Here are some updates from our teams on the road.
Hello from Dondo, Mozambique! We arrived here on Wednesday night after over 30 hours of travel. Dondo is a small town of mostly mud huts and we are staying at a boys home here that not only takes in kids from the street but is majorly involved in community development here, in the surrounding villages and in Beira which is the nearest city. We jumped right in doing daily bible studies with the boys and the workers here. Our first couple days we gave out food at the hospital, to beggars in Beira, and to widows. We prayed for as many of them as possible and even saw a few healings. On Saturday morning we helped with a once a month feeding program for hundreds of widows from dondo and other villages. Many of them were blind or had some sort of physical ailment. Kate B gave a message in portuguese about the grace of god and we stood in the pouring rain for hours and prayed for them all. We saw a couple more healings that morning including one womans hip being completely put back in place and a blind man starting to see shadows. Praise god!! That afternoon we attended a graduation at the church on the boys home campus for about 50 pastors being commissioned to start churches in villages. It ended with hours of dancing and holy spirit party. Immediately after it ended hundreds of people started showing up for an all night Easter worship time. Our contact came to us at dinner and asked if someone would be interested in preaching. We prayed and three of the girls felt like they should so after praying for the holy spirit to guide them they entered the church filled with about 600 people and no message planned. They tag teamed sharing about the goodness and faithfulness of god and a couple hours of worship and dancing followed. At 4:30 in the morning we got up to walk two miles to the nearest river for a sunrise baptism. All our students plus some of their pastors piled into the water as those getting baptized lined up. Before we started the pastor offered up a quick prayer of protection because ” we are not the only ones in the water”. There was about 150 baptized that day including three of our team. God is so good. It has been a crazy Easter weekend…one that most of us will always remember and we are blessed to be living out the great commission here in Mozambique. Discipling, baptizing, and healing. Please pray for continued health and protection. Also for ozzi’s allergies. Much love
Jessa, Becca, temp, Christina, Ozzie and the team
Ps…we also did a childrens service on Easter and about 50 of them gave their hearts to Jesus ..yay god
Uganda:
Wow, it is already week 4??? Where has the time gone? Monday we spent a day doing mid outreach debrief with the students. It was a great time to sit down one on one with each student and see how we can continue to be challenged as individuals, a team, and staff. We ended the day with prayer and worhip, commiting the second half of the outreach to the lord. This week we continued to work with Ekisa, the special needs orphanage here in Jinja. Daily we commute from ywam hopeland to the orphanage however due to continued protests in the city we have had to stay back a few days during our time here. Despite the unexpected setbacks our team has accomplished a lot at the orphanag. The children have all taken very well to us (and us to them) and we have been able to do some work around their building. We dug a pit for them to burn their garbage and built a sandbox from scratch. We will also be digging a place for a garden for them and working on some electrical needs for them. Sunday we will be putting on an easter service at a local Ugandan church and having an African easter dinner with them. Wednesday we begin work with ywam Uganda and will be with hem the remainder of the time. Please continue to pray that God will unify us as a team. This is a city with a stronghold of disunity and we feel it as a team. Also pray that the protests would end in the city and for wisdom and safe travel for us daily. Jacob and Carmen Judith says hi!!
Love, granger and 18 other mzungus
Mexico
Wow it is hard to believe that we just finished our 4th week here, its so crazy how fast it is going. This week we took some time off of ministry to “refocus” and seek the Lord for the second half of our outreach. We were greatly blessed by everyone who shared prophetic words for our team and we were able to pray into them and receive understanding for many of them! We also were able to receive some much needed rest physically and spiritually, as well as some good fellowship. We were blessed by John Murphy (the DTS Director, who came down for a few days, to encourage and push us)
We had some cool stuff happen in ministry this week. We were able to do Art for the Nations at a local church. The kids loved it. Especially the glitter. But it was great to see the excitement on their faces as we did a couple simple art projects with them. We also helped with several Easter focused church programs this week. One church they “forced” us to eat lots of tomales. Well, maybe not forced but they made so many we all left full. Yesterday we were able to buy rice and beans and hand them out to many families in a small slum community where we are working. It was amazing to just meet the people. We were able to pray for several families. One man had tendon damage in his hand and after praying for it, God healed it partially. Praise God! Another man came to the church again this week after meeting him last week. His name is Luis. He is caught up in alcohol and idol worship (death). But we have been able to build relationship with him and disciple him a bit. Last night he arrived with an injured arm, and knee after a bike accident. He couldn’t bend his elbow and he had pain when walking. We prayed multiple times for him but he said nothing happened, and wouldn’t try to move his arm. As we continued to talk to him he extended his arm without thinking, and realized as his arm was extended that there was no pain! God healed his arm! He later went on to say that this has built his faith in God, and has proved that God loves him. Continue to pray for him that he will give his life to the Lord!
On wednesday we leave for a small village 5 hours south of cancun called Mahaual (ma-ha-wal) It is a poor fishing village, which we will be staying on a dirt floor. I am really excited for this and the many opportunities that we have while there! We will return the following tuesday to cancun.
Prayer requests:
health
unity
for the team to continue to press in for the second half of outreach
travel to Mahaual (for the vans and the kids)
Thanks
Derek and the Mexico team!
China
Friends & Family,
After 32 hours on the train we made it to Hong Kong! We crossed the border just as they were closing at midnight and they quickly rushed us through.
This past week we lived in Xining, a city in the middle of nowhere with a large Muslim and Tibetan population. Some highlights of the week were giving food and prayer for beggars at the nearby Mosque, spending time with friends at an English corner and having an incredible prayer and worship time at a house of prayer. We even got to see a fully robed Tibetan monk playing some basketball. Please keep us in your prayers as we continue our trip here in Hong Kong!
Darren, Molly & the CHK Team
God is so faithful. I recently got back from Mexico in the Yucatan peninsula from teaching four days on relationships. I taught about 15 hours with translation. In a way being translated from English to Spanish is nice because you get time to think about what you are going to say next. The time goes by really quick some times and others I ended up struggling a little for what was next and where to go from there.
I taught on:
Our relationship with God and the Trinity
Love, who is your Neighbor. Platonic
Generosity
Friendship
Family
Romantic
Marriage
Forgivness and restoration from past sexual relations
Those are the main topics and points with a lot in between.
The two guys (Darius and Jamie) who are down there directing the school used to work with us in Denver. I have actually mentored both of them while they were here and now they are out doing what they have learned. They are both married to sisters down in Mexico, it was so nice to be able to go down and see them and catch up a bit, taking some time to encourage them.
Darius lives at his Mother in laws house. She is a widow and so he helps as the provider for the whole family. It is so cool how the Mexican families value family so much and take care of one another. He is living in one bedroom with his wife and daughter Grace (2yrs old). He has been trying to raise money and save money to build a house addition above the family house. This is the way you do it there, you just build up and it works great. I was able to save a little money to bring down to him and it helped finish the floor. They are getting close (about $5000 more) to where they could move in and then work on the rest as the money comes it. I am have so much respect for Darius being willing to do what he is doing for this family that he is now a part of. It is so encouraging to see all the hard work he had done and the effect is has on this family.
Jamie worked with me in snowboard ministry and now lives in a warm climate where you rarely even put on a sweat shirt, mostly you just sweat. His has such a servants heart and has been very willing to give up so much to be down there doing ministry. This has challenged me as I have had to not snowboard as much this year and I find myself just struggling with not doing it as much. He has been down in Mexico doing amazing things and has not been snowboarding for years now.
Our relationship seems to just pick up where we left off every time I get to go down there. I love those guys and miss them a lot. Just going down there getting time to spend talking about old times and whats new in our lives is very encouraging. They really like playing games so we played some cards and Risk.
We hope that next time we get a chance to go down there that both of us and maybe the entire family can go.
We will be teaching on relationships in the next DTS which is a multi cultural school to be translated into Korean.
Thats all for now,
Jeremy
Hey errrrbody!
First: miss you guys and can’t wait to see everybody. 8 days… WEIRD!
Second: MISS YOU GUYS!!!! : )
-Saturday we were able to go to one of the boat/river community YWAMers church and be a part of a youth (fun time playing music and soccer/volleyball/pool). It was really cool because it was just a time where they open up the church back yard to the youth of the city and allow them to come and hang out. They normally do a little message as well. It was so cool to see kids playing well together and sharing and caring for each other (i credit a lot of this to the ministry the church has done with them). LOVE IT!
-Sunday we were part of the church service at the same church. We were able to share about a little bit of our time on the river and encourage the church for their work in the community. We then sat through 2 hours of a portuguese message where I think there were 150-200 “amens” from the pastor… HAHA The team were troopers though and at the end the church prayed over us and blessed us for our time spent here and for what lays in the future. (the body of Christ is super cool).
-A group of about 35-40 Americans from “The Semester At Sea” showed up at the orphanage on Wednesday and we were able to be a part of hanging out with them and kids and seeing a lot of their hearts broken for what has happened in the lives of these kids, but also the restoration that’s happened as well.
-We took the kids down to the “beach” yesterday morning which was SO MUCH fun! Kip, Michael, and I took turns launching the kids out into the water. It was a blast and super fun to get them out of the orphanage.
-Today is our day off and then Tomorrow we head to another service at our translators church and then next week we finish up our time at the orphanage and take off at 4pm on Sunday. If y’all could pray that things just go well with our flights and that we get TV’s that can catch the super bowl, that would be great. haha
A little story:
While the group from the “semester at sea” was at the orphanage, it was really awesome to see how many people were actually confused as to why we would be at the orphanage for almost 7 weeks just spending time loving on these kids. I’m realizing more and more that our lives just really don’t make sense a lot of the time. haha But we were able to have GREAT conversations about life and God and YWAM and a million other things. As they were leaving, all squeezed onto a bus. gotta love people stuck in a place that they have to listen to you. : ) I really just felt to thank them for coming and for being 40 or so out of 700 people on this nicknamed “buise cruise” for college students, to choose to come and love on some kids for a day. To my surprise they were all leaning out of their seats with smiles on their faces listening intently. They were just totally rocked and amazed at what we were doing, God was doing, and they said many times how thankful they were for us being there. I was able to pray for them and send them off with a blessing and I think we’ll see some apps. to YWAM from some of them. GOD IS SUPER B.A.! (Can I say that?) Can or can’t, just did!
MEXICO- PYHALAS
Hello from Veracruz!
Our time in Veracruz has been a really exciting one. We’ve have opportunity for lots of different kinds of ministry. This week, we’ve ministered in parks, in a slum, in a prison, in a hospital and in a school! We saw many people come to Christ and we prayed for many others for different things in their lives.
Our contacts here have been amazing. They have really stolen our hearts with their love and kindness. We had told the local Church that we were looking for housing and they hooked us up with a big house for free!
On Saturday we had a beautiful celebration where we were able to baptize 3 of our students. They have all been growing so much and wanted to publicly declare their trust in God.
On Sunday, we did some ministry in a park nearby the very first Church in the Americas. After we did our dramas and shared the gospel, an 18 year old boy named Moses came up to us. He said he didn’t know why he was there, but something told him to come. He was really nervous and was trembling as we talked with him. He told us he was in the religion of Santa Muerte (Holy Death). He had an idol around his neck and also a big one in his backpack. We talked with him and asked him if he wanted prayer. He refused at first, saying he was afraid. He said the idol gave him power and told him what to do. After a while, he accepted prayer and we prayed and took authority over the evil spirits controlling him. He then said he felt more at peace. When we prayed with him to receive Jesus in his heart, he said he couldn’t repeat the words “Lord Jesus”. We told him to take off the idol on his neck and the backpack he was wearing, and suddenly he was able to pray the “sinners prayer” with us. It was really cool to see the transformation. He still has lots of hard decisions to make about his lifestyle, but he said he was no longer afraid.
The team is doing really well and is finishing this outreach strong. We are often amazed by their many talents.
We’ll be back in Denver in less than a week!
Much love,
Jonah & Merel and the Mexico team
NORWAY-JAE VAN WINKLE
The sun is out and the days are getting longer, it’s a good day in Norway. Here are the highlights since being here:
The Latvian benefit concert that the team performed for. First, we were advertised (posters and everything) as the US band called “Pick Up The Phone Or Die”, one of the staff here choose our band name since we didn’t have one. Second, the stage for this concert was in a coffee house where we did mostly an acoustic set, the team broke up into smaller “bands” and everyone did a great job. It really was a huge success, people played well and made new friends along the way.
2 Youth group events. The first youth group was here in Skein at a local church where we did dramas and testimonies and worship. Kaley and Tim gave their testamonies and it impacted many of the youth that we were asked to come back again. The second youth group was in the South of Norway at a city called Holum we shared a little friday night and then had a bigger event with worship, dramas and testimonies Saturday night. It really made an impact on people.
Bible Studies. A couple of groups have done Bible studies for a youth group, as well as a Christian club at one of the local schools.
We’ve really seen the impact investing a little time and offering relationship has on people. People have been really responsive and accepting to us.
| THAILAND-SABALAS Dear family, We’re at the final stretch of outreach. The past week in the village with Lawn and a handful of students and teachers from his school was one of the greatest weeks of our lives! Life long relationships were built and manual labor bonding was happening all over the place. The people in the village are mainly Galeyan (hill tribe refugees from Burma). Our village contact, Hamong, was telling us a story about how when he was 18 the Burmese military came over and opened fire on him and the people of his village, and he was shot 8 times. He’s really hard core and worked us pretty dang ol hard, and he is one of the top dogs in the village now. Working alongside the villagers and English teachers and students, we were able to complete 4 bamboo lunch tables, renovate the new bathrooms with brick laying, build a fence for the garden, and dig up and fertilize the garden for more planting. They were long days and late nights, and God moved. We were able to do a program for the villagers and show dramas and dances, which was followed by teaching the Cupid shuffle to around 100 villagers in a giant field. Talk about having a blast. There was some tilled soil during our time, and we look forward to seeds being planted by future relationships. Lawn plans to go visit the same village once a month and today told me he really wants to move and live out there. Again, this man lives more Kingdom focused than a lot of Christians. It was a tearful goodbye today as he dropped us off back in Bangkok and headed back to Phetchaburi. Tomorrow morning starts our debrief. And we’ll see you cats next Monday! Thank you again for all your support through this whole journey. God used each of you as effectively as He used us. Peace and love, COLOMBIA-MICHAEL BREWER God Bless! The professional, flexible, … edible? Colombia team |
We as YWAM Denver had teams come back this week from; Mexico, Colombia, Thailand, Europe and Brazil. We had over 70 students out on the road doing mission. They did a little of everything and saw God do some amazing things, not only in others lives but also their own. I will try and get specific stories soon from them. They all graduate on Friday and then go home to do what every it is they feel lead to do next. Please pray for them, some are planing on going to college, others to full time missions back to where they just were and some to do more training here and join our staff.
For us next week will be very busy, we just got asked to fill in on teaching relationships for the Compassion DTS here in Denver. So we will teach Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. This means that our kids will be in child care a lot because Keeley and I teach together on the subject. Then we have a 3 day staff confrence right after that on Wed – Fri, and the kids will be in child care a lot for that as well.
So we could use your prayers in teaching next week and our kids could use your prayers as they will not be with us a ton.
Jeremy
our family
everyone has there little ways of saving money. Keeley shops only deals or uses coupons when getting food, so she saves us $100s a month that way. She does a ton of other things as well of which she can share if she wants to.
For me I ride my bike every where I can. I have ridden my bike to work every day this year and many other places. We have had sub zero temperatures as well as over 6 inches of snow, which is really hard to ride in if there has not been any tracks yet. Some people think it is crazy, I like the adventure and have even inspired a few of the other guys on campus to ride to work as well. Ok, so I do not live very far away but their are people who live closer and drive. This is just one of the ways I have been saving money for the family as well as entertaining my self.
Jeremy
I was just putting the kids to bed and started thinking about what to write on my blog. At first I did not want to write anything, because there can be pressure to say just the right thing. I decided I didn’t care, and I was just going to write about something that I have been thinking about a lot lately, insecurity. I do not mean the financial kind. I mean the kind that make you question who you are and can cripple you in a second. I have insecurities. Just a few…..that I am aware of. I am afraid of letting people down. My husband, kids, leaders, family are the main people. It is said that we are our own worst critic. I agree wholeheartedly, but what if we have given others a reason to criticize us. Or what if they have a right to pass judgement. My husband has a right to determine if I am the kind of wife he wants to keep around. Luckily for me being a wife is one area I do excel at. I have plans to make eggs benedict tomorrow morning. Anyway…..have you ever met a person that was crippled by there insecurities? A young girl that does not know her father loves her, so she runs in the arms of another man and then another, and then another. A grown man who’s own mother’s love was questionable, so he questions whether his own wife loves him. Because if his own mother could not love him then why would anyone else. The problem is that it is destroying his marriage. A man who is so busy trying to prove himself to someone, that his health is in jeopardy. Our insecurity will cripple us, unless we find our security in our Creator. The only one who complete us. My insecurity had me crippled earlier this week. I am fighting to not let it. What are you doing with your insecurity????
This winter quarter on staff I am Directing Maintenance of out 2 buildings at our Arvada Campus. This is a pretty large task, I am trying to organize stuff and make things run smoother between transitions. Usually every three months we on staff switch jobs around a little to accommodate the students who are here and the different schools.
I woke up today, sick. I feel like I have been sick since easter. The kids are all sick. I decided I needed to get away from the sickness, and since I can’t leave the house due to said sickness, and would be hard pressed to leave my chair since Jereson just scattered crackers all around me like he was planting grass seed, I decided to enter the world of wordpress. So here I am trying to decihper the website. Stuck until my son eats all the crackers off the floor. I do not want to step on them thus grinding them into the floor and creating more work to do. Sure hope the little guy is hungry. So here I am trying to figure out this website. Why? We need to communicate better with those who believe in what we are doing. But really we just have cool stories that deserve to be shared. Just not today. I have dirty noses to wipe and a nap to take.
Just the other day someone offered prayer for someone who had back pain. This person, who was a new student to the Discipleship Training Program(DTS), said that they felt like they needed to pray for some one with back pain. I was wrestling around with my kids over Thanksgiving and did something I should not have and messed up my back. I even went to the chiropractor to have them check it out and they said that it was to tight for them to really help it. Anyway I got prayed for, just a simple prayer and I have not had any pain like I did before, it just went away. My God heals.
The next one is about Jereson. He was starting to get a cough a couple of weeks ago and then it kind of went away. Next on came a fever which lasted just one day, then the cough came back. Somehow he picked up a fever again, this one lasted over a day and was pretty bad. We took him to the doctors and they said if it does not go away and if he does not get more fluids in him we would have to take him to the emergency room, not a fun place. Jereson was out of it, he normally is bouncing off the walls, climbing up on tables and dancing on them. This time Jereson was not his normal self, all he wanted was to be held by Keeley and he was so drained.
So I share this information with my Maintenance crew that I run for work duties and we pray for the little guy, with in two hours. By the time I got home from work he was up and about fever gone, drinking a lot of fluids and was destroying the table with playdough. I love my son and am very thankful that he is better. It is not 100% yet but we did not have to take him to the ER. Thank you Lord for answered prayers.
Jeremy
