Short Update and a Special Announcement

On Saturday our WISE school family came back from an amazing week away in another state of Mexico called Durango. The first section of time was a part of the WISE school called Silence and Solitude. That was a time when we took a trip up into the mountains and spent time alone with God. In fact we spent around seven hours alone and quiet with God in the wilderness for three days straight, leaving after breakfast and not coming back until dinner. It was a phenomenal time to regroup and hear from the Lord.

The next couple days after Silence and Solitude we went into the city of Durango where we had a great time of outreach. We ministered in a youth prison, did some strategic prayer, took part in times of prayer and worship with a local church, and then ministered at an interchurch meeting. It was amazing! We saw so many healings, people being set free, and the supernatural Power of God at work! God is good and in that time He really made His Name great!

Lastly, I just wanted to keep you all up to date with what God has been speaking to me and what my future plans are. After asking questions and listening for God’s Voice I have made the decision that after the WISE school lecture phase I am going to be returning back to Franklin, Indiana for the next phase of my walk with God. I am not completely sure what all God has for me back in Indiana, but I am excited, knowing He has great plans for me. In order to finish out this school strong and return back to Indiana I need to raise around $650USD to cover my costs of toiletries, incidentals, and travel. Please continue in your prayers for God’s financial provision in my life and if you can, please give to help the continued work God is doing in me.


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Silence and Solitude

This Saturday we are going to Durango (another state in Mexico) and we will be there for about a week. The first part of our time there will be the part of the WISE school that is called Silence and Solitude. Basically this will be a time where we can get alone with God. We will be in the middle of the woods and we will be spending most of our time during the day out alone in silence. This will be a great time for all of us to spend time with God in a different, more focused environment. I know that it will be challenging for us at times, but this will be a very invaluable experience! I am really expecting to hear from God during this time about a lot of things, including my future. But more than anything I just want more intimacy with Him. I am very excited for this time to see what God has for me! Please be praying for me during that I will take advantage of it and that I will hear Him clearly.
Also, I am still around $250-$300 away from my goal to pay off my lecture fees for this school. I only have just over a week left before I am supposed to have all my fees paid off so please be praying for me in that, and if you can please give!

Spiritual Warfare

Last week was our first week of lectures in the WISE school and it was intense! We started out our lecture phase with a week of teaching on spiritual warfare with Harmony Brown from the base here. The teachings were so interesting and really changed the way I think in different ways. One thing we talked about was the principle of agreement. The principle of agreement says that if we do things to agree with a certain spirit we actually give that spirit authority in our lives and more power and authority on the earth. So one example we talked about is the fact that if we are overly judgmental of those within the Body of Christ we are actually agreeing with and giving authority to the Anti-Christ principality which is the same spirit influencing and participating in the martyrdom and persecution of the Church in China. When we start thinking in this way we can see that many things are related in the world that we never thought were. It was really interesting to learn about how the kingdom of darkness functions and how we can come against it by the power given to us by the Blood of Jesus!

Also, this week  God really started to do some serious work on my heart and my relationship with Him. Starting on Monday in worship God began working on my heart and bringing me to a place of repentance and intimacy with Him. Then in class that day we talked about the enemy being the accuser of the saints and we talked about the punisher that so many of us have inside of us accusing and condemning us. So God did a work in my heart taking away a lot of the condemnation I have come under and healing me. Also on Friday I got the chance to pray through some issues with Harmony's mom who is an amazing, anointed woman of God. During that time God helped me tear down some of the walls in my heart and break down some of the lies I had been believing about Him. It was amazing!

On another note, I am still around $400 away from what I need to pay for the lecture phase of this school and I have only 4 weeks left to pay it, so please be in prayer for me and if you can, please give.

A Good Way To Start Things Out

Well, I got back to Mazatlan to do the WISE school Saturday morning, and it feels a bit weird to be back. Although it is a little strange to be here and not there in Mexico City, I know God has some huge things in store for me here.

To start things out, yesterday Steve (one of the other students) came down to ask me if I wanted to go for a walk. I said sure and we started walking. Steve told me he wanted to pray for physical healing for people so as we walked we asked God to mark someone for us. God marked an older woman, so after a bit more prayer we went over to talk to her. She was with a couple other older women so we went over and told them we went out this morning jut wanting to love on people and pray for them if they needed it. We asked if they needed prayer for anything and right away the woman who God marked said that her son had recently died. So we prayed that God would give her peace and told her that God had not forgotten her and that He felt her pain as His Son had died too. She began crying and I could tell that God had done something great in her heart.
Then we asked if any of them had anything physical they wanted prayer for. One woman said she had bad pain in her legs. So we prayed for her and she got up and walked around and said the pain was gone! Next the two other women said they had diabetes and one said that her vision was really bad and was getting worse. So we prayed for them both together. When we were done both women said that they could feel a change in their bodies concerning their diabetes and the woman with vision problems said that she could see people out on the beach where before she could only see blobs! God is so good!

How Plans Change...

The last couple weeks have brought a lot of soul-searching, a lot of praying, a lot of listening to God, some pain and finally, a decision. While meeting with Harmony from the YWAM Mazatlan base when she was here for debrief after the DTS I realized that over the last couple months I have grown tired and honestly, burnt out. In a way I have really been "running on empty" for a while now and it has affected me in various ways.
So after talking with Harmony and my leader Chris we decided that something needed to be done so that I could be refreshed and rejuvenated in Christ. The first idea was that I would go to Mazatlan for a week or so and just get poured into. As we thought and prayed about it, however, we realized that that option might not be the right choice for now.
So as we continued praying God revealed that He wanted me to do the WISE school (the school of Worship, Intercession, Spiritual Warfare, and Evangelism) at the YWAM Mazatlan base. After I prayed and heard the Heart of the Lord about it, I decided to take the challenge. So late next week I will be packing up and heading back to YWAM Mazatlan where I will stay for 3 months. During that time I am expecting the Lord to do some amazing things in and through me and really bring refreshing and new revelation to my heart.
Please be praying for me during this time that God will reveal Himself to me more and more and that God will provide for the school financially as well. I am still in need of around $800 to complete the cost of the school, so please donate as well as the Lord enables you.

A Graduation and a New Beginning

Last week the YWAM Mazatlan September DTS came to a close. It was overall a very good DTS. There were many ups and downs, laughs and hard times, but when it was all said and done I believe people left here forever changed and in the end that's what really matters.
So the DTS left and now it is jut the staff here in the two apartments. So it is just the seven of us staff living here. This week as staff we have really been focusing on praying and asking the Lord to give us a heart for the city and show us why He has us here. We are really trying to push in to the Lord and know God's purpose for us here.

A Very Busy (But Amazing) Last Week of Ministry

Last week we kept pushing forward with our last full week of regular ministry during the DTS Outreach. We did quite a few different types of ministry throughout the week. One day we made arroz con leche (a rice-pudding type of dish) and brought it to a small community of homeless people who live right down the street from us. That gave us the opportunity to really just take some time and talk to them about what they were doing on the street, what their lives were like, and talk to them about the Gospel.
Another day during the week Uriel (also known as Figuritz) came to the base to go out and do some ministry with us. Uriel was staff at the last base that was planted in Mexico City before ours and has since closed. Now Uriel devotes himself to bringing joy to peoples' hearts through his clown ministry. So he came to our base and taught us quite a bit about his work and then helped us get on our makeup and outfits so we could go out to an orphanage and talk to the kids about Christ and just play and spend time with them as clowns ourselves. That was some of the most fun I have had in a while!
Finally on Friday the other Outreach team that went to Haiti met back up with us here in Mexico City. It is amazing to have them back! So they joined us as we joined an Outreach team from YWAM Guadalajara who were working with YWAM Pachuca ministering to the homeless and to prostitutes out on the streets here in Mexico City. It was a great time for us to feel united as a YWAM family as people from YWAM CMC, YWAM Guadalajara, YWAM Pachuca, and even people from YWAM Costa Rica who were working with them all joined together. That was an amazing day to feel the unity we all have in Christ!
To top off the week on Saturday we went a little outside the city to do a youth event for a church which a friend of ours from YWAM Chile who is in the city for now set up for us. When we got there we found out that the event was in a party hall. When I sat down and talked with the youth I found out it had to be in the party hall because there wasn't allowed to be parties, food, or really very much fellowship inside their church because they come from a very conservative church. But we had an amazing time with those youth as we shared dramas, testimonies, a message, and worship with them. I believe we made an impact on them and that they made an impact on us as well.