India Update

Since being back in Chennai we spent a whole week strictly on children’s ministries. November is dedicated to children here in India so it was a really fun time for the group to interact with the children. Our group has been given the chance to plan out our own services for the kids each day so it was good to work together and be as creative as possible with all the kids we've ministered to. It seemed that each day that passed the children who were present grew and grew. By Sunday we were privileged to do a children’s ministry for over 400 kids. The kids were having fun dancing, getting to know us and participating in our dramas. Good times were had. This past week we got to focus on open air preaching with a few villages around the outskirts of Chennai. Students got to preach, share testimonies and lead people to salvation. We fell in love with the village ministry, beautiful setting, simple way of life and the people are very receptive to listen to us and that’s an encouragement. On Thursday the base who is hosting our group honored our Thanksgiving holiday and worked very hard to make us feel at home. The food was wonderful and our hearts were very thankful to each and every person who was involved in making this a reality. We are very blessed to be living with such great people. Yesterday we worked with a church for a healing service. During the day part of our group went into town to hand out invitations and the other group stayed behind interceding for the people we’d minister to, the group, key speakers and other issued that were laid on our hearts. Towards the evening we performed dramas for the people, a student shared his testimony and our director Bruce was the main speaker. We also had the chance to pray for people at the end for healing. The pastor was very thankful for our help and his wife spent the majority of the day cooking us lunch and dinner. The hospitality was tremendous. Again, this would not be possible without all of our supporters. This Thanksgiving always gives us a reminder on what to be thankful for. Each of us here want to thank all the people who've given from their own pockets, have been interceding with us and reading the blog and staying connected. It’s awesome how much is being done here and we are thankful you are walking along with us in this journey. We encourage all the prayers we can get! Also if you feel led to give financially please send to:

YWAM Chico

15850 Richardson Springs Road

Chico, CA 95973

India Outreach weeks 2 and 3

            It’s been a great time so far in India. It was awesome to see a different side of India and get an experience of what it’s like here overall. After leaving the Chennai base we traveled up to Andra Pradesh to partner with Oasis ministries and an old teacher of ours, Darrell Dobbelmann. With Darrell, we got to be a part of a few healing crusades. All of our students were able to be stretched by leading dramas and praying for people. It was overwhelming! Several thousand people attended. Afterwards we got to see what it was like to get 15 minutes of fame. People surrounded us to get pictures, autographs, and lots of prayer. It was awesome to be able to minister to them. On our way from the festival to Anantapur we stopped to dedicate 3 fresh water wells in 3 different communities.  These wells will each serve about 50 families with clear, clean water.  We also got to serve with different churches in the area by leading lessons. We got to perform dramas, share testimonies and preach from our hearts. It was a time of growing. The team was able to step out of their comfort zones and step up in front of crowds of people and share from the heart. Living conditions were definitely a blessing. We got to stay at hotels that had comfortable beds, A/C and flushing toilets. It was a pleasant stay. The people who hosted us really gave us a new meaning on the definition of hospitality. They went above and beyond welcoming us, always feeding us, and making us feel loved as if each and every moment were an intimate celebration of their own; lots of wonderful memories being made. After 12 days and an 8 hour train ride home we are back at the Chennai base. It was great reuniting with old friends and seeing what God has for us in the remaining four weeks. Carissa we miss you and thinking of you! See you soon! To everyone else thank you for all your support whether financial or by prayer. Please continue supporting us by prayer. Specifically for our leaders Bruce and Kalissa for strength and endurance; the team by really being used by God and that we continue to move forward regardless of fatigue and other issues. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts. If you feel led to send a donation for our mission please send a check to:

YWAM Chico

15850 Richardson Springs Road

Chico, CA 95973

India Adventure

We will be posting weekly updates and photos of our outreach to India.

Arrival

After much excitement and wanderlust we have finally arrived safe and sound in India! We landed around 3:30 in the morning from our layover in London and everyone was trying to take in as much details of the sound and environment as possible. After retrieving our bags we met some of the staff members from the Chennai base who treated us like one of their own and graciously helped out by doing the heavy lifting of the bags into the van. The Chennai base is very beautiful with a breathtaking view of the beach. Although it has been very hot and we've all experienced jet lag, it’s amazing to see how the group has come together and really pushed through  difficulties. We have gone out into the community to do open air preaching and share our dramas and testimonies. The people here are so receptive. When it came time for prayer people we did not even think were paying attention came to be prayed for. It was overwhelming at first but God was in control of the situation and it was wonderful to see Him move through the people. Just recently we did a similar outreach at a local church where we sang, performed our dramas, shared the Word, and loved on the people. It’s been a great experience so far and it hasn't even been two weeks! There is still so much to be done and we are excited to see what is to unfold in the next two months. We want to thank everyone for their support, whether it is spiritual or financial. You guys are as much part of this situation as we and we are so grateful to have you on our team. Please continue to keep us in your prayers; mainly for rest, safety and listening ears wherever we go. If you would like to donate money please send it out to:

YWAM Chico

15850 Richardson Springs Road

Chico, CA 95973

Please make your check payable to YWAM Antigua with a note attached indicating it is for the DTS Outreach

Thank you for reading and please check back to this site in the coming weeks!

October Update

We are moving quickly toward the end of the DTS lecture phase and have some great classes coming up as we finish the 12 weeks in Guatemala.  God has blessed us with some wonderful students and teachers who have come from other countries to share their lives.  The students are busy with all of the classroom activities as well as preparing dramas and children's ministry for our outreach to India.  We have purchased our ticket and we will be leaving on October 21 for Chennai.  The YWAM Beachcenter will be hosting us for the majority of the time but we will also be linking with Oasis World Ministries based in Minnesota.  We will be working alongside of the "Gospel and Healing Festival" that will be conducted in Northern Andra Pradesh.  We will be visiting local communities to share the gospel and we will also be helping with the evening crusades in which thousands of people come to hear the gospel.  Many receive miraculous healing and deliverance from demons during the services.  We are excited to partner with the ministries God has linked us with for the outreach.  Please keep our team of 11 in prayer as we venture into new territory.  Several of our students need financial assistance and if you would like to make a donation it would be greatly appreciated and go toward a very worthwhile cause.  Donations can be made out to "YWAM Antigua" and sent to the following address:
YWAM Chico
15850 Richardson Springs Rd
Chico, CA 95973

We have two new staff members who joined us in September, Cooper and Erin Evans.  They are recent newlyweds and met in last year's DTS.  We are blessed to have them on staff and pray that God will use them in a powerful way.  They will be studying Spanish for a couple of months before beginning ministry with us.

The Motorcycle DTS will begin February 17 with the classroom phase conducted at our base and the outreach will be in the United States.  Please help us spread the word!!!

Eder and Carolina are on staff with us and on August 28 Carolina gave birth to Samantha.  They are doing well and will be joining us shortly.  We are all excited to have a baby in the house!

September News

Our Compassion DTS began on July 29, with 7 students from the USA, Finland and Australia.  We are currently in our 5th week and we will be focusing on Restoring the Foundations.  Our speaker for the week is John Shippam who comes to us from Canada but was born in England.  He has been involved in teaching this course for several years. We look forward to the freedom the students will discover as they learn how to remove false foundations in their lives and build the foundation that God wants to establish in them.
We are making plans to go to India for our 8 week outreach and will be partnering with YWAM Chennai.  We also are looking into partnering with Oasis World Ministries while we are there.  It is going to be an exciting time of ministry for all of us as we go to the second most populated country of the world that has less than 5 percent Christians.  Please keep our team in prayer as we make preparations.
We are continuing our ministries each week at the base and in Antigua where we work with the homeless, children and reach out to the lost.  The needs are great and we are blessed to be able to have the opportunity to help people.
We received a container of food sent from the USA thanks to Faith Harvest Helpers and Gleanings for the Hungry.  In all we have 48 barrels of soap mix and 99 cases of canned salmon.  We have given most of it away to other organizations who are feeding children living in poor areas.
Two new staff will be joining us in September, both are graduates of last year's DTS.  We look forward to the ministry they will be doing with us.

June Update

What’s happening with YWAM Antigua?
Changing Hearts,...Changing Nations
“God is bringing more people to help with the ministry at the base and we are grateful for all He is doing. We have had two volunteers serving with us doing a variety of things with the ministries that we conduct. We also had a YWAMER, Stacy come and she volunteered to paint our rooms with flags of other countries and a she painted a huge map of the world with the flags of the countries on each nation in our living room. We appreciate all the helpers God has sent us. We also had had the help of Jason and Tim, from Spring Arbor University in Michigan helping with the Kids Club. He is doing his internship and will be graduated in May and asked if he could do some of his internship requirements with us which we were more than happy to oblige. We currently have another volunteer here for a couple of months.
Also we will add another staff person in June, Hope Nguyen, who is from Minnesota. She has served at the YWAM Chico base as well as the YWAM base in Fiji. She will be helping to staff our next Compassion DTS that starts July 29. We look forward to working with her and drawing on her experiences working with other DTS classes.
We have a few students enrolled in the next DTS and are praying that God will send us 12 students or more. We have a great line up of teachers coming to teach at the DTS and I know it will be an awesome experience for all the students. We have a couple of Haitians who we met on our outreach there in 2011 who are applying to attend the DTS. They need a lot of financial assistance to attend. If you would like to contribute to the Student Scholarship Fund I know it will be a great help for the students who are in need of support. Donations can be given through YWAM Chico. If you want to give please contact me and I will get you the information you need. Please continue to pray for YWAM Antigua and the ministries we are involved in each week as well as the DTS coming up in July. We are blessed that you have been a part of what we do and ask for your prayers that God will continue to send us short-term teams, volunteers, DTS students and full-time staff to help us in the ministry as well as help us grow into new ministry areas.”
-Bruce-
“Ye have the poor always with you”
Jesus came to seek and save lost people. So that’s what our base is doing with the weekly soup run and street church service. A little over two years ago we started taking a pot of soup to the streets to search for homeless and poor people. We basically give them a snack- not a meal. It’s our way of building relationship and showing the love of Jesus. We might feed 40 people on average each week. We also do kids ministry, give them tracts, help with medical needs and spend time talking with the people we meet. The street church service started soon after the soup run when we showed up to a homeless camp and found one of the people dead. We held a memorial service, and that turned into a weekly meeting. Sometimes we’d have a worship time and one of the homeless ladies would grab a microphone and sing. Visiting teams have joined us and shared testimonies or helped us play a game with our folks. We added the game (it’s sort of like horseshoes) to the end of the meetings and the people there love it! Sometimes it seems like there are as many dogs running around the dump area, where we currently meet, as there are people who attend. It’s not your typical church service! We’ve had great times of prayer for people, and some have responded to the gospel. As this year began one of the homeless guys we had been helping was looking close to death. I felt an urgency to share the gospel with him, and he prayed right there to receive Christ. We had an ambulance come over, but he refused to go to the hospital. He died early the next morning. We’ve realized that this is a long-haul-type ministry. We don’t see a lot of visible results right away. Sometimes we’ll bring a guy to rehab and he’ll be doing great, but then he’ll leave prematurely only to come back to the streets. But like Jesus with His disciples who didn’t seem to “get it” the whole time He worked with them, God sees their potential. For now, we have the honor of showing these precious adults and kids His love.
-Mark and Dayle-
“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Acts 1:8
This is just as true and powerful today as when these words were first spoken! We have been given the privilege to be Christ’s witnesses not only in our homes, but to the very end of the earth (look out Antarctica here we come). I believe God gives us the chance to be a part of what He is doing all over the world so that while we may live in one place we can still change countries through our prayers and support of the work that is happening in areas we may never go in person.
Over the last few months YWAM Antigua has been changing its look to better represent our heart for the nations. We are decorating each room to reflect a country that we want to build awareness of. Our hope is that those who partner with YWAM Antigua can also be praying for areas outside our Guatemala. It has been a big undertaking and we could definitely use that help of any artist or creative decorator that would like to be involved!
-Kalissa-
5 months in…
Usually missions’ trips come to an end, not this time! As the newest staff member here at YWAM Antigua, I am learning a lot about the blessings and challenges of being a full-time missionary. When I first arrived in February, I was welcomed with open arms, and pleased to find a clean room, and freshly made bed. From the moment my head hit the pillow, I knew God was taking care of me.
It has already been quite a journey. I stepped off the plane knowing only a few Spanish phrases. For the past few months I have been intensively studying the language in order to better communicate the love of our Father to the Guatemalan community. I have come a long way by Gods grace and mercy! Please pray for endurance and strength as I press forward in deeper language study. I am excited for the future, DTS is gearing up, and there is a plethora of ministries to be involved in!
Acts 20:24
-Ana-
We are all anticipating a new addition to our YWAM family! Eder and Carolina are expecting their first child in the first few weeks of September.
By the power of God they continue to do amazing work with the kids in the community. Week after week kids wait excitedly for the doors to open and songs, Bible stories, and crafts commence!
Eder and Carolina are keeping up with a busy schedule; all are looking forward to being a part of a precious new life. We are planning a baby shower for late July. Get in contact with someone from the YWAM team if you would like to gift baby clothing or toys!
Contact us!
Phone/Fax: 011-(502)-7834-0390
E-mail: Ywamantigua@gmail.com
Blog: http://ywamantiguanews.blogspot.com/
http://ywamantigua.org/

April Update

Semana Santa (Holy Week) was a great time to do outreach in Antigua and Ciudad Vieja. We hosted a team of 11 from Rochester, MN during the week and conducted a lot of evangelism with them. On Thursday night we stayed out until 430 a.m. Friday to minister the gospel to the masses that were walking the streets all night long. We did dramas and testimonies and always gave an invitation for people to accept Christ. One of the men who came forward received healing in his back and was slain in the Spirit. When he got up he had a huge smile on his face!
We also did evangelism in Ciudad Vieja on Friday night and shared the gospel with many people. The rains came around 930 p.m. and washed away all of the decorative rugs made of flowers, colored sawdust and fruit. For many people it was hours of work destroyed in just a few minutes.
The Rochester team helped with Kids Ministry and distributed food to several families in need.
During the next month we will be doing some movie outreaches in the community and in the homeless shelter in Antigua. The people love to watch the movies and all of the movies we show are evangelistic. The rainy season seems to have arrived early this year so the outdoor shows may be interrupted. We try to have a plan B available to be able to move to a sheltered area whenever possible.

Our ministry schedule each week includes the following:
Sunday night: service for the homeless in Antigua
Monday night: English Worship Service in Antigua
Tuesday afternoon: Mom's ministry at the base
Wednesday night: Feeding program for the homeless
Thursday morning and afternoon: Kids Ministry at the base
Friday: Kids ministry at the market area of Antigua
Saturday night: Evangelism in Central Park
We are also working with local moms teaching them how to sew and knit. The moms come during the week in the afternoon to use the sewing machines that were donated to us.
We are blessed to have many opportunities to connect with our community.

Ministry update

One of the new ministries we have been conducting is meeting with the moms in the neighborhood. We invite them to the base and then teach them a skill such as crochet, cooking,sewing, making a craft etc. The moms also give us suggestions of things they would like to learn to do. Our staff provide a time of devotion for them and then provide a snack for them. The moms have enjoyed coming and more keep coming as the word get out. Many of them send their children to the Kids Club that meets every week at the base.
We will be showing a film for the neighborhood this Friday and in the past we have had from 40-100 people come to watch a Christian film. We always give and invitation to receive Christ at the end of the film.
Next week will be hosting a team from near Toronto, Canada who will be coming to do ministry alongside of us. This will be there 3rd year coming and we look forward to working with them as they always come well prepared and have a great impact on the people they minister to during their time here.
We are offering an Evangelism Bootcamp in June which will be a great time of learning and practicing the material Mark Annand will be teaching on Evangelism. For more information go to our website: ywamantigua.org
We are accepting applications for our next DTS which will begin July 29. We are excited about the teachers who will be coming to be a part of this life changing experience. If you are interested or want more information please go to our website and click on the DTS link.

January Update

After the DTS ended in December we immediately hosted a CDTS group from Chico, California. They kept busy with local ministry and were a blessing to have at the base. We really enjoy hosting other YWAM teams as they come prepared for ministry and are flexible as things change without notice. If you have a group interested in coming to Guatemala please contact us, we would love to work with you to provide a great experience for you.
Our base has been working with Iglesia Vida Real in San Pablo La Laguna for several years. The church began 6 years ago and met in a small cornstalk siding building with just a few people. Over the years we have ministered there with our DTS groups as well as visiting teams and have seen the church grow to over 200 people. On January 7, the new church was completed and a dedication service was conducted with over 400 people attending. Many groups have been a part of the success of the church to enable it to raise over $150,000 to buy land and build the facility. In this community of very poor people it is a testimony of God's faithfulness and His desire to reach the people of the community. Pastor Antonio has stated that many people in the community do not believe a church is for real unless they have a building. We can argue the theology of that viewpoint but nonetheless it is a factor in how the people receive the church and want to be a part of it.
We are still offering the Motorcycle Discipleship Training School starting February 26,2012. If you want to be a part of it please send in your application immediately. This will be a unique DTS with the classroom phase conducted in Guatemala and the outreach in the USA. The outreach will focus on evangelism and mercy ministries as we ride to several locations to partner with churches, ministries and YWAM bases.
We have a new staff person joining us at the end of January. Carissa will be a great help to us and we thank God for sending her to us.
We will be hosting a seminar on "Hearing God's Voice" for pastors in the Lake Atitlan area January 27 & 28.
Several teams will be coming in February and March to minister in our area. We will involve them in our ministries we conduct each week which include: Monday Worship Service in English, Kids Club, Street Church, Feeding program and Soul Patrol Evangelism.
Our next Compassion DTS will start July 29, 2012. We are praying for the students who are registered and asking God to send us the ones He wants to be a part of the class. We are looking at going to India for our outreach and will continue to pray that God will direct us to the right place.