When I came to Mexico, my plan was only to be a Mission Volunteer for the three month period in the YWAM Tijuana Base. Many of the people I met along the way started telling me about the upcoming DTS that was about to start and also I was able to meet many of the students who had just come back from their outreach trips. For me I had no plan at all to do DTS at first, but as time passed I started putting some thought into it and praying about it. God got me good, letting me think I was only staying in Mexico for three months. There I was after the three month period as a Mission Builder inside the classroom of the September 2015 Compassion in Action DTS alongside forty or so other students for another adventure, this time of five months. To be completely honest, I had nothing financially starting the school. I was so overwhelmed and thinking to myself what I was getting myself into. But I started the school with the burning desire to learn more about God and his kingdom and trusting He would provide everything I needed.
I did everything I could, sold illustrations & cookies, and even did a photoshoot for donations. Spent a lot of time in prayer and fasting, and also told people about the school I was starting, asking for prayer to people I encountered and friends and family online. It was completely overwhelming, and I had to learn to wait (literally) and put my trust in God completely. As time passed, God used people around me to support me in the most amazing ways I hadn't ever seen before. Day after day God was showing up and telling me He was with me in this season of my life.
Lecture phase went by flying and outreach was around the corner but I still hadn't all the amount I needed. I kept seeing other students jumping with joy after their outreach was all paid and I was happy for them but was holding my tears in because it was something I also wanted for my life. I kept talking to God and saying if He wanted me to stay and do a local outreach I would still be grateful for bringing me this far and still would be happy if this was his plan for my life. But little did I know, He wanted me to go with my team to do our outreach in Chiapas & Oaxaca! He blessed the desire of my heart.
It is crazy to think outreach is already over. So many amazing experiences my team and I lived for these past two months in Chiapas & Oaxaca. We started our journey with no ideia exactly how it would look like, where we would be staying or what we would be doing. The first week in Chiapas we stayed in the YWAM base directed by Marquinhos, where we got to serve in an orphanage called "Casa Hogar". It was a time to serve the orphanage, where we helped with cleaning bathrooms & walls, kitchen duties, got to lead worship and help look out after the sweetest boys ever. Along with whatever was asked of us during the week. It was a time where God reminded us once again of his love for the orphans, and how He is their father no matter what. and that He already has adopted them all in his family. We also got to tour the Canon del Sumidero and see the beauty of God's creation.
The second week of outreach we got to serve in a church called "Alas de Águila" in San Cristóbal de las Casas still in Chiapas. We got an awesome opportunity to work in their local radio station daily, giving sermons, playing worship and just sharing the love of Christ to whoever was listening. We also had kids ministry, where daily lessons and games were given to the kids according to the scriptures. All the girls (9 of us) shared one big room, where we all slept on the floor for the entire week and the guys (4 of them) slept by the radio station's little room. We had to cook and prepare most all of our meals, and we borrowed our neighbor's kitchen for this period of time. We performed evangelistic dramas at the church and also outside a hospital area for many people. We got to share our testemonies and sermons and God was glorified through our lives.
Third and fourth week we had the opportunity to do ministry in the indiginious tribes in the mountains of Chiapas. We traveled hours in back of trucks in the dirt roads and got to see first hand God's masterpiece: mountains covered in trees, the most beautiful landscape our eyes could ever contemplate. To get to some the tribes we had to hike up mountains. It was hours of intense hikes and we also had our hiking backpacks which made it a bit more difficult. But it was totally worth it, because as soon as we got to the church we would be staying at, we were received by the sweetest people ever. They were curious to know our names, where we were from and just be around us. They lived in simple houses, and were used to live simply but their meals were amazing and prepared with lots of love. We got to help in church sermons, giving testemonies, sermons, worship, kids ministry and just spending time with the families.
Fifth and sixth week of outreach we flew to Oaxaca City where Pastor Jorge was waiting for us. He told us that a lot of our ministry would be helping in the construction of the church he's pastoring, "Mi Esperanza" in Cuicatlan. We stayed in a house where there was a bedroom for the girls and a separate one for the guys. Every meal either was in the Pastor's house or inside the construction site, where there is a temporary place for the services, and it was prepared by the ladies from the church or the pastor's wife. They have the most beautiful, sweet, servant hearts ever, always giving us the best they could. The ministry involved a lot of cement mixing and carrying many buckets of concrete up small hills to the place the walls were being built. It was a very different ministry for some us, since not all of us had worked with construction before, but for sure we did it with all of our hearts. We also worked with kids ministry, telling people about our testemonies and gving sermons. We also spent some time in an orphanage called "Casa Hogar". We painted the children's rooms, worked in the kitchen, cleanup and whatever was requested of us.
Final two weeks of outreach we spent in a small town called Cacalote. We were staying in a base called "Roca Blanca" where they offer bible school, music school and many other classes. The base is located in an amazing location, next to a beautiful beach. While we got to do ministry, we got to enjoy a beautiful view. Our rooms were pretty cool too, with a view to the ocean. We helped in many different things, got to clean the main street of the town & the school and worked in different ministries. We did a lot of kids ministry, doing dramas, giving sermons and our testemonies. A missionary couple that lived in the town, Matt & Crystal with their two children Mckensie & Elijah, who were partners with the base, were our hosts the whole time we were there. Driving us to our ministries and wherever we needed to go, letting us do our laundry at their house and even their internet to communicate with our families. They were a blessing the entire time we were there. Nine of eleven students from our team, myself included, decided to get baptized while we were there! We wanted to seal once again our walk with the Lord and everything we had experienced and learned with Him. And guess who baptized us all? Matt and Crystal! It was a special moment and we were glad they were part of this moment with us.
What I learned the most? God is way bigger than what we imagine! We think God is amazing and powerful? Multiply this thought by a million! God's faithfullness is everywhere! He is with those people in the mountains we visited, that men's eyes can't see from far away, but He can. May what we lived be carried everywhere we go. Missions is all around us!
"THEREFORE GO AND MAKE DISCIPLES IN ALL NATIONS, BAPTIZING THEM IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER AND OF THE SON AND OF THE HOLY SPIRIT, AND TEACHING THEM TO OBEY EVERYTHING I HAVE COMMANDED YOU. AND SURELY I AM WITH YOU ALWAYS, TO THE VERY END OF AGE." -MATTHEW 28:19
