November 17, 1997

November 17, 1997, I made a decision to say yes to getting to know Jesus.  That was 15 years ago today and I am in awe at how far He has brought me.  Here I am in Mazatlan, Mexico taking classes that are teaching me more and more about who God is and I am also discovering more everyday about who he created me to be....it has been so amazing!  The more I get to know Him, the more I fall in love with Him!  It has been an incredible journey!
Last Saturday, I had the privelage of going out to Loma Bonita - the colonia that our school has been ministering to.  I got to help lead the worship songs and taught the kids a song that I actually learned in Brazil and the words were the same in Spanish as they are in Portuguese.  Then I also got to help with the lesson that we taught the children (ages 6-10).  I read out all of the questions in Spanish and the kids understood me...which made my smile grow even bigger! :)
This past Wednesday we had an All Nations night here on the base.  People got together who were from the same nation and presented something about their country. I am happy to have 4 other Canadians here with me now....but I am still the only one from the east coast :)  It was a really fun night!  Our team did a funny skit full of stereotypes that other people believe about Canada and we also filled it with some jokes that only we understood....but it was really funny!
The weather here is finally starting to cool off....but it is still pretty hot during the day.  It is hard to believe that Christmas is almost here because I am still wearing shorts and flip flops...it is not even cold enough yet to wear jeans!  Okay so I am bragging a little, but it is also really strange and something that has been hard for my brain to wrap around.
I know it has been over a month since I last posted something...which is bad I know.... but I am still having a hard time of thinking of stories to tell.  So much has been happening in such a short amount of time and all of it is so hard to put into words.  I wish all of you could come here and experience it all for yourselves!  It has seriously been one of the most amazing experiences of my entire life! 



This is YWAM Mazatlan... my home away from home



The top balcony is my room... not literally though  ha ha

 

This is where I sleep :)

 

This is the decoration and lights above my bed...



Yes, these flowers are still in bloom and it is November!



The street where the base is located



My First Experience in Loma Bonita

children at the church learning about the Lord's Prayer
and waiting for lunch to be served

 Every other Saturday, we load in the vans at 8:30am to head out to a colonia called Loma Bonita (Pretty Hill).  But the only thing pretty about it are all of the beautiful faces of the people that live there.  It has been many, many years since I encoutered poverty like this and it completely broke my heart.  We went there to love the children, to play with them and help serve them a meal....possibly the only thing they would eat that day. 
One of the leaders of my group, one of her jobs here on the base is to interview families in the community for one of the main ministries of YWAM Mazatlan called Homes of Hope.  Short term mission teams raise the money for the supplies and then come down and build a house...a house that goes up in just 3 days!  It is like the show Extreme Home Makeover, only so much better!
I had the privelage of going with Mayrel (my leader) to visit some of the families.  One of the families that we went to visit was a family that they are hoping to build a house for.  The mom was so happy to see Mayrel and invited us into her home.  As I sat down in the chair that she quickly went to get for me to sit on....I tried not to cry as I look around this meek little structure with it's dirt floor and meager posessions.  The whole family lived in this tiny little space.  From what I understood there were 5 in this family.  My heart broke as I entered into this house with my expensive running shoes on knowing that the cost of my shoes would probably feed this family for months!

An adorable little girl looking at a pink chicken
and yes it is real!

 The next family we went to visit, was a family that had recently received on of the homes from Homes of Hope and Mayrel wanted to check and see how the family was doing.
We entered the yard and walked through a really small space that looked like a garage.  It had a small dirt bike and a fridge in it....then we walked out of that and into the house.  The baby was asleep on the bed when we got there but he soon woke up and I just sat there and watched him and smiled at him while Mayrel talked to his mom.

After we left, Mayrel was telling me that the whole family used to live in the front part that we walked through.  That tiny little space I thought was their garage, used to be their home!  She was telling me that the mother explained that she used to be afraid to go to sleep at night because scorpians used to drop down from the ceiling and land on their bed.  Also, when they were interviewing them about building them a new house, she said that there were spiderwebs everywhere!  They had asked the mom why she didn"t clean them up and they were told that they left the spiderwebs because when the scorpians would drop from ceiling at night, the spiderwebs would help catch some of them and keep them from dropping down on their bed!
One thing that they loved about their new home was that they didn't have to be afraid of the scorpians at night and they could sleep in peace.  Oh the things we all take for granted!

We learned this week that poverty doesn"t still exist because God doesn't care but that the church is not doing its job of loving their neighbours.  God asked us to take care of the poor and the broken, of the orphans and the widows....it is our job!  In today's society there is no need for poverty like this to exist....my heart has been totally broken and my eyes open that we as a church really need to wake up and start doing what God has asked us to do.  So right now I am wrestling with what that might mean for my own life... and I challenge you to do the same.

Some children at the church working on a craft that illustrated their Bible lesson

Week One in Mazatlan



View to the left


It has been a whole week already and yet it feels like I have been here a lot longer than that.

Life in Mexico is so different.  I know I have been here before but then I knew I was just visiting....it has been hard to wrap my mind around the fact that I will be living here for the next 6 months....wow... 6 months.

Even though I came feeling like the old lady of the group....most people here thought that I was 20 so I guess in that regard I fit right in hahaha

Mornings start everyday at 630am with breakfast at 7am.  Classes start at 9am.  I am looking forward to class and all the topics that will be learning about.  It will definitely be challenging, but awesome.
My Spanish is coming along really slow, but I am hoping that I catch on sooner than later.
My room is on the 3rd floor and the view is pretty sweet...I am hoping to attach some pictures of what I get to wake up to everyday....which does make a little easier when I am missing everyone....which happens a lot...
But despite the cockroaches, Mazatlan is a pretty amazing city!



View to the right



Mexico City

Last night I arrived in Mexico City! The trip here was an adventure all its own. My flight out of Moncton was  delayed an hour and a half and I started to get nervous that I would miss my connection. But then my tired brain realized that Toronto was an hour behind and my nerves calmed down a little. I learned an important lesson on my flight- cabin pressure + a water bottle with a lid that flips up that is connected to a straw = a water fountain that  shoots straight up in the air and showers the person below! Luckily the only person that got wet was me!
I arrived in Mexico City at night and the sea of lights went on forever. so beautiful!
The staff and students here at YWAM Centro are so welcoming. I am starting to realize now that Mexico will be home for the next 6 months and I am getting really excited about that!

3 more days!

Just 3 more days now and I am boarding my first flight to Mexico City!  I have never been there before so I am quite excited to experience one of the largest cities in the world!  Then on Saturday I will continue on to Mazatlan where I will spend the next 3 months studying about all kinds of amazing things!

 

This past weekend was a busy fundraising weekend.  On Friday I did a color and a perm (felt a little out of practice, but they both turned about beautiful :)  On Saturday, we had another yard sale - not quite as profitable as the last one, but was happy to get rid of more stuff :)  But Sunday was the most amazing day and experience!  A dear friend of mine had a desire to shave her head - something that she had always wanted to do - and she decided to turn it into a fundraiser and sacrificial offering to support me.  She turned it into a bidding war where people had to vote YES or NO with their money and whichever pot had the most in it, is what would happen.  As you probably guessed - the yes pot won the day! So after our church service on Sunday everyone gathered around to watch the head shaving extravaganza!  It was a pretty exciting expereince and she looks absolutely gorgeous!  It was a powerful experience for me knowing that she would do that because she loves and supports me - it still brings tears to my eyes when I think about it.

 

Financially, this weekend paid off (no pun intended)  as I now have enough to pay my tuition for the Lecture Phase of my DTS in full!  THANK YOU SO MUCH to everyone who has given and made this journey possible!

 

There are also other fundrasing ideas in the works for the Outreach portion of my DTS, so I will keep you posted as to how that is going.

 

I cannot thank you all enough for everything you have done to help make this dream a reality! It has been such an amazing experience already and I haven't even left yet :) 

9 days and counting

So, I have decided to create this blog to help us stay connected during my travels. 
In just 9 days, I will be boarding a plane for the first leg of my adventure.  I will spend a night catching up with some friends in Mexico City - although this will be my first time in Mexico City and I am very excited about my short visit. 
Then the next day I am headed to Mazatlan, where I will spend the next 3 months learning about the heart of God and come to better understand my role in the amazing story that He has been writing since the beginning.
After the classroom work is done, we will be heading out to places currently unknown to us - to take all that we have learned and all the we are, to love and serve the people of another nation.  Oh the anticipation of it all!
So for the next 6 months, I will be having the adventure of a life time.  The thought of it exhilarates, overwhelms, terrifies and excites me!  I am so grateful to be given the opportunity to do this and to all of you who have been supporting me through this entire process - whether that was through prayer, giving of money or time or all of the above.  I could not be doing this without you as a part of it.  Your love has helped me keep moving forward and has encouraged me to keep believing God for the impossible.

So THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart!  And get ready to join me as we change this world together!