Week Three - Acts 1 Conference.

      This past week the DTS staff and students packed up our bags and drove to Tijuana for the Acts 1 conference. YWAM Ensenada met up with YWAM LA and YWAM Tijuana. There were over 120 people there, and we represented 21 different nations!!
    Acts 1 talks about waiting on the Lord. "He ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said 'you heard from me, for John baptized with water but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.'" (verses 4-5). This whole week was about waiting on the Lord, waiting for what he would reveal to us. There was a lot of worship and many times of intercession for the nations. It was an incredible week of bonding with others and drawing closer to God.
    I have never experienced anything like Acts 1. This conference stretched me and God spoke many things into my life. The leaders in Tijuana have a vision of 200 000 young people doing God's work there. We prayed a lot for the Tijuana base and for their vision to become reality. It was an overwhelming week because Ensenada students had lectures on top of the conference. Basically we started our days at 7:30 for breakfast and did not end until after 9 pm. It was exhausting, in a good way. I write this blog from my bed in Ensenada, actually feeling quite ill. This week took a lot out of me emotionally and physically, so thank God for weekends and times to rest and recuperate!!
    Please pray I feel better soon!! Praise God for such an amazing conference, and for so many lives renewed in God (including my own!)   

Week Two, and the Beginning of Acts 1 conference.

Monday afternoon. I write this blog post from my bunk in Tijuana - we are staying here for a week for a conference called Acts 1 Conference. We will be going through a schedule of lectures and times of prayer.

Last week Sean Lambert led our lectures. He spoke about the origins of YWAM, and about how to disciple others. I had heard from some of the students in the secondary school in Ensenada that he was a boring speaker, so I admit I went in to lectures with somewhat of a bias. However, I quite enjoyed listening to him. He told about his life and his beginnings with YWAM. We also had the privilege of listening to Tym Kemp speak, and hear his story. His life inspires me!

Time and time again, I realize how blessed I am to be here. Mexico is a beautiful country. Many walks on the beach have happened, many sunsets and sunrises watched. God is truly an artist. Being back in the country I love, doing what I love, enjoying my YWAM family... Life is good :)

To all my Canadian friends... Happy Thanksgiving!!! There is much to be thankful for.

One Week.

Well. It's been one week of lectures, and officially 9 days since I got to Mexico.

First off I need to say how much I love this group of people!! I can honestly say that  I love each and every person here, staff and students alike. I love the diversity of our group - there are students here from Canada, USA, Mexico, Honduras, Germany and Holland. God has brought all of us here from different walks of life, and all with our own stories. Already I feel a sense of family!

I have 4 roommates. One speaks English, two are bilingual, and one speaks only Spanish. I like to fit myself in somewhere in the Spanglish category. I am learning a ton of Spanish, and I can converse in very rough Spanish. It's such a beautiful language, and so good to learn.

The first week of lectures have been incredible. I have seen God in so many ways already. We have had times of intercession, amazing times of worship,  local outreach to the Red Light District, and lots of bonding time. Our lectures are wonderful, so much to learn!!

I will probably blog on Saturdays, since we have no lecture and it's essentially a free day.

- Sarah

DTS 2011!!!

Wow, so long with no blog posts from me.

Just a short and sweet note to let all of you know I have safely arrived in Mexico!!! Today has potentially been one of the longest days I can remember. However it has been SO worth it. My alarm went off at exactly 3 am - I didn't sleep at all. Anyways, we left the house at 4, made it to the airport just before 5, and off we (Russell and I) went. In Vancouver, we bumped into Leith as well! Go figure, the 3 Canadian students all hail from Alberta and ended up on the same flights!!

Praise God too that Air Canada did not go on strike - today at least. We made it, our luggage made it, and if you know me at all you would not be surprised to hear that I have made many friends today :)

In the evening we had a bit of worship. I am so at peace at being back in Ensenada, and I believe God is going to change a lot of lives during this DTS.

And now, I am going to sleep :) I will post again soon, possibly with pictures of my "room".

26 days.

August is nearly over. Which, for my roommates and many friends means returning to university. For me, it means that September is nearly here.. Which in turn means September 22 is nearly here... Which means flying to Mexico for DTS!!!!!!!!

Planning on keeping this post short and sweet. It has blown my mind how fast this summer has gone, and how close DTS is. Fundraising is going slow and steady. Every time I freak out that I will not have enough money I get a phone call from home saying I got a donation from someone at church, or a letter in a mail with a cheque enclosed. That being said, I am still in need of funds to pay for my outreach phase of this journey. God is good, and He will provide.

26 days. So much to do, so many people to say goodbye to or catch up with, so much to accomplish in that time. I am learning how to rely on God more and more every day, even though that scares me. Slowly things are falling into place. I feel at peace that doing this DTS and abandoning school for a year is exactly what God wants me to do.

Peace in the moment.

So often lately I find myself worrying about things.

Not to the point that I'm developing an ulcer, but man, I have a lot to do before DTS. I feel like my thought process is like a record, caught on the same loop forever. "Sarah you have to buy travel insurance... buy flight ticket... raise more money... figure out where to live in February upon returning... JOB?!?!? ...see so many people before I go... say my goodbyes... oh my GOODNESS I am moving to MEXICO in 34 days..." etc, etc. It's a lot for one brain to handle!!! It seems as though the next 34 days will be packed with wayyyy too many things.

If we go through life worrying about what needs to be done, we miss moments.

I have had several bursts of inspiration lately, telling me to just relax. One was at the Edmonton Fringe Festival, I was drawn to one particular booth. A lady had brightly colored paintings that really caught my eye. I quickly found out that she integrated Bible verses into each of her paintings. One in particular caught my eye.. it was Luke 12:25.

Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds! Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life?  Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?

It was such a beautiful painting, and such a good reminder to me!! The reminder I had was from my dear friend Matt, when we were skyping. He just told me to take time to relax, and not worry about anything because  God is in control. Such simple words, but how quickly we forget them. Sometimes life can seem hectic. But when we remember to find peace in the moment, we will be blessed by God's grace. It's so refreshing to just take a breather and bask in God's wonderful mercy. Thanks, God.

"God doesn't want perfect people, He wants willing people!"

Yesterday I had the most wonderful conversation with a man who has worked with YWAM for years. I was at a wedding, and my friend's parents called me over to introduce me to George. George has been working with YWAM for many years, and we hit it off right away.

In our conversations, he told lots of stories about his travels bringing teams of kids to Mission Adventures, and just how it touched their hearts, as well as his. I was telling him about my plans to do my DTS in September, and he was delighted. He told me one thing that really stayed with me - and that is that God doesn't want/need perfect people to be called into mission work, but He does however want willing people. That just stayed with me. I told him how I don't have all the funding at this moment to pay for this DTS but I'm willing to go anyways, and I have faith that God will provide. He really encouraged me in that, and that God WILL provide.

I also had a super encouraging time this evening. One of the guys from my DTS lives in Edmonton as well. We decided to meet for coffee. After a little investigating we found out.... the first time I lived in Edmonton, we were neighbors!!!! Literally!! My family rented half a duplex from his family for about a month while we were looking for a more permanent home. Russell and I have quickly become friends. I feel so blessed right now to have the opportunity to get to know Russell before this DTS even starts. Thanks God.