DTS Graduation!

December 9th was the date of our graduation for the Discipleship Training School. We concluded our outreach to Haiti and Guatemala and had a fantastic experience. Each of the students were touched by the Lord and did a great job preaching the gospel in a variety of ways. We returned from Haiti and rode a bus and 4 wheel drive pickup for 13 hours to reach a village in NW Guatemala called Yulmacap. There are about 400 families living in the area and very few white people get out there. When we first arrived the children ran away from us but by the end of the week they were crying when we left. We lived in rustic conditions for the 5 days of ministry but it was worth it to have the opportunity to share the love of Christ with the community. We visited 5 families that have children with a rare form of skin cancer caused by ultraviolet light. These children must stay out of the sun all the time to reduce the spread of cancer. It is very difficult for them as there is not much for them to do.
We also conducted ministry in Quetzatenango, Guatemala, working with a local church. It was a time of encouraging the believers in their walk and work for the Lord.
Our final week was spent in San Pablo La Laguna working with two pastors who are doing a great work in their community. One family we visited has lost both parents to AIDS and the 4 children are now living with their grandparents who have very limited resources but plenty of love for their grandkids. We hope to build a home for the children as the home of the grandparents is too small to accommodate them.
Our graduation service was a special time for all us and it is always hard to see the students leave. We have been blessed to work with a very special and talented group this past year and pray God's best for each of them as they pursue their individual calling from the Lord.
Our next DTS will begin in February, Motorcyclist DTS will be an outstanding adventure for those who have a passion for motorcycling and sharing the gospel.

Outreach to Haiti

W
we are in the 3rd week of outreach in Haiti and it has been a great experience. We worked with Pastor Beau a Ywamer who is pastoring a church in a very poor area. He took us around the area to do evangelism and we has opportnities to share the gospel with hundreds of people. In order to get to his church we had to take 4 wheel drive vehicles as the road was partially under water and was muddy. Then we had to cross a small river and walk the rest of the way to his village. We showed the Jesus film and during the film the people clapped whenever they saw Jesus do miracles. The children were deeply moved by the death of Jesus and some cried.

On Saturday we hiked up to a fortress that overlooks St. Marc to worship and pray for the city. It was a beauty vista and even though took some effort to reach the top was well worth it.

Please continue to pray for protection and health for all of us.

DTS Outreach to Haiti

We arrived in Haiti last Sunday and have spent the first week conducting evangelistic outreaches with the YWAM Haiti base. We have shared the gospel through dramas, testimonies and preaching to over 1000 people during our first week. One of the most memorable sites was the local jail in St. Marc. The cells are designed to hold 4-5 people but each one has 30+ in them!!! There are no beds and the prisoners have to sleep on the floor that is not big enough for all of them to lay down on at one time. They listened attentively to our presentation from behind their cell doors as no one is allowed outside except for 10 minutes per day to shower. It is a place you would never want to return to as a prisoner.
We have also shared in several public schools and parks. We have drawn crowds at each location and have seen a few people accept the Lord. One lady was from another town over the hills that surround St. Marc and she just happened to be in the area we were at sharing the gospel. She gave her heart to Christ and I was reminded of the 1 lost sheep that was found while the 99 remained.
We will be in Haiti until November 17 and we will be working with YWAM Haiti and a church.
Next week we will be visiting 8 villages near St. Marc. These areas are very poor and are heavily influenced by voodoo. The pastor we are working with was threatened by witch doctors and told at gun point to not share the gospel or he would be killed. He told them his life was in God's hands and they could not control him. He has remained faithful to share the gospel and has seen many people come to Christ.
Please pray for our DTS students as we continue to share the gospel and bear fruit for the Kingdom.

DTS Update Week 9

We are currently in our 9th week of the classroom phase. Our topic this week is Spiritual Warfare and our teacher is Terry Keith the Base Director of YWAM Heredia Costa Rica. Terry has been a YWAMERS for 26 years and has vast experience in the ministry. We are blessed to have such highly qualified and experienced teachers in our DTS this year.

We have made a decision to do our outreach in Haiti and Guatemala this year. We will be leaving for Haiti to work with YWAM Haiti on October 16 and return November 17. Our last 3 weeks of outreach will be spent in Guatemala in 3 different locations: Yulmacap in NW Guatemala; Quetzaltenango and San Pablo La Laguna.

DTS 2011

We have just completed the 4th week of the classroom phase of the DTS. We have 12 students attending this year from the USA, Canada and Curacao. Through the generosity of a local church we are able to use their classroom for our daily classes which helps the student focus on the studies and eliminates distractions at the base. We have been blessed to be able to secure excellent teachers from the USA, Guatemala and El Salvador.
Each day the students are involved in work duty and this year we are partnering with a hospital for disabled children and adults, an orphanage and a ministry that makes wheel chairs.
The students are also involved in the weekly ministries of the base which include the English Worship service, Kids club, feeding the poor and conducting a worship service for homeless people.
We are tentatively making plans to do our outreach in Haiti and Guatemala. Please pray for the students finances that they will each be able to raise the support needed ($2000).

Diaspora DTS and Riverpoint Outreach

After the team from Nachitoches, Louisiana left we were surprised by a call from the Diaspora DTS from the YWAM Los Angeles base. They were on their 2 month outreach to Central America and contacted us on short notice to see if they could spend a week with us. We had the time they wanted available so we were able to host them and conduct ministry with them. They had 9 team members with only a couple who spoke English as all of them were from South Korea. They were a wonderful team to host. We enjoyed their times of worship in Korean, the dramas and songs they did with the children and their times of intercession.
We just finished hosting Riverpoint Church from Georgia for a week. They brought the largest team we have ever hosted-24 youth and adults. We had a great time of ministry with them and divided them into 2-3 groups at times to be able to get more involvement and touch more lives. Some of the things they did were: Kids ministry at the base; home construction project; painting a Christian school; ministry at Hermano Pedro Hospital and Orphanage; feeding the poor; conducting services for the homeless. Kids ministry in Santa Maria de Jesus and evangelism in Central Park. They took advantage of ministry opportunities that became available and did a great job. We were blessed by their servant attitude and sincere desire to see people reached with the gospel.
Our next group arrives July 10 from Rochester, Minnesota. They will be our last team before we start our DTS on July 24 with 13 students.

Natchitoches Outreach

From May 30 to June 8 we hosted First Baptist Church of Natchitoches, Louisiana. They came prepared with ministry for children and adults. Part of their time was spent working at the YWAM base in the minstries we do on a regular basis and they spent time at San Pablo La Laguna ministering in two churches we have formed relationships with over the past 8 years. We also have an intern, Dave, working with us for 6 weeks. He and the music pastor of the Baptist church sang the song in the video and were a blessing to everyone.You can view this on youtube: Outreach Music at San Pablo La Laguna.

We will be hosting 3 more teams in June and July and then will focus our efforts on the DTS which starts on July 24. We are anticipating 12 students enrolling and look forward to working with each of them.

Miraculous Healing!

Last Saturday 3 of our staff and another YWAMer from Colorado Springs traveled to San Pablo La Laguna to visit some families and take pictures of the home and church construction projects we are providing financial assistance. We stopped to pray for a 17 year old girl, Tracy, who had serious health issues that the doctors could not diagnose nor prescribe anything to help her. She experienced paralysis at times over most of her body, would go into a state of unconsciousness for up to an hour and a half and was unable to walk the day we saw her due to the intense pain she felt in her leg. When we met her in her parents home she was sitting in the chair as noted in the picture. We joined in prayer for her and asked God to heal her in the way of his choosing and in his timing. She was not healed immediately but a couple days later she was at a church in Panajachel and four women carried her to the front of the church at the altar and prayed for her. She felt a fire go through her body and she was instantly healed and began to walk and leap and shout for joy!!!! All praise be to our all powerful and loving God who hears the prayers of his children and responds.

Outreach Ministries

YWAM Antigua has several ministry programs that we conduct on a weekly basis.

Every Monday night we host a worship service in English in Antigua. We have a time of contemporary worship, teaching, prayer and fellowship at our service that reaches out to the English speaking population of Antigua. Many of the people who attend are missionaries or students who have come to Antigua to learn English. The service provides a connecting point for people who are here short term or long term. When visiting teams are with us we always make their participation in the service an option for them. During our DTS our visiting teachers participate in the Worship service.

Each week at the base we host Kid's Club for the neighborhood children. Typically we have from 40-60 kids coming for a time of singing, stories, crafts and games. Many of the children are unchurched so this is a great opportunity to make an eternal impact on their lives. Visiting teams often will do several days of kids ministry at the base and it is always a special time for the children.

Every Saturday night we host "Soul Patrol" at the Central park in Antigua. This is a hang out place for people of all ages. Many are passing time, relaxing and are open to having a conversation about Christ. There are a mixture of Spanish speaking and English speaking people in the park which give everyone more opportunities to share their faith with someone who speaks their language. God always shows up and leads us to people in need and it is a blessing to be able to be available and used to bring God's love to people.

One night during the week we do a small feeding program for people who live on the streets of Antigua. Many are addicted to chemicals or have been abandoned for various reasons. We give them a hot meal and spend time talking with them as well as pray for them. These are the people that most people pass by yet they are equally loved by God and worthy of being treated with care and love.

On Sunday nights we have been holding a worship service for a group of homeless people who live by the market area of Antigua. Each of them has a story of how they got there but our goal is to get them out of there, free from addictions and working to meet their needs. We want Christ to take control of their lives and bring the changes that are needed to help them enjoy the life he intends for them to live. Please keep these outreaches in your prayers.

Home in San Pablo destroyed by fire

Fire destroys home On Tuesday night the home of Gaspar and Anna with 9 other family members living in San Pablo La Laguna was completely destroyed by fire. The cause of the fire has not been determined but the family is now homeless and has lost everything that was inside the home. All clothing, school books and notebooks, beds, blankets etc. was consumed in the blaze. The home was made of wood and was built for the family after Hurricane Stan struck Guatemala in 2005. No one was in the home when the fire started and we are very thankful for that. The family attends Canaan Assemblies of God church in San Pablo and the church is housing them in their Sunday school classrooms until other housing can be arranged. It has been a very tragic event for the family and the community and we are praying that many people within the community as well as people like you will be able to help them recover their losses. Please keep the family in prayer and if you would like to make a donation to help them rebuild their home I know they would greatly appreciate it. The home that was burned down was similar to the one in the photo on the left. The family like most families in this community is poor and does not have the resources to build a new home. We have been bringing teams to San Pablo for several years and have built a dozen or more homes for families who would never have been able to build a home with the income they receive which on average is $4-5 per day. A typical home we are able to build using cement blocks and a metal roof costs about $1800-$2000. We also build bunk beds for the children so they can have their own bed and not sleep on the floor or have to share a bed with several others. We always provide windows and doors for the home as well. It is a very simple home but provides adequate shelter for the familes and is much healthier to live in than the adobe homes that are made of clay bricks and have dirt floors. If you have a team coming to Guatemala that would like to build a home for them please let me know. Donation information is noted below. If you want to donate please make your check payable to YWAM Antigua and send it to the following address with a note attached stating it is for the Home Construction Project. All monies sent will go directly for the project and are tax deductible. Thank you for your help! YWAM Chico 15850 Richardson Springs Rd Chico, CA 95973

March Update

Last month we hosted a team from Faith Harvest Helpers based in Washington. They came to Guatemala to help distribute a shipment of canned salmon, soup mix, dried peaches, medicine and books to areas of need in Guatemala. The shipment came into port in December but it was not released for distribution until the team left on February 16. It was disappointing for them to not be able to do what they had hoped yet they used their time in Guatemala to minister to many people. The food has been distributed since they left and many people have been blessed by the hard work these people put into the shipment. Our YWAM base has in storage some of the food that we will use on various outreaches we conduct as well as with the feeding program we have in Antigua.
Currently we are hosting a youth group from Connexus church near Toronto. They are doing ministry with local children and working in several other ministries that we are involved in. This is the third year the group has come and we are grateful for the opportunity to work with them.
We are receiving applications for our DTS which will begin on July 24, 2011. We are anticipating a group of 10 students and are looking forward to the 5 months of training with them.

January news

January has been a busy month of hosting teams from Montana, Iowa and Colorado. We have enjoyed working with them and have appreciated the ministries they have been doing. The Montana team is part of the YWAM Montana base. They have been with us since December 8 and have conducted many types of ministries including, children's VBS, conducting our weekly worship service in Antigua, feeding the homeless, building a home and ministering to church groups. They spend 10 days in San Pedro La Laguna working with Pastor Antonio and helped build a home for a family with money that was donated by a family in Superior, Wisconsin.
We also hosted a team from Spirit Lake, Iowa, who came to build a home for a family living near our base. The former home had a couple layers of cement block as the foundation and then had cornstalks for the walls. The original home was build in 1994 so the family has lived with this type of structure for 16 years. The team put in cement block walls, a new metal roof and extended the size of the house by 5 feet to give the family more room. They also build bunk beds for 2 of the girls so they no longer have to sleep in the same bed as their parents. The new home improvement was a tremendous blessing to the family.
Our final group of the month was a team from Colorado Springs "Springs Church." They ministered in San Pablo La Laguna in 2 churches as well as in a Catholic school. The Pope had declared that the week of January 16-23 as a week of working together with the Evangelical churches in Guatemala so our visit to the school was made possible. The team conducted ministry with several different groups within the church and had great ministry during the week they were here.
We are grateful to the Lord for the teams that have come and the impact they have made on the people of Guatemala. We look forward to hosting another team in February that will be distributing a 40 foot container shipped from the USA filled with food, medicine and Christian books.