God has been blowing my socks off lately. As you know, I am a full-time missionary with YWAM (Youth With A Mission) San Diego/Baja. I have been on the field since February of 2007 after completing my Discipleship Training School (DTS) in Ensenada, Mexico. I have served at all 3 of our locations now (Ensenada & San Antonio del Mar, Mexico and San Diego, CA).  In all of my years in missions I have only received a handful of tangible items that I didn't purchase myself.  One of those was a computer generously donated by Shelter Cove Community Church in Modesto, CA. They are a group that I worked with for several years while I was leading Mission Adventures.  I've received a few care packages through the years but most of them were ChrisValBirth boxes from my mom. What are ChrisValBirth boxes?? These are the things that my mom put in boxes to send me through the months of December - May (Christmas, Valentine's & my birthday) but never got around to sending me until she had combined 6 months worth of "holidays" into one (or 2) boxes. I love getting ChrisValBirth boxes from my mom!! 

You may recall in June I wrote a blog about God working through beef jerky.  If you haven't read it, go ahead & click the link. I'll wait. 

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Ok, now that you are back, I have, in the last month or so, received 5 different care packages of various sizes filled with stuff on my list!! Seriously, every time I get an alert that I have a package I wonder who sent me something now?! I feel so loved and cherished not only by my Heavenly Father but by you guys as well. One of my love languages is Gifts! That's one of the ways that I receive love! (ps, doesn't have to be monetary or costly things just something that says you hear me, think about me, know me, etc. ). I mean how else would you explain crying over bandaids and hydrogen peroxide?

Well on top of all the awesome care packages I've received, just this last weekend during our President's Gathering (aka Share the Vision Event) God gave me a FitBit.  A FitBit is in essence a bracelet (or in this case a watch) that you wear and it counts and records things like your steps, your heart rate, your sleep patterns and how many calories you've burned. 

Check out this video where I explain exactly how God gave me this awesome tool! 

If you liked this story, you will probably also like:

• YWAM Ministry Spotlight:  Homes of Hope, 25 Years Strong
• Weekend Plans? 
• YWAM Ministry Spotlight:  Preschool aka Out of the Mouths of Babes
• Intercession Can Be Fun
• YWAM Ministry Spotlight: Mission Adventures
• YWAM Ministry Spotlight:  Zone Kids
• YWAM Ministry:  The Red Light District; ZONA NORTE
• Serving Him Through The Everyday!
• Sometimes You Have To Wonder

Make sure you also check out all of the other stories through our YWAM Ministries. 

Want to join us for the next quarter? Check out all of our awesome upcoming schools that you can be a part of! Head on over to our newly designed website to find out more. If you have questions, let me know!

One of the ministries that has been a huge part of my time here is Mission Adventures! It is definitely one of my favorites. This is the ministry that I started out in when I first joined YWAM San Diego/Baja back in 2007. Youth With A Mission (YWAM) had a rich history of sending young people into missions but there wasn't really a lot of options for short term missions trips for high school students back when Sean Lambert started Mission Adventures in the 90s.

This morning during our prayer and intercession time Andy, one of our long-term faithful Mission Adventures leaders, shared with us about the first group of students we have with us here at the San Antonio del Mar Campus.  They are 4 separate classes from a University-type school in Norway. In most of Europe, after high school graduation, students take what is called a GAP year. This is a year for them to "sow their wild oats" and figure out what they WANT to do not just what they are supposed to do. Many students travel the world while others take elective classes as local schools such as dance, skate, technology, etc.  This is what this school is for, this GAP year. 

All 80 students walked forward in response to that call! 

Adam challenged them to be strong, to walk through the fire like in Daniel 3. The students have been learning about how Shadrach, Meshach & Abednego were tossed in the fiery furnace because they refused to follow anything but the one true God. Daniel 3:25 (NIV) says, "He said, 'Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods.' "  Adam challenged the students to be bold, to walk around, even in the midst of the fire, unbound because they are walking with the Son of God!  There was no awkward wait because there was no hesitation to move forward & answer that challenge, that call!

These 80 Norwegian students will go back home & change their school, country & world! 

That is Mission Adventures! 

Pray for us as we have another group of 20 coming this week from Norway and 60 junior highers from Canada coming this weekend. Pray that God will transform their lives as well! Prayer changes things! Pray for our staff & DTS students as they continue to be God's hands and feet for each of these students. 

If you liked this story, you will probably also like:

• YWAM Ministry Spotlight:  Zone Kids
• YWAM Ministry:  The Red Light District; ZONA NORTE
• Serving Him Through The Everyday!
• Sometimes You Have To Wonder
• Suffering : 7 Reasons There is Suffering In The World
• 67 Kids and Counting
• Sense, A Psalm by Sheril
• Praise Reports & God's Blessings
• Birthday Surprises & God's Faithfulness

More Stories about Mission Adventures specifically:  

• There's No Such Thing As Safe Sex
• Tie-dyed and Loving It
• Short-term Missions: Help or Hinderance
• Impacting the World
• New Perspective by Rachel Villaire
• Magnificent Truth by Catherine Hsu
• Changing Lives - One Meal At A Time

Make sure you also check out all of the other stories through our YWAM Ministries. 

Want to join us for the next quarter? Check out all of our awesome upcoming schools that you can be a part of! Head on over to our newly designed website to find out more. If you have questions, let me know!

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. What are the words that come to mind with this one?

What do you see when you look at this picture? Do you see smiling faces? Do you see awesome tie-dye shirts? Do you see the really cool leather chairs? All of these are great answers. But here is what I see: 

Students passionate about missions
A family imparting a love for others in their children & friends
Flexible teenagers (they had several "hiccups" on their flights)
Fearless people (they encountered more than one GIANT tarantula)
Future Missionaries taking the Gospel to the Ends of the Earth
Individuals who have been "captured by His great affection"
Loving Hands & Feet being used by God to bring the Good News to Haitians & Dominicans in the DR. 

Want to read their stories? Check out the blog from their trip this summer here.  

So what do you see?

As we wind down our Mission Adventures season for the year I was asked by our President & CEO to compare our numbers for the past 2 years.  Unfortunately our numbers have gone down over the last few years and I was also challeneged to come up with a few reasons as to why and what we can do to change this declining trend. 

I looked at the teams that we have returning as well as the new teams we have been partnering with.  I took into consideration the teams that have told me that they only go on International trips every other year. I also looked at the teams that showed interest in the beginning but changed their minds.  In asking the reason for the decision to go elsewhere, the number 1 answer was safety.  Still? I thought. We have proven time & again that what we are doing in Mexico is safer than heading to downtown LA but for some reason people are still afraid to travel to Mexico.  They hear Tijuana and immediately think they are going into the war zone.  This, however, is not true. 

 A friend, David Stone (CEO of First Rate, Inc), recently posted on his facebook page the following statement:  "The most dangerous place on earth? Libya? Syria? Mexico? Afghanistan? According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) 32,885 people died in traffic crashes in 2010 in the United States (latest figures available), including an estimated 10,228 people who died in drunk driving crashes, accounting for 31% of all traffic deaths last year." 

Another family of friends, John & Jane Ray, have travelled all over the world.  I've even heard tales of them jumping from moving trains with toddlers strapped to their backs as well as ministering in actual literal war zones as missionaries with YWAM.  They wrote a blog several years ago about this very topic (can't find the actual blog right now, sorry). They recounted stories of their early days as missionaries leading groups into questionable areas of the world and how God protected them because He had sent them.  They also talked about the loss of their daughter, Olivia, who, at the age of 10, was struck by a car while walking across the street.  She was on her way to a track & field event at the University of Arkansas just a few blocks from her house. As they were preparing to come to Ensenada to build a house in Olivia's honor (through Olivia's Basket) the question on everyone's mind was is that really safe?  They pondered this question and again came to the same conclusion as before, the only safe place is in the will of God. Olivia was in a safe place in her neighborhood yet because of the actions and choices of another person was taken from this world. This could have happend anywhere at anytime. We don't understand why this kind of thing happens but we can take comfort that God "makes all things new" & "in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." There has been good to come out of Olivia's death; awareness of crosswalk safety, families coming together to build homes for underprivileged around the world, and so many lives changed forever because of her life.

Here is the conclusion I have come up with regarding the issue of safety.  God has given each of us common sense, granted some more than others. When traveling to a new place, find out about the area. We tend to trust locals on their opinions of where to go and where not to go. They live there, they know. In the same way, as a missionary with YWAM, we live in Tijuana and Ensenada. We know where to go and where not to. At the same time, there has to be a sense of walking by faith, knowing that God will take care of you if He is sending you. And if something happens, it happens.  We can't walk around allowing fear to control our lives because we will miss out on all the wonders the Lord wants to show us and all the lives He wants us to impact.

My mom once said that God saved me from death on numerous occasions when I was first born and that she had given me up to Him. When He is done with me on this Earth He will take me, there is nothing she can do about it.  Of course this doesn't stop her from worrying about me whenever she hears "Mexico" on the news, haha.

Have there been times where you have gone somewhere or done something that people tried to talk you out of because of fear of safety? What did you do? Have there been times where you felt you were supposed to go somewhere but talked yourself out of it because of that same fear?  I'd love to hear your experiences.

These past few weeks have been so busy!!  I feel like I've been going non-stop and at times I felt like a chicken with its head cut off, not cool. 

So this year, 2010, marks the 50th anniversary of YWAM.  Loren and Darlene Cunningham, the founders of Youth With A Mission, are celebrating all year long by visiting various locations around the world.  Several bases are hosting these 50th Celebrations and our Tijuana Del Mar campus was one of them.  As you can imagine, this was a HUGE honor for us.  Just a few short years ago, during my DTS in 2006, we were honored to host Loren and Dar at the DNA Conference (a look at what makes us YWAM and our Foundational Values) and they were on-site to break ground on our newest property.  How cool is it that just 4 years later, here they were again, on that same property now with dorm buildings, an amazing welcome center and worship hall hosting over 400 YWAMers and guests.  

This is a huge honor for us but at the same time, it was a lot of work to prepare for all of these people coming and we were literally working to the last minute on getting things ready, including the building that we would be gathering in each day to worship together and sit under the teaching of our founders.  At one point, as we were setting up the registration area, the staff were still putting up the finishing touches on the desk and the Tijuana Del Mar sign on the wall, it even had blue painters tape holding the pieces in place at the beginning of registration.  All in all, though, the campus looked wonderful and we were so thrilled to be able to share this experience with so many YWAMers young and old, past and present.  Check out some pictures of our Celebration below.


The day we got back from the 50th Celebration, my housemates and I moved about 2 blocks down to our new home.  I am going to be honest, I really didn't want to move.  I really liked our spanish-style house built probably in the 50's, wonderful hardwood floors, open floor plan, large rooms, nice little sun porch, huge back yard, wonderful detailed arched windows and door.  It was so beautiful.  There was even a black & white enamel stove matching much of the furniture in my mom's house that I love so much.  But alas, we had to move into some apartments around the corner because of various reasons.  I tried to find the good points about the new place and here is what I have come up with:  the floors are easier to clean because of carpeting (you just vacuum instead of sweeping and mopping, it is all in one step), we have a dishwasher (instead of us being the dishwasher), much more counter space and cabinet space in the kitchen, and we are surrounded by co-workers and friends. I'm sure there are more wonderful things about the apartment but they are overshadowed by the missing of the other house.  


I will post pictures as soon as I can so you can all see my new pad.