The Father Heart

I am so excited to share with all of you where I will be going on outreach at the end of September. Our team of 15 will be going to the Caribbean,  while the other two teams will be heading to Central America and Mexico. I am so thrilled that I got selected to be on the Caribbean team because it was my first choice. We will be going to the Dominican Republic and possibly Haiti. Haiti is up in the air because of the recent assassination of the Haitian president. Although the Caribbean is known for its resort destinations and piña coladas, I assure you that we will not be experiencing either of these luxuries. I hoped the Caribbean because when we first heard our options, the Caribbean made the strongest impression on me and it seemed as though the Holy Spirit may have been guiding me there. To be able to participate in outreach, I need your support, both financially and in prayer. I am so thankful and in awe of the way God has provided through many of you throughout the first part of this journey, and I trust that he will continue to provide for the outreach portion. 

 

Aside from learning more about our outreach locations, it was another amazing week of lecture. Our speaker nicknamed “Uncle Ben” was a big Somoan guy who fit perfectly for this week’s topic which was the Father Heart of God. He insisted over and over again how great God’s love for us is and there is no price to pay to receive this love.The way Uncle Ben taught stirred my heart and brought to my attention how much the Father loves and cares for his children. 

 One thing that I learned through Hebrews 1:3 is that Jesus was the exact representation of God’s being. This may seem a bit elementary to some of you,  but I had formerly believed that the character of God and Jesus were different. I knew that there was the trinity of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, but I saw the Son and the father as different, with Jesus being more nice and approachable. It’s so good to know that the same love that we see  coming from Jesus is the same love that God has for all of us. The really cool part is that God uses the Holy Spirit to speak to us here on earth through scripture, prayer, nature, music and many other means because he wants us to know him more intimately. 

 

In my last blog I shared how much I enjoyed seeing God move in Cerro Del Ocho and I decided to go back this week. It was another rewarding Thursday ministering to residents of Cerro Del Ocho. Someone had the fantastic idea to have a bbq for the community. It created a great opportunity to share God’s exquisite love and minister to his people. A bbq here in Mexico doesn’t involve pulled pork like many of us think when we hear the word bbq. Here, they take thinly cut steak and throw it on the grill. Once the meat is cooked, there are multiple dishes that can be made with the meat as long as there are tortillas, cheese, pico, and beans present. Many times, locals here may choose to make tacos, quesadillas, chorreadas, and vampiros with these ingredients. I enjoyed being a part of the cookout and playing with the children in a hope that I may be a vessel of God’s love.

On Saturday, our free day, a couple of friends and I headed out to the market in Mazatlan around 10:30 am. The market is one of my favorite places because there is so much unique culture that it’s impossible to take it all in. There is fresh fruit, every cut of meat you can think of, spices, sweets, drinks, clothes, and all kinds of trinkets for sale. It was a blast and I hope to go next Saturday as well. 

Here is a photo of all the fresh fruit at the market

Unfortunately, Saturday evening my computer stopped working. I tried fixing it myself but was unsuccessful. Luckily, I have found someone here on base who may have the technical knowledge to fix it. Please be praying. Saturday night I went and played soccer with some other guys from on and off base. I realized while playing that I’m not as good as I thought I was. I’ll have to keep practicing so that I can hone my skills to keep up with many of the amazing locals. 

 

Thank you for reading and if God so leads you then please consider further supporting me as I prepare for my outreach portion of DTS. It is going to cost $4000 for me to participate. If you unable to give at this time, I would still be very thankful for any of your prayers for me in the upcoming outreach ministry. There is a link to the give page at the bottom. Please pray that I would stay safe and open to however God is leading me during this time. May God’s love lead and inspire you through this season. 

 

If you feel led to give click this link: Give Here Please make sure you follow the instructions on the give page.

 

 

See what's happening

 See what's happening

Thursday is a Special Day

Part of our DTS is the opportunity to go on ministry outreach here in Mazatlan every Thursday. The base has a number of ministries to choose from including a soccer club that gives a chance to play soccer with children and teenagers as well as teach them God’s character, nature, and his values. Some of the other outreaches include going to a rehab center at Stone Island, which is near Mazatlan and Bibles for Mexico. I admire bibles for Mexico because their goal is to take one bible to every home in Mazatlan - about 100,000 homes. Another ministry is an outreach group that goes to a nearby neighborhood called Cerro Del Ocho. Cerro Del Ocho is a neighborhood where narco traffickers live and distribute drugs. Mazatlan is located in the state of Sinaloa, home of the infamous Sinaloa cartel that “El Chapo” Guzman once headed up. We were told that we are not allowed to take pictures or videos in this neighborhood because Narco traffickers have cameras throughout the neighborhood and know who is coming in and out. I saw the cameras for myself once I entered the neighborhood.

I was a bit nervous to go into the neighborhood considering the reputation, but once we were inside I realized the people were kind and inviting. We visited a grandmother whose kids attend a local orphan school. I talked with her about her experience of having COVID and how it has affected Mazatlan. She was a very free spirited and fun lady to be around. She also grew up in the neighborhood and is highly respected. People come to her for knowledge and the low down of what is going on in the area. I did see some white powder on the dresser, but maybe it was just powdered sugar!

After saying goodbye to her, I went outside to find some other members of my DTS doing activities with the kids. They were playing games and incorporating Jesus into the games through stories and lessons. I was so excited to see the kids have a chance to learn about the Bible at a young age because I know the stories I heard about Moses, Joshua, and some of the other old testaments heroes stuck with me throughout my childhood. I hope these children will remember these stories and put their faith in Christ. 

After their lesson, the kids just wanted to play and get piggy-back rides. They would say giddy up and I’d run up the stairs with them on my back, as would the other team members. They would also jump off a patio and want us to catch them and swing them around. I wish I had a video to show their smiles and how much fun we were all having. I was exhausted by the time we left and I look forward to returning to Cerro Del Ocho next week. 

What a Week

 July 4th we went surfing! The beaches here in Mazatlan, Mexico are different from the east coast. Most of the beaches here are rocky with sea urchins nestled in the rocks. Sea urchins are golf ball sized creatures with one and half inch spikes coming out at all angles. If you step on one you will know immediately. Fortunately for us, there are a few beaches without these dangerous rocks and menacing sea urchins. 

One of these beaches is called, “Los Pinos.” To get there, we drove 20 minutes by Auriga; which is a medium sized pickup truck with a seating area in the back that can fit about 8-10 people. We had a great time surfing and I even managed to stand up on the boards a few times, like the others, to ride a wave. Surfing looks easy but that’s just because the guys who do it are all experienced. It’s actually a great workout and requires a lot of speed and balance to actually get up on the board to ride a wave. 

This is my good friend Juan who also went surfing. 

We started back class Monday morning with our guest speaker for the week, Jeff Rodgers. Rodgers is actually the nephew of Loren Cunningham, who is the founder of YWAM. He was a fantastic speaker and brought up some amazing points that I will never forget. He is a media specialist and uses his gifts to make documentaries and movies about issues and struggles around the world. His documentaries are so effective that some countries such as Panama have changed their adoption policies as a result of his film. Rogers believes that his films glorify God and that God has given him these abilities as a way for him to bring justice and unity to people around the world. One thing that I loved about his topic, was that he encouraged us to accept the gifts that God has given us without shame. A lot of times, our culture tells us if we receive a gift that we owe the person who gave it to us. God wants to give to us our gifts for us to enjoy and use the those gifts to glorify Him more.

Rogers also listed out some steps to intercessory prayer that I found very interesting and biblical. He encouraged us that before we pray, to remember that we are not under condemnation. Therefore, we should let go of any feelings of shame or guilt. Romans 8:1 says Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Jesus Christ. And Galatians 5:1 tells us that it is for freedom that Christ has set us free and to stand firm in that freedom. These verses are so encouraging to me because it reminds me to be free and understand who Christ is to me and the world.

We were also encouraged, that when we pray, to submit our imaginations of God so that we can have His thoughts and be free from distraction. I thought that was a very interesting concept. Rogers also had us do an exercise where we were still and quiet as he read out from a physician’s point of view what Jesus Christ endured for our sins. This was a bit overwhelming to think about the amount of pain and stress that Christ was under during this time, from that perspective. I am so thankful that a Christ endured this pain for me, because I know that I could not have done that. This changed the meaning of the words Jesus spoke at the end, “It is finished” for me and I now have a more in depth understanding of the authority in each of those words.

The weekend has been full of fun experiences. However, there have been a few in my class that have been feeling under the weather. I think most of the sickness has come from the change in climate. We only run the air conditioner at night when we sleep and it works very well. We go from extreme heat to cold temperatures which is not always good for your body. Also, the air conditioner filter had not been changed in a while. I noticed that when I went to change it but they don’t have extra filters here. So I cleaned what I could to at least get the clumps of dirt and dust out. I too have felt a little sick from all of this but I am feeling a bit better today.

Saturday I had my weekend work duties which entails helping serve and prepare breakfast lunch and dinner and cleaning the base. Although this is a huge task that takes all day, I enjoy it and even more than that I enjoyed helping to cook dinner for the first time. We ate tacos de biztec. Biztec just means beef cut in strips. Cooking with the team was a great time and I am sure that I will be doing that again soon. After dinner, around 21 of us went a played night soccer around 8:30pm.  Even though I don’t have a lot of experience, I played stout defense and had a great time Hahaha.

This Sunday has been a relaxing Sunday. From eeating some Swiss bread that my fellow Swiss classmates prepared this morning to watching black panther at one of our leaders apartments. After I came back, I practiced some guitar because I am auditioning for the worship team on Tuesday. I am looking forward to this and hope I make it so that I will be able to practice and bring glory to God through music. I am about to eat dinner now and look forward to updating you all next week.

 

Welcome to Mazatlan!

 What a busy week this has been. From getting settled in at the base here at YWAM Mazatlan, to learning a whole new routine and schedule. 

 

People form all over the wolrd are on base here. There are so many different cultures within this community it’s amazing. For example, right now we have a team on outreach from South Korea.  Another example, is in my dorm room alone. There are seven countries being represented by the other students. There are 12 guys in our dorm room total and I am getting to know them more each day. 

 

I have been connecting a lot with a guy who I admire a lot just from his testimony. Just the courage he has at only 17 years old to come thousands of miles away from his home country of Colombia to a DTS speaks loudly to me.

 One of the most amazing parts about doing DTS with YWAM is that everyone is here with the same intentions; to learn more about God. You can feel it in the air. Everyone is eager and excited to learn and then go on outreach. The team from New Zealand on base stood out to me the most because they did their haka tribal war chant on our welcome night. This was an amazing representation of their National Pride for New Zealand. It was crazy. Go Google, “Haka Tribal Chant” online. As you’re watching it through a screen, imagine how I felt with it happening three feet in front of me.

Here is a sunset in Mazatlan

Today we took a tour around Mazatlan. It was great to catch a sense of the culture and community. It was also nice to know where I will be able to buy laundry detergent and toiletries. I really enjoyed visiting the local market, and eating some of the street food that was available there. The staff were kind enough to buy us all a delicious smoothie. Mine had fresh mango, peach, and honey in it and was the size of an EXTRA large cup at the gas station. I am so excited to experience local flavors and tastes as Mazatlán has excellent seafood and Mexican cuisine. 

 

This week we learned YWAM values and then YWAM values specific to the Mazatlan base. Some of the values specific to Mazatlan include; Community, Beauty and Excellence and a Fighting Spirit. I really like the Fighting Spirit, because it is important not to give up no matter how hard circumstances may be.

Our staff encouraged us to spend time alone with God just as Jesus did on multiple occasions such as the Garden of Gethsemane. We also did an exercise on an idea called the Belief Tree. The belief tree says that our beliefs stem from our roots; or in other words, our worldview. Our beliefs form our values that forms our principles and actions. The teacher wrote out the Fruits of Spirit as a reminder of the fruit that we should bear. We then identified some of the unhealthy fruits that could be present in our life such as impatience, frustration, and manipulation. This was a very interesting exercise because it makes you search inwardly. Yes, I had several haha.

 

Class was amazing this week as we learned more about the Character and Nature of God. Class is very long (about eight hours in total a day) and sometimes after a few hours, it is hard to pay attention. This is not a bad thing because God often catches my attention and reminds me to listen. Some of the most interesting things we have learned is that rebuking, teaching, correction and training is useful so that we may be equipped for righteousness. In other words, to me even painful experiences are useful for building and becoming. 2 Timothy 3:16

 

I am looking forward to sharing more as I make the time for you to be here with me prayerfully and as a thank you for supporting me. 

Cornhole tournament

 Cornhole tournament blog 

The cornhole tournament was a complete blast! The competition was limited but everyone had so much fun. Blake Jordan and William Marsh won the tournament at ease and both walk awaywith gift cards to two venues.  

 

Getting ready for the tournament was a challenge. The tent and other supplies that I was going to use fell through at the last minute. Thanks to God’s sovereignty, some family friends were generous enough to let me use theirs.  Because of the rain, the tournament ended up being held in Langston’s Student Center. 

 

The space was perfect for the five competing teams. I learned that even with limited teams the tournament still lasted around 2 and half hours. What a joy it was to talk to everyone there and make friends and share more in what I’m doing in Mexico. 

 

Even though some of my childhood friends were there, I loved meeting people I had never talked to before a finding common ground on how important it is to spread God’s love and message to the rest of the world. People I had never met informed me they are supporting me. I can’t wait to get to know God more, and make Him known. 

 

Everyone loved the double elimination style of play because it gave more opportunity to play. Midway through, everyone took a break to grab some pizza. We had cold drinks and waters available for anyone and everyone seemed to have a great time. One thing I really enjoyed about the cornhole tournament is that it was so much fun but simple to facilitate. 

 

Dollar distance bags were a hit and so much fun to watch. It was so cool to see the expression on someone’s face when they made it from distance and received a gift card. 

 

The cornhole tournament raised around $600 that will go to my mission in Mazatlan Mexico. I am so excited and thankful for the support I received from the tourna