Impact a Generation

Monday, December 7

Scattered here and there over chairs and the floor and shoved together on the couches, our Mexico outreach team chatters in the few minutes before Giezi calls the meeting to order. After handing it over to me, we begin with a few minutes of prayer. I know there’re a few things we need to talk about, but I sense that I need to let the prayer time go a little longer. And people begin to pray, one at a time. There’s a quiet excitement in the air, but I can also sense the tension of our situation. We leave for Guadalajara, our first ministry location, two weeks from today. And we are thousands of dollars short of our budget of $45,000. With our base struggling financially, there are no backup funds available if the support for each of our students does not come in. But even in the limbo, I can sense something else: hope. I can hear it in their voices and words as they pray. I hear in the conversations I’ve had with: 

Jake and Rachael Christensen, as they look at bills to pay back home and 4 young daughters to feed and keep healthy. Even with thousands of dollars of need staring them in the face, they committed to pray faithfully that God would provide. And they’re already seeing Him do it, a few hundred dollars at a time. Their faces radiate their growing faith as they trust God and take baby steps out onto the limb of obedience.

Fernanda, Ever, Said, and Martin, whose families are trying to support them in their call to missions. In a culture where the church is used to being the mission field, it is often difficult for Mexicans to raise money from their church families. But with their culture’s emphasis on family relationships, they know that their families will do their best to back them up. Fernanda says, “I trust in God and that if my dad says he will get the money together, he will.” Her faith is amazing in a country where many only make a hundred dollars a week.

Tim and Ruth Powell, who take every opportunity to pray for the team and research the areas we’re going to. In a time when they took a step of faith to follow God from London to Ensenada, they’re excited that for the first time in their lives, they can give to others. And they do quietly, at every opportunity they get. 

There are so many more. And as I sneak a glance around as they take turns praying, all of a sudden my heart swells. I am so honored to have the chance to walk a part of these people’s journeys with them. To watch as God plants seeds and surprises them with who He is. To have their trust. To learn from them.

I’m inviting you to be a part of their journey, too! After living, talking, discussing, eating, praying, challenging, dancing, learning, and laughing with them for the last 11 weeks, I know they are worth investing in. Each of them is responsible for $2,500, the cost of driving, living, and ministering for 8 weeks in Guadalajara, Chiapas, and Cozumel, Mexico. We will be working with so many types of people, from the wealthy foreign tourists in Cozumel to Mexico’s poorest people groups, the marginalized indigenous people of Chiapas’ highlands. You have the opportunity to be blessing to each of those touched in the next 8 weeks through our ministry and to be a part of training the next generations’ worship leaders, activists, missionaries, pastors, youth workers, and parents. 

“HOW CAN I HELP?”

1) We are in urgent need of funds! If you feel led to partner with us financially, please make your check out to Youth With A Mission and send it to:

Youth With A Mission San Diego/Baja

100 W. 35th Street, Suite C

National City, CA 91950

IMPORTANT: Please include a note indicating that it is for “Ensenada Fall ’09 DTS Mexico Outreach.”

OR:

Go online to www.ywamsandiegobaja.org and click the green button titled “Donate” at the top of the page. Select “University of the Nations Student Outreach Fund” from the drop down list and click on Make a Contribution or Payment. Fill out the short billing information form on the next page, making sure you put that it is for the Ensenada Fall ’09 DTS Mexico Outreach in the Description box at the top of the page. Complete and submit the form.

Note: All financial gifts are tax deductible.

2) Pray for our team as we’re on outreach! Nothing can happen in the physical until it’s happened in the spiritual. Your prayers are a huge blessing and support to each of us.

3) Keep updated! I’ll be posting as regularly as possible during outreach, and we are in process of setting up a YouTube channel where you can meet the team and see videos of what we’re doing. I’ll be sending out the link as soon as we have it all set up!