Thoughts on Community Living

Today is my day off, we will see if I can keep it like that for the whole day. I work in hospitality here on the base in San Antonio del Mar in Tijuana. We have housing here on campus that can house up to 400 people (I think, don't quote me but it is a lot of beds). Needless to say with 2 schools being run here right now, Homes of Hope teams coming multiple times a week as well as my other ministries and social life, I am very busy. I have been pondering my life a lot these days, I have become very thoughtful on the concept of how we operate here at YWAM. 
Youth With a Mission teaches us a lot on community living. It's the first thing we learn about when we enter into YWAM on our first day of our DTS (discipleship training school). Like, how to be a good roommate and respect others around you. Our base is like a giant body, working, moving, everyone with their own function, just like the Body of Christ should be. It is really a beautiful thing. There is a thought that comes to my mind nearly every day, whether something good or bad has happened, and that is "Well, I live in community." 
There are some perks to living with 50-60 other people. 
1. There is always something to do! Let's get a group and watch a movie, go to tacos, go to the beach, go evangelize, you name it! 
2.The extrovert side of me is always satisfied. Going to bed to the sound of my housemates, waking up to the sound of my housemates, hearing the meeting going on outside my trailer, the DTS worshiping in their classroom. For me it is great to be surrounded by people 24/7. 
3. We get to eat all our meals together! What is more bonding than food?
4. I live with my best friends! It is practically a sleepover every night here in the staff girls trailer. Always sharing stories, clothes, food, movies, music etc. 
5. We worship together. 3 times a week or more! 
6. We pray together. I love the fact that spontaneous prayer throughout the day is a norm for me and everyone here. 
7. We are a giant family, we lift each other up in the good times and the bad. I know I am cared about and that my opinions, worries, joys, my entire life, is cherished and cared about by my YWAM family. 

I would say the perks outweigh the cons, but there are some cons. 
1. You are constantly surrounded. Having a bad day? Wanna get away? Good luck with that, not too many places you can go to be alone. One needs to be creative. 
2. You are living with 9 other people, in a double wide trailer. The kitchen is a battle ground of cleanliness versus dirtiness. Or let's play the "Guess what's in that container that has been in the freezer for 6 months." The bathrooms are a free for all. Have to go to the bathroom at peak bathroom hours? Do a little dance and hope they are almost done in there. 
3. There are opinions. Opinions on how to do your job, how to do another persons job, how to do ministry, how to cook, how to clean, how to communicate, how to worship, how to dress, the list could go on but you get my point. Opinions are everywhere. 
4. Sharing. We have to not only share living space, but we have to share our,cars, food, work space. I go through a lot of pens, scissors, and tape. Need a car? Cross your fingers and hope they aren't all checked out.  
5. People always ask you do something. This isn't a bad thing! Except when it's your day off. That's why, if it's your day off you really need to not leave your house. 
6. We live in a incubator. If one person is sick, it doesn't take long for a plague to break out on the base. Survival of the fittest applies around here. Hand sanitizer is our friend. 

I count it an enormous blessing to be able to live and work and worship among my YWAM family each and every day. God is good. 

"If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like minded have the same love, being on in spirit and purpose." Philippians 2:1-2    

The Wall that Separates Us

There is this really distinct smell to Zona Norte. It's weird how garbage, smoke from taco stands, cigarettes, marijuana, and diesel can create such nostalgia in me. By now, the lights and sounds are somewhat calming. It is such a supernatural feeling to be compelled and driven by the Holy Spirit while down there. It is such a freeing feeling to walk these streets every Saturday night with absolutely nothing on the agenda but open ears and soft hearts. Zona Norte could be considered one of the darkest places in the world. It definitely is to me. But something God tells me each time I go, each time I see the men filing into the strip clubs, each time I see a woman walk off with a customer, each time I see a homeless deportee, God tells me "this place is MINE." It might appear to to look like the good guys lost, one wouldn't say Zona Norte is a happy place full of happy people. But the earth is the Lord's and everything in it, Zona Norte is HIS. He has claimed victory over sin and death and the power of the Devil, so we must walk out in this victory. 
Last Saturday we met a man who had just been deported. He was so sad, he kept saying over and over again how sad he was. His wife and kids were still in California. He said he had just talked to his wife, and that she now had a boyfriend. His voice was desperate, "And we are still married." My heart breaks for him. He told us how his kids are growing up without him, how he found a job and house here in Tijuana but it doesn't matter. "I have food, money, a house, but I am still hungry, empty." We were standing on a street that faced the border. From Zona Norte you can see the border, it is the part of Tijuana that touches the States. He looked up and pointed at the border, "And they are just over there!" He kept saying how sad he was. It was really difficult, he was so desperate. 
I think because of his desperation he was in a good place to believe that God could work a miracle in his family. We prayed for him and encouraged him. My prayer now is that he can have peace and hope in Christ Jesus. That his hunger can be satisfied by the Bread of Life. 

One of my little friend's gave me a early Valentine's Day sucker at Zone Kids last Tuesday.
She had a matching sucker so we took a picture. 

This month at Zone Kids we are doing a series called Heroes of the Bible.
We talked about trusting in God the way Abraham trusted in God.
We made super hero masks afterwards.
 It was a very popular craft.  

True and Faultless Religion/Fighting for the Cause

The Bible students here at YWAM San Diego/Baja are working chronologically through the Bible. Right now they are in Isaiah. I thought I would read Isaiah too, of course they read it in a week, I think it will take me a little bit longer than that. However there is something that stuck out to me right away, orphans and widows. 

God really drives this topic home. He chastises the Israelites over and over again about their rebellion and wicked ways. And nearly every time when he says what they must do to repent, he says something along the lines of, "learn to do good, seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widows cause." (Is. 1:17) This is something incredibly close to God's heart. 

Something that grieves the heart of God is not caring about the widow's cause, not bringing justice to the orphans. God lists among the thieves, robbers, adulterers, and idolaters, people who do not care about the widows and orphans. Yikes this is deep stuff! This is important!

I am not saying sell your belongs and move to Ethiopia to start and orphanage (although if you do, I will visit you in a heartbeat.) But I am saying, are you being sensitive to the Holy Spirit and what you CAN do? 

Here in Mexico, we are all daily slapped in the face with the reality of the human condition, its very prevalent here. The reality is there are lonely, neglected children, abused wives, hungry widows, sick men, dying babies. No one understands this more than our God. So let's trust in him to lead us to these people! 

God has placed me in the lives of many of these kids, mothers, fathers, women, and men. My heart breaks for them, and their justice, their cause has become my cause. My desire is for them to experience the intense love and saving grace of their Heavenly Father and through that they can have everlasting hope. What will your cause be?