First YWAM Outreach Update

My team and I left on December 30th for the Texas-Mexico border. Me and all my classmates from lecture phase were led by Nathan and Jenna Allen, who were part of our school staff, and they were joined by other staff as well- Jared and Amiee. After a long drive- that was meant to be 8 hours, but ended up being 16- we arrived at the YWAM South Texas base.

We were the first YWAM team to ever stay at the base, and so it was really special and significant. The base is about an hour and a half from McAllen Texas, and is on an acrage. The leaders of this base, Gabriel and Sonya, had just moved to the base three days prior to us arriving! They have their daughter and a few other girls staffing with them, along with Abdiel- someone all of us got very close to, he was alot of fun! Gabriel and Sonya shared their whole story with us, but to sum it up, they had been missionaries in South America, but God put on their hearts to start a YWAM base at the Texas-Mexico border. They have been dreaming of this since God put it on their hearts, and they finally got this property and base- which was an old church camp- and it was all supernatural. The owner basically gave it away to them, and God is providing all the money that they do need for it.

The first day we got a tour of the base. It still needs a lot of work to get up and running, but it is SO beautiful. Walking around the property, as Gabriel and Sonya carefully described all the dreams and visions they have for the base, was so inspiring and exciting. We all agreed that we could see the vision as well, and we were all giddy for what God has in store. We did lots of work projects, just trying to get the base up and running, and tidied up.

Throughout the week, almost every single ministry that we had planned on working with cancelled, because someone had gotten covid. Everyday we woke up and were informed that the plan for the day had changed. Because of all these cancellations, these are the things we ended up doing- praying and worshipping at the border, praying over the YWAM South Texas base and its staff and leaders, worshipping and praying over the businesses and downtown and families in Mercedes- the closest town to the base, worshipping at the closest strip mall, and lots of evangelism in all these places- just meeting people and really making them feel loved. It was so cool- the worship really opened my heart for the border and the cities and the people. Through worship and prayer, God gave each of us such a heart for the area and people. One day, my team crossed over to work in Mexico, but because of visa issues and different ‘Canadian things’, it ended up being smarter to just stay and do ministry in America.

Here’s a few highlights:

-We got to meet with two women who had just crossed the border, and through Abdiels translation, we learned that they had each travelled from different places in South America, and had escaped their homes because of terrorism and violence. Both women were pregnant and very close to their due dates. They had both been kiddnapped in Mexico, but escaped. We asked them what the hardest part was, and they told us it was the fear they had for their babies, because the men that had kiddnapped them were waiting for the babies to be born. This was so eyeopening, and my heart shattered for the women. I had the privilege of praying for both of them afterwards.

-On the day that the Americans went into Mexico, and Aliyah and I stayed back, as we were driving to get lunch, we saw some immigrants being detained on the side of the highway by the border patrol. Nathan turned around and asked us ‘Do you guys wanna go on an adventure??’ He quickly did a u-turn, and we pulled dover on the side of the road, and walked over to them with Border Patrol Thank You Bags, some snacks, and some water bottles. The one border patrol officer received us so well, and we offered the snacks to the immigrants. Once again, I had the opportunity to pray blessing and protection over him and a few other officers. Such a cool adventure!

-I got to lead worship at a youth group, and I got to lead as we worshipped in Mercedes. There is something so special and powerful about praising God in the middle of a downtown. Any fear or insecurity disappears, because worshipping Him and being in His presence is all that matters, and there is so much joy in it.

-I learned so much about myself on this stretch of outreach- and it wasn’t all good, but it was important, and Jesus is teaching me how to lean on him. The things I learned are so out of my control, and I don’t even fully understand them, but Jesus is teaching me, and reminding me that growth and breakthrough is possible if I lean on Him, and let Him lead me. And that reminder makes it exciting to see what God does In me.

On the last night night we were there, we were sharing with Gabriel and Sonya the things that God had been speaking to us about the base, and even just what we learned while being there, or impactful things. I shared that after they had given us the tour and shared their visions with us, I felt as though it awakened something in my spirit, because from that day, I woke up 2 hours early, every morning. Not on purpose, but I’d wake up and not be able to go back to sleep. And in those hours, Holy Spirit would just put dream after dream in my head. Things to do at home, things to do in America, ministries to join, and most importantly- a ministry to start. I thanked them for sharing their dream, because it inspired me to do the same. As I spoke, Sonyas eyes filled with tears. She thanked me for my words, and stood up in the living room, and asked us, ‘How many of you, since you’ve been here, feel as though you have a ministry you want to start?’ And well over half of us raised our hands. Mine shot up. She started crying and told us, ‘This makes me really emotional, but before you guys came, God really spoke to us, as a staff, that your time here at YWAM South Texas would be a time where you guys would learn how to pioneer ministries.’ And this is when I started crying! ‘Lots of the ministries that we had planned for you guys to do got cancelled, but what did you guys do instead? You helped us pioneer this base. What did you learn this week? You learned that pioneering begins with lots of worship. Lots of prayer. You learned that you have to be flexible- you have to be okay with plans changing, or things not going your way. You have to know how to deal with spiritual warfare. And you have to make spending time with Jesus a priority. Quiet times are so important.’ It was so powerful!

I learned so much on this first part of my outreach, and I am so excited for the things Jesus has in store for the next month and a half! I’ve been in Laurel and Starkville, Mississippi for five days now, and leave on Tuesday for West Palm Beach, Florida! (Then South Carolina, then Chattanooga and Nashville, Tennessee!!) This is so long- so THANK YOU for reading it if you got this far! Im grateful for the continued support, prayer, and love.