Staying On Course

Submitting Plans to God.

"You're blessed when you stay on course, walking steadily on the road revealed by God.  You're blessed when you follow his directions, doing your best to find him.  That's right-you don't go off on your own; you walk straight along the road he set."  Psalm 119:1-3

A lot of times things don't make sense to us.  We are taught to find reason, to understand and to make sense of certain situations.  That is definitely my personality- I want to understand the "why" of everything.  However over the past few months God has been challenging me on what faith really looks like in our daily lives.  

Faith involves me surrendering my desire to understand;
Staying the course;
Walking steadily according to what God has revealed;
Finding Him;
Not going off on my own;
Walking straight along the road He has set.

I was able to put this kind of faith into action these past couple of weeks.  Three different nights I had made plans to go out to the streets to hand out gift bags to get to know the girls.  However each day I felt God say, "Not yet.  Wait".  Honestly at first I was confused because we had the gift bags ready, we had people to go out with and everything was lined up and planned.  But that still small voice kept telling me "Just wait".  So wait I did.  This past Wednesday I finally felt God give me the 'go-ahead' to go out to the streets.

Nayeli and I went out to hand out gift bags in 2 downtown areas (in an alley and in a park).  We first went down the alley where we found about 7 young girls.  Normally they do not acknowedge you, make eye contact, or respond whatsoever.  They are not allowed to.  However this time they talked with us, told us their names, smiled, laughed and received the gift bags.  Praise God for this drastic change!

Next we went to the park where there were at least 20 girls.  Each girl received their gift bag with a huge smile.  Towards the end of the night a girl started up a conversation with us.  Yes.  She was the one who started the conversation, not us.  

"Why are you giving these gift bags to us?"

I responded, "Well we had made plans to come another night, but we felt really strongly that God wanted us to come tonight and show you how much He loves you and how much value you have in His sight, etc, etc."

"Wow.  Thank you.  Are you guys Christian?"

"Yeah."

"Wait a minute.  Let me call over my friends." 

She invites her three friends who are also out 'working' to join our conversation.  Then she asks us,  "Can you start a Bible Study with us here?"

We stayed and talked with the 4 girls for about 20 minutes.  The entire conversation was full of smiles, laughter and joy.  Joy radiated around those park benches. Keep in mind what these girls go through every day.  Their "normal smiles" are not real, but rather forced to entice customers.  Their "normal laughter" is not rooted in joy, but also forced.  Joy is not something they experience.  But tonight was different.  The smiles were real.  The joy of the Lord permeated the alley and the park.

When it was time to leave, one of the girls gave us her phone number so we can start a Bible study.  All of the girls gave us huge hugs.  Not just the normal Mexican hug and kiss of "nice-to-meet-you", but a real hug you give to a good friend.  

There was true breakthrough that night.  God's Spirit is moving mightily.  I don't want to follow my own path, my own plans, go off on my own.  I want to walk steadily on the path He has revealed to me, even if it doesn't make sense in the moment.

Last week I did not understand why God kept telling me "Not yet, just wait", but after this experience I could see why.  God was preparing every little detail so that He could move.  

It is not about me, what I want, desire, or understand.  

It is about staying the course set before me by God.  Being sensitive to the still small voice of the Spirit.  Being obedient even when I don't understand.  The fact that God longs to be so personal and intimate with us in guiding our every step truly brings me joy.  I pray that the joy of the Lord would overflow in us.

"You're blessed when you stay on course, walking steadily on the road revealed by God.  You're blessed when you follow his directions, doing your best to find him.  That's right-you don't go off on your own; you walk straight along the road he set."  Psalm 119:1-3

Puzzle Pieces Coming Together

I often go for walks.  It helps me think, process and pray with God.  I also love nature and it is so beautiful here in Chapala that I love to take advantage of it.  The other day I went for my usual walk to talk with God and seek Him on various things.  As I walked I passed by a huge cornfield with about 30 cows.  Normally this field has about 2-3 cows, so when I saw 30 cows I couldn't help but look and ask myself why there were so many cows.  As I continued walking and looking over my shoulder I tripped and fell.  Yes.  I fell.  It was quite the sight.  I'm not exactly sure how I fell.  I probably tripped over my own two feet.  But right as I took the fall I felt the Lord say to me that I am so easily distracted.  I can be praying one moment, seeking Him and a field of cows catches my attention and I'm distracted. 

How many things call for our attention every day?  There are so many demands on us every day and a lot are good and necessary things in life, but if they cause us to take our eyes off the most important thing in our life (God), things can quickly go downhill and we can fall just like I did on my walk. 

I want to live my life for the only thing that matters, God.  I pray that we wouldn’t be distracted by things that pass and fade away.

PUZZLE PIECES COMING TOGETHER:

This past Friday we had a prayer meeting with the majority of the people involved in launching the ministry with girls who are victims of human trafficking/prostitution.  Over the past few months I have seen the project as a lot of puzzle pieces scattered around.  But now during this meeting I started to see the big picture as the pieces start coming together more and more.  As of right now we are looking at the various areas of the ministry and where each person feels called.  We are currently developing the following aspects:

• Outreach on the streets 
• A friend of mine (ex-prostitute) and I are heading up outreach on the streets.
• We go out at night to try to start up a conversation with the girls as we hand out small gift bags with a business card with a phone number.
• This is the first contact with the girls as we start gaining their trust and eventually invite them to the café.

• Café
• On the streets it is very difficult to have a long enough conversation with the girls to gain their trust and offer them a way out.
• We have envisioned a café to provide a safe place for them to talk, enjoy a meal as well as the opportunity to offer them a way out.
• A young couple has had this vision to launch the café to reach out to the girls.

• Legal things
• To run a safe house is not only a lot of physical work, but legal as well.  It is necessary to have somebody constantly working on the Mexican non-profit, accounting, etc.
• The pastors of a local church are heading up this legal area.

• Safe House
• Once the girls have decided to leave the streets we are setting up a “safe house” for them to receive care, healing, restoration, education, etc.. 
• The caregivers of the house are a missionary couple.  As well we are currently looking for other people to help in this process.  We plan to rent the house mid-February.

• Re-Entry
• The goal is not to simply save the girls from the streets, but for them to heal and eventually rejoin society.
• Another local church is heading up the job training, education, re-entry aspect.

I am so excited to see how things have been developing over the past few weeks. 

Morelos Park- One of the areas we have doing Outreach

Gift Bags we are handing out.

  Please join us in praying for:

• Open hearts as we keep reaching out to the girls on the street.
• Logistics of starting a café. Location. Funding.
• Favor with the Mexican government in the non-profit process.  We are almost done with the process!
• Financial support and volunteers from local churches we are partnering with.  (We have been extremely blessed with many Mexican churches coming together on this project.)
• A woman called to be the "house mom" at the safe house.

December Update

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So this year for me has been pretty crazy, full of changes and surprises.  Thank you for sticking with me.  Thank you for holding on through the crazy ride God has taken me on.  Thank you for your constant encouragement, prayers and committed financial support.  This whole missions thing really is a team sport; thank you for being there for me, backing me up, pushing me along and at times carrying me through this process.  We all play different positions, but our goal is the same: To follow the Coach’s instructions, because He knows best.

I’m not sure why the whole sports metaphor came about; maybe I just miss playing softball and tennis. :)

These past few weeks have been a busy and fun mix of events.

Living in a foreign country, even though I’ve been here for 5 years, still makes me laugh sometimes.  Certain things take 5 million times longer than they do in the US (those of you who have lived in a foreign country know what I'm talking about).  This month I had to renew my health insurance here.  To make a long story short I had to go to 4 different offices all over the city.  Driving in Guadalajara is fun.  As my mom would put it, “The only time I was afraid in Mexico was when we were driving”.  I had a fun journey with the GPS on my phone trying to get me to one of the health insurance clinics.  Thankfully GPS leading me down that dirt road alongside the canal did spit me out onto the freeway!

The other night a friend of mine, Nayelli, took us to the streets of Guadalajara where a lot of girls are being sold/trafficked.  I thank God for bringing Nayelli into my life, she has experience in this area and has been able to guide us to the different parts of the city.  Specific alleyways.  Bars.  Night clubs. Street corners.  Parks.  Table Dance clubs where many minors from other countries are hidden.   We have been going to the streets mainly to pray for the girls and pray for strategy.  Strategy on how to reach out and rescue these girls.

On the street with Karen and Nayelli

On another note, my mom came to visit for Thanksgiving!  It was so nice having her down those few days just to spend some quality one-on-one time together.

My mom and I at a cafe overlooking Ajijic

This past weekend I was able to participate in a Walk for Freedom, part of the A21 Campaign, where we raised awareness about the trafficking of girls here in the city.  It was a great time to not only raise awareness, but also to network and make more contacts.  We even made the news!

 

The women wore high heels to identify with the girls and red tape over our mouths to represent the impotency the girls have to cry out for help.

 

As we walked, the men walked alongside us and informed the public about trafficking here in Guadalajara and how we all can make a difference.

It was also a great time to fellowship with other girls and the pastor's wife from my church.

This month I have also been finishing up my master's degree online (Biblical Family Counseling) with a Mexican Christian university.  It has been a long time coming, as I have only been able to dedicate a small portion of my "free time" to it, but this month I will have completed all of the courses and in January I will start my thesis to finish it off!  Praise God!

Something God has been teaching me these past few weeks is that this is not a 100 meter dash race.  There is no reason to run as fast as I can, getting worn out and exhausted after 100 meters.  It is a cross country race.  One step at a time.

My prayer is that this Christmas season we would all slow down and truly enjoy every step we take. 

Enjoy the stage of life we are in and thank God for it, rather than looking behind or too far ahead. 

Let us be thankful for today and live today for Him, letting Him guide our steps.

Training in Pachuca/Mexico City

“Fear grows in the absence of knowing who God is.” Dean Sherman

As Christians we are called to go into the dark places. 

A lot of people do not like this. 

It is scary.

But this is what Jesus did.

We are called to cast our eyes on God, not on the situation.  This does not imply acting rashly, with no regard to our surroundings or the danger.  But it does imply not being moved by fear. 

These past couple of weeks that I spent in Pachuca and Mexico City I learned more about the reality of getting involved in human trafficking.  It is a dark place.  If I were moved by fear or passion, I would be out in a heartbeat.  However God has really convicted me to move according to who He is and what He calls me to do.

During this trip I had the opportunity to witness and participate in the various steps of ministry.  The timing/schedule of events actually worked out perfectly.

 

YWAM Pachuca

While in Pachuca I was able to join the YWAM base as they start up human trafficking ministry.  We went out to the red-light district to intercede and pray for the area, the girls and strategies on how to rescue the girls. 

Red Light District in Pachuca

In Mexico City one of the main focuses of the YWAM base is human trafficking.  I was able to participate with them in a ministry called “Distribution”.  Basically we walked the streets of the La Merced Market where all of the girls are lined up every meter.  In the 4 block radius there are 5000 girls.   

La Merced Market

We handed out little “goodie-bags” with a hand made card with a verse about how they are loved by God, nail polish, mascara and a business card of a beauty salon in the area.  We talked with and prayed for the girls.  The purpose of Distribution is to make the 1^st contact with the girls.  We invited them to a free haircut and to a weekly bible study at the salon.

Some things in the Goodie-Bags

 I also had the opportunity to spend the day at the beauty salon with a good friend of mine from when I used to live in Mexico City.  She showed me the ropes of the salon and shared more about her experience with the girls over the past 6+ years.  The salon serves as a refuge/resting place for the girls when they want to take a break; the girls are provided food, prayer, biblical counseling, etc..  This is where they minister to the girls, give them hope and offer them a way out.

The Salon/Community Center

Another day in Mexico City I was able to spend the day at a safe house for underage girls rescued from human trafficking.  It was definitely an experience to remember.  7 year old girls.  I don’t even know how to explain the emotions I felt that day.  The only thing I could do was hold tightly to God and remind myself of how good He is.   Keep my eyes on Him and not on circumstances.

A phrase that has really stuck with me on this trip is the fact that…  “Jesus was not motivated by human needs, but rather by the heart of the Father.”

Here in Guadalajara our team is in a time of seeking the Father’s heart.  There are lots of ideas, plans, strategies out there, but we want to seek His heart, His plan, His ideas, His strategy.    

“You steady me, slow and sweet, we sway;

Take the lead and I will follow,

Finally ready now to close my eyes and just believe

That You won’t lead me where You don’t go.” 

We Dance-Bethel Music

PRAYER REQUESTS:

-His strategy.

-Continued contacts/networking with others in trafficking here in Guadalajara.

-That we would move only according to His voice.

-The times that we go out onto the streets in Guadalajara to make contact with girls, pray, etc..
-A Christmas Outreach/Distribution Project- we want to distribute goodie-bags to the girls in Guadalajara.  That God would provide finances through partnering churches here to purchase the items and a prayer team to go out and distribute the bags and pray with us.

Passion.

Passion.  
It is what moves you, drives you.  
Supposedly what you do stems from a passion that you have.  If you are a teacher, you have a passion to teach. 

I have lived my life as a missionary here in Mexico driven by passion.  Passion to work with kids, passion to see their lives transformed.  However God has been showing me something important about passion these past few weeks that has surprised me.  

We are in the process of starting up a few safe houses to work with girls on the streets.  It is very exciting to see all of the contacts that God has put in my path.  Actually it is quite amazing and a complete miracle.  I won't go into great detail, but He is working...

• A girl in Guadalajara who used to walk the streets is showing me the ropes of what it looks like to minister to the girls.
• A trafficking ministry in Nicaragua that has worked in Mexico & South America has invited me to train under them in Nicaragua.
• Contact with trained individuals who can do the dangerous operations of going into a brothel or cantina where the girls are at to rescue them.
• Contacts in Immigration for girls trafficked from other countries
• Churches here in Guadalajara wanting to back up the project
• Various key people in Guadalajara and Chapala dedicated to the project
• A group of prayer warriors praying for the project
• Other training materials, healing through art, etc.  
• Contact with a Christian Senator whose platform is human trafficking

All of these contacts have come to me without me even searching.

You would think this would passion me.  That this would increase the passion I have for the project.  But honestly it hasn't. 

Am I excited?  Yes.
Am I amazed at what God is doing in such a short time?  Yes.
Is this project what moves me or passions me?  No.

I think before I was moved or passionate about projects, ministries.  At first I was worried that this project didn't give me passion.  But over the past few days God has really been speaking to me through His Word and through others that He is to be my passion.  I think as we mature and grow He starts to show us His excitement for what He wants to do without us being overwhelmed by our emotions.  With Him as our passion we can have a level head to make decisions and start up projects like this.

This is something completely necessary for this type of ministry.  We are faced with tragic stories left and right.  
Girls 10, 12 years old, orphans, scooped up and forced to be raped hour after hour.  Locked down.  Drugs.  Alcohol.  Hopelessness.  Helplessness.  Numbness.






I wish I could paint a nicer picture that would make a "feel good story", but this is reality. 

At first I thought my lack of passion was because something was wrong with me.  But now I praise God that He is my passion.  I would not be able to wake up everyday and see these things going on if He were not my passion, the reason I live. 

It is a dark and overwhelming world,
But He is guiding.
He is leading. 
He is what drives me.
He is my passion.
I am called to walk in obedience towards Him and move according to what passions His heart.

Map- Training Trip from Guadalajara-Pachuca-Mexico City

This upcoming week we plan to go on the streets and give white roses + a card to the girls.

The starting of our team.  Missionaries: Terry & Karen, me, Cheryl & Ray

One of the houses on the property we are praying for.

PRAYER REQUESTS:

• My trip the 1st two weeks of November to Pachuca and Mexico City to train with 2 YWAM bases who work with human trafficking, street girls and safe houses.
• Direction if God wants me to go to Nicaragua to train with this ministry.  And if so, the finances to make the trip.
• Wisdom and discernment as to how to continue ministering to the girls without "standing out" to the pimps.
• Land purchase for the 1st safe home.  Open doors in the process if He wants us to have this land.