Thank you for your support over the past few years. So many lives have been touched all over the world. I could tell you countless stories about families that have been changed due to the ministry; however, that could get lengthy so here is a short story. I hope you enjoy it.
The community where we lived was next to the city dump and a very poor community called Las Granjas. Las Granjas began as a squatter's village with no electricity or running water. It has progressed from that point to where they can now own the land. Although there are a few public water faucets; the residents still use candles for light and outhouses instead of indoor plumbing.
I am sure you can imagine some of the things that go on in a Mexican community like that -- rape, child abuse, drunken brawls, domestic violence, stealing... You name it, it happens there on a daily basis. It is an area that most Mexicans and Americans avoid and look down upon because it seems so broken.
However, the AIM team and I found Las Granjas to be a place where we were received like old friends. Many of the people there are warm, friendly, and simply want someone to love them. That was something we could do for them, so we spent a lot of time in that community -- just loving the people. This community is where the following story took place.
This story is about a very sweet boy named Juan. He is around the age of eleven. Juan lives with his mom, adult sister, niece and whatever boyfriends his mom and sister might have at the time in a tiny, 10 x 20, pink house with one door and two windows.
Every time I saw Juan he would run over, greet me with a smile, and a high five. I would always ask Juan about school and his friends. Then, he would smile again and be on his way.
One particular day I went down Juan's street but did not see him. I then stopped by house and found him lying in bed. His mother told me that he had been sick for several days. He looked very tired like he had the flu or something. I think before we left we said a prayer for him.
Sunday came, and Juan's mom showed up at church with him. He looked even more sick than he had just a few days before -- his tongue was swollen, his eyes were blood shot, and it took all the energy he had to walk from the church van to the chair where he sat through the whole service, not moving. Afterwards, Juan's mom asked for us to pray for her son. Several Mexicans and a few Americans gathered around and began to pray for him. We prayed for ten minutes or so but did not see an immediate change. If anything, Juan looked even worse than when he had arrived.
A few days later I went out to Las Granjas and went down his street. As I turned the corner, I saw a kid waving to me from the end of the road. I looked closer and realized it was Juan. He ran over with his usual smile and high five. He looked great and was full of energy.
I asked his mom what had happened. She said after we prayed for him he went home and went to bed. When he woke up in the morning he was hungry, so she fed him. (He had not been eating anything.) By the afternoon he was up and running around again. He was just fine and not at all sick. She was so happy that she cried and kept telling us how good God is to save her son.
This story was made possible because of your support to the work God is doing in Mexico. It is so neat that we are able to have a part in something as great as a little boy being healed. My heart is touched that God allowed me to see and experience events like this one while I was in Mexico. I have so many great memories of the time I spent there.
However, due to safety concerns my mission organization (AIM) has chosen not to have a FYM base in Mexico any longer. They did tell me that I was welcome to go anywhere else in the world where they have bases. Therefore, early this summer I began to pray about the direction God had for my life now that Mexico was out of the picture. I thought I would be going to Peru or Nicaragua, but the more I prayed about it, the more I felt it was not quite right.
I continued praying and having conversations with AIM throughout the summer, but nothing seemed to click with me. I started to realize that maybe God was calling me to something else, somewhere else. After many months of struggling with the direction God wants me to go, I have decided that continuing as a missionary with AIM is not the direction God has for me at this time. That does not mean that I am done with missions forever. It is just for this time I feel like I need a season of rest.
During the next season of my life I will be focusing my time and energy on some goals that have been in my heart for a long time. I plan to return to college as well as learn more about ministry (hands-on) in the United States of America. I have been a missionary to Mexico for almost three years and am now excited to see what kinds of opportunities God has prepared for me here.
Thank you for all your support over the last few years. If you have any questions or want to get in touch with me, my email is applegirl8@hotmail.com.
My experience with the country of Belize is one I will never forget. Belize is a country with a little bit of everything. The inland country is a swampy, jungle that is full of critters. The costal area is rocky, with course sand and the sea is many colors of blue and green. The country has a healthy and active mosquito population that was delighted we were visiting. The people of Belize are warm and friendly but from many different nationalities including Mexican, Mayan, Chinese, American, and many more. It was fun getting to know them and experience the differences during my stay.
We had three American groups with us, a high school group from Pennsylvania, an adults group from California, and a young adult group from Florida. It was an interesting mix we had some bumps but surprisingly the groups worked well together. Our ministry included visiting children's and youth homes, a youth detention center, inner city outreach, VBS programs, prayer walking, and downtown plaza programs. I feel as though the ministries were effective and we had some great opportunities to lead people to Christ and encourage fellow Christians. It was an exciting time of ministry to the Belizeans, mixed with visiting a few tourist destinations, and encouraging the participants as well as my co leaders.
My favorite part of the trip was visiting a youth detention center. We were the first group they had ever let visit this state run detention center. The kids in there are hardcore and the guards are members of the Belizean military. It was a rough group of people. We walked in and they had all the boys seated waiting for us. In unison they all said hello then their director welcomed us. We presented a program including worship songs, testimonies, and a brief message. The room was dead silent as they listened. We then were allowed to take the boys out to play sports. An armed guard accompanied them. I stayed back in the meeting area because I wanted to talk with the only female guard there. She looked tough. From the time we walked in and the whole time during the program her expression never changed from a cold stare. Something about her stuck out to me and I knew I needed to talk with her. After the program I walked over to her and asked her how she was doing. She seemed surprised that I had noticed her but was friendly with me. I asked her questions about her job. It began to break the ice and the expression on her face softened.
As she talked she softened more and more until finally tears were welling in the corners of her eyes. She shared with me how hard it is to work with these boys when she feels so much like a mother to them. She has two boys around the same age and it is a struggle for her to not view them like her sons. She had so much love and compassion for them it surprised me. As she talked my heart just broke for her. The reason she is working here is because she is in the military and that is where she is stationed. Her family lives 5 hours away and she misses them greatly. She does get to visit them on the weekends and that is what drives her. I talked with her for over an hour. During our conversation I was able to encourage her and pray with her. It was definitely a Divine meeting and I am thankful God allowed me that opportunity.
My experience in Belize was not at all what I expected. My expectation was the trip would be in this wonderful, tropical paradise and every thing would work out as planed. Of course it did not work out that way. My biggest surprise was the country itself. It was not a light and wonderful paradise. It is a heavy country with lots of demonic oppression. The entire time I was there it felt like I had a ton of bricks on my back. We had to pray a lot just to make it through the days because it felt like with everything we tried we encountered resistance. I am glad for the experience and that God used me there but I am glad to be back home. Thank you for the prayers those of you who were praying they were much needed. It is because of prayer that our trip was successful.
In the world of missions things can change so fast. This past week I found out about the opportunity for me to take a trip to Belize with AIM. My role as support staff will be assisting the project leader and participants as they minister. For some of the participants this will be the first time out of the country and others this will be there first mission experience. The age range is from ten years old to adult. It is a very diverse group. However I know God has some great things in store for them.
I am excited about this opportunity to serve the thirty-two participants on this two weeklong mission trip. I will be leaving June 16 and returning June 27. Please pray for safe travels, open hearts, safety, health, and that we will make an impact for the Kingdom of God.
Below is a brief description of the ministry we are going to be doing:
We will work on a church in Orange Walk and we'll help repair and remodel churches, homes, and mission facilities. Our inner city ministries will include work with several orphanages and Bible studies in youth detention centers. We'll stage huge block parties for kids in very poor neighborhoods in Belize City and Belmopan. Our outreach will include door-to-door evangelism in neighborhoods as directed by our pastor partners. And we will work with pastors in rural areas like Burrell Boom to share the Good News with families scattered along the Belize River and in remote villages.
If you are interested in financially supporting and partnering with me on this trip or future trips please follow the link on the left hand side of the blog page.
As an FYM team we built a house for a family a few weeks ago. The money for the house was raised by FYM's and all the construction was done by our team. It was a great experience for the team. The family we built the house for have three children. They were renting a house but the rent payment was so high that they did not have enough money to live off after paying rent. This house was a huge blessing to them. They are so thankful.
I am sitting in the Brownsville airport because I just dropped someone off. They have free wireless and when you live in Mexico anywhere you can get wireless for free becomes a great place to hang out. I started reading the blogs the team wrote yesterday about their time here in Mexico. After I read about the first two a theme because apparent to me. The theme was that God is doingamazing things in the lives of the team members as well as in the lives of the Mexican's they are ministering to.
This revelation hit me kind of hard because for the last few weeks I have been wondering why I have fought so hard to keep this team here. One of the reasons the Mexico FYM team is still here is because God told me I needed to stay and fight to keep this team in Mexico. I have been obedient and I have dug my heels in the ground and stood. Some days it took every once of strength I had to stand but I did it. Because of that determination the plan the devil had to make Mexico FYM end did not happen.
I encourage all of you to look over the blogs of the team God entrusted into my hands and see what He has done over the past few months. Reading these blogs spoke straight to my heart. Hope is here and God is still in control. Enjoy!
I don't understand this fallen world we live in. It truly is a broken place. It seems so often that things are hopeless. However I have to remember we have hope. I asked God the question where is the hope in this world? Where is the hope in this life? Where is the hope in this situation? My prayer was, "please Father, help me I feel so hopeless." The situation felt like I was supposed to be holding a fistful of water and it was all leaking out the sides of my hand. My human strength, mind, and emotions said I could no longer do it. But God said, "wait, don't give up, there is hope."
Hope, I asked God where it was and He began to lead me through the Psalms. Psalms 23, He is with me in the valley. Psalms 91, He is my protector, shield, and defender. Psalms 42, I put my hope in God my Savior and my God. Psalms 43, I will praise my God my hope. Psalms 19, God is my rock and my redeemer. The thought then occurred to me that even though my heart is heavy today God should still be my hope. He will redeem this situation for His glory. Thank you God!
In Mexico it is relatively easy to find creatures of all shapes, sizes, and colors living in community with you in your house. The other day I found one of these little friends in the bathroom. He, the spider was black and large. With his legs stretched out he was around the size of the palm of my hand. He is not the biggest spider I have seen here but his size was noteworthy.
Normally when I find "friends" like this I find someone else to kill them because I struggle to kill something the size of a Michigan rodent with only a shoe. This time I enlisted the help of Chad one of the FYM's. After a brief photo session with the "friend" we were ready to eliminate his existence. Chad shoe in hand was ready. I stepped out about 10 feet away because spiders have been known to jump when they sense their life is in danger. Chad swung at the "friend" and made contact but not enough to kill him. The "friend" jumped to the left towards me and landed about five feet from me. I was stunned for a moment until I looked into his beady eyes. His eyes glared at me and communicated it was going to be his life or mine. One of us was going to die today and he did not want it to be him.
He took off in a swift run towards me ready to fight. I turned heal to toe and sprinted down the hall, screaming to Chad for help. All I could see flashing through my mind was a sci-fi movie I had watched where killer spiders were attacking people. The spider grew from being the size of the palm of my hand into being a 3 feet tall, killer determined to eat me. Within a flash it was over. I heard the comforting words of Chad saying the spider had been defeated. I was once again safe. Crisis was over and life went back to normal for everyone except the "friend."
Moral of the story: Fear puts things out of perspective.
I want to share some about my experiences from the past four weeks. Because so much has happened I will try to be brief. The way all this affected me was I went from going along doing my RA thing to leading the entire FYM Mexico team through a time a crisis. Week one: Hearing the news and tying to make sense of it; removing the team from Mexico for a few days to try and find out what was going on; being very thankful Scott (my boss at AIM) came down to help; debriefing the team when we still had little information; helping the team process the many thoughts running through their heads; and realizing I was the one leading the team.
Week two: Returning to Mexico and staying at a different AIM base then where we were; helping with a week long mission project; trying to find out more details; accepting help from the AIM family as they reached out to our disconcerted team; introducing the team to Tony and Kelly-American missionaries that live in Mexico and are helping us; looking for a house to rent; finding the house and working out the details; talking the team through everything; and watching as five team members leave; realizing once again the team is looking to me for direction.
Week three: Figuring out how to get rent money from a bank account is in someone else's name; working out house contract issues; cleaning and packing at the church where we were living; helping move the owner of the new house out and to another house; us moving into the new house; more talking through things and processing with the team; buying food so we didn't have to continue eating sandwiches all the time; opening a bank account so I can get money to pay for things; more meeting and conversations discussing what had happened.
Week four-last week: Picking up guests who were scheduled to come and teach the FYM's during our morning class time this week; teaching Erin and Jason how to shop for food; realizing I had no money for my new, FYM bank account; talking to people so money could be transferred; getting a budget that I did not know how to read; learning how to read the budget; running out of minutes on my phone from calling AIM people so much; getting an AIM cell phone so I can continue talking to AIM people; figuring out our schedule for the next two and half months; and last but not least writing this blog along with what seems like a hundred emails.
This list is a brief overview of my life lately. It has been somewhat exhausting but I am seeing a turnaround. The team is doing very well. Ministries to the Mexicans are going better then expected. The house we moved into is so nice and perfect for what we needed. I am adjusting to being the leader. Things are getting better but please continue to pray for the situation with Bob and for his family, the team as they adjust, myself that I will be able to fill this role God has placed me in.
Bittersweet is the only word I can think of to describe the feeling in the pit of my stomach this morning. As I shut the door to the van after saying goodbye to almost half of my FYM team. It has been around 2 weeks since this whole mess started. Today, I saw a very tangible reaction to Bob's failure. My heart is hurting as I lay here in my bed wondering if somehow I have failed these FYM's. I know I had nothing to do with the situation but still a small part of me wants to understand something anything Why is it so hard to see people leave??
I have invested 5 months of my life into helping these FYM's grow and today when they left it was hard. It was hard because I wonder if I lead them properly through the situation. I question if when they were looking to me for help and advise if they saw me or they saw Christ. I question if I somehow missed something I should have seen. I question the motives of their choices to leave and I pray that it really is God's will for their lives. Lastly, I question if someday I will stumble and my fall will cause others to stumble. I have so many questions, but so few answers. Nothing seems to make sense right now.
The one thing I have to stand on during this entire trauma is the fact that I know God has called me here for such a time as this. I need to refocus myself so I can minister by pouring God's love on to the students that are left. My prayer is that I am able to finish these next 3 months with a supernatural grace and love that causes the remaining students to look back on this time and see Christ. Pray that God will bless the ones that have left and He will give them the closure they need. Please continue praying for us as we make the transition into the new house and for our restructuring from losing half the team.
Today is the first day I have had to think or write since last Sunday. Everything down here has changed very drastically this past week. The man I have served under for two years has experienced a moral failure and the effects are rippling through many lives including my FYM team. In the matter of a few hours I went from ladies RA to leader of the entire FYM Mexico team. I am now responsible for fifteen people including two staff. I am in a position that I never desired but God must know that I can do it or He would not have placed me here. The team is looking to me for leadership and guidance. I am struggling to fill the new role I have been placed in.
Please pray for the team, my former leader and his family, and me. I currently am with the team at a different AIM base in Matamoros. This base is set up for short-term trips. This week we are going to help with a trip from Canada. We have some AIM staff from Georgia coming down that are going to help this broken team and myself process everything that has just happened. My main goal for this week is trying to find a place for us to live. The place we were living is no longer an option because of a safety reasons. We have found a different area of the city to live in that is near an American missionary couple. They are going to be helping the leadership of FYM as we try to rebuild and work though everything that has happened to the team. Please pray that we can find a house to rent that is big enough, and has adequate meeting, kitchen, and bathroom farcicalities.
ue and green. The country has a healthy and active mosquito population that was delighted we were visiting. The people of Belize are warm and friendly but from many different nationalities including Mexican, Mayan, Chinese, American, and many more. It was fun getting to know them and experience the differences during my stay.
I stayed back in the meeting area because I wanted to talk with the only female guard there. She looked tough. From the time we walked in and the whole time during the program her expression never changed from a cold stare. Something about her stuck out to me and I knew I needed to talk with her. After the program I walked over to her and asked her how she was doing. She seemed surprised that I had noticed her but was friendly with me. I asked her questions about her job. It began to break the ice and the expression on her face softened. 
Week two: Returning to Mexico and staying at a different AIM base then where we were; helping with a week long mission project; trying to find out more details; accepting help from the AIM family as they reached out to our disconcerted team; introducing the team to Tony and Kelly-American missionaries that live in Mexico and are helping us; looking for a house to rent; finding the house and working out the details; talking the team through everything; and watching as five team members leave; realizing once again the team is looking to me for direction.