and giving us lots of divine appointments. keep us in your prayers, we'll be traveling to our next location on the 21st, we'll be there for nine days and then it's off to a village in for two weeks. it's going to be a...n amazing next couple of weeks!!!! -Jonathan

Loving God.. Loving Fiji... and loving life :) -Kayla

All is good in Fiji. The team is well and God is moving. -Jake

I don't know if I'll get another chance on the internet for a while so another update... I love it here more than any other place I've been and I refuse to leave and GOD IS SOOOOOOO GOOOOOOOD. P.S. A few days ago it was 139 degrees. I think I've been sweating more in the last few weeks then in the last four years. I have yet to get sick. I love God SOOOO MUCH. How could you not? -Makayla

will miss her friends in Vunayasi. What a joy they have been. Off to Labasa in 4 days!! Where internet may or may not be available... I will see everyone at home in 6 short weeks! -Cheyenne

regresandO de la playa!! INCREIBLE!! ii terminandO de aprOvechar el dia libre!! =) preparandOnOs para cOntinuar trabajandO !! (3 serviciOs al dia mas trabajO extra en la base =S) --TRANSLATION-- Returning from the beach!! Incredible!! Taking advantage of the rest of our free day!! =) Preparing ourselves to continue our work!! (3 services a day and extra work with the base =S) -Denis

Isch guat in Fiji acho und mir sind zimlich eis am abschwitza nu mit dositza und nuet tua ;-) mir gfalts sehr do d luftfuechtigkeit isch zimlich hoch do muasi mich zerst no dra gwoena:-) -Mambo

Ok, I have no idea what Mambo said, but I know it's about Fiji. Anybody here speak Swiss German? Michelle had a little more to say- and it's a lot more understandable to us English-speakers:

Bula! Greetings from sunny Fiji! We made it! :))) Things are great. Today is our day off, so Jake, Kiera and i went to Nadi town. Julianna is being baby-sat by Auntie Cynthia. All 14 of us are staying at the YWAM Vunayasi base. We are bonding as a team. The water fights have already started! Hehehe!!! There is a DTS happening at the base also. They are in their last week of lectures. We eat our meals and spend our off-time enjoying times with them,drinking tea, talking, and worshipping. The team went to McDonald's and met with Japanese students wishing to speak English. They will be going again tomorrow to talk with them. We are going to celebrate Kiera's 3rd birthday tomorrow at McDonald's with a princess cake and ice cream. We are celebrating it early because we will be going to another location on the 21st, possibly on the other island of Vanua Levu.

Keep the teams in your prayers! RP

Bula from Fiji!

2010-04-15T21:39:00.005-07:00

We have just finished our first week of outreach in Fiji. We arrived late on Tuesday, April 6th in Nadi. As we stepped off the plane the scent of tropical air filled our noses, and we could literally feel the warmth this place has to offer. After being picked up and driven to our new home at the YWAM base in Vunayasi we were all ready for a good night's rest.

We began our week speaking with Japanese students for an afternoon to help them learn English. It was both entertaining and stretching for some of us. The YWAM base here in Vunayasi also invited us to have intercession with them as well as lead worship for one morning. God definitely blessed us on both occasions, and it was a pleasure to connect with the staff and students here. We wanted to bless them in return so we volunteered to help clean the base. (Water + DTS students + Fijians = FUN!) Our team has been so blessed with great friendships and lasting relationships here in Vunayasi. We have also participated in door-to-door ministry, visiting the surrounding neighbors of the base, as well as children’s ministry with the kids from the neighborhood.

One afternoon we were able to go on a treasure hunt and it was amazing to see how God spoke to each of us individually and as a group. For example: Minsoo, Cheyenne, and Makayla asked God to speak to them about where to go and who to talk to. Cheyenne and Minsoo felt God saying they should go across the street into Jacks (a local department store) and Minsoo felt specifically that someone would ask him about his guitar that he was holding. We obeyed and walked across the street into the store. Needless to say that is exactly what happened and we ended up singing and playing worship songs out loud in the store where people stopped to listen. It was incredible. And we have most definitely discovered that listening and obeying to God’s voice is so important and also rewarding.

We have had many other opportunities to minister to the people of Fiji; spending the evening at a local church playing sports with the youth group, presenting dramas and testimonies to other churches in Nadi and connecting with local people. These have allowed us to build relationships with the Fijian people.

Thank you so much for all of your prayers and support! We look forward to what God has planned for us in the next weeks to come.

Blessings,

Winter DTS, YWAM Chico via YWAM Vunayasi

Packing Day

2010-01-14T14:44:00.001-08:00

This will be the final blog entry ( at least in Fiji). We are currently preparing to head back to the U.S.

Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday morning we did some house to house around the PTC neighborhood to tell them about the kid's program that we were going to have in Simla housing on Thursday, and to visit and pray with them if they were available. During this time Chick and Lynda met up with a girl that had been cutting herself. It's too bad that problems that have been plaguing U.S. teens for years have spread to other countries. One of the days Dan and Robin had an interesting conversation with a Buddhist lady who's son-in-law is from the Grand Rapids, Michigan area just like they are. What a small world. In the afternoons we did kid's programs for the kids of the staff of a local prison. They live in housing right outside the prison. In the evenings we got a chance to hang out with Tony, Laisa, and Bui the staff of the PTC that stayed during the break to work with us and show us great hospitality.

Thursday we did the kid's program In Simla housing, which looks like a low income apartment style housing. We had the regular clowns and games. This was our last scheduled day of ministry.

Robin and Lynda were both sick on Wednesday and Thursday. Both were running fevers and had other intestinal problems. Three of the Derusha kids had strep throat.

Friday the staff of the PTC were preparing a love feast for us, so we had to vacate the house for a while in the afternoon. We went and visited a place called The Garden of the Sleeping Giant. It was a beautiful place full of orchids and other exotic foliage. We all had a good time.

Saturday was moving day. We moved back to Nadi for a few days before we left. It was hard to say goodbye to the staff even though we had only been there for two weeks. We spent the morning packing and cleaning up. We returned in the afternoon, and had a relaxing time for the rest of the day.

Sunday was our last day of worshiping with EWC. We had an amazing time with them. We love them all so much. Frank gave a message on God writing His story on our hearts, we are living epistles. Afterwards we went to Pastor Paula's house for a special dinner that members of the church prepared. As we were leaving, the “wetting”, a Fijian New Years tradition, was beginning. Mostly Robin and Lynda got wet.

Monday was a fun day that Bill had planned for us just before we left Fiji. It was a short sailboat ride to another small island that we could snorkel and swim or just relax at. Some of our team felt that it was good to see the other side of Fiji. This was definitely the tourist side, and what people associate with Fiji. They did a kava ceremony right in the boat, and invited all the people to join in. Of course most of the tourists that went on the boat joined in since they knew nothing of the spiritual side of the kava drinking. Unfortunately Dan and Caleb had to stay back at the hotel because Caleb was sick.

Tuesday was packing day and our final day in beautiful Fiji. We were sent off by some of the people from EWC. It was very sad to say goodbye to all of our new friends that we me there. Our flight left at 10:50 PM on Tuesday and we landed in Sacramento, after a 4 hour layover in L.A., at 6:50 PM on Tuesday, 4 hours before we left. We were very tired, and ready for a good nights sleep.

Well I started this post in Fiji, but I finally finished it here in Chico. We are completely amazed at how awesome God is. We had an incredible outreach. God did amazing things and we were glad that we got to tag along for the ride. I will try and and do one more post about what each of the team members future plans are, but some might not know yet. Thank you to all who have shared this journey with us. We certainly couldn't have done this without your support in many areas. All of us continue to covet your prayers as we finish up here in Chico and move out into what God is calling us to do. Thank you again from the bottom of our hearts, and may God bless each and every one of you.

Ministry with Kona DTS

2010-01-13T14:45:00.003-08:00

Monday we started off with worship and were joined by a DTS team from Kona, Hawaii. We spent some time praising God with songs and then breaking into groups to introduce ourselves to intercede for the leadership of Fiji, all the way down to the leaders of our classes. Later in the morning we met up with them at a low income housing area outside of Lautoka called Koroipita. Our team went house to house to pray with the people that lived there, while the Kona team did a kid's program. Dan and Robin visited four families there who were all Christians. Chick and one of the locals named Laisa visited a five families as well, and lead a Hindi lady to Christ. Laisa gave the lady her personal bible. They were both so excited. Lynda spent some time watching the Kona team do their kid's program to get some more ideas about what to do for our kid's program. Frank, Caleb D., and another local girl named Bui visited some homes as well. Denise and the rest of the Derusha kids watched the program as well.

Tuesday we returned to Koroipita and reversed roles. We did the kid's program and the Kona team went house to house.

Wednesday just our team returned there again and did some follow-up visits with some of the families that we visited before.

Thursday, New Years Eve, in the morning we met up with the DTS from Chico and did some clean up at a local old people's home. The guys did some yard work, while the ladies worked inside. Later in the evening we went back and joined them for an end of year service. What a blessing to spend time with the staff and residents. We threatened to leave Bill there, but we decided to give him some grace.

Friday was New Years Day. We joined together with the DTS from Chico and from Kona and went to a popular beach for the day. It was wonderful! The beach was crowded, but we had an enjoyable time throwing each other in the ocean. That is the Fijian custom on New Years. Everyone gets wet, most of the time involuntarily. We all went home very tired and lightly toasted.

Saturday our schedule got mixed up, and we ended up having another free day. Dan spent most of the day preparing for the message he was going to speak on Sunday.

Sunday we worshiped at Christian Renewal Fellowship. We spent some time in praise and a had a couple of testimonies from some of the church members. We were introduced and then Dan spoke a message from 1 Corinthian 3:5-9, speaking on the power of God. He was anointed by God and was able to get past his fear of public speaking and give a clear message. He incorporated testimonies from all of our team members as well.

We continue to be amazed at how God works through our infirmities and accomplishes things despite us. He is doing great things here, and we have the privilege of being a part of it.

Christmas in Fiji

2009-12-27T14:46:00.003-08:00

Monday we were supposed to go to Sigatoka again, but just for the day. But we got the call that they still didn't have electricity or water. Later in the day it finally came on and we started making plans to go there for two days instead of only one. The rest of the day was spent preparing for the ministry (kid's programs mostly) we would be doing and packing for the couple of days we'd be gone.

Tuesday we headed to Sigatoka. We arrived there about noon and had lunch. We stayed at what they call a backpacker “resort”, which is set up with lots of bunks and not as glamorous as what you'd expect a resort to be. It turned out that the place we were staying still didn't have electricity, but it had water so we were able to stay and accomplish the things we needed to. Right after lunch the neighborhood kids from around the resort came and we put on a program for them. We had the clowns and puppets and a few little skits and ended by playing some games with them. After the program we had some time to play in the ocean and see a lot of interesting wildlife. There was a lot of debris on the beach from the big storm from last week, so after supper we had a huge bonfire on the beach. Pastor Gabbie filled us in on the history of the village we would be visiting the next day as well as some history of Fiji. Bill hope to have him come to future classes and teach them about what he spoke to us about.

Wednesday we went to Dicuvu's (pronounced Deethuvu) village. Dicuvu is Pastor Gabbie's wife. Her father is the chief of the village and the high chief of 110 villages on the western side of the island. He is a born again Christian and has been working on his brother, the next in line to for leadership and vice president of the Methodist church of Fiji, to stop the kava drinking in the Methodist church. Dicuvu's dad was away that day so the brother was overseeing our visit. We were brought to the meeting house in the village and had a short ceremony where we presented the chief with some gifts of flour and sugar. Traditionally we would present the chief with some of the root that they grind for the kava, but since we couldn't have any part of that we were able bring the other things instead. After the gift ceremony they immediately started mixing up a bowl of kava for the men to drink while we did the kid's program. It's really sad to see. It used to be that only the chiefs would drink the kava, and then only one bowl and they would be done, but it has exploded over the island and young people and women have started drinking it. We started the kid's program and did the gambit of clowns and skits. The DTS team from Chico joined us there and they also did some things with the kids. We all went outside to play a few games. We returned to the meeting house and asked if we could pray with the children, and were given permission. Then we asked if we could pray over the women and men that were there drinking the kava and watching with their children. Again we were given permission. One of the DTS girls prayed over the chief's wife for her knee which was causing her some pain. Then we asked if we could pray over the chief and lay our hands on him. He gave us permission and a few of our group gathered around him and prayed. We didn't have any clue at the time how big a deal all of these things were. Later Lynda was talking to Dicuvu about it, and there had never been any public prayer spoken in that meeting house. It had only been used for tribal ceremonies. Dicuvu had come to the village about 20 minutes after we left and the chief's wife knee was completely healed by the time she arrived. Because of that and the other things that had happened, Dicuvu told us that YWAM teams would be invited to that village to speak and pray over the people there for healing and hopefully have an impact on the kava issue that is gripping the people there. What an incredible blessing to be a part of something so huge. Thank you God for the opportunity! We returned to the Sandalwood later that day.

Thursday, Christmas Eve, was a day for packing up and preparing for the move to Lautoka. Later in the evening the DTS came and we celebrated Christmas together. We had a fun time of sharing our stories together.

Friday was Christmas and we worshiped with our church family at EWC. Afterwards we were treated to a Christmas lovo that they provided for us and members of their congregation that weren't returning home to their families. What a great time of fellowship and fun.

Saturday was final packing and moving to Lautoka. Bill went ahead with all the luggage, and the rest of the team followed on the bus. We are staying at the Personal Transformation Center (PTC) which is a YWAM base. We met all the staff and enjoyed a nice dinner with them. After dinner we had a meeting to tell us the things we would be doing while here.

Sunday we went to a local Methodist church that was all in Fijian. The rest of the day we had off and were able to relax before a really busy week of ministering to the people here.

We are glad for God's protection during the move and for the few staff members that are here during the Christmas break to help us. They are truly a blessing to us.

We now have pictures up on the blog, just look to the left of this post and take a look at them.

Hurricane!

2009-12-20T14:48:00.002-08:00

Monday we experienced a small hurricane/large tropical storm. Mick blew in rather quickly on Monday afternoon. We lost power right after noon. It was amazing to see the power of the storm blowing the palm trees around. A lot of the dead limbs from the palm trees fell throughout the storm. After about 6:00 PM the storm ended and we all emerged from our rooms and took a look at all the damage. There were a lot of branches and trees down around the neighborhood, but no major damage to anything near us. We thank God for protection during the storm.

Tuesday we woke up with the power still off. We stayed around the hotel and helped the staff pick up all the debris that had fallen. The kids were having a blast hauling the big limbs back to the burn pile that is at the back of the hotel. We found out that two staff members had quite significant damage to their houses. One of them lost most of his house, the other lost his roof. Chick and Dan went to the home of one of the families from church to help set up a greenhouse that had partially collapsed. The power came back on late in the afternoon.

Wednesday and Thursday we were supposed to go visit some villages near Sigatoka, but the storm knocked out the power and the water at the villages, so we couldn't go out there. Dan and Chick went back to Nina's house, where the greenhouse was, and put in some more posts so she could add another greenhouse on the other side of the driveway. Bill and Denise did some follow up visits to some families that had been seen before. The visits were to people that were Hindus before coming to know Jesus Christ. They were following up to see if they had destroyed the idols that were in their homes. The rest of the team stayed at the hotel and continued to help with cleaning up around there.

Thursday morning some of our team went back to the hospital to visit sick people. They prayed over a little four year old who had gotten burned on his backside and upper thighs. It made Robin cry. Dan and Denise took the younger boys to a park near the hospital since they are too young to go in. In the afternoon Dan, Bill and Denise went to help hand out the tickets for the Samaritan's purse gift give away on Friday. We met with some surfing DTSers from New Zealand. We prayed over one of them, Malcolm, who was sick with some sort of throat infection.

Friday most of the team went to help with the Samaritan's purse gift program. The team did some singing with the kids and the parents that came with them. We also had a number of clowns and did some stories and short skits. It was exciting to see the kids faces as we handed out the gift boxes. Most of the families in this area are extremely poor, and probably never get gifts at all. They were so happy. Some of us got thank you cards that the kids had made before hand.

Saturday we got to spend with the DTS students from Chico. It was really good to see them and hear all the stories they had. It was good for them too. They got the chance to rest and have fun with the kids. Some of them went to the internet cafe, while others stayed back and took naps on comfortable beds. That night some of our team and all of theirs went to a Nadi Christian Youth Gathering (NCYG) that was happening near by. There were youth from all around the area coming together to praise Jesus. It was an awesome experience. Chick and Lynda spent the day with a couple from EWC and their extended family. This couple had experienced a lot of isolation from their family since becoming members of EWC and this was a time of reconciliation between this couple and their family.

Sunday we worshiped with EWC again. This is the last Sunday before we head to Lautoka for a couple weeks. Pastor Paula gave a powerful message on courage. Today was also special because one of the women we prayed for at the hospital the first time we visited was there worshiping with us. Jhatika was the woman who had drunk the weed killer trying to kill herself. She was there and was completely healed. It's awesome to see how God works in the lives of His children.

We continue to be amazed at the goodness of God in the lives of the Fijian people. We hope that what happens while we are here will not die after we leave. Our prayer is that our team will be forgotten, but it will be remembered that God's power was at work here and continues to work.

To see the photos of our outreach, please go to Dan and Robin's website: www.oilandflour.com .

This is what the LORD says: “Don't let the wise boast in their wisdom, or the powerful boast in their power, or the rich boast in their riches. But those who wish to boast should boast in this alone: that they truly know know me and understand that I am the LORD who demonstrates unfailing love and who brings justice and righteousness to the earth, and that I delight in these things. I, the LORD, have spoken! Jeremiah 9:23-24 (NLT)

Wow, what a busy week!

2009-12-06T14:51:00.002-08:00

We did many house visits this week with families that Pastor Paula set us up with. We go out in teams, usually the Oosterhouses and the Munfradas are together, and the Derushas and Bill go out together. We also either have Pastor Paula or Uate with us. Some are believers and need encouragement or prayers for healing. Others need prayers for salvation and discipleship. So far we have seen 8 salvations in our time here. One was little 4 yr old Nathaniel from our team.

Sunday and Monday are our weekend, and our time to go to church, to get laundry done, and relax a little. We are free to do additional ministry in our free time or do tourist activities. Tuesday through Saturday are our days of ministry, these are the days that we do the house visits and other things.

This week in addition to the house visits, The Oosterhouses and Bill went to the YWAM bases at Vunayasi to do their children's program that they do every Friday. They dressed up as clowns and did songs, balloons and a Bible story.

Also on Friday the Derushas went and spent some time with a couple from EWC, Mary and Tameli. Tameli is in the military and is leaving on Monday for a year tour in Iraq. They spent some time with them in prayer and encouraging them and they prepare for this time of separation.

On Thursday and Saturday Chick and Dan went to Lautoka with Pastor Paula to help build a church building for a church plant of his. It was basically a pole barn frame with a big tarp for a roof. They will add to it as they have the funds, but for now this will suit them very well. Pastor Mike (different from the first Pastor Mike we talked to) is the pastor of 15-20 people, both Fijians and Indos.

On Saturday we were honored to be able to attend the first birthday party of an Indo-Fijian child whose family goes to EWC. The first birthday in the Indian culture is a very big deal so to be invited is an incredible honor. Unfortunately some of the men at the party were celebrating out back by drinking kava. Kava is a drink made by crushing a root found in the jungle. It has a narcotic effect and causes intoxication. Drinking kava is one of the strongholds that holds this nation captive.

On Sunday Bill gave the message at church and the Munfradas and the Oosterhouses helped with the Sunday school for the children that was during the service. The Oosterhouses led the kids in a couple of songs, and the Munfradas dressed up as clowns and taught the kids on self control. Bill's message was two fold, the first little bit was on how the people of Fiji have been ministering to us on the importance of not worrying, and taking one day at a time sometimes one hour at a time. The other half was on our class verse 2 Corinthians 5:17-21, and calling the people to step up and become the ambassadors of reconciliation that God has called us to be.

We are praising God because of the variety of things He has opened us up to doing. We are all being stretched physically, emotionally, comfortably, and spiritually. It's amazing the many ways that the Fijian people have been ministering to us. We continue to praise God for bringing us here and letting us be a part of the works He is doing here.

Getting settled in Fiji

2009-11-28T14:52:00.002-08:00

Hello again from Fiji. We are having an amazing time here already. We arrived on Tuesday, and spent Wednesday and Thursday adjusting to the time and to our new surroundings. We had a few meetings scattered about in there, but other than that we pretty much had time to ourselves. We are getting to know the staff at the hotel, and enjoy talking to them. They are very fun loving and really enjoy talking to our children.

Thursday night we joined a cell group from the Emmanuel Worship Center (EWC), one of the churches we will be working with while in Nadi. In was a great time of worshiping with our Fijian brothers and sisters. There was a message given by one of the men in Fijian that they interpreted for us. We met outside one of the cell group member's home. It was a three or four room metal shack with the kitchen in a separate little shed to the side. The poorer people live in the metal shacks, while those a little better off live in concrete block houses.

Friday morning we split up a little bit and six of our group went to the local hospital to minister to the people there, five were dressed as clowns. Four others went on a prayer walk through the city of Nadi, one went to visit a local orphanage, and 4 stayed back at the hotel due to a little sickness. Chick, Lynda, Robin, Tavita and Caleb O. were dressed up, and Caleb D. decided to go unclowned. We received lots of smiles from the people on the bus, especially from the children. The hospital group was joined by the Youth Pastor from the EWC, Uate (pronounced Watā). While there the group prayed over people that were sick and their families that were visiting. They were well received, and only one Muslim man refused to be prayed over. While there a woman who the team prayed over received healing from the asthma that she was suffering from. After that she received Jesus as her savior. Another woman, Jhatika an Indo-Fijian, that was prayed over was in the hospital for drinking a whole bottle of weed killer trying to commit suicide. She was experiencing a lot of hardship at home with her family, and couldn't take it any more. Uate lead her through renouncing the Hinduism in her life, and lead her to Jesus as her Lord and King. She also forgave her family for what they had done to her. She also forgave her one child who had died.

Dan, Bill, Joshua and Nathaniel went through town on the prayer walk. We had the opportunity to pray over a young Indo brother and sister who were looking for rent money that was due. We also ran into the DTS team, and had a great time ministering to them and lifting their spirits. They were especially excited to see Josh and Nathaniel.

Frank went to visit an orphanage right down the road from the hotel. He spent some time there praying over the staff and talking with the children. He fell in love with about a half dozen of them. From there he visited a local village and talked with the people there. On his way home he had the opportunity to talk with a man for just a few minutes while waiting for the bus. The man told Frank that he must have been “sent” because the man was so lonely.

Denise, Micaiah, Israel and Isaiah stayed behind at the hotel. Israel and Isaiah were not feeling well, hopefully just a little jet lag.

Friday night we surprised the DTS and met them at the airport and said goodbye to them for a while. They are going to Samoa for about three weeks. They were excited again to see us all. We got a chance to pray over them and send them off. Also Friday night Caleb D. had the opportunity to go to Uate's youth group. The theme of that night was that the people are seeking God's hands and not His face, meaning that we are all looking for the things that God provides for us, but not the greater blessing of truly knowing Him.

It has been and amazing time already, and we look forward to more amazing things that God is going to do through us.

Arrival in Fiji

2009-11-25T15:53:00.000-08:00

Bula, bula, bula! (Hello, hello, hello) We made it to Fiji!! After a pretty uneventful, but long, day of travel we arrived at Nadi (pronounced Nandi) airport. The trip through customs was easy. The people here are so incredibly friendly. They are easy to talk to and eager to hear about you and where you're from. Our CDTS group is made up of 15 people, and at least one gecko, who is living in our room with us. The Derushas are Frank and Denise and their five children Caleb, Tavita, Micaiah, Israel, and Isaiah. They are from Arizona. The Munfradas are Chick and Lynda, they are from Colorado. Bill Cheney is from California. The Oosterhouses are Dan and Robin and their three boys, Caleb, Joshua and Nathaniel. They are from Michigan. We are still in the process of getting settled and accustomed to the time change. One of the Derusha kids was up at 3:30 this morning, he was still on California time. All of the kids are doing great they are loving the pool that is at the hotel. It's a great way for them to expend all the extra energy that has been built up after a 10 1/2 hour flight from L.A. We already had a meeting with Pastor Mike, one of the pastors that we will be working with in Lautoka. He gave us some insight into some specific areas that we can minister too. One of the areas he spoke about was the area of relationships, both in the church and in families. He was glad that our team was composed of couples both with and without kids. He said that we would be examples to the people of good relationships. Pastor Mike also explained to us about how the tourism trade in Fiji has caused the Fijian people to have preconceived notions about western people. They assume that all Americans are Christians. When they see Americans doing wrong things, they see it as Christians doing them,and they have a hard time believing that Christians can do such things. That is also true between the Indo-Fijians and the Fijians. Most of the Indos are Hindu, but they see all of the Fijians as being Christians, even the thieves and such. Why would they want to become a Christian if that is what Christians are doing? One of the most important things that Pastor Mike said, was that the people are sick of hearing about Jesus, they need to see Jesus. We have to give them a positive view of Christianity. One of our speakers, Dean Sherman, said that we need to show people the treasure we are, so that they will want to sell their fields (religion) and buy ours. Matthew 13:44 says: "The Kingdom of Heaven is like a treasure that a man discovered in a field. In his excitement, he hid it again and sold everything he owned to get enough money to buy the field" We have to show the people around us that we are not like the world. We have been set apart by God as His treasure. If the world doesn't see us as any different, we have a problem. We hope that we can be a light to the people of Fiji, and that we can show them the treasure that God has made us.

Last Log Date for CDTS Outreach stardate 6.1.2009

2009-06-01T17:01:00.010-07:00

Out last week of Outreach and we finished strong and with the hearts of true servants; going in strength that wasn't our own. We all felt this last week and were running out of steam, but God showed himself strong in our weaknesses. It didn't feel like we had much of a break from Guatemala City to the last week here in Antigua, yet we decided that we wanted to end strong and that we did. It is good when you are tired...then God can show up and he sure did in this last week. We've added another 30 pictures to finish off the blog. We had a full week starting on Tuesday with our third visit to the Good Samaritan Christian School. Intercession and then feeding the homeless. On Wednesday we worked at Hope Haven with Mark Richards and the crew, and we even played a little. We then did "Soul Patrol" for the evening. On Thursday we had morning worship and intercession, then we did a prayer walk and passed out fliers for an outreach we did on Saturday evening. Then it was time for the Thursday night English service and we have been trying some interesting things with the service. We spoke for about 25 minutes on hearing God's voice. We had set up table in the service so everyone was sitting at tables instead of looking at the backs of people's heads. After the teaching we opened up discussion at the tables with the questions: How do you hear God, How does He speak to you and what is He saying to you today. At the end we opened it up for some testimonies and it was amazing to hear how God had spoke to the people. Friday was our busy day with three scheduled ministries for the day. In the morning we went and spent four and a half hours at the Jackson House Malnutrition Center...This is one of all of ours favorite places. After lunch we went to a drug rehab and did worship, Betty did a testimony then we did a skit and Greg (this is I) did a testimony and then we prayed with the men....God really showed up there...this was very good, especially the prayer part. We ended the night with playing with kids an orphanage....This is pure religion...On Saturday we did Kids Club at 9am and did the movie outreach in the evening. Now it is time to rest and get ready for running with God in the next sphere of our lives. We are exited to see what He is going to have us join Him in doing. Tomorrow we go to the beach then we head back to Chico on Thursday. This is the last update from me...God has changed us all and we each look forward to sharing all God has done in our hearts with you as we return home.

Jackson House Malnutrition Center

Cheryl and Eddy

Melanie (A volunteer at the Jackson House) and Jose Luis.

Wendy.....she is so cute...she was new at the Jackson House

Greg and Antonio

Greg and Angel. Angel was a new kid in the Jackson House

The famous Jose Luis

Taking the goats for a walk

Cheryl and Eddy

Kathy and Ingrid

Beatrice and Glendy

Mark Richardson from Hope Haven

Cheryl and Bill in these wheelchair machines called PETS.

Bill and Kathy playing at Hope Haven

Greg playing at Hope Haven

Good Samaritan School

Soul Patrol in the Park in the Middle of Antigua

Cheryl and Maria

Good Samaritan School....This is the principle Magda

Guatemala City Outreach

2009-05-25T22:27:00.009-07:00

It was an amazing ten days in Guatemala City. We stayed busy with ministry the entire time we were there and we all felt blessed by the ministries that had been prepared for us to participate in. The leadership team at Guatemala City was top notch! We were very impressed with them. They truly blessed us and were fun to be with. We've loaded 30 new pictures. There is a lot to show. Our hearts continue to be broken and God continues to blow us away. In the first five pictures you will see our team on a prayer walk and intercession for the city. Captions then will be under each set of pictures....I'm not going to say a lot...we will let the pictures speak for themselves.

Greg, Bill and Efrian...I hope I spelled that correctly. We just call him "Little e"

Sarah, Little e, Greg, Ale and Beatrice.

This is "Hogar Luz de Maria" Orphanage. None of these kids names will be listed...because they don't have names...they were left in dumpsters, the garbage dump or left in churches. All the children here were under five. This place really broke our hearts, God's too!

This is as close as this little girl ever got to me. It was like she didn't want anything to do with people. As a matter a fact it felt this way with most of the kids here at this orphanage. The staff was amazing but you could feel the wounds of the children.

Here is the Dump that a lot of these kids came from....and the children and people that are still living there...we couldn't go in the dump and take pictures but as you will see the houses and people live on the dump.

This is a program that the Guatemala City YWAM Base does every week at the dump. What an amazing ministry. We were blessed to join them.

They go here to get a little food for the family. The kids go to get the food as you can see. This is a retirement home that we visited. We played games with the people it was really fun.

Outreach to children in the park

Guatemala City Orphanage. We have seen a lot of children on this outreach that don't have parents or a home. Each time tears are brought to our eyes. This orphanage was impressive on how it was ran. Each house is set up with house parents and an assistant. They try to model the family as best they can. When we were upstairs in the girls dorm a few of the girls were dancing for us and my heart was broken becuse in the spirit I could feel them say..."am I pretty enough for you to take me home?" I just want to take all the kids home! I'm going to need a really big house!

Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life

2009-05-15T09:19:00.007-07:00

Hello family and friends, In Proverbs chapter 4 it says that "above all else, guard your heart for it is the wellspring of life" I always thought that this meant we should be protective of our heart to keep it pure and protect if from being hurt. Over the last two weeks I've learned new things about this passage of scripture. See every night we come home from doing outreach with the kids I think about the events of the day and tears come to my eyes when I'm thinking of the starving children that are in the first set of pictures and the orphans and the kids that come to the kids club and schools we go into. The kids that don't have fathers or a concrete floor. And in coming home I ask God how do I protect my heart from being hurt or broken when these things are going on? I felt God say to me this week..."this is protecting your heart, don't harden your heart against the needs you see here don't quit feeling what I feel every day for these children of mine...this is protecting your heart....this is a pure heart that beats with mine." We all love these kids so much...we will never be the same and I think that is God's work in us...to never leave us the same.....when you encounter needs like we have here....you encounter God in a new way. The gospel awaits new discover in the open places we leave in our hearts. Jesus today is more amazing than yesterday, because our hearts are more open today than in the past. We are putting up 19 new pictures for you to enjoy and we are headed to Guatemala City today until the 25th of May. We then will return here to Antigua for one more week of outreach then debrief. Please continue to keep James and Dawn and the family in your prayers. Our new facilitator; Bill has fit right in. Things are going as smooth as they have and should when you have a team that is united and moves as one as God has allowed us. I do want to apologize for any misspelled words, I can't seem to get the spell checker to work and spelling isn't one of my stronger skills.

Jackson House Malnutrition Center. This is Jose Luis. We has shown pictures of him to the world in the past. He is still in the center. When I fed him I had to force feed him because he is use to starving and hasn't adjusted to eating yet. I think we are still friends though even though he was pretty mad when I was holding him down shoving food down his throat.

Jackson House Malnutrition Center. This is Antonio.

The Jackson House Malnutrition Center. Kathy is holding Ingrid; Ingrid came in from the field outreach that we did a few weeks ago. These are children that this project is stealing from the grave. They are almost dead when they get them and bring them in. Cheryl is holding Eddy; Eddy is 20 months old....and Bill our new facilitator is holding Dulce; Dulce means sweet in Spanish and she is....she is 13 months old.

Jesse and her husband Edwin are new staff at the Antigua Base. A great asset to the ministry. Jesse is holding Jose Luis and Antonio.

Jackson House Malnutrition Center. Beatrice is holding Glendy; Glendy is 4 months old.

Our second outreach to the Good Samaritan School. We are building relationships there in the schools with the kids and staff. We are welcome to come any time now day or afternoon.

Good Samaritan School arts and crafts with the teachers and students

This is one of the teachers and students at Good Samaritan School. The name of the teacher is Carmen....very good teachers here at this school.

Good Samaritan School outreach. This is the amazing Edwin and Bill holding the curtain for Beatrice and Cheryl and Kathy while they do the puppet show.

We can dance!

Cheryl and Mandy doing kids club at the base. We do this on Saturdays. Mandy is a missionary with the International Missionary Board; another missionary organization that we are building relationship with. Another missionary woman by the name of Kendall was with Mandy. Kids Club at the Antigua Base

Kids Club, This is Kendall working with the children.

Mandy, Kathy and Cheryl working with the kids club at the Antigua Base

Seeds of Hope Orphanage. We completed the painting of the outside.

Bill, Cheryl and Kathy doing a third coat on the Seeds of Hope Orphanage

Beatrice, Cheryl and Kathy riding in the back of the Truck into Antigua.

I love them glasses Marianne

Week Five of Outreach

2009-05-09T06:23:00.003-07:00

It has been an amazing week, yet it has been very different without our leaders. We missed them and it was like part of our family was gone. We ask that you continue to lift them up in prayer as they walk through this season in their lives. We are blessed to have an amazing team here at the Antigua Base. They have done well with the adjustment of us being here instead of heading to Guatemala City. Dale Harrison the Chico Base Leader is here right now with a new facilitator to carry us through the remainder of the outreach. His name is Bill and He was visiting from Kona and he agreed to join us. He has been here in Guatemala and is fluent in Spanish. He is going to be a great fit. We've loaded ten new pictures for you to look at and see the work that God is doing in us...or us in Him...one of those ways...maybe both...yay...both, yet first We want you to read a testimony from Beatrice. Hope you enjoy. Sorry I wasn't able to do two posts this week...it is just a little busy for two blogs a week at this time....thanks for your understanding, prayers and grace. Beatrice testimony:

During the first week of our outreach I made an interesting experience that gave me a new point of view for things we do during outreach. Many of our activities are just short. We meet people only once or during a short time. So on Tuesday afternoon. We visited a place called “cabezitas de algodon” (cotton heads) where we spent more or less an hour with old people living there. We didn’t even have a song prepared. So we just went around and talked to some of the older women and men, sitting in the courtyard. The oldest lady was 103. I talked with Mrs. Timotea (she cannot hear anymore), with Mrs. Maria -Elena, with Mr. Hector, with Mr. Francisco and with another man. I had the impression that we couldn’t do much in this time. But one of the men, who started to tell me his whole life-story, said to me when we were about to leave, that we had brought much joy to them. “Today joy has arrived to this house through your visit”, was Mr. Hector’s comment. I was quite surprised to hear that. And it made me change my opinion about short visits.

We pioneered a new relationship with a Christian School here this week. The name of the school is; Good Samaritan Christian School. The principal Magda gave us a testimony that she had really good funding from some Germans and Canadians but they asked her not to do any Christian dramas or teachings in the schools and she refused and was trusting God and He has continued to provide.

We taught the kids the Lord's Prayer and the picture they are coloring is of a child praying

Songs with the children at Good Samaritan. The teacher in the white is Victoria

The woman know what they are doing....I'm still kind of confused about all this...and still haven't figured out all the songs.

See here we are again...what's up?

This is a set of pictures from Hope Haven. Hope Haven is an amazing ministry that builds wheelchairs and sends them to kids and people who can't afford them...all over the world. They have delivered over 75,000 wheelchairs and currently have logged over one million volunteer hours to this date. Prisoners in South Dekota prisons work at building these chairs along with several other plants. You can get them on the web at www. hopehaveninternational.org We spent most of the day re-arranging a where house. There was so much dust from all the work and it was one of the hardest labor intense days for the team...we all slept really good that night. It was so incridible because as we were working a group came in for wheel chairs and we got to be part of that.

Kathy and Beatrice working with a girl that was being fitted for a chair.

Most of the people that work at Hope Haven are handicapped....if you would call it that. I worked all day with my new friend Carlos...there isn't a picture here....but he lost both of his legs...they got chopped off in a train accident. We were moving these 15 foot shelves in the where house and we were moving stuff on the top shelves and I look up and there is Carlos on the top of the racks handing me things on the ground. He has two prostectic legs. I'm serious....I didn't outwork Carlos that day! You can see videos on U-Tube.

This is Mary....We painted her apartment for her....she was so grateful...she's a missionary here in Guatemala....see before and after pictures.

Lake Atitlan

2009-05-03T20:20:00.005-07:00

Greetings from the team. It has been an amazing week, yet it has been one of those weeks that have not only stretched us and our hearts but one of those weeks when trials and tribulations come. We ask you to remember our leaders James and Dawn and their family as they face another huge family trial this week. Last night they found out that Dawn's dad had passed away. This news coming only two months of James losing his dad. This is a lot to walk through for anyone...especially kids. Please remember to lift them up in prayer as they go back to Canada to be with family. They have been amazing leaders...good enough that they have showed us that we can stay and continue to do what we were brought here to do...it won't be the same without them...they are already missed...

We've loaded ten new pictures and some testimonies. I'm going to try to do two blogs a week now to keep our leaders and you all updated on what God is doing.

We got to do a little walking on the way back from the lake...The van got a little hot with all of us in it...the hills are so steep it is a lot of work and the van was having a little problem...I think the problem was Matthew's (speedy's) weight....or it could have been James and I.

This is Nick's Place Restaurant in San Pedro. This was our day off. We spent the morning at Panajachel. This is about three blocks from our hotel. It was a great day of relaxing and team fellowship

Kathy, Beatrice and Cheryl shopping....this happens every time we are not doing some ministry...I'm really glad for this....they keep me in chocolate....good team yay?

This is Betty...Pastor Efraim's wife. We worked together with them, they live in San Pablo. There are seventeen towns on the lake. Betty runs an health care ministry out of their house. She has an amazing testimony and she has cancer. We prayed for her twice while we were there, but she got some reports back from the doctors and well it wasn't good news. Please remember to pray for her and their ministry that they do. We are going to put in some testimonies and this is Cheryl's testimony: A week full on new experiences! It's hard to choose only one highlight. Going to a refugee camp and spending time with kids and combing and doing the girls hair was a privilege. The most memorable time for me was spending time with Pastor Efraim and His wife, Betty. They are a couple with some very real needs themselves, but they give and give and give to those who have nothing. It was a blessing to share a bit with them, pray for them and go with Betty on one of her visits to an elderly woman's home. We were able to buy a towel and some groceries for this woman and her handicapped daughter.

This is a family that City Light Church in Chico California will be building a new house for. Bruce with the YWAM Team here in Antigua will be leading this project up. Five people live in this shack. We can make a difference one family at a time.

From left to right starting in the back: Jessica, James and Greg. Next row...Kaitlyn, Dawn, Beatrice, Kathy and Bruce the Base leader of Antigua YWAM Base. Next row...Matthew (Speedy), Pedro and Pastor Antonio(an amazing pastor that is doing amazing work in San Pablo and the area around the lake) Cheryl.

^{This was the refugee camp that we went to on Friday. Kathy gives Testimony: For me, seeing the people out in the remote villages and working closely with them has given me a new reality for this verse:}

^{Romans 8:18}

“For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.” I had read this verse many times, memorized it and thought that I understood it. Now I see that these people are living it.

Doing the girls hair in the refugee camp

This is a stove that the families can get for free if they do the training program. There is 6 people I counted living in this house. That is...if they were all there...they probably weren't all there.