Ignorance would have been bliss...

...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

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

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

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

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)

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

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

Homes of Hope - Defender Build, One week later

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

New things happening in TJ...

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.