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.