Pretty Sunshine :)

Yes, I know it might come as a surprise for all of my Oregon friends out there, but it is still sunny in some parts of the world! I was actually hanging out at the beach on Friday, and as I stepped into the water--miracles of miracles--my toes did not freeze off! There was a monarch butterfly migration going on while we were there, so we hiked up into the trees surrounding the beach and saw hundreds of beautiful, orange and black monarchs clustering in the branches. It was awesome!

I was out doing some street ministry on Wednesday, and I met a large group of younger people who were part of a bongo group that met on the sidewalk every week. Some were homeless, some were going to college at UCSC, but all were a little intoxicated. My friend Shannon and I were invited to hang out with them that evening and we had some interesting conversations while we were there. The 'gang leader' (for lack of a better word) was called Irish, and he is this super tiny guy who jumps around with bare feet, tattoos, dread locks, and a huge hiking backpack. He is really friendly and into just being who he is around all people...granted his brain is a little beffuddled from the amount of harmful chemicals he intakes, but he remembered me when I saw him on Saturday, and I was invited to hang out again this Wednesday. Please be praying that Shannon and I can open up a meaningful conversation with him and anyone else who is there. We felt a special connection to this group because they are close to our age, but are making some really dumb decisions with their lives.

On Saturday, I was able to talk to a man (whose name I can unfortunately not remember--isn't that sad?!?) about Jesus and his beliefs on Christianity. He claims he is a Bible scholar, and he surprised me by actually knowing a good amount of verses and stories. He believes that you can only get to heaven by believing in Jesus Christ and then stopping yourself from sinning. He said that if I died today, because I was still sinning, I would go to hell...I tried to explain to him the message of grace, and why Jesus died, and the whole basis of Christianity, and even though he listened intently, he kept bringing up random verses and stories from the Bible that "supported" his theory. That is just an example of how many people here in Santa Cruz believe themselves to be "Christians", but they twist the message of Jesus Christ until they believe what they want to believe, and not what Christ calls us to. Please pray that us Ventaneros can find the words to open these peoples eyes to the eternity they are heading into.

We recently got a new staff member...his name is Aaron and he will be filling in the spot of male mentor. We lost our first male mentor due to outside circumstances, which was a sad day for all of us. Aaron was originally going to be our facilities manager in Mexico, but after Nick left, we called him up and asked if he wanted to come hang with us in Mission Springs and then do both jobs while in Mexico. He was thrilled and came up that same week. We all love him and he gets along really well with the rest of the staff and students. God really blessed us!

Only thirty more days until I come home for my long break. I'll be back on November 25th, and will be heading out to Mexico on January 5th. I am really excited to see all my Oregon friends and my family from Washington. Thank you all for your support and prayers!

Love,
Mikaela