DTS Outreach Update

As we are coming up on our last week of outreach, it's crazy to look back on everything. Panama was such an incredible time for all of us. We got to work with a Catholic boys home and spend some time just encouraging the boys, playing with them, doing a Bible study with them and just hanging out. The boys were really attentive and engaged and we are praying that God is continuing to water and grow the seeds that were planted. We also went to some different work camps for the indigenous and got to do kid's ministry with the kids there. The time in Panama was really refreshing and encouraging. On our way back to Costa Rica we met some backpackers and got to hang out with them as well as give them tracts and pray for them. That was a fun opportunity and chance to connect with another group of people. Now we are on Lake Atitlan...everything has gone really smoothly and we've been enjoying the beauty of this place as well as the people. The first five days we were here we worked in a village called Tzununa. Children's ministry was a large part of what we did there. We just hung out in the main square and did songs, games, and Bible stories with them. They all enjoyed it a lot and we had fun with them. We felt a little bit like we were in a zoo because the place we were staying at opened right onto the street and we had kids just hanging out in the doorway watching us a lot of the time! Doing Bible distribution here was a really great opportunity because we were going into places where people really wanted Bibles but didn't have any so it was such a blessing for us to be able to give that to them.  We prayed against a lot of alcoholism within different families which unfortunately seemed to be a common struggle for a lot of the people in this village. We are now starting out our last two weeks fairly strong! Leah and Andrea are a little under the weather so prayers for their full recovery would be appreciated. We are doing lots of open air preaching and evangelism this week so prayers for open doors and boldness are also needed :). Thanks for all your love, support, encouragement, and prayers. It's been great seeing God work in little and big ways during our time here and also all the things that he has been teaching us each and every day. We are so thankful that He brought us to this place and that He is always with us no matter what!!! 

DTS Outreach to Costa Rica Update

We have successfully finished up our 3^rd week of outreach!! Our second week was filled with working with some different ministries of the San Jose base. We spent most of our mornings digging trenches at a church that needed a new drainage system. It was pretty tiring but turned out nicely and will hopefully help keep the church from flooding! In the afternoons we worked with Metro Ministry which is the base’s kid’s ministry. This ministry goes into different neighborhoods and has Bible lessons, different clubs, and activities for the kids there. It was a great opportunity to go into these neighborhoods and get to see what life looked like for these kids and their families. We also got to do some home visits in these neighborhoods. Last weekend was the national Bible distribution weekend for Costa Rica so we spent 3 days going house to house, passing out Bibles, and praying for people. One of the houses we visited had a guy working outside of it who asked us if we needed anything. We told him what we were doing and he promptly informed us that he needed a Bible. We got to talk with him, encourage him, and pray for him as well as pointing out some good spots in the Bible for him to start reading. Another house that we visited had a little girl who really wanted her own Bible. We unfortunately couldn’t give her one because it was one Bible per household. Thankfully though another group had some houses who didn’t want a Bible and so we got to give her one. It was such a blessing to be able to give the Bible to someone who wanted it so much! On Wednesday of this week we went Patarrá, a community on the outskirts of San Jose. While there we worked with a feeding center that was doing a lot of construction work in order to make the center more self-sustaining, with a greenhouse, gardens, ect. So we got to do a lot more digging, moving rocks, and all that jazz! There was also opportunity to eat with the kids who were part of the program and play with them which was lots of fun. Unfortunately, our time there was cut short due to a large majority of our team getting sick from the water so now we are back at the San Jose base, trying to recover. We are all doing better but continued prayers for health would be greatly appreciated! We had a travel day all day yesterday (Monday) and after about 14 hours of travel we made it safely to the YWAM base in Chiriqui. God is good…it’s so awesome to know that He is using what we’ve been doing even if we can’t see it. He is so much bigger, better, and more wonderful than anything we could ask or imagine!

DTS Outreach to Costa Rica

Hey everyone! Well, we’ve made it safely to Costa Rica and have had a great first week and a half of ministry. It’s been a great start to outreach! Our first week of ministry was in a community called Tambor a little ways out of San Jose where we worked with a church. The people of the church were great!! Most of the people involved in the church and who helped run it were all related and were one big family that just took us all in and were so welcoming and loving. It was such a blessing to just be a part of them and come along side of them in the work that they were doing. The pastor gave us a lot of freedom in what we got to do and let us run their Tuesday night prayer service, their Thursday night service, their youth service on Friday night, as well as participating in their Sunday morning service. We led worship, did dramas, and shared sermons and testimonies. It was so great being a part of the body of Christ and being able to worship with them. We also did Bible distribution, getting an opportunity to go into people’s home, pray for them and share the love of Jesus with them. One thing that was great to see was how the young adults of the church participated with us and jumped in at helping us and helping serve the people around us and in their community. We also had the opportunity to pray for and minister to some people in the park the town and got to see a woman be able to walk and another woman to be able to have full movement in her arm again! Yay God! God has even been blessing us with little presents along the way of seeing a volcano and even a community theatre show of Aladdin! There have definitely been some nice moments of relaxation in the midst of the working! This week we are working with the San Jose YWAM base and their different ministries. We’ve been able to also join them for their times of prayer and worship in the mornings which have been very powerful. It’s awesome to be a part of God’s work here on earth and for the opportunity to focus on that so clearly during this time. If you all could continue to just be praying for unity in our team, energy, good attitudes (no matter what we have to do), wisdom, divine encounters, and, as always, soft and open hearts to the Spirit’s leading, that would be great. God is working and moving and we are excited to see all that He has in store for the upcoming weeks!! He is good and faithful even when we are not!! Thank you, Jesus!

May Update

Our DTS is now on outreach to Costa Rica, Panama and Guatemala.  There are 11 on the team and they are doing a variety of ministries, working mainly with YWAM bases.  They will be using this blog to update what is happening so please keep checking to be informed and pray for them.

Our ministry at the base continues to grow.  We are now doing weekly Bible distribution in our community and have given over 1000 bibles to families that do not have one.  We also are conducting a weekly Community Bible Study for those who have received bibles.

Three weeks ago we showed the movie "Grace Walk" and had 85 adults and children attend.  It was a powerful movie of love and forgiveness that truly impacted the lives of those who watched.

Our Homeless Ministry Center and Cafe continue to draw people from the streets to spend time in the center.  They receive a free cup of coffee and are ministered to by our staff and volunteers.  A group of dentists volunteered their services for the homeless.

Our children's ministry is continuing in 3 locations each week where we are working with over 100 kids.  It is a great way to teach Christian values and help raise up a generation of young people who can influence the nation for Christ.

Our next DTS will begin July 26 and our outreach destination is Kolkata, India.  We will be working with YWAM's Megacity outreach as part of our outreach phase.  We will be taking application until the end of June.

Our building fund raising is moving forward.  We have received $9,000 in donations that will be matched by the donation of one of our supporters up to $50,000.  Our goal is $140,000 to build the first floor of the new facility.  We invite you to partner with us through making a donation. To donate online click here.  In the message box please write that your donation is for the YWAM Antigua Base Construction Project.  If you want to send a check, make it payable to YWAM Antigua and send it to:

YWAM Chico
15850 Richardson Springs Road
Chico, CA 95973

The Challenge Before Us!

YWAM Antigua has been working in Guatemala for the past 8 years. We have seen our ministries grow and have added more staff to help with the work of the ministry.  God has blessed our base and we are looking forward to the next phase of our ministry development.
We are currently stepping forward in faith in purchasing land in order to build a facility that will be more conducive to our needs.  Our present facility lacks an adequate kitchen and meeting room and we just need more space to be able to house teams and students.  We are in the process of raising the funds we need which will be around $140,000 for the materials and labor costs for the new facility which will be very near to our present rental home that has served us for the past 8 years.  We have poured in over $100,000 in rent during this time and we would love to be able to take that money and invest it in a facility that will be ours and will serve many more YWAM staff, students and groups that come to Guatemala to join us in our ministry.  We invite you to partner with us through making a donation to our building project.
You can donate by sending a check or money order made payable to YWAM Antigua and send it to:
YWAM Chico
15850 Richardson Springs Rd
Chico, CA 95973

Or you can donate online
On the page you will see a missionary support box that you can enter information.  Please write YWAM Antigua Building Project.

Please pray with us as we take on this challenge that we believe will be a great asset to the work of the ministry here and be a blessing to all who come and all who will be ministered to through our work.
Below is the lot we are planning to buy. It is filled with trees, in a quiet area and has a lot next to it that may be available to purchase in the future to provide more area for the base.

January Update

Happy New Year!  We pray that 2014 will be an awesome year of ministry here at the YWAM Antigua base.
New Ministry: One of our new ministries will begin this month in Antigua at our new ministry site near the market area.  We are endeavoring to help the homeless in tangible ways that will put them in a better situation to find work, experience God working in their lives, finding a place of help and support and receiving help to free them from drug use and abuse.  Aaron and Bri along with Mark and Dayle will be spearheading this ministry.  Aaron wrote the following regarding the ministry.

"If we can get creative, we can create jobs. If we can create jobs, we can provide housing. This is the beginning of a new life for them.
Acts 3:19 says, “Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord”. 

Cafe Refrescante (Refreshing Cafe) is what we are calling our cafe.
“But God can’t love me”, says our homeless friend Charley. I respond, “If you repent, there is forgiveness and a freeness (refreshment) that comes along with it.” This cafe will have free drinks to provide an atmosphere to be able to have more of these conversations.

We are starting an incentive program based off of a point system. If they have good behavior, volunteer and do community service, they can earn tarps, food, bus tickets, etc. "

We are excited to be able to reach out to the homeless and give the hope and the tools they need to make changes in their lives.  Many have lived on the streets for years and have developed life debilitating habits that hold them back.  We want to see these chains broken off of their lives so they can experience the life that God has destined for them.  Please pray for this new ministry and the challenges we will face.

New staff member:  Tevor Hill has joined our staff and will be working with the DTS along with other ministries at the base.  Trevor completed his DTS at YWAM Chico last year.

More Housing:  We have agreed to rent a new house in our community to provide additional housing for our growing number of staff.  It is a 3 bedroom home located around the corner from the base.

Purchasing Land: We have been looking for a piece of property near the base where we can build a facility that will host teams, have a kitchen and dining area suitable for larger groups, a classroom for the DTS and dorms for the students and teams.  Please pray for us as we pursue the purchase of property and raise the funds necessary to build the facility.

February DTS:  We will start our next DTS on February 15.  At this point all of our students are English speaking so if you are looking for a great experience of discipleship training and are an English speaker, it is not too late to apply.  Our outreach destinations are not finalized but we are planning to be in Belize, Mexico or Central America.

Legal Recognition: We are planning to file papers with the Guatemalan government to be recognized as a legal Association in Guatemala.  This will provide several benefits for staff in establishing residency and open doors for us to receive donations in Guatemala that will be tax free.  Please keep this in your prayers as it is a lengthy process.

DTS 2013 Outreach Report

Outreach report

When Paul was sent out on his missionary journeys he gave a report of what had happened as an encouragement to the people who sent him and prayed for him and his team. 

Act 14:26  and from there they sailed to Antioch, where they had been commended to the grace of God for the work that they had fulfilled. Act 14:27  And when they arrived and gathered the church together, they declared all that God had done with them, and how he had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles.

Tonight I want to give a little update on some of the things that happened during our 8 week outreach to

Panama, Costa Rica and Guatemala.

First I want to thank those who faithfully prayed for our team.  Any time you venture out for the Lord there is always opposition from the enemy. He does not want the gospel proclaimed, heal the broken hearted, set the captives free or see people healed and delivered.  We face a real enemy and we must recognize his strategies and attacks so we are prepared to fight against him.

Our first obstacle thrown in our path was checking in at the airport.  A couple of us got our tickets but then one of the students was told his tickets would not work to allow him access to Panama as the immigration policy is you must have a return ticket from Panama in order to enter the country.  Our return ticket was from Costa Rica.  This came as a surprise to us as we did not know this was the policy.   After talking with the airline people about our situation they said we could change our ticket for $400 each so we could return from Panama.  After more talking with them they agreed to change the tickets for no charge.  Once we were in Panama I wrote the airlines to ask if they could change our tickets back to the original plan to leave from San Jose, Costa Rica to avoid a 17 hour bus ride from San Jose to Panama City.  They agreed to make the change, again for no charge.  This was a huge answer to prayer and saved us a lot of money as well as travel time.

We worked with the YWAM base in Chilibre for the first week of the outreach.  Their DTS was also on outreach and they were waiting for money to come in so the students could leave for their planned trip to Europe. We combined our groups to do ministry in several schools, girls home, prison, skate park and a church.  We performed dramas and gave testimonies and talked with the different groups of people.  One of the schools was almost all students with Chinese background.  Panama has a large population of Chinese who own businesses.  The school had an evangelistic mission as many of the Chinese are not saved so they use the school experience to be able to reach the students with the gospel message.  When we did the program at the school we had 6 students accept Christ as Savior.

We ministered in a maximum security prison where former Nicaragua leader, Manuel Ortega was imprisoned.  A pastor from a local church in Gamboa has visited him and he was our connection to get into the prison.  The prisoners were very grateful for our time with them.. 

Pastor Bill from the Gamboa church invited us to be a part of his church service the 2 Sundays we were there.  He is recovering from a stroke that happened 6 months ago while he was preaching on a Sunday morning.  He has almost fully recovered but still has some trouble speaking so he has other people fill the pulpit.  One of our students, Renzo, who suffered a severe head injury in an accident shared his testimony how God spared his life when he was left for dead after the accident.  It was a great encouragement for everyone.

From Chilbre we traveld by bus to northern Panama to the YWAM base in Chiriqui  This is a new base that this year offered an Indigenous DTS.  While we were in Chilibre the IDTS was there and when we arrived in Chilbre they were also there but left the day after we arrived.  They were a group of 23.  They originally planned to go to Guatemala on their outreach but did not have the funds to do so.  In Chiriqui we had a different focus in our ministry.  We went to a reservation in Tugri where Pastor Rafael, a YWAMer has started 10 churches in the last 7 years.  I met him at a YWAM Conference in Panama last May and made a connection with him and his wife.  His testimony of his work there is pretty amazing.  He and his wife felt God was directing them to evangelize the reservation so they came into the community not knowing anyone.  No one would extend hospitality to them so the slept under a tree for the first 3 nights.  Eventually they made contact with the people and shared the gospel with them.  Over 500 people now attend the churches he has planted.  While there we visited homes and prayed for the families.  We had several receive Christ.  Conditions are pretty rustic, no beds just a dirt floor to sleep on, no electricity at Pastor Rafael’s house and the bathroom is an outhouse unless you want to walk to the school down the hill.  It was a beautiful area and we enjoyed staying there for 3 days.  We had the opportunity to do a program at the school the last day we were there.  The entire school came out to watch our presentation and hear the gospel.

While in Chiriqui we went door to door to distribute bibles to families that did not have one or had a bible that needed to be replaced.  It was a great experience for us as we met a lot of people and always asked if we could pray for them. The people were very hospitable and welcomed us into their homes.  Another interesting ministry was going to the indigenous camps where workers in the coffee plantations live, to do ministry with the children.  We showed up unannounced and asked the leaders of the camp if we could do a program for the children.  They welcomed us and we did it in 3 different locations. In one location there was a large group of young men playing soccer so we invited them to come over at the end of our program to watch a drama.  They all came and were able to hear the gospel proclaimed.  We were also invited to speak in 2 churches, one had a special service on missions and the other was a weeknight evening service.  At this service one of the ladies that our student invited to come to the service when they were visiting homes to invite people to come, gave her life to Christ at the end of the service.  One of our students gave the message and it really spoke to the members of the church and was a great encouragement to the pastor.  He felt that God had sent us there and was so thankful for what we did.

From Chiriqui we took a long bus ride to San Jose, Costa Rica.  We stayed at the SJ base for 11 days and were involved in different ministries they conduct as well as doing open air evangelism and a lot of personal evangelism.  We distributed 100 bibles in the community going door to door.  The people were not as open as what we experienced in Panama but we still had opportunities to pray with many.  The students were able to go out with Carlos and Sidney who are familiar to us since Carlos was one of our DTS students.  They have a ministry to the people involved in human trafficking.  I was surprised to learn of how rampant this industry is in Costa Rica.  San Jose has over 300 brothels operating which are legally registered.  There are many more brothels not registered and children of all ages are involved.  The ministry is one of giving out coffee and cookies to the workers with the goal of developing a friendship and eventually helping them get out of their situation.  One of the things they do is offer English classes to them so some of our students were able to participate in this.  We also did a lot of open air ministry in the downtown area. It was awesome to see people stop and watch and listen to the testimonies.  We combined with the Indigenous DTS students and had a missionary from the USA who did several illusion tricks work with us. At the end of one of the services a young girl came up to Kalissa and said she wanted to receive Christ as her Savior.  She had attended church for years but had never understood that she needed to make a personal decision to accept Christ.  She was in tears after understanding what she needed to do and what Christ had done for her.  The students did a lot of personal evangelism in the park as well and had some great conversations.

Another ministry we enjoyed was visiting with people who were waiting outside of the ER area of the hospital.  We brought coffee and cookies to them and prayed with them.  On one evening we were running low on coffee and the SJ leader felt ashamed that we did not have more to give.  A couple of our students prayed over the coffee container which only had about 3 cups of coffee left in it.  The coffee multiplied and they gave out about 10 more cups and when we returned to the base there was still coffee in it.

One of the projects YWAM is undertaking is a 10 year plan to transform a community that until last year was controlled by gangs.  You could not enter the community unless they gave you access.  A church is on the edge of the community and needed a lot of cleaning as it was filled with mold and dirt.  Our group spend a day and a half cleaning the outside area as well as the inside of the church.

From SJ we moved on to Heredia to the YWAM base.  Their DTS was in session but had left for another base where they were combining classes for the DTS.  The base has horses, goats, chickens and cows that we helped take care of in the morning as this was part of the chores of the dTS students who were gone.  The students loved being outdoors and enjoyed caring for the animals which also included yellow lab puppies.  We did a lot of Kids ministry in the parks and again gave out bibles door to door.  One home I remember well was one that we gave a bible to a lady and she began to cry because she wanted one but did not have money to buy it.  We prayed with many people as we visited door to door.  The Thanksgiving holiday was celebrated with the staff and students at the base.  They went all out for this special meal and for many of the students it was their first time celebrating it as well as eating some of the typical foods.  We also did a special children’s program in a camp of coffee plantation workers who were from Nicaragua.  The children had a great time as did the parents who came to watch.  We visited a ministry that is in a slum area to do a program for the kids and feed them.  Our last day of ministry was helping raise money for the transformation project of this very area that we fed the children.  We had cans that we used to collect money from people walking in the streets or from people driving cars who were stopped at the traffic lights.

Our final segment of the outreach was in Yulmacap, Guatemala.  It takes 13 hours to go from Guatemala City to the village and the last 2 hours are in the back of a Toyota Land Cruiser as it is the only vehicle that can pass through the roads which were pretty scary in some parts.  We have been to this area 2 years ago with a DTS class.  No one had ever been to the village to do ministry like we did the first time and no one had been there in the 2 years between visits. Our living conditions were again rustic.  The students had to sleep on a cement floor in a cockroach infested building.  We had running water to bathe in but it was very chilly.  This village has several children who have a rare form of cancer caused by exposure to ultraviolet light.  The children with this have to stay inside during the daylight hours and if they do not they develop cancer which usually starts in the face.  Our ministry there involved visiting the children with the infirmity to bring food to them as well as pray for them.  One of the boys I met 2 years ago has tumors on his face and has lost his eyes and nose to cancer.  The cancer has spread to his brain so he is in a lot of pain and needs morphine to relief the pain at night to enable him to sleep.  He will celebrate his 11^th birthday on Dec. 20 so we bought him a present and pray he will be able live to celebrate.  Each morning we visited the families and every afternoon we conducted kids ministry on the basketball court.  We had perfect weather all week which was a blessing since the week before it had rained every day.  We had about 40 kids everyday but over 100 people sat in the bleachers and around the court to watch the program.  The DTS students did a great job planning the sessions each day and the children enjoyed participating.  In the evening we showed Christian movies and always had crowd of over 100 attend.  We also did dramas and gave testimonies at these open air services. 

It was an awesome outreach and a great 5 months with these students whose lives have been changed through the work of the Holy Spirit and the care of those who have been a part of their experience.  Many of you prayed for them an others were involved through ministry experiences they had with you during the DTS.  Thank you for being a part of the journey of faith for them.