Ventana has been experiencing a lot of spiritual attacks lately...and its become harder and harder to deal with them. Each week someone else experiences some hardship or another that puts a damper on our spiritual journey as we go out into the streets of Santa Cruz. Please keep us all in your prayers as we go out on Saturday for our last service night with the homeless. We have been making a great impact in some people's lives and Satan obviously doesn't like that.
Our team is also experiencing some extremely hard difficulties financially which has severly affected the ministry. Three of my fellow students are having a hard time getting their money raised. They all have to raise three thousand dollars each by Dec. 15th, and they are getting a little stressed and discouraged. We know that God wants them here on the team, and we would really appreciate prayer for them as they scramble to raise all the funds needed. We have already suffered a huge loss already. Laura, our community director, is not going to be able to join us in Mexico due to financial issues, and Ventana not having enough money in the budget to pay seven staff members. It is a very sad time for the Ventana team since we all love Laura immensely and we will miss her humor and sweet face all throughout our Mexico experience. Please keep her in your prayers as she searches for another job and deals with this loss...
Our ministry is losing a very important dynamic, and it is going to be hard to get used to only having six leaders. And if one or all of the students who are in financial difficulty are not able to come back, everything will be different and weird. Its insane to think about going to Mexico without ALL my teammates.
I'll be home in about 4 days which is super exciting! Please keep my family in your prayers as we start to prepare for the first major holidays without Dad. Its going to be a bit tough...which is an understatement.
I love you all!
Mikaela
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Wrapping Up
Things are coming to a close here at Mission Springs...we still have three more street service nights, and two more work project days..but besides that its just packing, cleaning, and preparing to say goodbye..but only for a little while.
I am so excited to go home and see my family..only nine more days! I will finally be able to hold my little Charlie, and let him sleep in bed with me again! Yesss! Don't tell mom though :) I have just finished my last piece of homework for the week, but unfortunately I will have some over break...oh well.
This week went by really fast, and time only seems to fly since we are trying to pack everything we can into these last few days. Its been so much fun on this first part of the journey and I hope that Mexico will be even more amazing! I thank God for putting me here and allowing me to experience him in totally new ways. My faith is only continuing to deepen as the days go by.
Thanks all
Mikaela
I am so excited to go home and see my family..only nine more days! I will finally be able to hold my little Charlie, and let him sleep in bed with me again! Yesss! Don't tell mom though :) I have just finished my last piece of homework for the week, but unfortunately I will have some over break...oh well.
This week went by really fast, and time only seems to fly since we are trying to pack everything we can into these last few days. Its been so much fun on this first part of the journey and I hope that Mexico will be even more amazing! I thank God for putting me here and allowing me to experience him in totally new ways. My faith is only continuing to deepen as the days go by.
Thanks all
Mikaela
Saturday, November 8, 2008
Finding God is AWESOME!
WOW! Its going absolutely crazy here in my head! I know that sounds so weird but its what it feels like. God has been revealing so much to me this week...all these things that he has slowly been preparing me for have all of a sudden blasted into my brain with such an incredible force that I have barely had time to process it all. Just looking back on the past two years, seeing all the hardships my family has gone through...its almost been too much. But God has assured me that, even though I have been struggling with bitterness and pain for quite some time, he is so not finished with me yet. I've been a little lost, trying to deal with everything while being gone from my beloved family and supportive friends. And God just spoke directly to my heart, telling me that all I had to do was trust and be obedient; then I would be able to rest in his love again, instead of constantly question him and myself. I was at first confused...how was I even to start on that daunting task? He provided some answers, so I now know that I need to get into the habit of spending time with God just one-on-one, I need to love people more consistantly than I have been, and I need to be open to HIS plans, not MY plans...just to name a few. I would really appreciate prayers on this front, so that I don't lose sight of this vision when life gets harder.
I am just so thankful for Ventana right now, even though its harder now than its ever been. Without this constant studying of the Word and consistent practice of serving joyfully I would not be where I am with Christ. I have alot more to work on, but who doesn't? :) Thanks again to all who have been supporting me! You guys have blessed me!
"not gonna try to lock the door
not gonna fight you anymore
you took your life and gave me yours
there's no reason why
no good reason why
I shouldn't trust you."
~Brandon Heath, singer
I am just so thankful for Ventana right now, even though its harder now than its ever been. Without this constant studying of the Word and consistent practice of serving joyfully I would not be where I am with Christ. I have alot more to work on, but who doesn't? :) Thanks again to all who have been supporting me! You guys have blessed me!
"not gonna try to lock the door
not gonna fight you anymore
you took your life and gave me yours
there's no reason why
no good reason why
I shouldn't trust you."
~Brandon Heath, singer
Sunday, November 2, 2008
Missing Home...
Hey all...
Its going great here in Santa Cruz..which is no longer that sunny for those of you who were jealous before. We had one huge downpour all weekend, which brought up some very fond memories from Oregon. Its cleared up some now..but there are no beach trips on the horizon as of late.
We had an 80's party on Halloween night, and it was insane! We had a huge dance party, and then a cupcake decorating contest...unfortunately, I wasn't feeling too well so I left after the first..oh..half hour or so..but it was really fun dressing up. I had a huge sweater that looked like someone ate purple and black yarn, and then threw it up. And I wore more make up than I ever want to again. One of our boys, Jason, shaved off about two months worth of facial hair, leaving his mustache..and its still there. We all laughed pretty hard at that..Jason is our "class clown" :)
Another update on our homeless ministries...Wednesday night was my last night out on the streets..I will be switching with the other half of our group, who has been in the bible study at the mission this whole time. So it was one of my last chances to really open up conversations with the people I have built up relationships with. My friend Shannon and I prayed before hand for about thirty minutes and then set out. Of course, God decided to do things his way, rather than the way we were expecting. Irish (the boy I was telling you about in the last post) was one person we prayed for specifically, and Satan tried to combat our prayers by attacking him..sadly enough he fell into temptation right before we talked to him. He came over and gave me a huge hug, announced proudly "I'm trippin' on LSD right now! Haha!" and then he walked away because the "fuzz" (or police) were coming up the street. It was heart breaking seeing him filling his life with drugs rather than with the God he so obviously needs. Please continue to keep him in your prayers and that somehow, on a Saturday night when we are out on the street, he can be reached and a seed can be planted.
But God answered my prayers in a different way: there is a younger guy who has come every week to the dinner served on Saturdays at Elm Street Mission, and we always said hi but conversation never went deeper, and God has been laying him on my heart for the past two weeks. He was walking by on Wednesday night and just started up a conversation with me, which opened up so many doors to discussing God and the role he longs to play in each of our lives. It was awesome, but the devil is really adament about Nathan (that's the guys name) not hearing anything related to God. People kept coming up and interrupting us..until finally I had to go. Nathan didn't come to this Saturday's dinner...so please pray that he will be there this week. He has alot of heart for those people who can't fend for themselves and has such potential to serve God, but he doesn't realize yet that thats what he needs to do to feel fulfilled. Like many others out on the streets, he smokes weed as much as possible, and drinks insane amounts of alcohol. But he expressed a desire to be free from his addictions. He also carries around the Bible with him, and acknowledges that it has good messages..but he doesn't know if God is real or not. Its so obvious that God is calling him, so please pray specifically for Nathan that he will respond to the call!
The Lord has blessed me so much through this experience..and though it is really hard being away from my family, I know that this is where God has put me. Only three more weeks until I get home though! Which is awesome!!! I can't wait to see you all!
Its going great here in Santa Cruz..which is no longer that sunny for those of you who were jealous before. We had one huge downpour all weekend, which brought up some very fond memories from Oregon. Its cleared up some now..but there are no beach trips on the horizon as of late.
We had an 80's party on Halloween night, and it was insane! We had a huge dance party, and then a cupcake decorating contest...unfortunately, I wasn't feeling too well so I left after the first..oh..half hour or so..but it was really fun dressing up. I had a huge sweater that looked like someone ate purple and black yarn, and then threw it up. And I wore more make up than I ever want to again. One of our boys, Jason, shaved off about two months worth of facial hair, leaving his mustache..and its still there. We all laughed pretty hard at that..Jason is our "class clown" :)
Another update on our homeless ministries...Wednesday night was my last night out on the streets..I will be switching with the other half of our group, who has been in the bible study at the mission this whole time. So it was one of my last chances to really open up conversations with the people I have built up relationships with. My friend Shannon and I prayed before hand for about thirty minutes and then set out. Of course, God decided to do things his way, rather than the way we were expecting. Irish (the boy I was telling you about in the last post) was one person we prayed for specifically, and Satan tried to combat our prayers by attacking him..sadly enough he fell into temptation right before we talked to him. He came over and gave me a huge hug, announced proudly "I'm trippin' on LSD right now! Haha!" and then he walked away because the "fuzz" (or police) were coming up the street. It was heart breaking seeing him filling his life with drugs rather than with the God he so obviously needs. Please continue to keep him in your prayers and that somehow, on a Saturday night when we are out on the street, he can be reached and a seed can be planted.
But God answered my prayers in a different way: there is a younger guy who has come every week to the dinner served on Saturdays at Elm Street Mission, and we always said hi but conversation never went deeper, and God has been laying him on my heart for the past two weeks. He was walking by on Wednesday night and just started up a conversation with me, which opened up so many doors to discussing God and the role he longs to play in each of our lives. It was awesome, but the devil is really adament about Nathan (that's the guys name) not hearing anything related to God. People kept coming up and interrupting us..until finally I had to go. Nathan didn't come to this Saturday's dinner...so please pray that he will be there this week. He has alot of heart for those people who can't fend for themselves and has such potential to serve God, but he doesn't realize yet that thats what he needs to do to feel fulfilled. Like many others out on the streets, he smokes weed as much as possible, and drinks insane amounts of alcohol. But he expressed a desire to be free from his addictions. He also carries around the Bible with him, and acknowledges that it has good messages..but he doesn't know if God is real or not. Its so obvious that God is calling him, so please pray specifically for Nathan that he will respond to the call!
The Lord has blessed me so much through this experience..and though it is really hard being away from my family, I know that this is where God has put me. Only three more weeks until I get home though! Which is awesome!!! I can't wait to see you all!
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