Miracles, MIracles, and More Miracles!

So pretty much the title sums up what has been happening here in Mexico since I last blogged.  We have seen miracle after miracle and it has been amazing to see how God is at work here in Mexico!  If anyone had any doubt that God called YWAM Perth to Mexico City for exactly this time the doubts should be gone now unless the person is totally blind because God is moving massively here!

Last week we did a bunch of evangelism which is always awkward when you don't speak the language, but fortunately we did have translators most of the time which made it a little bit easier.  I am still not a huge fan of approaching random strangers and asking them if they want to know about God . . . it's really not my style!  I know I know all thinking what a shocking revelation that just was!  Why wouldn't Leah enjoy approaching strangers and sharing the gospel with them?!?!?!   Well I will reiterate for those of you who still can't believe it: I do not enjoy evangelism!  However I do like it better here in Mexico than I did in Perth simply because the people are far more friendly and open than people in Australia.  In one month in Australia going out on evangelism 2 times a week we only saw 4 people come to Christ!  Here is Mexico City we get at least 4 every time we go out!  On Sunday a our church here Iglesia Cristiana de Bethesda went with us to do evangelism.  There were about 50 of us who went out for 1 hour and we saw 57 people come to Christ!  It was actually ridiculous!  It has been like that every time so far.  It is incredible how God has been moving on hearts here in Mexico.  People are ready and willing to hear about Jesus and what He has done for them.  After being here for 3 and a half weeks we have led more than 100 people to the Lord!  It is crazy and definitely a miracle for a first wave of a Megacities project!

And that is definitely not the only miracle!  On Saturday night we went to a place called San Miguel which is filled with altars worshipping and celebrating Santa Muerte (Saint Death).  It is a cult that at in the Catholic church, but they have now excommunicated it.  It is a cult that is running rampant in Mexico City and has many people deceived.  This area of our region Azcapotzalco is really into Saint Death so we knew it was going to be a hard region to go into.  We spent a lot of time in intercession prior to going, but we were still shocked and amazed by what happened and how God moved.  When we were there we performed that drama we have been working on for weeks and it was really powerful.  We also shared testimonies and a sermon and saw probably 30 people come to Christ.  But even that wasn't the biggest miracle!  At the end we had an amazing time of praying for those who asked for prayer.  During that time a little 9-year girl in a wheelchair come forward asking for prayer.  We prayed for healing over this girl who had never walked before in her life and by the end of the night she was walking!  It was such a miracle and we are all still in shock and awe of what happened!  On Friday night we are going to a hospital to pray for people who are sick, so hopefully God will continue to move and we will see more healings!

Now finally for the miracle that hit the closest home for me!  It is tempting to not share this story since I know my parents read this and they are probably not going to be very impressed with me!  On Wednesday night last week our team went to see Avatar in 3D at some movie theatre here in Azcapotzalco.  The movie was alright, but the experience was fun!  Anyhow the movie didn't start until 9 and it is a 3 hour movie so it was super late by the time we were finished and all slightly delirious with exhaustion!  Well in my exhaustion I found out later that my wallet fell out of my purse sometime during our time at the theatre and I didn't notice.  Because I didn't need my wallet for several days after the movie it took several days to realize that my wallet was not in my possession.  It didn't have much money in it, but it had pretty much everything else: bank card, credit card, driver's licence, card card, SIN card, absolutely EVERYTHING!  I was slightly stressed out when I found out it was gone since I am in Mexico after all and my wallet had already been gone for several days.  Everyone on my team started praying immediately that it would be found unharmed.  I didn't even really know for sure where it disappeared so the situation seemed rather hopeless.  However the pastor's son works near the movie theatre so he said he would stop in to see if it was there, but having grown up in Mexico he said there was pretty much no chance my wallet was there.  Even if it had fallen out at the movie theatre and some one found it, they would probably just take it, not turn it in!  So I was trying to remain hopeful and believe that God had the power to protect my wallet until we got to it, but the situation was looking dismal!  So Monday night after a long hard day I was relaxing in our room when suddenly one of my leaders bounded up the 4 flights of stairs to our room and told me to put my shoes on.  I was super confused and asked where I was going and he said I was going to get my wallet from the movie theatre; it had been found!  Needless to say I was super excited!  When I got there and picked up my wallet I discovered the little money I had in there was gone (not that I really care) but all of my ID was there, and both my credit card and bank card were still untouched where I had left them in the wallet!  It was seriously a miracle!  Since then I have had even more Mexicans tell me how amazing it was that I got my wallet back!  They were in shock that it came back basically untouched in Mexico of all places!  All I have to say is God is moving in Mexico and performing both huge miracles like healing little girls and smaller personal miracles like bringing my wallet back safe!

So God is seriously moving!  He is hearing and answering our prayers and yours, so please keep praying!  As always please please pray for health for our team.  This is an area the enemy is attacking us big time!  This week we had one girl on our team pick up tonsilitis, one girl dislocate her shoulder, and our leader have huge stomach pain!  So prayers for health and healing are so vital!  Please keep praying!  We really need and covet your prayers!  We have lots going on here for the rest of this week and into next week.  Lots of kids ministry which is fun, lots of worship and evangelism, and on Sunday I will be giving my first ever sermon in front of a whole church!  Crazy!  So pray for our ministry because we need it and definitely keep praying for energy because we need that too; our schedule is crazy!

Where does the time go???

Well as you may have noticed it has been 2 weeks since my last post! That has nothing to do with lack of internet access, it is simply because of lack of time! Our time here has been absolutely crazy so far, but I have loved every minute of it! First of all I should comment that everyone arrived in Mexico safely although there were certain travel complications for a few of the people on my team who missed connecting flights. They were a little bit frazzled once they arrived, but it all worked out fine and we were all reunited by Thursday of our first week here. My flights went off without a hitch and even going through customs was amazingly easy so thank you for all your prayers on that end . . . it is definitely the customs/immigration part of travelling that stressing me out more than anything else! By far the most difficult part of our arrival here was sleeping that first night as it was absolutely freezing! The Mexicans themselves told us that our first 3 or 4 days here were unusually cold . . . it is pretty much never that cold here and on top of that we were coming from 40+ heat everyday in Australia, so it was COLD! I wore my toque for 3 days straight, day and night!

During our first week we spent 24 hours a day reading through the entire bible aloud here in our area. It was really neat to do that and it was great to see how much the church we are staying with really rallied around us and helped us with this. The youth group came 3 of the nights and read with us for 2 hours each night and I would just like to point out that the first night we were reading Numbers . . . not highly interesting . . . and the second night we started 1 Chronicles which if you don't remember the first 9 chapters are just lists of names! So we would read a chapter in English, then they would read a chapter in Spanish and it was just name after name after name! Highly amusing and I must say those Mexican youth are troopers! I also just need to point out that here in Mexico the age for youth group is 18 to marriage so we are pretty much working with and leading and teaching our peers! Not exactly what I had anticipated when I found out we would be working with the youth group here!

After we finished our bible reading on Saturday we celebrated by going out for lunch at a Chinese food buffet here . . . go figure. The food was great and it was a lot of fun, but I was also coming down with a cold, so I didn't enjoy it as much. Saturday night we finally met the entire youth group, but my leader made me lay down and rest because I had no voice because of my cold. The next day we went to 3 church services and introduced ourselves to the church . . . very interesting when I still had no voice, but it was good and our church is amazing! I love it here. Sunday was pretty much the best day ever because after church the youth group made us an authentic Mexican lunch and dinner! It was the best food ever. I was still feeling sick with my sore throat and my nose and chest were very congested but fortunately nose was not so congested that I couldn't taste anything! It was unfortunate though that my leader decided I wasn't well enough to go with my group and the youth group to the Zocolo (the center of Mexico City with all the history). They all went and interceded for the city and worshipped, but I stayed back and rested again.

The next week we did a lot of prayer walking in our area which was amazing since locals were leading us around and could give us tips about what to pray into in each neighbourhood. We also ate lunch out and the locals kept insisting on buying lunch for us. That was hard because we know they don't have a lot of money, but they absolutely refused to let us pay! The food was so great though. Since it was locals taking us out they knew the good places to go and it was amazing. We also did some evangelism this week which is always interesting when you don't speak the same language, but it was still great! It turns out I know the second most Spanish on my team though I haven't taken Spanish in 4 years, so that's interesting because my leaders keep asking me for help with translating and I am so NOT a translator nor do I know enough to be a translator, but I am doing my best to communicate with people!

Finally this weekend we were super super busy! We went to 6 different churches from Friday through Sunday and were busy at each of the churches. They wanted us to run kids programs, give testimonies, lead worship, and even preach! Two people in our group preached sermons at 2 churches and that is only the beginning! Everyone wants us to preach! At our church here they want a different one of us to preach at each of the 3 services so we will all probably have the opportunity to preach at least one sermon if not two . . . who would have thought it??? I didn't preach this weekend, I ran kids programs. It was a ton of fun, but super interesting when again you don't really speak the language. It is hard to control the groups of kids when you don't know how to say be quiet and listen to me! But it really was fun. And we were fed even more authentic Mexican food! Last night we ate so much food! We had BBQ chicken, tamales, flan, jello, cake, fruit parfait . . . it went on and on! And you have to eat all your food or else it offends the Mexicans! So they just feed us and feed us and feed us until we feel like we will explode, then we have to keep eating so we don't offend anyone! At least the food is fabulous.

So our first couple of weeks have been busy, but so great! We do need so much prayer though. And definitely the main prayer issue is for health. I have been the lucky one so far just having a cold and no voice for a few days, but a lot of people have been throwing up and making constant trips to the bathroom. We have also had to have a couple of people go to the doctor and one guy is restricted to the church for a week because his illness killed his immune system temporarily. And our team isn't the only one suffering from multiple illnesses. One Thursday morning we had a time of prayer claiming health for all the teams here in Mexico which was coordinated by the base in Perth because they have been receiving word from all the teams here about multiple illnesses, so it really is an area where all the teams are getting hit hard. By far it is the area where we need the most prayer! Of course we also need prayer for energy and openness here in Mexico. So keep praying for us, and I will keep trying to keep you updated on everything that is going on!

End Act 1 . . . it's time for a scene change!

Well you heard it folks my time in Australia has now come to a close. It is all very sad since I don’t know if I will ever make it back here again and I would sure love to. It’s weird to be in a place for 4 months and then suddenly it’s time to leave. Perth has really felt like home and it is strange to be leaving it behind and knowing that I will never walk to the train station with the lovely skyline in the background, or go to Mount Lawley for a 50 cent ice cream cone from Hungry Jacks. Four months is a long time to be somewhere, but now that time is over and it is taking some getting used to for sure! Luckily I have the excitement for Mexico to tide me over and help take the edge off the sadness. And I am very excited for Mexico . . . the city is supposed to be super pretty and I think it will be a ton of fun! Plus we get to fly again! There was a time when I first got here when I didn’t think I would ever want to fly again, but I am super excited again and pretty much am ready to go right now! I don’t want to wait another few hours . . . it is currently 1:30am right now and I am just staying up all night since I have to leave for the airport at 3:45am. I am the only one up here and don’t actually have internet access and am just writing a draft of this blog, so life is pretty boring and boring is not good for staying awake! Oh well, just another 2 hours before I should get my stuff together to bring to the base . . . I can manage that!

Okay now for blog entry part 2! I am no longer in Aussieland! It is crazy! I have been sitting in the LA airport for about 4 and a half hours now and I still have another 4 to go. However the biggest part of the journey is over now that I am back in North America. It seems so odd knowing I am on the same time zone as everyone at home right now. I have been 16 hours ahead for so long that it is going to be weird to actually be only 2 hours ahead for the next 7 weeks. And then of course after that it is time to head for home where I will defintiely be on the same time zone as everyone at home, but entirely different time zone from many of my new friends! However, yet again it is something I will have to get used to. Life goes on and changes come so all I can do about it simply adapt.

Now for a recap of the past week and a bit! It was the 50th and 25th celebration week which means it was a week like no other. We had lots of teaching and worship, but also a lot of free time which was quite a shock as we have no had much free time at all since outreach started. We received a lot of teaching from Loren and Darlene Cunningham which was quite a treat since they are so famous in YWAM circles, and I know many of received very valuable insights and revelations from God during those times. The 50th celebration only lasted from Sunday night until Tuesday afternoon and then we spent Tuesday evening down at Swan River to watch the fireworks for Australia Day. Then starting Wednesday is when I found the real fun began. I loved the 50th celebration stuff, but sometimes it got repetitive and difficult to listen to for too long, but with the 25 celebration of YWAM Perth they told lots of stories, did skits, showed videos and pictures, etc. There was a lot more to keep people captivated so it was easier to enjoy which then made it easier to listen! On Friday afternoon they even had a fashion show demonstrating how fashion has changes since the founding of YWAM Perth 25 years ago. It was so funny! The clothing from the 80's was obviously hilarious, but I also love the stuff from the 90's because I could remembering wearing those clothes but they looked so odd! Another great part of the week is some of the entertainment we received during the different evening sessions. I took videos of this amazing didgeridoo player, the Island Breeze team performing Polynesian dances, and even the fireworks for Australia Day and I will post them as soon as possible because they are pretty spectacular, but it isn't working right now.

So yes, that's what life looked like last week, and I have been travelling for nearly 30 hours receiving no sleep the night before I left and only about 4 or 5 hours during that time. I still have another 10 hours before we land in Mexico and then we still need to go through customs and immigration there, so it will be ages still before we get to go to bed, but definitely the hardest part of the trip is over and I am looking forward to finally being in Mexico. For the first week we are there we don't actually do much (if any) ministry. For the first 3 days in Mexico we will be alternating between people in our team and spending 72 hours straight of reading the entire bible aloud in a public place. I'm looking forward to this part because I think it will be really cool! Then for the 3 days after that we spend a lot of time walking through our area and praying for it asking God for strategies to reach the area. So there is a lot of bible and prayer for the first week which I think will be amazing! Then we do a lot of our youth group work and street evangelism after that. It is hard to say exactly what life will look like once we reach Mexico, but I am excited to find out!

Moving onto prayer points for this week I would ask for continued prayer for health and definitely for strength and energy for everyone as we try to recover from our 40 hours of travelling! There have been bad colds and even a stomach bug travelling around my team so we really do need a lot of prayer for health! Also just pray for safety while we are in Mexico City and for open hearts in the city. Now for some exciting news regarding prayer! Thank you to everyone who joined with us in prayer for our Asians to get into Mexico. We received word on Friday morning that the visas had been approved! We sent a representative over to Canberra with all the passports on Sunday morning so he could get the visa stamps on them all Monday morning and the Asians could all leave on time on February 2! It really was a true answer to prayer as we didn't want our teams to be separated for a week as it was looking like might happen. Also it would have cost about $1000 per person to change the tickets to the week later so it was also an answer to prayer financially as well! It is very exciting news because we weren't just fighting for our Asians to get in, we were fighting for missionaries from any country to be able to get in to Mexico. Mexico is a very closed country especially to South America, Asia, and Africa, because it is considered an easy entry point into the States, but now the country has said any missionary from any country can come into the country for the year 2010 (which is the duration of Megacities). So it really was amazing news and we were all very grateful to God! So thank you for standing with us in prayer and lifting us up in all our travels and ministry.