Susie´s Mundo

Circulo highlights from March

2011-04-07T18:49:00.000-07:00

my favorite moment of Circulo: after we say the 3 rules, we all go inside the parachute together to pray for our day. (As I pray, the kids repeat after me.) When we go under the parachute, the littlest kids come running at me to see who will get to sit on my lap during the prayer. :)

Spring is here! Which means the weather is crazy and we never know what it expect. It can be cold and windy at the base and then we get to the colonia and its warm and sunny, we never know! Praise God it hasn't rained on any Tuesday or Thursday, which would cause us to have to cancel the Circle, as we do the classes outside on a basketball court. So far so good! A few weeks ago, the kids at the Circle starting to invite us to come and see them dance at their school. Each time we had Circle, they would remind us of the day and time and ask us if we were going to come. Well, we did go and we had a great time! They had a spring assembly and each class prepared a song and dance to perform. The children dressed up in homemade costumes to perform their dances. Xochil(above) is one of my girls from the Circle and her class did a traditional Mexican dance. Below is the 1st grade class and they did an adorable dance about Froggies! It was fun to see them at school, they were all SUPER excited to see us there. Also, a few of the boys in my group took me to meet their school teacher and introduced me as their "other teacher" hahaha.

At the Circle, we are in our 3rd month of doing a library program with the kids. The kids are doing a great job of taking care of the books and returning them, I'm so proud of them! They are really developing a love for reading too, each time we arrive in Antorcha, the kids are always asking when they get to check out their next book. They can't wait to get their hands on a new book! They also are filling out reading responses, where they have to write why they liked their book and what was their favorite part. Here 3rd grader Sarai shows off her response paper and her book.

The other day I went to a book exchange at the Cultural Center (CECUT) in downtown Tijuana to try to get some new books for the kids. Since the kids are so excited about the library, it makes us want to keep making it better! Right now, the toolboxes (recycled from old Homes of Hope stuff) that we use to carry the books in are almost overflowing. I'm trying to think of a new idea for our "mobile library"... any ideas? Please help!

We also have new kids coming to the Circle each week. It's crazy! Seriously I thought when we reached 100 they would stop coming, but they didnt, hahaha. I had my largest class of 3rd and 4th graders ever - 34 kids! I felt like I should have been in their real classroom as their real teacher! Below is a photo of 3 of my new girls that we pick up from a different colonia and bring them with us to the Circle: Camila (left), her family received a Homes of Hope house about a year ago, we recently reconnected with them and now she is coming to the Circle. Mayte (right), her mom works at the orphanage that we visit and asked if we could pick her up to bring her to the classes as well. Jenifer (center) doesn't go to school, she can't really read or write, so I'm really happy that she's started coming to I can work extra with her to try to catch her up to her peers.

I'm also really excited to have 2 new staff for the Circle. Alisha just finished a Children at Risk school at our base in Tijuana and will be helping us out for the next 6 months. Right now she is working with Laurena and the kinder/pre-k kids. Also, there is a girl from Chile named Vivi who just came on full-time staff with us, she is going to be doing Bible studies with the moms and one-on-one counseling with them. Praise God! This is a great answer to prayer, as we have been waiting for someone to come and invest in the lives of our kids' moms. I am so happy to have both of these amazing women working with us in Antorcha!

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"Start Children off in the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it." ~Proverbs 22:6

February 2011 Newsletter

2011-03-02T12:44:00.000-08:00

2011 is passing very quickly! Below is my newsletter for February 2011. There are some very exciting things happening in my ministry, my city, and my personal life. Check it out! Click on the images and zoom in to make them bigger....

If you would like to support me and my ministry, you can send a check made out to "YWAM San Diego/Baja" to the following address:

YWAM San Diego/Baja

100 W. 35th St. Suite C

National City, CA 91950

Please include a note saying it is for the support of Susie Walter. Thanks for your support!

Doing Justice in Tijuana

2011-02-02T09:19:00.000-08:00

"He has shown you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you?

To do justly, to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God."
~Micah 6:8

How can we really relate to someone who lives in extreme poverty? How can we really know what it's like to be hungry if we've never experience hunger?

Here at YWAM Tijuana we are learning about what it means to "DO justice." There are hundreds of injustices in this world: slave labor, hunger, poverty, unclean water, lack of education, child prostitution, etc. We believe that God wants us to do something about these injustices. Although we don't live in these situations on a daily basis, there are definitely things we can do to feel more compassion and empathy for the people suffering for injustices worldwide.

So every Monday at our base, we have a time of prayer and intercession for people in the world that are experience injustice in our world. This way we get God's heart for those who are suffering. Then on Tuesdays, we take Steps of Justice - we take action.

Week 1 we talked about hunger. We prayed on behalf of the child who dies every 5 seconds because of a hunger-related illness. This is something that can be prevented, and is completely unjust. Besides that, there are over 1 billion people in the world that live in hunger - that includes an estimated 49 million people in the United States. That's 1 in 7 households that struggle to put food on the table. Wow, I guess the problem of injustice isn't that far from home after all.

Week 2 we focused on water. Unclean drinking water causes several different illnesses, including diarrhea and dysentery, and children are especially at-risk because there bodies are not strong enough to fight off these sicknesses. On that Monday, we arrived at the base and there were water bottles full of dirty water - brown, cloudy, things floating and the top and dirt sitting at the bottom. We were faced with the reality that for some people in the world, that's all they have access too.

For those two issues, we went fasted for a day to empathize with those who go hungry, and went without water for understand better what it's like to be without access to clean water. This week was Week 3 and we went without shoes for a day. This topic was very real to me because I see homeless people walking the streets without shoes or children running around barefoot in the colonia almost every day. But how is this an injustice? Well, although it can be fun to run barefoot in the grass in the summer time, here it's not a choice - it's the lifestyle of those living in poverty and have to choose between putting food on the table or buying shoes for their kids. Not an easy choice to make, considering going barefoot in the dirt leads to all kinds of soil-related diseases that can penetrate the skin, not to mention the danger of stepping on broken glass or a rusty nail. Not having shoes also keeps kids from being able to go to school here in Mexico, as its a required part of the uniform even in public schools.

So yesterday I went without shoes. It was cold, and my feet hurt walking on the rocks and dirt, but that's nothing compared to what those living in poverty experience every day. As a community here at YWAM Tijuana, we took off our shoes and decided to donate them to the people living on the streets that don't have any. That was our way of "doing justice" this week.

It has been said that "Justice is what Love looks like in public." That's what we're trying to do, just as God requires of us.

Get more info about how you can take "Steps of Justice" with us at http://www.stepsofjustice.org

Back to the Basics in 2011

2011-01-22T20:25:00.000-08:00

When I came on staff with YWAM TJ, I moved to Mexico just knowing I wanted to love God and love people. Since then, its been a whirlwind year and a half of...
...changing houses
...changing ministries
...changing offices
...changing meal plans
...changing staff
...changing relationships
...changing schools
...changing health plans
...changing leadership roles
...etc!

Whoa, its been hard to keep my feet on the ground around here! Now that I'm starting off a new year and reaching the 1.5-year mark of my 2-year commitment with YWAM TJ, I think its time to get back to the basics...

...Love God.
...Love People.

Done. *sigh* I feel better already, how 'bout you? Sometimes we complicate things that are really meant to be so simple.

So, what does this look like in my every day life?

-Digging deep into God's Word for to learn more about his character and how I am to reflect that to a fallen world
-Walking closely in the calling that God has on my life
-Praying earnestly for more revelation about how make a change in my colonia (Antorcha), my city (Tijuana) and my country (Mexico)
-Taking time to enjoy the relationships I have and wonderful people I have around me
-Giving endless amounts of hugs to my kids in the colonia to let them know how much they are loved
-Lending a listening ear to the moms of my kids as they share their heartaches and struggles

And so much more. "Walk in love" is says in 2 John 1:6. I think it means moving forward in love, living out love as a lifestyle, act out of love for God and for others, let love be sprinkled everywhere you step.

It also says in Ephesians 5 to "Follow God's example and walk in the way of love." What was God's example for us? It was Jesus, who "gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God." (Ephesians 5:2) Have you ever had someone go past you who was wearing so much perfume that their fragrance stayed with you long after they walked away? Maybe you turned around to see who it was? Maybe you stopped to ask them what perfume they're wearing.

I think that's how love is supposed to be - that after we've shared with someone out of love for them and love for God, the effect of that love lingers long after we're gone; that after we offer ourselves in self-sacrifice for someone else, they remember us and ask us what kind of love we have that makes us want to share it with others.

Will you go back to the basics with me in 2011, and simply "walk in love"? Maybe then we'll see the change we want to see in our homes, our relationships, our jobs, our ministries, our communities, and our world.

2011: Here I come! :)

Christmas in the States 2010

2011-01-07T13:24:00.000-08:00

Road Trip anyone??

Day 1 of my vacation, I left from Tijuana at 8 am, crossed the border, flight got delayed in San Diego making me miss my connecting flight in Houston, got on a later flight and arrived in Charlotte at 10:45pm - whew!!! Check out this cutie that was there to greet me at the airport...

My niece Faith, 15 months

I knew it was gonna be a really fun week. My niece now walks, talks and get into everything!! I had so much fun taking care of her while my sister was at work. She also opened her first Christmas presents, and loved playing with the paper. We continued in the Christmas Spirit by taking her to see Santa, but she freaked out and barely got a picture with her on his lap. Later we went to the racetrack where they had a christmas lights show and had a great time there.

After 4 days in Charlotte, we took the looooong overnight drive to Chicago - 15 hours in the car with a baby and a big fat dog. But we survived, anda few short hours after arriving to Chicago we got back in the car to go to Milwaukee Wisconsin to go to a wedding.

I was the Nanny at the wedding and it was lots of fun! for the most part... I had my first experience of poop in the bathtub, which I will definitely never forget! While my sister got ready as a bridesmaid I took the baby with my brother-in-law to the pool! So nice after freezing in the cold Wisconsin air, to take a dip in the hot tub :)

Back in Chicago, it was great to see my family. Most of my days were spent running around catching up with people. And I got to visit my brand new cousin, Victoria, just 2 weeks old!!

We had new fun experiences with my niece, she loved looking at my mom's rotating Christmas tree, see all the ornaments, and watching Bentley run around in the snow. We made cookies too and she put on the sprinkles :)

Also it was so amazing to see my friends from IWU again! We have a tradition of all getting together on Christmas night, after all the family craziness is over to hang out and catch up. This year was no different. Oh my loves, how I miss you all...
So overall a great time catching up and seeing everyone. Far from the restful and relaxing vacation I needed, but what is Christmas for other than to spend with your crazy family, right? :)

"For unto us a child is born, to us a child is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." ~ Isaiah 9:6

Homes of Hope video

2010-12-19T07:26:00.000-08:00

Recently, we've had a new family that's been coming to the Circulo Andante ministry in colonia Antorcha. Josefina and her 2 kids, Erik and Lupita, first walked about 4 miles to come to the Circulo when she heard about Homes of Hope. She was desperate to try to see if she had a chance through our minsitry to improve the lives of her children...
Now they have a new home, and Erik and Lupita are a fun addition to the Circulo! I love this family!

CLICK HERE to watch a video about Josefina and how her family's lives have changed by receiving a Homes of Hope house. It's very touching.

A Change of Heart: Last House build of 2010

2010-12-18T06:28:00.000-08:00

I was so happy when I found out that my last house build of the year was going to be in colonia Antorcha, where I teach the Circulo Andante every week. "Alright!", I thought, "I'm gonna get to build for one of my adorable little kids!" And it was true, sort of - I mean, who wouldn't want to give this kid a new house?? Meet Daniel Angel, age 6. A typical mischevious little 1st grader, the smallest in his class. He makes everyone smile and always tries his best in class. He and his brother Ricardo, age 8, live with their Grandma, Martha. Ricardo is a big trouble-maker in my class, pushing and making fun of the other kids, not wanting to do any of our activities, and being forced even to come to Circulo by his Grandma Martha. While I was so happy they were getting a new house, I have to confess I wasn't very thrilled about the idea of having to deal with this "problem child" the whole weekend. Although the more time I spent with them and learned about their family, I have to say God definitely convicted me of my judgemental attitude and gave me a change of heart.

Here is Martha's house: a one room shack with blankets and sheets for walls where she lives with her 2 grandchildren. I had the honor of talking to Martha about her family and she shared with me that her daughter - the boys' mother - is currently in a drug rehab center in Ensenada. She bravely took up the task of being the boys' legal guardian and raising these 2 while their mother is rehabilitating. She said they don't get to go visit her very much and sadness and angry the boys feel from missing their mother comes out in their behavior. She called the oldest boy Ricardo "tremendo" - or terribly naughty - and I saw that come out in his rudeness and disrespect towards her several times throughout the weekend. It didn't help my feelings toward him either that he kept asking me when we were going to take him to buy all the free food and how many toys was he going to get (as if the brand new house wasn't enough!) I'm sure this is because he had seen a lot of other kids in the colonia get new houses full of furniture and toys and heard stories about the overloaded carts full of grocieres that the teams often buy the families. Although I had never met a child that was so presumptuous to ask "when" and "how much"! So much for the surprise.... Anway, I had a great time working alongside Martha to get her house built.

Gloria and I working with Martha inside the house

In addition to the team's hard work, we also had several more helping hands: the kids from the Circulo! We had about 20 kids come and help us paint, hammer, carry shingles and anything else they could do. I also had the pleasure of serving alongside some of the moms in the colonia that came out to be a part of this special blessing for Martha.

Brayan, Itai and Daniel Angel ready to hammer

Me working on painting with some of the kids from the Circulo

Karinn and Martin - 2 6th graders from the Circulo- working on painting inside

Jessica and her family received a Homes of Hope house several months ago. Now she came out with her kids to help out and to be a part of this amazing gift for another family!

The house dedication was an especially emotional time as Martha shared with the whole team about the boys' mother and her situation in the rehab center. She expressed that she was absolutely thrilled to be receiving a Homes of Hope house and that she hoped this new home would bring some stability and feeling of security to her two boys. Then each team member got to share what the experience meant to them and how grateful they were to be a part of giving Martha and her family this great blessing. One comment that I especially remember was from an older woman on the team. She said that as a grandma herself, she thought that Martha was very brave for taking on the responsibility to raise her grandsons. This brought Martha to tears, as I believe she never even thought twice about bringing the boys into her home to care for them, loving and courageous as she is.

Martha and her two boys with me translating for the team leaders at the dedication

A few weeks after the build, some of our YWAM staff took Martha and the boys to visit their mom at the rehab center in Ensenada. They said it was a glorious reunion full of love and happiness. Before they left, Martha showed me the letters that the boys wrote to their mom in regards to their new house: (see images and translation below). It broke my heart and brought me to tears (even still while I'm writing to you about it now!), just to see the tender heart of a child, no matter how tough their exterior may be...

Pretty mommy, mommy I miss you, Get better really soon, we need you. My mom (grandma) Martha and my brother and I love you. We really want you to come to my house so you can see it. Your son that loves you, Daniel

Mommy, I love you alot and I miss you. I want you to get better soon so that you can come back to my beautiful house. Please, I want you to come and live in my house with us so that you can take care of us. We love you alot. Do your best - your son that loves you asks you for this -Ricardo.

I thank God that he forgives us for our sinful hearts, judgemental and deceiving as they are (or at least mine is!) I'm thankful that I got another chance to see this boy in a different light, how amazing the love is between a mother and her sons. And I am SO happy that I got to be a part of this build and of bringing hope to Martha and her boys - a hope of a new life, together as a family.

"People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart."
~1 Samuel 16:7

P.S. This is our 3rd house that Abraham and I have built together!

Fall Newsletter

2010-12-08T11:17:00.000-08:00

Here's an update on what I've been up to this fall in Tijuana... Mexican celebrations, a peace march in downtown Tijuana, a carnival in the colonia and more! Check it out!

Click on the image to make it bigger - enjoy!

A Morning Miracle in Tijuana

2010-10-08T10:22:00.000-07:00

Some people say they don't believe in miracles. For example, how could Jesus have fed 5,000 people with just 5 loaves and 2 fish? It's just not possible, you may think. Well let me share with you my experience yesterday at the Casa de los Pobres, the House of the Poor here in Tijuana, Mexico. It's something truly amazing, it really touched my heart, and it made me love more my life as a missionary in Mexico and my God who provides for the needs of his children.

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"If you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday." Isaiah 58:10
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6:01 a.m. - Alarm goes off and I pull myself out of bed, tired and not that happy but trusting the day will get better. Can't quite get my eyes to open enough to get my contacts in, so I decide I'll wear my glasses today.

6:47 a.m. - Leave from my house with April and Abraham to go feed the poor and hungry in Tijuana.

7:18 a.m. - Arrive at the Casa de los Pobres, the House of the Poor in downtown TJ. Several hundred people are already lined up outside, the line wrapped around the corner of the block, all waiting anxiously to receive a free hot breakfast.

Hundreds of men, women, and children have gathered - elderly, handicapped, single moms, school children, homeless - many that haven't eaten since the previous morning when they stood in this same line. We parked the car, and walked past the hungry people straight into the kitchen to get our work assignments. I thought getting up at 6 a.m. was rough - the women that volunteer here arrived at 5:00 a.m. to begin cooking.

7:31 a.m. Church service there ends and the head Mother comes in and puts us to work - Abraham will serve the oatmeal to the men and children, I will be in the upstairs dining room serving soup to the women, and April will happily wash dishes (where she doesn't have to speak much spanish).

Abraham and I in the kitchen

8 gallons of milk was used to make this huge pot of oatmeal, and they made 3 of these pots

7:40 am - A nun says a blessing over the food, recites the Lord's prayer and sings a hymn of thanksgiving over the loudspeaker in the patio.

"Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for men, for he satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things. " Psalm 107: 8-9

7:45 a.m. - Lines begin to form inside the kitchen. Women are sent to an upstairs dining room, men eat downstairs and on the patio and children at separate small tables near the kitchen. I serve each person a generous helping of squash & tomato soap, another woman gives a spoonful of beans, while another pours each person a bowl of oatmeal. Each one is handed 3 corn tortillas on their way to their seat.

8:30 a.m. I go downstairs to see how April is doing with the dishwashing. She asks me to translate something and the women tell her they are worried about her getting her shirt wet. She doesn't mind. From a distance I see Abraham scooping bowls of oatmeal to all the people in line. I smile and wave and he throws me a kiss, without missing a beat :)

8:37 a.m. I walk around the downstairs dining rooms, where the men and children are filling up their bellies with this hot meal. As I see the long line of people and watch them eat, I'm reminded of the story in the Bible of Jesus feeding the 5,000. The Casa de los pobres serves breakfast to over 1,000 hungry men, women, and children 5 days a week, Monday -Friday. That's over 5,000 a week - 25,000+ people a month! They receive no support from the government or money from the Catholic church - all of the food is donated and they trust God each day for provisions of food to feed all the hungry mouths that day. Now that IS a Miracle, right here in Tijuana!

8:40 a.m. A man named Alejandro asks me in perfect English to take his picture, then I head back upstairs to continue serving.

9:02 a.m. I look over the balcony and see a little girl, maybe 3, sitting on the ground, turning her styrofoam cup upside down over her spoon letting the very last drops of oatmeal that remain in her cup drip down onto the spoon. She licks the spoon and its gone. I think to myself, "what if that's all she eats for the rest of the day? How will her mother provide her with her next meal? Where will it come from? What if this is it until tomorrow morning?" I become very emotional and need a moment before returning inside to keep serving the food.

9:21 a.m. A woman with long braids passes through the line with a toddler strapped to her back in a wrap that makes me think that they are from southern Mexico or Central America. Many of the people that have come, the nuns tell me, come far from outside of the city. They walk for hours or save up all week to take a bus to come and eat and receive donations from this place. There are also a lot of immigrants that have come up from Central America, or people that have been deported from the States and have no where to go. I stop and think about how each person that goes through the line has a story, an individual story of grief and despair of how they got to this place. Some have literally traveled thousands of miles over time and crossed international borders to get there, others have wandered in after a long night of working the streets of the Zona Norte, and still there are those who have just reached the end of their rope and just needed to get up the courage and put aside their pride and accept that they need help. These are the people we serve and love here.

9:35 a.m. The upstairs line dies down a little and I decide to go downstairs to help, where they have run out of soup and have begun serving peanut butter and jelly sandwiches instead with the beans and tortillas.

9:40 a.m. I am asked to move our car and when I do, I also take out the bags of donated clothes we brought to drop off here. A man helps my unload them and take them to a room where the sort the clothes, men/women/children. They tell me today is the women's turn and that after they eat, they line up again to be able to pick something out of the donations. I watch as women leave with big smiles on their faces carrying a pair of shoes or a sweater or a blanket for their baby. I remembered last Friday when we visited to drop off donations in the afternoon they were sorting mens clothes to give away. On the way out Abraham told me he saw a guy carrying away a pair of his pants he'd thrown in the donation back, saying they'd been just sitting in his drawer for about 2 years. He was so touched and happy when he heard the man say as he left, "Look at these jeans - they're almost new! And they're just my size!!"

9:49 a.m. A blind man moves to the front of the line and I help carry his food and oatmeal for him and help him find a seat in the still-crowded dining room.

9:55 a.m. I go over to the children's tables and sit down next to a little girl who's eating oatmeal. I ask her if she likes it and she smiles at me, shyly. I start talking to her and she shows me her coloring book, which I start reading to her.

10:04 a.m. A woman sits down next to me and tells me she's heard that we build houses for families in need. I tell her yes and ask her to tell me her story. She begins to explain about how she is living in a 'borrowed' house but that she has land, she just hasn't been able to build on it in 10 years because she doesn't have any money. She says she's desperate because the owner of the house where she's living with her husband, her daughter and her 3 grandchildren wants to kick them out and they have no where to go. I share with her a little about our Homes of Hope program and she gives me her number to get in contact with her and start the application process for a Homes of Hope house. She left a lot more calm than when she first sat down with me, with the hope that something better may be coming her way.

10:19 a.m. I go back to the kitchen to help serve food to the men who still are in line for breakfast. The women tell me these people are now in line for seconds. I put spoons in the oatmeal that Abraham scoops and PB&J sandwiches on a plate and then pass it to another woman who serves the beans.

10:25 a.m. I look over to the dish washers and see April still there smiling, washing dishes just as she was when she started 3 hours earlier. I go over to grab some more plates and bowls, and see that we're using the dishes just as fast as they can wash them. What an important job for this ministry!

10:31 a.m. Abraham scoops out the last bowl of oatmeal from the enormous pot. I see people still waiting in line to eat and get upset and tell him it's time to leave. I break down as we walk to the car through the patio, overrun with people in need - in need of food, water, clothes, shelter, medicine, and even more so, in need of the love of God and the hope of Jesus in their lives.

I was so touched by this precious ministry of mercy and compassion towards the poor and homeless of my city. I believe miracles happen every day there, as people get fed, clothed and filled with the love and compassion that comes from Jesus. May God receive all of the glory for the lives that are touched there.

Wow, what a great day to be a missionary!!! What a great day to serve God!!! And what a Great God we serve!!!

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"Share your food with the hungry, and give shelter to the homeless. Give clothes to those who need them, and do not hide from relatives who need your help.
Then your salvation will come like the dawn, and your wounds will quickly heal. Your godliness will lead you forward, and the glory of the Lord will protect you from behind." Isaiah 58: 7:8

On Sale at the Border

2010-10-04T13:53:00.000-07:00

About once a week, I have the joy of being one of the thousands of people that day to wait an hour or two in the border line to cross from Tijuana into the US. As an eternal tourist in Mexico, I enjoy spending my wait peering into the little shops on the side of the road, checking out what new products they have to sell me this time. Usually its pretty much the same stuff -ponchos, 'luchador' wrestling masks, banks shaped like donkeys, giant ceramic turtles, blankets with a picture of the Virgin of Guadalupe, etc.

Recently though, a new product has become tragically common to sell at the border - young girls.

I invite you to read this article written by one of our YWAM staff and watch the video of what he saw during a recent border crossing. I will warn you though - it is disturbing, but it really did happen here in a very public place that I frequent each week (the border line). I don't put this up to shock anyone - everyone reading this I'm sure has heard all kinds of bad stuff that supposedly happens here in Tijuana. I only share this with you as a way of including you in what is happening around me. Like I said, I cross the border about once a week. To my recollection I've never seen anything like this, but perhaps its because I was too distracted by the ponchos and giant turtles...

"Selling Sex at the Border" Article
www.stepsofjustice.org

Summer 2010 Newsletter

2010-09-29T12:14:00.000-07:00

I know this post is a little late, I mean a "summer newsletter" at the end of September? Who does that? Well, its 86 degrees in TJ right now and I've got a fan blowing at me in the office so it's definitely still summer here!

Just click on the picture to make it bigger, and enjoy reading some of the highlights of my summer!

If you'd like to receive my newsletters via email or snail mail, write to me at susie.walter@hotmail.com

If you'd like to make a donation to my ministry, make your check out to "YWAM San Diego/Baja." All donations are tax-deductible. Make sure you include a note saying the donation is for me, and you can send your check to:
YWAM San Diego/Baja
100 W. 35th St. Suite C
National City, CA 91950

Thanks!

Mexico's Bicentennial

2010-09-29T10:35:00.001-07:00

This year we celebrated 200 years of Mexican independence!

going to the parade in downtown TJ on September 16th

marching band
me and my boyfriend Abraham at the parade

traditional Mexican costumes

cutest kid ever riding a pony with a huge sombrero

The night before Independence day, they have the "grito de independencia" - the shout of independence. The whole city joins together at the government building to commemorate the holiday, and of course, they shout "VIVA MEXICO!!!"

Me with my huge Mexican flag

Abraham is not as patriotic as me... he gets a small flag, haha
celebrating in downtown TJI love these flags, they're so patriotic

Back at the base we had a big dinner and I helped translate as my friend Dina shared the story of the Mexican independence.

at the base cooking traditional Mexican Empanadas

What a great celebration!

My birthday party... with 400 guests!

2010-09-28T12:08:00.000-07:00

It just so happens that this year I got to share my birthday with over 400 guests that arrived at the YWAM base in Tijuana to celebrate the 50th anniversary of our organization. We were privileged to have the founders of Youth With A Mission, Loren and Darlene Cunningham, join us to celebrate 50 years of God's faithfulness in this mission. You can click on the link below to read the official report of our event:

YWAM's 50th Anniversary Celebration in Tijuana, Mexico

Loren Cunningham, the founder of Youth With A Mission (YWAM)

One thing that really touched me during one of the worship times was that they ran through a slideshow featuring the flags of every country on earth. It just so happens that someone from YWAM has also set foot in each and every one of those countries! We had the chance to pray over all the nations of the world, and it was a very moving experience. I specifically focused on praying for my nation (that's Mexico now!) and just got this feeling the God has not forgot about us. Amongst all the violence and poverty, God has not given up on this nation. Now I've heard some pretty mean stuff spoken about Mexico- that it's full of drug dealers, murderers, prostitutes, robbers, etc.... But to be honest, I gave up my life in the States because I believe that this is a country that can be redeemed. There is a lot of GOOD here, although that's not always what makes the headlines. As more and more people turn towards God in their desperate situations, lives are redeemed and changed. In the Bible, there is a man named Job and he lost everything in life that was important to him. He had nothing left in his life, and yet he still said "I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth." (Job 19:25) We have to believe that something better is still to come, in our lives and in our nation. The Lord has not given up on Mexico - and neither have I!

What a wonderful birthday I had as I was reignited with passion for this nation and these people. I'm 26 now, and I've been loving living in Mexico and serving God here for 15 months now. And I believe greater things are yet to come!

July Trip to the States

2010-08-25T11:03:00.000-07:00

By far the highlight of July was getting the opportunity to go back to Chicago! I got to spend time with family and friends, including my sister and her husband and my beautiful niece, who came in from North Carolina...
Faith with her mommy and her godmother :) after her dedication at my church

Also I went to St. Louis with my parents to visit my sister's family again, where Lance was working. We got to take Faith to the zoo and it was so much fun!

Then back in Chicago...

at the park with my cousins

hanging with my best girl friends back in Chicago

Also, my time in Chicago wasn't all just fun and games. At the end of May I asked for donations from several schools to be able to bring back supplies for my kids in Mexico. The response was INCREDIBLE!! My sister brought back several boxes of supplies and books from schools in North Carolina, and also we got many donations from the school where my mom used to teach. What a huge blessing!! So I spent a lot of time with my mom in her garage organizing and separating and packing boxes to send down to Mexico. I think we sent over 40 boxes of donations for the Circle! Wow!

organizing school supplies to send down to the kids in Mexico

What a great time of sharing with my family and friends, I only get to come back to Chicago about twice a year, so I fully enjoyed it. See you all again at Christmas!

June in Review

2010-08-24T17:30:00.000-07:00

Wow, I can't believe summer is already coming to an end... It just started to get hot here!! With only about one week of 80+ degree weather under our belts here in Tijuana, the kids in the colonia are already going back to school and I've got a bunch of new 3rd graders in my group.But first, let's take a look at what you missed in the life of Susie this summer in Tijuana, starting with June...

1. Mexico goes to the World Cup!

Me, Silvia and Sandra dressed like the Mexican flag to watch the World Cup

Ok, so I know no one in the U.S. cares about soccer, but here in Mexico it is the national sport. So when Mexico made it into the World Cup this summer, it was a huge deal! I'm talking about classes being cancelled and work being put on hold so EVERYONE could watch the matches. We definitely moved around our schedules here on the base also to be able to take part in this. That includes waking up at 7 AM to watch a game! It was totally worth it! Well, we didn't win, but there's always Brazil in 2014... :)

2. Adios Luisa!Luisa's goodbye party
(I can't believe I got Sandra to wear a dress!!)

Also in June, we said "Adios" to Luisa, the founder and leader of the Circulo Andante ministry. She and her husband moved back the States to pursue higher education. She was an amazing leader and teacher for us this last year, and helped pioneer the tutoring program that we do with the children in colonia Antorcha. It was a great privilege to work and minister alongside her. She will be dearly missed here in Tijuana!!

Now, you may be asking yourself, "who leads the Circle now?" Answer: ME! This summer, I took on leadership of the Circulo Andante ministry, a role that leaves me with more responsibilities to the base, the staff and to the children in the colonia. I'm excited to see where God takes this ministry in the next year, and I am so blessed to be able to be a part of it.

3. Casas de Esperanza in COSTA RICA!Me with the family that we built for - First Costa Rican family to ever receive a Homes of Hope house!

At the end of June I had the amazing opportunity to go to Costa Rica and host the first Homes of Hope team EVER in that country. What a privilege! The staff at the YWAM San Jose base in Costa Rica was really welcoming to me and Manuel, a builder that came from the TJ base with me. We had a great time working with them, teaching them about our progam and then learning how to adjust it to the "Tico" or Costa Rican way.

Our Homes of Hope team, including staff from TJ and Costa Rica (I'm in the green!)

So in TJ when I go on a house build, I usually serve as translator and painter extraordinaire. But in Costa Rica, for all the staff this was their first time building so we had to teach them everything . Basically I got bumped up to B builder, helping the main builder on the site by making the window and door frames, nailing up siding, and more. And of course I was the master painter as well ;-)

Getting the siding up on the house on Day 2

In TJ, our builds take 2 days, which in itself is amazing to see how teams come together for the common goal of blessing a family in need. In Costa Rica we took 4 days to finish the house, but through no fault of our own... we were building in the middle of rainy season!!

me and Manuel, a builder from TJ, caught in a downpour one afternoon of our build

One of the best parts for me of this build (and every build) was getting to know our family. Adita, a single mom of 7, was living in a house built for her by the government almost 20 years ago when her husband died. Her wooden house with a dirt floor wasn't holding up very well after so many years of the rain running through it. She found out about Homes of Hope from one of her older sons who volunteers at the base in San Jose. Her sons helped us get the roof and dry wall up while her daughters painted a special design on the front door. Precious Adita made us delicious Costa Rican food for lunch and offered us coffee each afternoon after we got soaked in the rain. Tears of joy flooded down all of their cheeks as they walked into their brand new house. What a privilege to be a part of giving this family such a huge blessing!

Manuel and I, with Adita and her 5 children after receiving their new home

So there you have it - 1/3 of my summer updated. Stay tuned for more summer fun!

1st year of Circulo Andante

2010-06-21T11:28:00.000-07:00

The Circulo Andante Ministry of YWAM Tijuana just celebrated their 1 year anniversary! Here is a video showing some highlights of our 1st year of ministry - enjoy!

Mother's Day Tea with Circulo Andante

2010-05-14T22:29:00.000-07:00

Below is a link to a slideshow I made of pictures from our Mother's Day event with Circulo Andante. A wonderful volunteer here named April invited all of us to her house and 30 moms celebrated Mother's day with us at an afternoon tea party. Over 70 kids came and they decorated flowerpots and planted seeds in them. They also made mother's day cards and wrote letters to their moms telling them all they are grateful for. It was a wonderful afternoon and I think the moms felt really honored and blessed. That was our goal!! Check out the pictures at the link below:

Make a free greeting

Psalm 127:3 - "Sons are a heritage from the Lord, children a reward from him"

Sergio's 5th Birthday

2010-03-13T15:03:00.000-08:00

Feliz cumpleanos Sergio! one of our kindergartners from Circulo Andante

On Tuesday, after our Circulo Andante ministry, I had the joy of celebrating a little Sergio's 5th birthday with him in colonia Antorcha. His mom invited me, along with the other Circulo Andante volunteers to their house to eat pozole, a traditional Mexican corn soup. Cooking it over a small grill, she had to move the pot inside where she set up a fire because the winds were too strong. She had borrowed chairs from her neighbors and set up an extra table with table cloths so we could enjoy a lovely meal together in her recently built Homes of Hope house. Her husband served us until we were full, and then asked us if we wanted more. I was fairly sure he had come back early from work that day for our gathering, as I had never seen him before in all the times I'd gone to visit this family. When we insisted we couldnt eat any more, thats when Sergio's mom brought out a small cake that Sergio's picked out himself for us to enjoy. We sang "Las Mananitas" (the traditional Mexican birthday song) and each ate a slice or two of the delicious cake while Sergio's parents shared with us their journey as a family over the last 5 years. They also told us that this celebration and food was especially for Sergio's Circulo teachers, who are only around on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and that their family gathering for him would be on Sunday.

I felt so honored by this family that they went out of their way to cook a special meal for us and cared enough to invite us to celebrate this special day with them. I felt like I was a part of their family :) May God pour out his love and blessings over Sergio and his family in this coming year!

Little Sergio with his family on his 5th Birthday

Sights and Thoughts from the Border

2010-03-07T21:35:00.000-08:00

Most people who come to Mexico through the Tijuana border crossing have the image stuck in their mind of long lines, pushy vendors and dogs sniffing under their car. But if you follow the border fence all the way out to the west coast, you'll find yourself in the town of Playas. Playas is where the old YWAM Tijuana base used to be located and this town has a long border fence that continues out into the ocean.

I hear long ago families on either side of the fences used to meet there to talk or throw food and other goodies to their loved ones on the other side. With new border laws in the U.S. this is no longer possible and the border fence on the Mexican side has just become a place where people can come to remember those days and dream for better ones to come.

It has been reported that several hundred Mexican men, women and children die every year trying to cross the border into the U.S. Now, it's easy to make some kind of political argument about the why and who's fault it is, etc., But recently, I was humbled during a visit to the border in Playas by the site of hundreds and hundreds of small wooden crosses hanging from the fence...

Each cross represents the life of some desperate father, mother or child in search of a better life, but never made it. The immigrants that died crossing the border are not just a number, not just a political statement. They are real people, and I am meeting them every day. Everyone here has a story of a brother or a mother or a son or a daughter that left to go to "el otro lado" (the other side) and they never saw the again.

It is a great joy for me to be serving God in Tijuana, but I still feel like I have so much more to learn about the people here. The border culture of Mexico is completely different from other parts of Mexico I have visited. My heart breaks for the the grandmother who has said goodbye to a her son years ago and doesn't know if he made it and whether or not he is dead or alive. My heart aches for the mother who is struggling so much in her present situation that she lives dreaming about a place she may never get to and a life she probably will never have. And my life is committed to helping the children here who have no hope for a future better than their parents had - committed to teaching them the value of who they are in Christ and that their dreams are possible here in their own country, if they will work hard and follow the right path, "with God all things are possible". I will work tirelessly with my kids to make sure they do not become another cross hanging on that fence. That's why I'm here!!!

The sign says "Tijuana is the corner where dreams from a country in need of peace bounce back."

Susie, the Übersetzerin!

2010-03-07T14:53:00.000-08:00

Recently, I had the privilege of being the "Übersetzerin" or translator for a Swiss team that came to our base. First, I went out with them on a house build, and got to experience my first every tri-lingual house dedication: German (swiss student) to English (swiss leader) to Spanish (me)! Here's a picture of the family that was blessed with a house built by the Swiss team...
Another great experience I had with this team was translating for them at the church in colonia Antorcha, where we have the Circulo kids ministry. They went to two services, where they shared German songs, had a kids program and preached. It was really cool to see how some of the students who didnt speak very much English really challenge themselves and get up in front of the church to share their testimony (they shared in English,their second language, and I translated to spanish). At the end of each service, they had a wonderful time of ministering to the congregation through prayer. Two people made the decision to give their lives to Christ after those services and I had the opportunity to pray with them to become Christians. Amazing!!!

me translating at the church in Antorcha for the swiss team leader, Daniel

me (left) translating for the pastor in Antorcha as he prays a blessing over the Swiss team

At the end of their time here, the Swiss team went down to Ensenada to help out with the Carnaval ministry there for a few days. Although I didn't translate for them there, I got to drive them down, and then go on a whale watching tour - how fun! (or so I thought...) I've always wanted to see whales in the wild and now this is my chance! About 45 minutes into the trip I started to feel alittle whoozy, but that was forgotten about once we saw a pod of dolphins swimming right next to our boat - so cool! But after that, things starting going down hill for my stomach, and i ended spending about 4 of the 4.5 hour tour so seasick I didn't see anything expect for the back of my eyelids and the toliet bowl. Oh well, next time I'll take drammamine before hand and hopefully actually see some whales... I saw a couple blow holes, but I'm not sure that counts.

I'm so thankful for this Swiss team that came and know that the ministry they did in colonia Antorcha will carry on long after they are gone. I feel so blessed to have been a part of it!

DTS Reunion!!!

2010-03-07T14:27:00.001-08:00

Danae, Meredith, me and Lizzie, back together again in Ensenada

Just as I hit the one year anniversary of graduating from DTS (Discipleship Training School), one of my dear friends from DTS, Meredith, came down to Mexico for a week to visit. One year ago we were celebrating all the struggles and triumphs we went through during our 5 months of DTS - now we were recounting all that God had taken us through during the last year. It was such a joy to join together with 2 of our other DTS friends that are now staff in Ensenada and share with each other a bit of our journey the last year that we've all been apart.

As for me, I feel so blessed to have been able to follow my dream of living and serving in missions full time in Mexico for the past year. There have been hard times of missing my family and friends back home, and confusing times of wondering "what to do next?" but overall God has been faithful - He has provided for me to live here, He has given me a community of people surrounding me that love and support me, and He has placed me in a growing ministry where I can joyfully serve and also be challenged on a daily basis.

It was fun to hear about Meredith's college life, where she is attending Trinity Western in Canada. I thought back to my college years at IWU, and how I had the opportunity to travel the world and whenever the chance came to visit somewhere new, I signed up quick and never looked back. I can tell now that God is doing something new in my life. I love it here where I'm working and my heart is planted with those living in the colonia where I serve and do kids ministry (Circulo Andante). Right now, I don't want to go anywhere but there, and share more and more about Jesus with them each day. I have grown to love them - mothers, fathers, and children alike. I am committed to seeing their community transformed by the love of God, and each day I will do my small part to see God's kingdom come there.

Here's to another year of serving God in Mexico!!

What - I have a blog?

2010-03-07T14:24:00.000-08:00

So many things have been happening in 2010 since coming back to YWAM TJ, I can't keep up with it all! Sorry to any of you who actually read my blog and have felt 'out of the loop' these past 2 months. Really I'm still down here in Tijuana, Mexico, loving life and serving God! What follows will be my attempt to catch you up on some of my adventures these last 2 months...

Homes of Hope Tijuana - Jan '10

2010-01-31T16:53:00.001-08:00

My first weekend back after vacation, I went on a build for a single mom, Yara and her 5 kids. They were living in the states but when her husband left her for another woman, she was forced to return to Mexico and was living with her children in a small trailer. Yara's dad and sisters came to help with the build and I enjoyed getting to know them and hearing their stories. Many of Yara's family members came out to share in her joy at the house dedication. What a privilege it was to be a part of blessing this family with a home - our way of freely showing them God's love that he first showed us.

I put this video together, I hope you enjoy a little glimpse of what I do here in Mexico!

Ringing in the New Year in TJ

2010-01-27T11:37:00.000-08:00

On December 28th, Dad and I loaded up my little Toyota Camry with everything we could squeeze into the trunk and the back seat and headed out for our looooooong drive down to Tijuana...
We basically followed Route 66, and 3 days, 2 snow storms, and 7 states later, we made it to Tijuana, MEXICO!! Dad spent 3 days visiting all of my favorite places around Tijuana -the YWAM base where I live, the colonia where we build houses, the orphanage I visit, the taco stand I love, and more. We even made a trip to Costco in downtown TJ. Also, one night we went to eat at this really nice restaurant and then I took him to the VIP movie theater, complete with recliners and waiters to serve you sushi, crepes, coffee and of course, popcorn and sodas as well.

at the VIP movie theater in TJ

Also it was awesome to be here to celebrate New Year's Eve in Tijuana. For the past two years now, I've celebrated the new year in a different country - Peru last year, Mexico this year. It was wonderful to have Dad here to celebrate with all my new friends from the base. We enjoyed enchiladas for dinner, games and then a few fireworks at midnight. We had a great time ringing in the new year with YWAMers from 6 different nations.

Happy 2010!!!

Can't wait to see what God has in store for this new year! Blessings from Tijuana!

Christmas in Chicago

2010-01-27T10:40:00.000-08:00

Over Christmas, I had the amazing opportunity to go back to Chicago and visit my family, friends and church. My favorite moments of being home were, of course, with my niece Faith who is now 3 months old. I can make her smile now, and she has more of a personality. No matter how much we try, she is taking to sucking her thumb instead of the pacifier. She was such a joy to be around and I was so happy to be able to celebrate her first Christmas with her in Chicago.

I also got to dust off the ol' flute and and play at my church. It was great! I forgot how much I missed it. Here's a clip of one of the songs I played in the Sunday service.

It was such a great day, my parents came to see me play, and also my sister brought Faith - it was a whole family affair! And it was the first time since high school my whole family went to church together :)

Also Christmas was a great time to visit my friends back home. I got to visit my best friend Lily's apartment in Chicago and we went to see the "Christmas trees from around the world" display at the Museum of Science and Industry.

Another very memorable moment was one night when me and 5 of my best friends from IWU got together to hang out. It was the first time all 6 of us had been together since graduation 2 1/2 years ago! Definitely good times... we're kind of a crazy bunch!

Maura, Jordan, Monica, Rob, me and Beth - reunited!

So, it was a great Christmas, I was very blessed to be able to spend 2 weeks at home. Not sure when I'll be back in the Chicago area again, but I had a great time while I was there!!
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"For to us a child is born, to us a child is given. and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."
~Isaiah 9:6~

A recycling adventure

2009-12-07T13:49:00.000-08:00

So in Mexico, recycling is not common like in the states. No one is going to come to your house and pick up your recycling to save the earth for you. You have to make an effort to do it.

And that is just want Gloria did. Gloria is my friend from my School of Ministry Development. She is from Korea but lives in Canada and decided to come to Mexico. She wanted to start a recycling program on our base, so the past few months she has been collecting cardboard, cans and plastic bottles to take to recycle. In Mexico if you collect enough of these recycling items and can find a recycling center, they will pay you for your garbage.

So this weekend Gloria, Sandra (our mexican driver and amiga) and I went on an adventure to try to find a recycling center in Rosarito. We stuffed huge garbage bags and us into the pathfinder and drove around a while and finally found a place with the 3 arrows on the outside sign. We get in there and they only take metal and cardboard. Well we didnt the cardboard because it didn't fit in the car. But we did have one bag of cans and such so we turned that it and made.... (drum roll please....) 12 pesos!!

Now I know that's not alot but it wasn't about the money. It was the effort to do something proactive to get some income for the Circulo Andante kids ministry we do. And also, we really do believe in taking care of the earth God's given us. So after we got our 12 pesos, we got in the car, and prayed that God would multiply it to 12 hundred pesos or 12 thousand pesos someday. Stuffed back in the car full of trash (we only had one bag of cans among a car full of trash) and tried to find somewhere where we could take the plastic. but nothing. so we went back to the base, not disappointed but proud of our 12 pesos and pleased that we had made the effort to better our ministry, our base, and our earth.
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Psalm 24:1 - The earth is the LORD's, and everything in it; the world, and all who live in it.

Visa News

2009-12-06T15:43:00.000-08:00

So I've been living in Mexico for almost 6 months now. When I arrived I got a tourist visa, but clearly I am not a tourist. So I started to apply for my FM-3 visa, which gives me visitor's permit and allows me legal residence in Mexico. It was quite a process, I needed photos and copies of every page of my passport, and a bank statement, and a letter from YWAM... then I had to go to the bank and pay all these fees... then on Friday me, Blanca (the woman in charge of visas at the base) and a few others went to the border and we had to go to this little stand and have someone type up our application (and of course pay more money) and then finally we got into immigration. We waited and hoped and prayed while Blanca talked to the official... and then she came over to us and said, "Ok let's go." We looked at each other puzzled, and asked,"That's it?" For now, that was it. We were all approved for FM-3 visas and now have to wait 6 weeks while they are printed out and we will go back to have our fingerprints taken and receive our visas.

So, that's it! I'm legal, I live in Mexico, and I love it! And as an added bonus, in 10 years, I can become a Mexican citizen!! :)
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Ruth 2: 11-12 "...you left your father and mother and your homeland and came to live with a people you did not know before. May the LORD repay you for what you have done. May you be richly rewarded by the LORD, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge."

Hebrews 11: 13- 16 "All these people (Abel, Noah, Abraham & Sarah) were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them."

A Typical Day at Circulo Andante

2009-12-02T10:15:00.001-08:00

Here is a video that my friend Elsi and I made showing what it's like at our ministry, Circulo Andante/Walking Circle. We are growing in numbers, with almost 50 kids this week. It's also getting pretty cold there, so we are searching and praying for somewhere indoors where we can have the Circulo in the winter. I hope you enjoy this little window into my life and my ministry here in Tijuana.

Thanksgiving week in Tijuana

2009-11-28T16:10:00.000-08:00

This has been an exciting week in Tijuana. Although Thanksgiving is not an official holiday in Mexico, we celebrate it on the YWAM because there are a lot of Americans here. There is an amazing team here from a church in Washington that built a house at the beginning of the week, then cooked Thanksgiving dinner for all the staff on Thursday! What a blessing!

This week we are in week 9 of the School of Ministry Development I am taking here at the base. This week's topic was community development. Our speaker is named Giacamo and is the leader of the base in San Jose Costa Rica and the director of the School of Community Development there. He really challenged us in our ideas about community development, that it's not just about 'us' giving to 'them' but working together along the community to make a lasting impact for the families there. We had a day when our school went to colonia Antorcha, where we do the Walking Circle every week. We sat down and talked with the pastor and his wife and asked them questions about the colonia and the needs that he saw in that community. Turns out the needs we perceived they had were different than their 'felt needs', or the needs that people living in the community believe they have.me translating for the pastor and his wife while learning about the colonia more in depth

The pastor explained how the need for security and medical treatment is very important right now, as they are somewhat isolated in the mountains and it would take a while for police or the Red Cross to arrive there if there was an incident. Also, although they have water pipes in the community that were recently installed by the government, there is no sewage system to take away the dirty water. These are just a few of the things we talked about, along with how he really appreciated the work of YWAM in the community to provide homes for the neediest families and education to the kids. I really admire this pastor, as he is also working as a missionary there and left his home and brought his family to this colonia to share the love of Jesus with them.

At the end of our time together, Giacamo (right) spoke some words of encouragement to Pastor Valenzuela (left) and amongst the tears, we all prayed for him.

That afternoon, I returned to the church to help translate for the pastor who was working with a DTS team to put a new roof on his church. We have a DTS visiting us from Australia and they worked helping out the pastor by putting up new beams, wood and tarps over the mud floor and wooden pews of his church. He was so grateful to have the help and encouraged by the hard work of these young people. The DTS students also got a cross-cultural experience - they slept on the floor of the church for the next 2 nights!

Wednesday night I had the privilege of translating for the service in Antorcha. The DTS students were going to be sharing and the pastor asked if I would translate for them and for his sermon. I really enjoyed being there and worshipping with them, with just a guitar, a keyboard, and a few tamborines, we sang praises to God together. In his sermon, Pastor Valenzuela taught on 1 Timothy 4:12, an excellent verse to encourage our young DTS students - Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity. It was a cold night (the church only has 3 walls, with the street side open), but a good night. I felt very encouraged by the pastor welcoming me and the DTS team at is church. I believe that we will be able to more things together and that through this unity we will be more effective for Christ in that community.

translating in the colonia for the Wednesday night worship service

Thursday was thanksgiving!! I had to go to the airport in the morning to pick up a team in San Diego, so I got to call my family which was awesome. What was not awesome was that I got stopped at the border and had to go through customs so I ended up missing the Walking Circle. I got out to the colonia around 3, just as they were finishing up. Just in time for my kids to come running up to greet me as they left to go home. I took some time that afternoon visit one of the moms whose kids come to the Circle. We built them a house over a month ago, and the mom works almost every day and leaves the kids home, sometimes alone, sometimes with a neighbor. It was nice to reconnect with her on her off day, and she really opened up to us about being a single mom with 4 kids..I think she really appreciated us just sitting there listening to her aching heart and her tired stories.

I had invited the pastor and his family to the base for thanksgiving dinner so I brought them back from the colonia with me and we celebrated the thanksgiving feast together. I explained to them about thanksgiving, they didn't know about it before, but they were very excited to eat turkey because they were used to just eating puro pollo (just chicken). We all went around and said what we were thankful for, they said they were so happy to be able to share this meal with us and to spend time together and learn from each other. Last thanksgiving I was in Ensenada with my DTS and my best friend, and this thanksgiving I was with a new family I have here in Tijuana. I missed my family back home in Chicago, but I am very thankful that God has provided a new family for me to celebrate with here in Tijuana.

me, Raquel, Sandi, Pastor Valenzuela and Marina enjoying our turkey on thanksgiving together!

After dinner my crazy day continued with driving the family back to the colonia and then attending a birthday party for some of our kids in the Circle. Odalis turned 3 and her brother Geovanny turned 12. Cristina was throwing thema birthday party with balloons and music and cake and of course, tacos! Little Odalis was so beautiful in the princess dress her grandma bought for her. Even though I was the only white girl there, I hardly noticed, as I talked and ate cake with the moms and played games and danced with the kids into the night. Such a fun day of celebration!

Then, I woke up Friday morning with no voice - how was I every going to host and translate for a team on the build site?! I got sent back to bed and have been there every since. now its saturday night, and I came to update you, and am trapped in my office by the first downpour of rain I have experienced in my 5 months here. The rainy season is here I suppose!

Our Circulo Andante field trip to the IMAX

2009-11-22T20:13:00.000-08:00

Last week we had a fun field trip for Circulo Andante - to the IMAX! We decided to take the kids to the Cultural Center in downtown Tijuana to go see a movie at the IMAX theater. The planning of the event was a little crazy though. We took up an offering at the YWAM base to pay for the kids tickets and gracias a Dios, all the kids could go for free. Now, our last field trip over the summer we took them to a childrens museum and there were about 30 of us that went, including kids and staff. I guess we didnt really realize it, but this ministry has grown so much in the last few months. This time around, we had 13 moms, 50 kids and a whole bunch of staff, with the grand total of 78 people on our field trip!

Our Circulo Andante group outside the IMAX in downtown Tijuana

Because we had so many people going, we found out it was cheaper to rent a school bus to take them all than to gas up a bunch of YWAM vans. The kids in the coloina have to walk to school, so boy did the kids have a blast on the school bus!

all the kids needs a Circle on their hand to show they turned in their permission slip, then they could get on the bus!

Listening to the rules about being on the bus

me and Lucero on the bus

For many of the kids and moms, this was their first time being at the Cultural center and seeing an IMAX movie. There was lots of ooh-ing and ahh-ing from the big kids when it started, and a little crying from the smaller ones that got alittle scared. The showing was a movie about mummies, and it was a special showing for school groups. I am proud to say that our kids were the best behaved, not running or pushing or shouting, compared to the school groups of kids there.

In Colonia Antorcha with my group of 3rd and 4th graders that went on the field trip (only about half my kids went) We didn't have enough money to buy all the kids Circulo Andante shirts so the ones that didn't have them from before just wore red.

After the movie, we had the kids participate in an art workshop that involved creating a painting using marbles and teamwork. Check out the following video to see what we made.

On the bus ride home, we had prepared little snack bags for the kids and they chowed down on popcorn and cookies, some saving part for their little brothers or sisters at home that couldn't come. It was dark by the time we arrived back in the colonia and I was exhausted, but the kids were full of energy still. They were all excited to tell their family and friends who came to get them off the bus about what a great time we had at the IMAX. I loved being able to take my kids to experience somethign they would never get to do otherwise. I love spending extra time with them as well. I am so blessed just by being around them! I wish we could go on field trips every day!

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Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." ~Matthew 19:14

Aunt Susie and Baby Faith's Weekend Together

2009-11-13T10:13:00.001-08:00

After waiting so long, I finally had the chance to visit my sister and my new niece in North Carolina! Faith turned 6 weeks old this week, and I was there to celebrate with her :) We had a wonderful weekend of auntie/baby bonding: feeding, burping, changing, wiping, bathing, cuddling, rocking, smiling, laughing, and sleeping (hardly at all). My 3 1/2 days with her was like a dream - I can't believe I have a niece!

I left my house in Mexico at 8:00 a.m. and finally arrived to the east coast at 9:00 p.m., and every minute I had to travel was totally worth it. I came down the escalator at the airport, and Sara and baby were there waiting for me, and of course we both burst into tears. How ironic - the baby was the only one not crying! As we drove home, I had fun looking at her reflection in her little car seat mirror. When we got to their house, Bentley of course was thrilled to have visitors, but grew increasingly jealous throughout the weekend when he figured out he wasn't getting all the attention he was used to. Many times I would go to take a picture of Faith and he would sit down right in front of the bouncer or swing I had placed her in - he wanted his picture taken too!

tiny baby and huge dog!

Every night we were up until around 2:30am, which left me increasingly more tired each morning when I woke up. But it made it easier to get out of bed knowing that I had that little angel waiting for me to take care of her. I guess that is how Sara continues seemingly unphased by the lack of sleep, must be some kind of special mommy hormones that keep her going nonstop to take care of her daughter. I could have used a dose of those!

I especially liked being able to give her a bottle and then have her fall asleep in my arms. Mostly I just like to have her close to me, because usually she is just so darn far away.

Baby Faith is also a very good shopper. We met Sara's friend Ginger at the mall and she didn't cry one time. We spent most of our time at the mall in baby stores like Carter's, I guess that will be where we focus our time from now on. :) We tried to look for a Christmas picture outfit for baby and mommy, but didn't have any luck. But I did find another special outfit for my niece: "my auntie loves me" :)Another day we went to Target to buy a picture frame for her pictures we just ordered from the hospital, and I carried her around Target for 1 1/2 hours and she didn't make a peep, just slept the whole time. Such a good little shopper!

I also got to give her a bath, read to her, take her for a walk with mommy and Bentley and dress her up to go to church. We had such a great time! I'm so happy to be an aunt, and so proud of my sister, she is such a great mommy!!

I've uploaded lots of videos of my time with my niece! Click here to watch some of my favorite moments with baby Faith this weekend.

You can also see all of my pictures of our auntie/baby bonding moments this weekend when you Click Here.

Now I just can't wait until Christmas!!!

Operation LIGHT in Colonia Antorcha

2009-11-02T19:24:00.000-08:00

**Response to prevoius post***
Ok, I know the last post was a little heavy, but ministry in Tijuana is not all building houses and teaching children. Maybe it seems like a hopeless situation in Zona Norte, but I believe our hearts must break for the things that break God's heart.

If there was any confusion, I was not there alone or just with one other person, but with a group of about 20 students and staff from the base. It is a ministry that has been going on for over a year now, and last week was my first time going.***

Ok, on to lighter things... This weekend we has a mini-outreach to Colonia Antorcha, where we do the Circulo Andante teaching ministry. It was the first time we had worked with the local pastor to have a program in that community. We had been telling the kids for about 2 weeks during Circulo that we were going to have an event on Halloween and they were all excited and invited even more kids than we have in Circulo. Over 100 people from the colonia came, it was great!

To start, we had a short program, with songs, dances, puppet shows, dramas and a message from the pastor there. Halloween in he north of Mexico is combined with the Mexican holiday of Day of the Dead. It's a very dark holiday that focuses on death, and we wanted to have a celebration there of the light of Christ. Here's a video of us singing a song called "Tanto tanto", and the song says "we have so much to be grateful for... our friends... our parents... Jesus." We had so much fun dancing and singing with the kids.

Also, after the program, as the sun set and it got dark, we set up some lights and had a carnival on the basketball field. We set up a cake walk, guess the gumballs, mini-bowling, bean bag toss, hula hoops, bozo buckets and more. The kids had a great time!!! It was too dark to get very many good photos, but it was a great night of just FUN with all the families in the colonia!We handed out 100's of cupcakes......at our cake walk! The kids and also the moms got involved at this fun activity during the carnival.

Of course we also gave away LOTS of candy and other prizes during our carnival at Operation Light!

Ignorance would have been bliss...

2009-10-29T12:21:00.000-07:00

...in Tijuana's Zona Norte.

Last night I went to minister in Tijuana's Red Light District, called the "Zona Norte." For several months, some people from the YWAM Tijuana base has been going to this part of downtown Tijuana to hand out soup to the homeless and pray for the people there. Where we set up our soup station is right across the street from 2 of the most famous bars in Tijuana, which happens to have a Christian church right between them.

During the day, walking down calle Coahuila where we were in Zona Norte may seem like a typical downtown street - bars, nightclubs, hotels and massage parlors. Someone living in ignorance to the situation there would not be aware that those places are used as brothels for child prostitution and illegal child trafficking. Many missing girls and boys, from both the US and Mexico, are thought to be within the establishments there, being illegally sold or used as prostitutes as young as 8 years old.

When I was in Ensenada doing my DTS last year, we did ministry in an area downtown where there are a lot of homeless people and drunks. We did not encounter as many prostitutes. Most of the homeless people there greeted us each week and openly shared with us about their situations and received prayer. In the Zona Norte last night, there were not many homeless where we were, (this is not to say there are not many homeless people living on the streets there). But a couple of homeless people that I did encounter actually rejected the soup and friendly conversation I tried to offer them. Ouch.

Beginning to feel hopeless and a bit useless as well, I asked one of the guys on our team to walk down the street with me and we could pray for whatever we saw. Within a few moments, he had women trying to proposition him or owners of the bars offering to sell him 'two chicks at the same time.' Later we walked by a mom who we learned last week prostituted her 6 year old daughter to get drug money for her husband's addiction. We finally arrived outside the chuch there between the 2 biggest bars in the area and sat outside the doors, pondering the sad irony of how those doors at the church close just in time for the doors to the next-door brothels to open.

I sat their gritting my teeth as my anger grew while people walked by. Ignorance would have been bliss: I could have seen a mom taking a walk with her daughters, instead of a desperate single mom dragging their small children to perform 'favors' in the nearby hotel. I could have seen young women choosing an area of work they enjoyed instead of drug-addicted prostitutes forced into it at a young age without any possible escape now. I could have seen men out for a night on the town with their buddies instead of husbands and fathers who'd left their families at home for a night of empty pleasure.

No hope. No self-worth. No shame.

This is the reality of Tijuana's Zona Norte. I can no longer live in blissful ignorance to it. Neither can you.
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The righteous care about justice for the poor, but the wicked have no such concern. ~Proverbs 29:7

Arise, O LORD, in your anger; rise up against the rage of my enemies. Awake, my God; decree justice. ~Psalm 7:6

Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow. ~Isaiah 1:17

Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay,"says the Lord. On the contrary:
"If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.
In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head."
~Romans 12:18-20

Mexico Randomness

2009-10-26T21:48:00.000-07:00

Let's see, what has been happening this week in Mexico...the weather is crazy, it can be a high of 60 one day and a high of 85 another (like today!) They tell me that's because of the Santa Ana winds that are coming through... what are those you may ask? Well, I was wondering too! Wikipedia tells me that the "Santa Ana winds are strong, extremely dry offshore winds that sweep through southern California and northern Baja California (that's where I live) in late fall into winter. They can range from hot to cold and are remembered most for the hot dry weather (often the hottest of the year) that they bring in the fall." So that's how it is right now. It also hasn't rained since.. before I got here, and that was 4 months ago! Here are some make-shift flower beds I saw outside one of the houses in the colonia:tires turned into little gardens in the colonia

This weekend I went to Colonia Antorcha (where we do our kids ministry, Circulo Andante, every week) where a team was building a house. One of the families from the Circulo was receiving a house, yeay! While the team was building, some of the kids from the community took some of the scrap pieces of wood and made me cute little 'block art.' And they wrote in English, how impressive!
Speaking of my beloved Colonia antorcha and our families from the Circulo, one of the moms gave me this bamboo! I put it in my office and am trying really hard for it not to die. Although, I also don't want it to grow too big because my office is rather small, so I'm caught in the middle. Either way, it was very sweet and I love it.
This is the same mom who we built a Homes of Hope house for a few weeks ago. I had commented to her that we were worried about where we were going to have the Circulo ministry during the winter/rainy season because right now we have it outside on a basketball court and the park next to it. She graciously offered to let us use the rest of her land (about half a lot after her house was built) to put up tarps or a tent or a small structure to have the Circulo there. So exciting! Not sure exactly what we will put there, but it was so kind of her to offer up what little she has to us and the kids in the community.

The space between the beige/brown house with all the people and the white shack on the right is hopefully where we will be able to have some of the Circulo activites during the winter.

I absolutely love working with my kids at the Circulo. I teach the 3 & 4th graders and we go to this same colonia twice a week and teach them math and reading. Recently I told my kids we were going to have a little test, and I had brought used paper from the base for them to write their answers on. Although I handed it to them with the blank side up, many of them flipped it over and freaked out telling me, "but it's in English!!!" hahaha I asked them to write their name, age, birthday and where they were born. Many of the kids were not born in Tijuana, but in other parts of Mexico, and one girl even told me she was born "en el otro lado"/on the other side - AKA the U.S. It's interesting about the border culture, everyone uses that phrase here, "the other side" to talk about the U.S. side of the border. I hardly ever hear anyone say "America" or "the United States." Everyone just knows what you're talking about when you talk about "el otro lado"...

They also wrote down their favorite color, subject in school (although not all my kids can go to school because they dont have enough money and you have to pay to go to school in Mexico, buying books, uniforms, etc). Another question was what their favorite activity is to do in their free time: most said play tag or hide and seek or jumprope or read or watch tv (although we had a discussion about whether or not watching tv is actually an 'activity' or just resting, as one of my boys thought). Finally, I had them tell me what they wanted to be when they grew up: teachers and veterinarians won by a landslide. My kids also figured out today that I speak English, when I got frustrated they weren't paying attention and starting scolding them in English. They looked shocked and said, "You speak ENGLISH?" I took it as a compliment, that these 8 and 9 year olds actually thought I was a native spanish speaker. I gotta take what I can get. :)Karinn, Juan Francisco, Dulce, Andrea and Raquel from my class in Circulo Andante

Bringing Chicago Fall to Mexico

2009-10-16T09:58:00.000-07:00

Fall is upon us! It's getting chilly, there's pumpkin-flavored food and drinks in the stores, people are putting out there Halloween decorations, and my family is starting to talk about Christmas lists (already?!) I had the chance to return home from Mexico over Columbus day weekend, and I realized how beautiful fall is in my city! Leaves changing from green to yellow, orange and red and covering the ground is such a difference from where I live in Mexico, where it hasn't rained in months and everything is brown and dead. Here's a picture of the street where I live in Elmhurst, IL.

While I was home, I was so privileged to speak at a missions conference at my church. I shared about building houses in the colonias and teaching math and reading to the kids there. The more I shared about my ministry, the more I thought bout how much I couldn't wait to get back! I wanted to think of something special to bring to the kids I teach to share with them about where I live. The changing colors of fall were so apparent everywhere, I thought they would love to enjoy them as well!

Collecting leaves at the Prairie Path in Elmhurst to bring to the kids in Mexico

Well it turns out I was right, the kids LOVED the leaves I brought to them! First, I read them a kids picture book about Chicago and they thought it was so cool to see tall buildings, the polar bear from the Lincoln Park zoo, the football field (our kind of football, not mexican futbol/soccer) and the aquarium next to Lake Michigan. They also pointed out that our planetarium looks just like the IMAX theater that is in downtown Tijuana.

Then I moved on to talk about the 4 different seasons and asked them about what happens during each season. (By this time I had several of the moms listening in as well, as they also wanted to see what it was like in Chicago). The kids pretty much knew about the hot summers and the cold winters ("and it SNOWS!" one boy shouted out in amazement). But as far as fall and spring goes, they weren't really sure. Here in Tijuana, we pretty much just have the dry season and the rainy season and don't experience the extreme changes in weather like in Chicago.

So after I explained about snow melting and flowers sprouting up in the spring, I went on to tell them about our fall in Chicago. I had grabbed a few leaves that were still green with a little red/orange from the bag, and explained to them how they start green and eventually change color then fall off the tree to the ground. Then I handed out different color leaves to all the kids and they were A-MAZED. My 3rd and 4th graders in Mexico just loved when I handed them out the leaves I'd gathered from the trees in Chicago - something like they had never seen before!!! I also showed them the picture of the tree I got them off of and they thought that was pretty awesome too.

Even the moms wanted to get in and see the colorful fall leaves I had brought from my hometown. It was such a great day, getting able to share with the kids that I love about my home that I love. Also exposing them to something completely new to them was fun to watch how they reacted.

Here with some helpers from the LA DTS, all my kids got to take colorful leaves - a little glimpse of Chicago - home to show their family and friends. What a great day in the colonia at Circulo Andante!

"There is a time for everything; a season for every activity under heaven" ~Ecclesiastes 3:1

Homes of Hope - Defender Build, Sept '09

2009-10-08T11:54:00.001-07:00

Here are a few videos of one of our HOMES OF HOPE house builds. I was the translator and host for a great team, the company Defender based out of the midwest sent down a ton of their employees for the weekend. They worked hard and were able to build 4 houses in just 2 days, it was amazing!

We built this house for a single mom, Teresa, and her 4 children: Kevin, Xochitl, Nitzya and Alan. All of this kids attend our Walking Circle ministry in the colonia and it brought so much joy to my heart to know that they would soon have a nice and safe place to live in.

This video shows where they were living before we built them a house. I found out after I made this video that the man with the family wasn't the dad, but a neighbor who had moved out and was loaning the family his house to live in while they waited (5 months) to receive their Homes of Hope house.

I hope you'll take some time to watch these short videos and see what it's like to be a part of our Homes of Hope ministry in Tijuana, Mexico.

Homes of Hope - Defender Build Part 2

2009-10-08T11:40:00.001-07:00

Homes of Hope house build, a look at the neighborhood kids helping out, a beautiful view of value of community in Mexico

Homes of Hope - Part 3 (Circulo Andante Location)

2009-10-08T11:38:00.001-07:00

We were building many homes of Hope houses in the same neighborhood where we do our Circulo Andante/Walking Circle ministry.

Homes of Hope - Defender Build, Part 4

2009-10-08T11:36:00.001-07:00

Day 2 of our Homes of Hope build - check out all of our progress.

Homes of Hope - Defender Build, One week later

2009-10-08T11:34:00.001-07:00

Returning to the house we built, you can see how the family is all moved in now.

New things happening in TJ...

2009-10-07T23:46:00.000-07:00

So that you don't think that my blog has just turned into a photo album for my niece (although really, who WOULDN'T want to look at that all day? :) ) I decided to do an update about my life here in Tijuana. The base is going through lots of changes and lots of new things have come my way.

New Plans

It’s official! As of September 22, I have become a full-time missionary with Youth With A Mission (YWAM) San Diego/Baja. I have signed a 2 year contract with this base and look forward to the exciting adventures I will have as a missionary in Mexico in the upcoming years.

When I arrived at the YWAM Tijuana base in June, I was anxiously preparing to staff the Discipleship Training School (DTS), scheduled to start in September. Then just a few days the students arrival date, the school was cancelled and our students were transferred to our sister base in Ensenada, Mexico. I was left disappointed, but also wondering what God had in mind for me and for our base for the next couple of months.

“Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.” Proverbs 19:21

New Schools

With the Fall DTS cancelled, I was given the option to take one of YWAM’s secondary schools. This month, we have launched the School of Ministry Development (SOMD) at our base in Tijuana, the first time this course has been taught outside of the U.S. The SOMD is an accredited course through YWAM’s University of Nations and focuses on developing effective ministry leaders led by God who can bring transformation in different spheres of society. I will be a student of the School of Ministry Development for the next 3 months, and am excited to develop my strengths and gifts as a leader and being challenged to “dream big” and trust God for direction in my ministry.

Along with being an SOMD student, another “hat” I will be wearing for the next 3 months is working as the Administrative Assistant for the upcoming January Discipleship Training School. This will be the first Winter DTS held at our base in Tijuana and I am working closely with the school director to plan this 5-month school.

New Opportunities

Searching for a chance to get out of the office and classroom and get into the community, I started volunteering with Círculo Andante, or the Walking Circle. This new ministry at YWAM Tijuana began in May in in a nearby colonia (neighborhood) as a way to follow up with families that had received a house from our Homes of Hope program. Since then, it has grown to include over 30 children in the colonia, learning math and reading twice a week. ! teach the 3rd and 4th graders, but have fallen in love with all of the children in the colonia, and pray that God will continue to use me to impact this community for His glory.

Baby Faith, one week old

2009-10-07T22:54:00.000-07:00

So, my beautiful niece is now one week old :) Here's a few pictures of her first week of life...

one week ago, she was inside Sara's belly, and now she's here with us!

look at that belly!

So cute on her side

So tiny...

Daddy giving her her first bottle - I can't tell who is happier!

I love this face!

Daddy and Bentley are both very protective of her

In her bassinet, the same one my sister and I slept in when we were babies

Please mommy, no more pictures! Let me sleep!

Faith Keeley Wells, my beautiful niece

2009-09-28T11:13:00.000-07:00

Faith Keeley Wells, day 2

Faith is Sara's and my mom's middle name, also the name of our grandma that passed away many years ago.
Keeley means "Beautiful" in gaelic and is Lance's middle name and his mom's maden name.

So alert!

"I want my Auntie Susie!"

Back to sleep...zzzzzzzzz

I asked Sara to take pictures of the baby from different angles so we could see all of her from all of her adorable sides. :)

baby's hair - looks dark like Sara's but she says is more of a dirty blonde like Lance's

baby's ears (Sara's favorite part :) )

baby's feet - so tiny and cute!

inside the hospital room - she's so tiny, can you spot her?

Flowers and balloons for the Wells family

Proud Parents - Lance and Sara

Daddy's little girl

Mommy's little angel

Day 3 - Ready to go home!

I gave Sara this outfit for Mother's Day this year "I'm Mommy's Dream Come True"
She's so small, but it still fits her!

She looks even tinier inside her carseat

Safe at her new home, she meets her BIG brother, Bentley :) (I think his head is as big as her whole body!)

Can't wait to meet her!!!

I'M AN AUNT!!!

2009-09-26T10:53:00.000-07:00

She's finally here!!!

My beautiful niece!!!
The most beautiful baby in the whole world!!!

Born Friday, September 25, 2009
2:54pm
7 lbs, 21 inches

First family photo

A North Carolina baby

She has a butt chin like here daddy :)

Working together to swaddle her

All cozy at the hospital

Newest member of the Wells family!

Mommy's Little Angel

Daddy's Girl already :)

Beautiful Wells family!
Sara, Lance and baby Wells (no name as of today)

Jose el Sonador in Tijuana - "Coat of Many Colors"

2009-09-23T17:40:00.001-07:00

Here's a video from the musical that I saw, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor dreamcoat in spanish, here at a local theater in Tijuana, Mexico

Joseph & his technicolor coat - in Spanish!

2009-09-22T17:59:00.000-07:00

Last week, I had so much fun going to see a local production of Joseph and Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat in spanish at a theater in Tijuana. In spanish, it's called "Jose el Sonador" or Joseph the Dreamer. It was a great play, the director was a professional and the actors were high school students. They lip-synched, and the translation was very good, along with the same music from the original.

15 of us staff from the base went, and all of the profits went to benefit a local church that one of my friend's attends. The ticket was just 50 pesos (less than $5 US), I couldn't believe it considering how much it used to cost mom and I to go to downtown Chicago to see the production when I was young :)

One of my favorite musicals, it was such a treat to see it in Spanish, with all my friends down here in Mexico.

Shamu Show at Sea World San Diego

2009-09-17T12:20:00.001-07:00

Hurricane Jimena and its Effects

2009-09-10T12:29:00.000-07:00

Many of you have been asking me about the hurricane that recently passed through Baja California, Mexico. Thankfully, none of us here in Tijuana were affected by the storm.

However, the southern part of the Baja Peninsula was hit very hard, some people losing there homes and all of their belongings from the storm and flooding that followed. Many schools and businesses have been closed and the government has declared the state of Baja California Sur in a state of emergency.

Some of our YWAM staff at our base in Tijuana and the base in Ensenada have their hometowns in the area affected by the hurricane. We are organizing a trip and sending some of our staff to help with the Hurricane relief effort.

If you would like to donate funds, canned food, clothes, or other supplies, please send any donations ASAP to:

YWAM San Diego/Baja
Hurricane Jimena Relief
100 W. 35th St. Suite C
National City, CA 91950

While I will not be personally traveling to Baja CA Sur to help with the relief effort, but as a part of the YWAM San Diego/Baja community and resident of Mexico, I am asking for your prayers, support and donations to help those affected by Hurricane Jimena. Thank you!!!

Turning 25 with Shamu!

2009-09-07T11:58:00.000-07:00

So on September 5th, I turned 25 years old! Made it to half a century- whoo hoo!!!

Thanks to Mom, I got the chance to go to Sea World in San Diego with Johny to celebrate. And we had SO MUCH FUN!!! Here's some picture of our day's adventures...

Whales! Ballenas!

(why can't this be my job?)

Sea Lions! Lobos Marinos!

Manatees! Manatis!

SHARKS! TIBURONES!

(got a little scared walking through the tunnel with sharks swimming all around me!)

Dolphins! Delfines!

(Biggest disappointment - the Penguin habitat... my favorite animal, of course, and they had over 100 penguins, but the display was so dark (trying to simulate summer in Antarctica or something), you could barely see them and i couldnt get a picture of them at all, boooo.)

All in all it was a fantastic way to celebrate my birthday. Hopefully we will be able to go back again soon!!!

GO Conference in Ensenada

2009-09-03T14:11:00.000-07:00

This week we are in Ensenada, actually not just us - all of the staff of YWAM San Diego/Baja! This week we are having a GO TEAM conference, learning about support team development - the Biblical basis for support raising, having good communication with people back home, making a budget, writing newsletters, updating blogs, and more.

During the week, they had me scheduled to translate for one of the sessions... I was so nervous because there were more than 100 people at this conference! But afterwards everyone told me I did a good job, and they even got a good laugh when I unconciously threw some Mexican slang into my translation. :)

Click here to see the recording of me translating at the conference.
(It's pretty long, you don't have to watch the whole thing!)

I am leaving this conference feeling confident, as a translator and also as a support-raising missionary! For those who have given financially to my ministry, THANK YOU!!! Because you have sent me, I am able to go and then people can know about the love that God has for them. I am so grateful for your support!!

If you would like to make a quick, secure online donation to my ministry in Tijuana, CLICK HERE!!

"He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?" ~Romans 8:32

Love to All Generations

2009-09-01T16:16:00.000-07:00

Summer is officially over at YWAM Tijuana! We had a great final two weeks of our Mission Adventures program. The last English-speaking team was from Canada. They split into two teams, a building team and a VBS team. The building team went out to one of the colonias and built a beauty salon for a Christian family so that they can have an income for their family. I went out with the Vacation Bible School team to a local church in Tijuana and we had 180 people show up, it was amazing!! I got the be the MC of the event, which was a little nervewracking with all those people and me speaking spanish, but really we had tons of fun, dancing, singing, watching dramas and listening to Bible stories. I made sure to ask the kids questsions about the stories, to make sure they paid attention...After our whole group session in the sanctuary, we split the kids into smaller classes by age and did crafts and other activities and teachings with them.We had so many people on the team, they didn't need me to help out in the classes, so I looked for something else to keep me busy...They had a sunday school class for the moms that were there as well, so I asked one of the moms if I could watch her toddler during her class, she was happy to have some help, I felt blessed to be able to take care of this little princess.
Also, one afternoon I went with the team to visit a nursing home in the colonia. This elderly community was started by someone in YWAM and is funded just by donations, so resources were scarce. Honestly, it was a very dirty place, and flies were swarming everywhere, some even resting on the residents there who were still covered in food from their lunch. All of the elderly folks were sitting out side in chairs or wheelchairs, some talking to one another, others crying, others yelling obscenities, it was quite a scene. Many of the Canadian youth were a little freaked out and didn't know how to act there, but I encouraged them just to love them and to interact with them however they could, even if it made them a little uncomfortable. Some had brought razors and soap and starting shaving the men there. Others took advantage of some nail clippers they brought and started clipping toes and fingernails. Others simple just got a bucket and began washing people's hands and feet. What started as an unpleasant and even a repulsive scene, turned into something beautiful when all stereotypes and judgments were set aside and the love of Jesus reigned above all things.

"Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." ~Mark 10:43-45

As the team was occupied doing those things, I tried to decide how I could minister to them in another special way. As my eyes scanned the courtyard, I just felt a spirit of loneliness over that place. Many of the people there had been abandoned by their families and left there, or brought there from off of the street where they lived homeless. (Elderly in Mexico usually live with their families and retirement homes are much less common than in the States). Click here to read more about nursing homes in Mexico.

I decided to approach them, one by one, shake their hand, look into their eyes, smile and tell them "Buenas tardes, Dios te bendiga" (Good afternoon, God bless you). I got many different reactions - some held on to my hand not wanting to let go and pulling me in closer, others began a conversation with me (some even spoke english!) and shared with me a small part of their life story, others just continued yelling or crying as they were before, and a few asked if I could pray for them. It was something really beautiful - their frowns turned to smiles, there loneliness dissipated and joy entered into their lives again - even if just for a brief moment.After a while, the youth performed a drama and song for them, which the elderly folks watched with enthusiasm, happy to have something to entertain them for a little bit that afternoon. As we prepared to leave, I walked around the courtyard once again, in the same manner - holding their hands, smiling and looking into their eyes - and told them "Adios, Dios te bendiga"(Goodbye, God bless you). When they squeezed my hand and smiled back, it touched my heart in such a different way than doing a VBS does. No dancing or shouting or jumping for the joy of the Lord, like with the kids - just a precious act of love, flowing from a heart surrendered to loving the way Jesus did.

"The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners...to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion— to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. "
~Isaiah 61:1-3

Tijuana DTS Promo

2009-08-20T17:36:00.001-07:00

Just one month until DTS starts here at the base in Tijuana. Check out this awesome video about the DTS here, including videos, photos, and testimonies from students from the last school. I love this video, it really shares the heart of what this school is all about. I'm getting so excited for the students to come on September 26th!!!

GO Team to Mexicali

2009-08-12T12:30:00.000-07:00

As a way to promote YWAM's Discipleship Training School (DTS) and recruit students for the Fall and Winter schools, our staff went as a GO team to visit churches and youth groups in another part of Baja. We left on Friday and drove about 3 hours to Mexicali, the capital of the Mexican state of Baja California Norte (quick geography lesson: the Baja peninsula is separated into two mexican states- Baja California Norte (north) and Baja California Sur (south)). We drove through mountains and desert to get to this huge city. These videos show part of our road trip...

Driving along through the mountains east towards Mexicali

Making a stop on our scenic drive to check out the desert we are about to enter

We also spent some time in a town called, San Luis Rio Colorado, which is in the Mexican state of Sonora (just south of Yuma, Arizona). This means now I've been to 12 of the 31 Mexican states and to the capital as well. :)

Our first night in Mexicali, we visited 2 megachurches there, with hundreds of youth at each church. But in Mexicali, they don't know anything about our organization, and so we spent some time talking to the pastors about YWAM, but mostly just got rejected, with them telling us that they already had opportunities for their youth to serve within their own church. They also said we would have to come back and talk to them alot more about YWAM if we were going to be able to present at one of their services. So we were kinda bummed out about that, but we knew that we were there for a purpose. So we prayed and just asked God to give us a new strategy for sharing with the city about YWAM and DTS.

The next day we spent driving around Mexicali, visiting Christian bookstores, asking them to put up our promo posters in their stores. We also drove around the neighborhoods looking for smaller churches and put our promo cards in their mailboxes. At night we had the great privilege of presenting our promo video and speaking at a Pentecostal church in Mexicali. The pastora (female pastor) was very welcoming and so happy to let us share with her church about our school and the opportunities we have for young people in missions. One of the things that YWAM Tijuana is really focusing on is bringing more nationals into the organization - we want to empower Mexicans to reach their own people and also to go into the nations with the Gospel message. That night we had several young people approach us afterwards and ask for more information and applications for the school. We even got to pray with a guy and his family as they have decided together to have him come do the DTS in September. This church was so inviting that they asked us to come back Sunday night to present everything again, in case there were different people there the next night!!

A word about the food in Mexicali - so as I may have shared before, its very rude here to refuse food that is offered to you, especially if it was made by the person offering it. So after the church service on Saturday night there was a woman selling these cucumbers, but not just any cucumbers, cucumbers filled with some kind of hot chile salsa. And as the 'honored' guests, we were given them as snacks to eat after the service. Now, there were not small cucumbers, they were big, how was I supposed to eat an entire cucumber, plus having it full of hot salsa?! It was so slimy and messy and like nothing I had ever eaten before (which makes sense because she told me that she had 'invented' this snack).

Lorena and I with our chile-stuffed cucumbers

We also at a lot of Chinese restaurants in Mexicali. Mexicali has the largest population of Chinese people in Mexico, so there are a ton of chinese restaurants. Too bad I dont like Chinese food, but the rest of our team did. It was more like Chinese food with a Mexican flare anyway...

Rob, our DTS director, eating chinese food with salsa habanera that claimed it came from the "hottest chiles in the world"

Ok so on Sunday, we were in San Luis, Sonora and had the privilege of speaking at 4 church services. We had so many invitations to present abou the DTS that we had to split our group in half to go to different churches in order to meet all of our committments. We went to churches of all different denominations and sizes. We were very well received at all the churches and had the chance to talk to many of the youth at each church about the DTS.

Amy and Sergio (right) sharing information about DTS with the youth of a church in San Luis

Oh, did I mention that it got to over 110 degrees farenheit there? Yes, that was very... special. Luckily, the place we were staying at had A/C, as did most of the churches. But seriously, as soon as we stepped out of the Air conditioned van, it was like walking into a sauna. But overall, it was a wonderful trip, and we were able to make lots of connections and hopefully will be able to go back there soon, as well as see the fruit of our labor with lots of Mexicans in the upcoming DTS!!

"A voice of one calling: "In the desert prepare the way for the LORD;
make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God.
Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low;
the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain.
And the glory of the LORD will be revealed, and all mankind together will see it.
For the mouth of the LORD has spoken."
~Isaiah 40: 3-5~

DTS News

2009-08-06T13:48:00.000-07:00

It's August already!? Wow, can't believe it. When I first got to Mexico, the time went by very slowly, and now I feel like it just won't slow down! I've been here for 7 weeks now and full of craziness. As you probably know, my main job here at YWAM Tijuana is DTS staff. DTS stands for Discipleship Training School and a school for missionaries and the basic training you need to be on staff with Youth With A Mission (YWAM). I just completed my DTS last February in Ensenada. Now I will be working with the DTS here in Tijuana that begins in September. Before September felt like a long way away, but now I realize the start of the school is coming up quickly!

A few weeks ago, we had DTS staff training here at the Tijuana base. Rob is a really cool Canadian guy who is our school's director and he and his wife talked to us all about what it means to lead a DTS. Part of the school involves lectures, but us staff don't participate in those (other than listening intently to the speakers and maybe translating). But what we do participate in is everything else - small groups/bible studies, workshops, work duties, language classes, local outreaches, prayer sessions, outreach preparation, one-on-one meetings, and so much more!!! Most of our staff just finished their DTS so we know we love DTS and are excited about it, but we have alot to learn about what goes into running a Discipleship Training School.

Our staff is made of of 10 people from 4 different nations, 5 girls and 5 guys.

Rob (our director), Laurena, Brodie - Canada
Johny and Sergio - Mexico
Elsi - Colombia
Amy, Brooke, Andy, and me - USA

I'm really excited to have such a multicultural group as staff, people from different countries, different ages, and different life experiences. I have really enjoyed the last few weeks being able to get to know everybody a lot more here. I'm the "new girl", since everyone else on base has been serving in Tijuana (TJ) for a while, or just finished their DTS in Tijuana in February (when I did). All in all, I'm really like the community aspect here and feel like I am really going to enjoy being a part of the TJ family here at the base.

We also just learned that we will be holding another DTS in TJ in January!! So now we have to plan 2 schools (at once!) and all figure out what our roles will be in each school. Exciting!!!

Tijuana Border News

2009-07-15T13:04:00.000-07:00

I know many people have incorrect ideas about the U.S.-border here in Tijuana... maybe some people think that illegals are just walking across the border like we walk across the street.... or swimming across the river like we swim across the pool... it's definitely NOT like that. In fact, it's quite dangerous and hundreds of people die in their attempt every year. Below is a picture that I took when driving past the border in Tijuana - more like a memorial, than a border, there are hundreds of crosses on the border fence with names of those who died in their attempt to find hope and a better life "on the other side" (as they call it here)...

I also wanted to share some news articles from signonsandiego.com about advances they are making in border control.

53-foot Tunnel Equipped with Lights

UNION-TRIBUNE
Originally published 8:07 p.m. July 2, 2009, updated 9:38 a.m., July 3, 2009

U.S. law enforcement agents investigating an incomplete cross-border tunnel west of the San Ysidro border crossing report that they have found a 53-foot passageway shored up with plywood and equipped with battery-powered lights.

The unearthed stretch was reached Thursday by officers from the Border Patrol and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said Lauren Mack, an ICE spokeswoman in San Diego. The tunnel is east of Smugglers Gulch.

The tunnel's builders entered through a manhole near the border fence in Mexico and crawled through 700 feet of sewer drain, on both sides of the border, Mack said.

The U.S. agents found an exit to the tunnel covered with an old sofa cushion within the compound of the South Bay International Wastewater Treatment Plant.

Law enforcement officials believe the tunnel was being built to smuggle humans and drugs.

http://www3.signonsandiego.com/stories/2009/jul/02/bn02tunnel-53-feet/?tijuana&zIndex=126139

Officials Celebrate Patching of Notorious Gap in Border

By Leslie Berestein, Union-Tribune Staff Writer, 2:00 a.m. July 7, 2009

An estimated 1.5‚million cubic yards of earth fill most of the canyon known as Smuggler's Gulch near the international border. A secondary fence of steel mesh lines the berm. (John R. McCutchen / Union-Tribune) -

After years of legal wrangling and tens of millions of dollars spent, federal officials gathered yesterday to celebrate the completion of a costly and controversial stretch of border fence.

Border Patrol officials held a ribbon-cutting ceremony atop an earthen berm spanning a canyon near the Pacific Ocean known as Smuggler's Gulch, at one time a steep area that was considered dangerous to patrol.

The construction project, begun last year and completed at the end of May,
required contractors to move roughly 1.5 million cubic yards of earth from surrounding hillsides, essentially filling in part of the canyon. A secondary fence of steel mesh now spans the canyon atop the berm, flanked by paved roads. An older fence sits to the south on the canyon floor.

Two decades ago, when the first fence was built, the area was rife with human- and drug-smuggling. Border enforcement efforts in the mid-1990s prompted a steep decline in arrests within the Border Patrol's San Diego sector, as smugglers moved east. However, proponents continued to push for the fence in part because it would make the area easier to patrol.

“It still took a huge number of Border Patrol,” said retired congressman Duncan L. Hunter, a longtime proponent of the fence who cut the ribbon yesterday. “The fence allows you to man the border with fewer people.”

Joshua Gough, the agent in charge of the agency's Imperial Beach station, said it would typically require five agents to oversee the canyon, where now “around 1.5” will suffice. He said that before construction began there were about 35 illegal entry attempts a month in the area, but the number has dropped significantly.

The Smuggler's Gulch contract was awarded to Omaha, Neb.-based Kiewit Corp. for $48.6 million. It was part of a $59 million contract to complete about 3½ miles of secondary fence across the canyon, in nearby Border Field State Park and in surrounding areas, according to the Border Patrol.

A 700-foot stretch of fence west of the gulch has yet to be completed, in part because the agency has encountered obstacles to building in an area known as Bunker Hill, where historic World War II-era military bunkers are located.

The gulch project met with stiff opposition. In February 2004, a lawsuit was filed against the federal government by environmental organizations, including the Sierra Club and the San Diego Audubon Society, with plaintiffs arguing there would be sediment damage to the Tijuana River Estuary.

In 2005, Congress passed legislation enabling the Department of Homeland Security to waive all laws standing in the way of building the fence. The environmental lawsuit was dismissed in December of that year.

Criticism of the project has continued, especially after a storm last fall that produced about 1.14 inches of rain flooded the river valley, leaving what some farmers and ranchers said was an unusual amount of mud.

“I think that what people experienced during that rain event was a direct consequence of the lack of best management practices,” said Oscar Romo, a UCSD researcher who coordinates the Tijuana River National Estuarine Research Reserve's coastal training program.

Yesterday, Kiewit area manager Mike Lowe said there had been erosion during the storm, but that “it was a hundred-year storm event an act of God.”

The berm has been installed with erosion-control measures including straw bales, Lowe said, and has been seeded with native grasses.

http://www3.signonsandiego.com/stories/2009/jul/07/officials-celebrate-patching-notorious-gap-border/?tijuana&zIndex=127860

Ok, that's it for now - consider yourself informed!!

Surprising....

2009-07-03T11:09:00.000-07:00

So I realized today that I have spent more time in Mexico than anywhere else in the world (other than my home in Illinois). whoa. I've been working here with YWAM Tijuana for 2 weeks now, and I have had a few things that have surprised me...

how the only things within walking distance from my house are an OXXO (Mexico's version of 7-11), a bakery, and a bar
how the brand new town house that all the girls live in can have leaks, mold and ant infestations already....
how with enough help from actual Mexicans, I can convince the man at the gas station that I too am Mexican. :)
how it's July and it barely gets above 70 degrees Fahrenheit here

The transition has been awkwardly difficult... I find myself wanting to eat food that I'm used to, go shopping at Walmart, drive my own car, and be able to drive to the next town without having to explain myself to men with machine guns. And I mean, not have to share a room/bathroom/kitchen/Everything with 6 other girls wouldn't be so bad either. But oh well, adjusting is just that - taking time to adjust to new surroundings. New friends, new opportunities, new responsibilities, new everything! I'm excited to be settling into my new life here, I know it will just take some time...

"Do not call to mind the former things, or ponder things of the past. Behold, I will do something new. Now it will spring forth; will you not be aware of it?" ~Isaiah 43:18-19

Routine Military Checkpoint

2009-06-29T09:11:00.000-07:00

Because there is a lot of drug traffiking going on right now in Baja, the military has set up checkpoint along the major highway where you have to stop and tell them who you are and where you're from and where you're going, etc. They also sometimes do a search of your car. Because we were bringing a bunch of sound equipment back from our trip to San Quintin, we got stopped and the soldiers searched our car. This is not the noteworthy thing, but instead the best part is what the people in the car in front of us got stopped for....

let's just say they had a good time freaking out the gringa with their giant snow crab... and the back of their pick up was Full of them!

Another interesting encounter I had at one of these military stops was in one of our 12-passenger YWAM vans. A motley crew full of YWAMers - germans, mexicans, americans, canadians - we got stopped, asked the routine questions about where we were and where we were going, then the soldier went around to the side door, opened it and asked, "are you guys all Family?" we all burst out laughing, thinking, "he's gotta be kidding!" our driver just calmly responded - "yes, the family of God." :)

"Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring..." Proverbs 27:1

Ministry in San Quintin

2009-06-26T11:47:00.000-07:00

Well, I was barely unpacked before I had to re-pack for a 3 day trip to the little town of San Quintin. We arrived in San Quintin after 3 hours of driving through the mountains of Baja...on the way we passed through vineyards and strawberry fields!

On the first night in San Quintin, we had a missions conference for the youth in the community, and they showed up in BUSES to come! over one hundred youth from San Quintin and the surrounding community showed up to worship God, hear about missions, and learn what they could do to serve the Lord in their community.

waiting for the church service to start, I made some friends and we had a little nail painting party.

The next day we went to a colonia (small neighborhood) outside the town and handed out tarps to the families there. Some of their homes had leaky roofs and we put the tarps over the roof, and some were just in need of some shade around their home. We also did some kids activities in the afternoon. Here are some favorite faces from the afternoon...

At night we had another church service with all of the youth, which was completely led by them - music, dramas, everything. At YWAM,we have a ministry called JuCUM Teens, which is a youth group for teens in the Tijuana area. They all come together and use their talents to reach out to the other youth in their community. Some of the kids did dramas, another performed a mime, others sang raps and break danced. The aim was to show the youth that whatever their talent was - whatever they had to give - they could use it to bless others and serve God. Through faith, if we give a little, God can multiply it into A LOT!

When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, "Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?" Philip answered him, "Eight months' wages would not buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!" Another of his disciples, Andrew, spoke up, "Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?"Jesus said, "Have the people sit down." The men sat down, about five thousand of them. Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish. When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, "Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted." So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten.
~John 6~

Made it to Mexico

2009-06-22T10:52:00.000-07:00

Hello!! Hola!!

So I'm writing to you from Mexico!!! Yeay!! I Finally made it....Friday was probably the worst travel day of my life - delays, cancellations, rebooking, more delays, running through the airport, losing my purse, losing my luggage....it was almost too much to handle. ALMOST. But getting to the border and seeing the "Welcome to Mexico" sign made it all worth it. :)

I was happy to see all of my friends from YWAM here in Mexico again - Lizzie and Danae from my DTS now work at the base in Ensenada. Also I was glad to see and catch up with the other full time staff in Ensenada. Just to clarify, I'm living and working at the base in Tijuana. I dnt know the people there as well, but we're all friends and the girls i'm living with all seem to get along really well. Also, there are 2 girls from IWU that are also here at the YWAM bases, so I was excited to see them. Sam Pierz is doing her DTS in Tecate, and we got to hang out this weekend and catch up on life, and I loved seeing her as well.

I sort of unpacked some of my suitcases (once they were found again). I am living in a town house alittle off of the base, becasue the staff housing on the base is not built yet. we have 5 girls living i nthe house, 2 more to come. there will be 4 of us in my room, one bathroom and one walk in closet - wheeeew. it should be ok though because I went to the Container store before I left (which no one knows what that is here, americans included, hahaha) so I have all my stuff pretty well organized. I unpacked, only to have to repack again to go to another town this week. Some of the staff from Tijuana are going to a small town about 3 hours away to do some ministry and talk to the youth there about YWAM and the Discipleship Training School (DTS) we are doing i nthe fall. We wil be there until Wednesday. I'm alittle sad that I didnt get to settle in more before having to leave again, but happy to already be out doing ministry. No need to rest, as we always said in college, "You can sleep when you're dead!!" hahaha

I'll try to post some pictures of where i'm living later this week. we dont have internet at my house so its not as convenient as I would like, but I will definitely keep updating.

as a reminder, you can send me mail whenever!! no cell phone though, so we have to do it the old fashioned way. :) here is my address:

Susie Walter
YWAM San Diego/Baja - Tijuana Base
100 W. 35th St, Suite C
National City, CA 91950

I'd love to hear from you!!!

"Look at the nations and watch— and be utterly amazed. For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told."
~Habakkuk 1:5

A quick recap...

2009-06-18T21:52:00.000-07:00

Not all who wander are lost... ~J.R.R. Tolkien

So I realize that I am very far behind in my blog, and new things just keep on happening! So right now I am going to do a quick recap, chronologically backwards...

June 18, 2009 (aka right now) Packing to return to Mexico -TOMORROW!!! (we'll come back to that ;-) )

June 14, 2009 Sara's Baby Shower- It was so great to have all of the family together to celebrate Sara's pregnancy and expecting her first baby, and It's A Girl!!! I'm SO EXCITED to be an AUNT!!!

June 6-12, 2009 Disney Cruise - my wonderful and talented cousin is making our (and every other little girls') dream come true as a Disney Princess on a Disney cruise ship! I drove down to florida with Rob and Maura (2 friends from IWU) and took a 4 day FREE cruise with Beth to the bahamas. it was AMAZING! she is fantastic, i cried as she came out as snow white and cinderella, *sigh* so many plays in her basement and in front of my christmas tree, and now this is her life!

May 2009 At home I spent a lot of time this month at home with my family, babysitting my cousins, or hanging at my best friend Lily's house.

Easter (April) 2009 North Carolina visiting Sara It was so fun to go see my sister! Mom and I drove down, then spent a week at her house. we shopped for baby furniture and other baby items mostly. I can't believe the next time I go to her house there will be a little baby in it too!!

End of March 2009 YWAM Veracruz I spent 2 weeks helping out at a new YWAM base that is starting out in the eastern Mexican state of Veracruz. The base has a connection with a local church there, and some of my friends asked me to come down and help run a Vacation Bible School for the kids at the church. They didnt have sunday school or anything for the kids, so we had a great time singing songs, playing games, and teaching bible stories with the kids there.

March 2 2009 Home from Mexico- Coming back to the US after being gone for 6 months was hard, maybe that's why I only stayed home for about two weeks before I left again...

End of February 2009 Carnaval and YWAM Mazatlan After my DTS finished, I spent 2 weeks in Mazatlan, a city on the western coast of Mexico. There I spent some time relaxing after an intense 5 months, and also serving at the YWAM base there. I was there during a time called Carnaval, its kinda like the Mexican version of Mardi gras - parades, floats, costumes, large amounts of food and even larger amounts of alcohol. During all the craziness, the YWAMers run a free beauty salon and cafe, with the intention of getting people off the streets and into a calmer, safer atmosphere. I really enjoyed my time in mazatlan, hopefully I'll be able to go back again next year.

February 13, 2009 DTS Graduation I was so sad having to say goodbye to all of the good friends I made during my DTS. I know that I will see some of them again back in Mexico soon, but my closest friends just happen to be from Germany and Japan... :-( I was sad to leave Ensenada, but know that I will be back soon enough this summer.

February 6, 2009 Back from Outreach After 2 months away, my team finally came back to Ensenada! Oh, how we missed being so close to the beach! During the week before graduation, we spent lots of time "debriefing" with our staff, talking about going home, and our plans for the future. During this week is when the YWAM base director in Ensenada asked me to come on staff for the next DTS, and I was very honored. But I felt like Tijuana was where I was supposed to go, so I spoke with the DTS staff there and they are ready to have me come back this summer to work on staff with them.

February 1-5, 2009 Ministry in Huitzitzilingo, Mexico This was our last location for our outreach, and by this time, everyone was pretty exhausted. however, this is the place that i was looking forward to the most for all of outreach. It was this tiny village up in the mountains surrounding Mexico city, a 4.5 hour windy drive to be exact. Some of the women from a local church cooked meals for us, I even got to learn how to make tortillas. They also speak an indigenous language there called Nahuatl. For example, "Nhu tuka Susie, Catiqui mu tuka?" is "my name is susie. what is your name?" I absolutely loved being there, and trying to learn some of this new language from spanish speakers, no english, hahaha One of my main jobs there was teaching an english class. now, we were the only white people there so even though we only invited a few kids (day one there were about 30), word spread quickly that we were offering free english classes and on the last day that week we had almost 100 kids! plus parents listening in :) This was by far my favorite week of outreach, even though I was exhausted at the end of each day, I knew that I had given my all, and then some, for the ministry that we were doing.

January 26-31 2009 Ministry in Mexico City This was one of the hardest ministries that I have ever done. We spent most of our time on the streets of Mexico city with the prosititutes and drug addicts. I think most of them couldnt really have cared less what we were trying to do, so that made the ministry extra hard. We handed out sandwiches to the druggies living on the streets, and flowers to the prositutes working the streets. We talked with them about the love of God and how nothing they could ever do would make God love them less. Some had never heard it said to them that God loved them, some had given up on God all together, but its my hope that during the time that we spent with them, they were able to see Jesus through us.

"No one has ever seen God, but if we love one another God lives in us and His love is made complete in us" 1 John 4:12

Well that catches you up on the wayward journeys of Susie Walter. Tomorrow I leave for Mexico, I'm going to work at the YWAM Tijuana base full time. More info to come..

Aztec Dances - Mexico City

2009-05-19T13:19:00.001-07:00

We caught these people doing traditional aztec dances in the Zocalo (main plaza) outside the cathedral in Mexico City

(as you can see, one man forgot his costume, hahaha)

Reflection on outreach...

2009-05-19T12:57:00.000-07:00

After being in Actopan, I think I started to see what this outreach is really supposed to be about... not us - but them, the people we are serving. I believe that the people in the church in Actopan were more satisfied and blessed by our being there than we were - and that's exactly how it should be. That is what made the week so fulfilling, I exhausted myself for their sake, and not my own.

I really want the next two weeks of Outreach to be the best of all of DTS. I talked to Kyoko one night about having no regrets during our time here. Because we are older than the rest of the people in our DTS, we feel like we can picture 3 months in the future and look back to the now amd see what we would be regretting after DTS is all over. I thought alot about...

how did I use my free time?
did I give my ALL in ministry?
did I take advantage of every opportunity to meet people and build relationships?
was I truly EXHAUSTED for the Lord every day?

There is definitely a team aspect to the DTS, but in the end, when I go home, the question is gonna be : what did I get from my DTS? what did I do during DTS that made this world a better place? We are each accountable for our own actions - how we work, play, talk, react, etc. I challenged my small group with this when we got back from Actopan, and we decided that we wanted to keep each other accountable and encourage each other to give our all during the rest of outreach, regardless of what other people around us are doing. I am not going to waste another moment...

my beautiful small group in Pachuca, Mexico

End of Outreach - Back to Mexico

2009-03-12T16:40:00.000-07:00

Our last part of DTS outreach was spent in central mexico, we stayed at the YWAM base in Pachuca, and then each week went to a different town to do ministry. 3 weeks doing ministry in 3 different towns... Actopan, Mexico City, and Huitzitzilingo.

Week 1 - Actopan

I translated ALOT!

Actopan is a tiny town in central Mexico with a centro (downtown) surrounded by lots of ranches. We slept on the floor of a church while we were there and every meal we had a feast provided by all the different familes in the church. They had never had a group of missionaries come to their church before and they were so kind and generous to us. In the Bible it says to keep on loving each other as brothers, do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it... they truly treated us like angels in that place. In Actopan, we did prayer walks, held church services, did dramas, and spent a lot of time with the youth of the church.

part of my team outside the church in Actopan with the youth

Sights of Peru

2009-03-12T09:18:00.000-07:00

Some pictures from my time at the orphanage in Peru...

Clownin' around at the orphanage in Peru

Guinea pigs - pets when they're little, food when they're big

At the end of our hike - we made it to the top of the Andes mountains!!

Harvesting beans - technology has not quite reached this part of the Andes yet

Here's when we took a hike up the Andes mountains - it was rough at times, but the view from the top was totally worth it!!

Market day in Peru
*warning: the last picture is completely gross!*

2 women ready to go to market - braids, top hats, and blankets strapped to their back, ready to go!

fruit galore!spice aisle

veggie stop

and last but not least... the meat market...

yes, those ARE what you think they are!

Peruvian Orphanage

2009-03-12T08:28:00.000-07:00

So I was pretty much AWFUL at updating this during my DTS in Mexico, but I'm going to try to catch it up to speed now...

During our time in Peru (back in January), we spent a week at an orphanage in the middle of the Andes mountains. Literally we could see a glacier from the dining hall! It was a beautiful view, and the kids were great too. Since most people when they go to an orphanage just want to play with babies, we decided we were going to focus our time on the teens. It turns out that the week we went there was "vacation week", meaning all the orphans that had some kind of family in Lima went to visit them, leaving us the kids that were truly alone in this world (God's timing to truly perfect).

Each day we had a group of about 15 teens and we did a "mini-DTS" for them, meaning we taught them about the things that we had learned about in our classes in Ensenada. I did most of the translating because the other girl that speaks spanish got really sick while we were there and couldn't get out of bed, so that was cool (me translating I mean, not her being bed-ridden). The kids were very quiet at first (Peruvians tend to be much shyer than Mexicans), but around the 3rd day, one of the girls in our group taught on worship, and how sharing your life story (your 'testimony') can be worship to God becaust it shows how he has used you during your life and also how he has given you the strength to overcome hard times. After that we asked the kids to each write their own testimony, which they had never done before. As we helped them recognize God working in their lives, we started to learn the situations that these kids were in before coming to the orphanage.... girls raped by their uncles, boys living on the streets in downtown Lima, one even shared that she had seen her father kill her mother before her very own eyes. Terrible terrible life situations, but Jesus had redeemed them all. God has given us free will, which means we all have the choice to make good or bad decisions, and our decisions will always affect other people as well. But the Bible tells us that God works together ALL things for the good of those who love him, and for these kids, it was being rescued from their life situation before and being put into this orphanage.

Below is a video of a hike we took around the orphanage. We were teaching the kids about how they are each a unique part of God's creation, and we thought it would be cool to let them take us on a hike to experience the rest of God's beautiful creation in that valley.

Peru - Outreach Part 2

2009-02-11T22:56:00.001-08:00

After starting our DTS outreach in Tecate, we flew to Peru for 3 weeks. The first 2 weeks we were in Cuzco, Peru, and 1 week at an orphanage in the middle of the Andes mountains. We arrived in Cuzco on New Year's Eve,but I didnt get to enjoy any of the festivities because I was extremely sick from the food and the altitude. After that, I was pretty much sick and in bed for most of my time in Cuzco, it was really sad. Since Cuzco is so high up in the Andes mountains (over 10,000 feet above sea level!), it is very common to get sick there and to experience weakness and vomiting like I did because the air is very thin and its hard to breath. Anyway, here are a few photos of Cuzco during those rare moments when I left the house...plaza San Blas in Cuzco, where our homestay was

shops in downtown Cuzco

Cathedral in the main plaza in downtown Cuzco

In addition to the altitude difference, the culture is really different in Peru as well. There is a strong Incan influence, the native group in Peru. Some people there speak Quechua, the native language in Peru. Their spanish accent is very different than in Mexico, and it took me a little bit to be able to catch on and understand everything. Cuzco is very very touristy because many people stop there on their way to Machu Pichu, so we met other Americans there. There is even a McDonald's in the main plaza. But I stayed away from it and tried to experience more of the Peruvian culture. The food is really different there, not the tacos we were used to Mexico. They actually dont eat tortillas at all in Peru. But they do eat alpaca (its like a llama) and Guinea pig. Guinea pig does NOT taste like chicken, it was actually kind of gross, I didnt like it, and I got sick the next morning. But I decided I would try the guinea pig anyway on the last night we were in Peru because, well I mean I had to, when else would I have the chance?

Christmas in Tecate, Mexico

2009-01-06T17:44:00.000-08:00

I'm sending you the happiest of (late) Christmas wishes right now from a internet cafe in Cuzco Peru... My team just arrived in Peru after spending 2 weeks ministering in Tecate, Mexico, where it was 65 degrees and sunny on Christmas, so at least because of that, I didnt miss the Chicago Christmas :)

In addition to the weather, I really enjoyed the ministry that we did in Tecate. To catch you up, I left Ensenada 3 weeks ago after finishing the "Lecture Phase" of my Discipleship Training School. My team began our ¨Outreach Phase¨of the DTS in Tecate Mexico, about 1 hour northeast of Ensenada, on the border with the US, for 2 weeks.

The past two weeks in Tecate we have been doing several different kinds of ministries: visiting nursing homes, praying for the sick in hospitals, leading church services, painting and other work projects, hanging out at an all-boys orphanage, handing out hot chocolate and LOTS of kids programs. About once a day, I found myself in a clown costume, doing a drama, singing spanish songs about Jesus and telling the christmas story to cute mexican children :)

Our last weekend in Tecate, we split our team into pairs and each stayed with a mexican family from the church we had been working at. My friend and I were with the pastor and his family. They lived in, well you can't really even call it a house... there was a little part with 2 bedrooms, concrete for the floor and plywood for the walls. They had no bathroom or running water, just a hole surrounded by a curtain and a bucket to shower with. It got below 40 degrees at night and we froze, both inside and outside.
I thank God that one of the daughter's gave up their bed for us and so we had lots of blankets to sleep with and we cuddled enough to keep ourselves warm. During my time with this family, I recognized the great sacrifice that this family is making to serve God as pastors in this community. This family lives with the joy of the Lord in their hearts, willingly welcoming us into their home and then including us as one of their own. They really dont have any material possessions to keep themselves occupied - no tv, dvd, videogames, etc - but they find joy in spending quality time together, laughing over meals and continuing in sharing stories long after they've finished. Each cares for one another, the pastor's wife always cooks food for her 11 person family (plus us this weekend) and waits for them all to finish to make sure they've all eaten enough before she even makes herself a plate. All the way down to the 12 year old son, who is always looking out for his 2 and 3 years old nephews. Although I wasn't able to feel my fingers or toes for the 2 days I was there (seriously, they went numb!), the love that I saw and experienced in that family warmed my heart and soul.

Brian and Kevin, the pastor´s grandkids and my new friends

This Christmas, I celebrated in Mexico with my new friends from around the globe: Canadians, Germans, Japanese, Indian, and of course Mexicans and Americans. On Christmas Eve, we had a traditional Mexican Christmas dinner, complete with tamales and champurrado (thick hot chocolate made with flour). Then we had a pinata, ate lots of candy, and stayed up until midnight to open our presents :) On Christmas morning, we sang christmas carols, opened presents from our secret santa and had an american christmas feast, with ham and christmas cookies included.

Gordana (germany), Joseph (India) and me

For more pictures of my time in Tecate, Mexico, CLICK HERE

For more pictures of my Christmas in Mexico, CLICK HERE

I hope you had a very Feliz Navidad :) And I wish you a very blessed New Year!

Thanksgiving in Mexico

2008-12-02T22:07:00.001-08:00

Although they don't officially celebrate Thanksgiving in Mexico, we still had a thanksgiving dinner at the YWAM base here in Ensenada. Very traditional - turkey, stuffing, pumpkin pie, the works. And it was a very international event - I ate thanksgiving dinner with a German, a Canadian, a Norwegian, and a Romanian/new American (Lily just became an American citizen before she came to visit me!)... it was very cool. I missed you all, and hope you had a great day with lots to be thankful for. Love you!

Homes of Hope - Ensenada

2008-11-24T15:01:00.001-08:00

This weekend I served a translator for a Homes of Hope team, it was wonderful because I got to spend my time building a relationship with the family and I loved it, here is a peek at our build site (below are the English words to the song the girls are singing - so cute!)

Habia un sapo (sapo, sapo), que nadaba en el rio (rio, rio), en su traje verde (verde, verde) y temblaba de frio (frio, frio)
Su mama la sapa (sapa, sapa) siempre le decia (cia, cia) que tenia un amigo (amigo, amigo) que se llama JESUS!
There was a toad, who swam in the river, in a green suit, and shivered from the cold
His mom the toad, always told him, that he had a friend, whose name is JESUS!

Also, CLICK HERE to more pictures from the build, and see me learning to cook Mexican food!!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2040635&l=578e3&id=41603236

Homes of Hope in Tijuana

2008-10-27T19:40:00.000-07:00

Check out this video of my Discipleship Training school building a house for a needy family in Tijuana. We finished in just two days!

Here are some pictures of our build...