the.walk

The next week changed my life forever.. The base director was the speaker of the week and she was talking about animism..

She had some challenges for us like:
-If you go to Asia and you find some musilm group, how would you share with them about Jesus without ofending their culture and religion?!
And some other stuff like that..

During that week, she took us to down town Monterrey, to take a walk around the streets down there.. I am talking as: Monterrey is my hometown! and you know what?! I would not ever believe what I saw if someone else told me.

While we were walking, saw tones of different stuff, like people selling pirate dvds and cds.. this drunk guy sleeping on the side-walk.. people asking for money.. but theres is one thing that got most of my attention: the prostitute girls..

I looked up the meaning of prostitution, and this is what I found:
Prostitution is widely described as the world's oldest profession; the practice of selling sex for cash or other immediate compensation has existed across cultures and times from the ancient Greeks, through religious servitude, to today's madam scandals that have rocked the British Parliament, America's Hollywood, and America's east coast Blue Bloods. Prostitution also crosses class lines, from the poor ‘streetwalkers’ with their stereotyped drug habits and abusive pimps to the high-class brothel and escort service workers with their designer clothes and stylish apartments.

Prostitution is something that has been existed.. but God hates it!
God made sex for marriage and for procreation.. Sadly, these days.. people look at it as something without the value that it should have.. people use it to earn money or sexual pleasure...

It broke my heart.. it was 2:00pm, kids were walking all over the place because they had just gotten out of school.. they were trying to buy some of the pirate movies or games. This prostitute girls where working at that time in the afternoon, its sad how they dont care if there are kids around or if someone is watching them.
I dissembling looked at them how they where dressing up and wearing tons of make up trying to look attractive, my heart felt anger seeing what they were doing with the precious gift of God, but at the same time.. compassion was taking place in my heart, I wanted to hug them.. tell them theres freedom. That even though they are doing wrong, God can forgive, clean and make them new!
Thats why I get happy knowing that they have hope.. But how are they going to know it, if we dont tell them.. how are they going to hear the truth, if we dont share it with them..

There are some many places all over the world, where prostitution is something legal and normal.. it is a normal job for a lot of girls.. I personally pray mercy over them, and I am looking forward for an opportunity to go and tell them they have hope! That there is someone who loves them such as they are, without make up and glamorous clothes.. someone who made them beautiful!

That walk impacted me.. I learned so much that day, and I am still impressed about how the world needs God and how we, the people that know the truth need to shout it loud so they can hear...

the.frist.week

So.. I arrived to the base on Sunday September 17 of 2006..

A staff girl named Tina brought me to my new room.. it was full of unknown girls! I felt SO intimidated..
I did not know how to speak to them.. they were all from US and Canada.. I was the only Spanish speaking girl there! I did not know English AT ALL.. well I knew High School English, but its nothing to do with the actual language.. Tina told me that all of the students were in the base already with exception of the two guys that were coming from Minnesota.. the girl named Amy was going to be picked up from the airport that evening.. and we were expecting the guy to come later that week because he had flew accidentally to Monterey, CA insted of Monterrey, Mexico. So he had to wait until his parents fixed the whole thing.. his story was hilarious!!

That night, we had our first meeting with the staff and our leaders.. They presented them selves to us and told us the rules and the process we would be going thru. That first week we would be going to "La Quinta" to have our introduction week. Were we would know each other and have a few little classes. On Monday, Jon the guy who had been lost.. came and we met him.. then Tina and Pepe (staff members) took us to a tour in Monterrey.. it wasnt new for me! haha..

I was going completly crazy that first week! No one of the students knew how to speak fluent Spanish.. just this one girl from Idaho.. her name is Sarah. She was the only one who was practicing her college Spanish with me and we could not understand each other sooo good. But we tried. It was fun!

That week went by so fast.. I was kinda frustrated because of the language barrier but at the same time so excited seeing what God was going to do.. Eventhough I felt intimidated.. we all became a family..
There were 2 guys from Canada.. Ahsley and Josh. 10 from the states: Jon and Amy form Minnesota, Sarah from Idaho.. Bobby, Heather and Bekah from Virginia.. Jill from Wisconsin, Nathan and Maribel form Texas and Liz from North Dakota. And one pretty girl from Mexico.. Me, the youngest one!

The first week of class was named: "How to listen God's voice..." it was awesome! God talked a lot to us in that week we were impress in how God was moving in that class room that very first week..

I am never going to forget the time were we were in our intersession time and it was time to choose the place we wanted to go for outreach.. I terribly felt a passion for Asia and Thailand was one of the options.. So I decided to go to Thailand..

God was doing so much in my heart.. I started to see His hand in my life in an awesome way..

Ron Wilson, the worship leader in that DTS had invited me to become part of his team.. playing the piano! I was sooo excited because te piano had been one of my passions.. and after I left the worship team in my church I thought I wasnt going to play anymore.. But I was wrong!

everything.has.a.beginning.

It was May of 2006..
I was in my last month of HighSchool.. at that time I was in the process of kinda dating a guy that I thought he was 'the one'... my life was going 'perfect' I thought..

I always said I was going to be a doctor.. a famous and important doctor that would save people with cancer and hiv.. I was so excited on going to college! I got ready or the admission test and I thought I would be there.. The school had capacity for 500 students but the test had been taken for 5,00o guys and girls.. That meant that 4,500 people would not be able to make it.. and guess what?! I was one of those!!
It was so hard for me.. It was my dream!! What was I going to do?! I cried and cried.. At the same time this guy (the one that I told you earlier) and I broke up! I made a commitment to God.. saying that I would not date again until I had found my future husband..

My days were going pretty slow.. it was July already and I was getting so sad seeing that all of my friends were getting ready for college and I was at home just crying and having a bad time.. I need to say that I had a bad attitude.. I did not like anything! I was just complaning about things..

At that time, my Church was planning on going to this missions trip to Cd. Victoria, Tmps.. that place was 4 hours away from my house.. My mom was going and in the morning of the day that they were leaving she was trying to convince me to join them but I just kept crying and telling her that God had forgotten about me and that He did not love me enough to let me go to the Medical School.. But she, wisely told me: "Laura, dont you remember one night that we were praying to see what was God's will for your future and you told Him that if you could be a doctor you were going to serve Him.. but if He would not allow you to go to College you would serve Him full time?!" Oh my gosh! She was right! I completly forgot about it!!
I imediatly went to my room and prayed asking God another opportunity.. so I got ready, made my suitcase and we left for this missions trip.. It was a short term missions... During the week I was a little kids teacher, teaching them about God and Salvation.. at the end of the week more then 150 kids had recieved Jesus in their hearts.. and I was so happy for it.. God changed my heart in that week. We were staying in a really poor comunity that God showed me how much He has blessed me. My life completly changed!! My heart was different. God showed me so much those days.

When we came back, my mom told me about this School of Evangelism or Discipleship Training School that she had heard a couple years ago.. The institution name was YWAM - Youth With A Mission and we personally went to the base in my town for information about the next Discipleship Training School (DTS).. It was going to start on September 17th of that year to end on February of 2007.. I did not like the idea so much, because in November 2006 Dentist School was going to be starting and I thought: "Maybe God wants me there..." But He did not..
I did my application for the DTS hoping that I wasnt going to be accepted.. because the youngest age was 18 and I was 16! So I sent it hopeless.. thinking that I was not going to attend.

Two weeks before the school started... i got this package from YWAM! No way?! Was I part of it?! Yep! I WAS....
SO I started to get ready.. I lived 3 hours from the Mexican-American border.. so I came to the States in a short weekend to buy new clothes, new suitcase, new everythig... I was so excited, God had changed my bad attitud... I was getting open to what God wanted to do in those 5 months of my life...

The time came.. we loaded my mom's car with my luggage and we left for the base.. The base was just 25min away from my house.. I did not know anything about YWAM before.. so I thought it was just a program/school in my town.. Later, I realized that YWAM is all over the world and that I could have chose another country to go.. but it was late, and I recognized that God wanted to do something with me in my own country and town.. with the people I was going to met later that day.

You.Said

Oh Lord I ask for the nations!!

Sometimes I start thinking about how God cares so much about the world because before He went back to Heaven, He told the disciples: "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." He did not say: 'Go and talk to a few people and you are done.." He wanted us to reach the nations. He wanted us to have a heart for the nations. He cares a lot for all the people outside in the world.. He does not want us to be locked in our own worlds, He wants us to go and preach Salvation to everyone.

Sometimes we are so worried about of what am I going to wear? Oh my gosh! I dont have any new clothes! Or: Dang! This week I did not go out to eat! But you know what?! Have you ever thought about the hundreds of thousands of kids, women and men outside in the world that dont even have a house where to live.. That they just have a couple used and old-fashioned shirts and a damaged pair of sandals.. Maybe you do not see it everyday.. But that exists!

I am from Mexico, and thank God I grew up having all what I always wanted.. My dad died when I was nine, but my mom worked so hard (shes still does) to give me what I needed and more. But I could see when I walked on the streets all the people asking for money and extending their hands saying: Dame, Dame! Which means: Give me, Give me.. Give me what?! They dont care, their poverty status is so high, their belongings are almost nothing.. So they want anything you could give them.. Food, Money, Clothes.. It is sad, but it is real.. So everday, I try to be thankful with what I have and thank God for a new day, for my food, for the few things that I own..

I just ask God to take care of the peolpe who need stuff to live and to send people to tell the that they have hope, that theres someone how died for them to give them abundant life.. Eternal life!

You said, "ask and you will receive whatever you need."
You said, "pray and I'll hear from heaven,and I'll heal your land."
You said Your glory will fill the earthlike water the sea.
You said, "lift up your eyes;the harvest is here, the kingdom is near."

You said, "ask and I'll give the nations to you."
oh Lord, that's the cry of my heart.
Distant shores and the islands will see Your light as it rises on us..

God my prayer is that You will make me be part of the people who goes to the nations to reach the broken and hopeless.. That you will use me in Your perfect will.. I declare and believe that one day every knee will bow and worship You.. Amen