Micah was born in Mexicali in 2005. The notes we have about Micah’s history are very minimal, but we do know that he was born to an illiterate 17 yr. old single mother, who had already been through drug rehab at the age of 14. He suffered severe abuse and neglect in his very early life, and by the time he was taken into care at 7 months old, he had broken limbs and was severely malnourished. Because of his past abuse, Micah lived in a state of severe anxiety which affected every area of his life. As a child, Micah was developmentally delayed and didn't walk or talk until 2, and at 8 yrs old, he was still unable to read and write, and because of his behavior issues, unable to attend school. Through the years or hard work, therapy and more hard work, through attachment disorder and severe behavioral issues, Micah (Now 15) is a great kid who loves music, movies and running on the beach. He's doing well in school and despite a very slow start in life, is now working through Grade 7 - and the future is looking bright for him. Tianna's StoryTianna was born in Tijuana in 2006. Her history notes are minimal, but we do know that her mum was 34 and her name was Andrea. Tianna was left in the hospital, and when they went to try and find her mum, she was found Dead in a hotel room. There is the name of a father in her notes, but nothing more. Tianna was taken into care straight away and placed in an orphanage in Ensenada. For the first months of her life she spent most of the time in the crib, just taken out to feed and to be changed. Because of her lack of attachment in her first months of life, it was impossible for her to trust anybody. This lead to her being controlling and manipulative with much lying and stealing. This is typical to kids with attachment disorder. Also because of the way her brain developed, she had a hard time learning, so couldn't attend school. On top of this Tianna is on permanent medication for a life threatening condition that she has. Over the years of intentional parenting, and therapy for her Reactive attachment disorder, Tianna (Now 14) is completely healed from her "Crazy Days" and has the potential to lead a full and amazing life. Again, just like Micah, despite the slow start, she is now doing well in school and is in Grade 7 As i look again and remember Micah & Tianna's story, and remember the crazy journey that we have been through so far, and i look at them now. I want to thank all of our family and friends around the world for being on this journey with us. We couldn't have done it without you.
She wasn’t sure what to do to protect her family and was living with a lot of anxiety. Her joy and her faith was contagious, however, and she told us she had been praying and asking God to protect her from getting sick, so that she would finally be able to see her house being built. She couldn’t stop expressing how grateful she was to finally have a warm, dry, more secure home for her and her daughters. These experiences never get old; each family has a unique story, and their gratitude and hope is something that marks you going forward. We as the staff team were impacted by the Vasquez Gutierrez family, and I know without a doubt that they were beyond blessed by this house they were given. Seven years ago Zita left Oaxaca, in Southern Mexico, and made the long journey north to Ensenada. Her husband had recently passed away and her family needed a fresh start. After many years working as a maid Zita was so pleased and proud to buy the land for their home. In February we told Zita she would receive a home in March. Crosshill, a Mission Adventures team, would build her home. Zita and her two daughters watched as the cement was poured right before the world changed. Then they had to wait, not sure if or when their home would become a reality. Crosshill was forced to cancel their trip but generously donated the home and furniture. We told Zita to wait, and keep waiting... for 7 months. Zita dreamed of her new home for a long time. Their old house, a small shack made from corrugated iron, was cold and, when it rained, was very wet. In the past 3 months it was broken into twice and most of their belongings taken. Zita was unsure how to protect her family and was living with a lot of anxiety. In September we delivered the good news. Thanks to the kindness of the Crosshill team, YWAM SDB Ensenada staff were finally able to build Zita a home. Zita's joy and faith were contagious during the build! Since the pandemic began Zita prayed God would protect her from illness so she could see her house built. She was so grateful to finally have a warm, dry, more secure home for her family. Zita's was the first home our Ensenada campus has been able to build in 6 months. This build was both a blessing for the staff who participated, and for the family who received the house. These experiences never get old. Each family has a unique story of God's faithfulness and generosity. God heard Zita's cries for a safe home and answered. We are so grateful to Crosshill for allowing us to bless the Vasquez Gutierrez family with a home. Their lives will never be the same. For those of you who have been following our lives over the past years, you will know a little of our family. Our Move to Mexico, Meeting our 2 Adopted children and the whole 5 year process of adopting them. Then the years working through the issues of reactive attachment disorder, and the camps we attended and therapy we went through to promote their healing. We have 2 awesome children who are a joy to be around, and have been an integral part of the family and ministry. Our goal when we adopted Micah & Tianna, was to give them the best possible chance of a successful and meaningful life with access to the most opportunities and choices possible. With this in mind, we want to start the final process of the adoption, to get them their British Citizenship.
Join UsWould you consider being part of helping to give Micah & Tianna the best opportunities for their future. We have a huge faith goal of raising $15,000 for the complete process. This breaks down to be:
Any size donation is gratefully received. You can donate through our Donation Links on this site our fundly site HERE Thank You for being part of our lives and the future of these 2 children This week we have broken ground on our next building project in Ensenada. This building has been in the design process for about 5 years, and we are very excited to finally start the process of construction. This new building will be a major hub of our campus. When finished, it will house our Dining Room, 300 seater auditorium, classrooms and meeting rooms, Public facing coffee shop, and our community drop in center. We are so excited for what this means for the future growth of our ministry. This is our awesome team of Architects and Engineers, who are making the whole thing happen As with all of our YWAM San Diego Baja projects, we run with a zero debt policy. To date, we are currently about 1/3 funded for the project.
Tonight we had a fantastic evening as we celebrated our "Evening Of Hope" We were joined by Author and Leadership Guru; Patrick Lencioni, Governor Bill Lee from Tennessee, Author; Bob Goff and Live Music from Michael W. Smith. Together with over 600 of our friends from around the world. We heard heart warming and challenging stories about our work in Baja, and heard stories of Families waiting for their Homes of Hope. Such a Great evening. Thanks to everyone who joined us. If you didn't get a chance to join, then grab a coffee, take a seat and you can watch the replay here. We have learned over the years that hope abides in spite of adversity. To that end, we would like to offer you complimentary registration to our online event, "An Evening of Hope" Join us as we will share stories of how God has been working through us and sparking hope in the midst of the struggle. During the evening, we will be joined by; Best Selling Author and Founder of The Table Group, Patrick Lencioni Multi Platinum artist and Author, Michael W. Smith. Governor of Tennessee, Bill Lee New York Times Best Selling Author, Bob Goff. As part of the event we would also like to ask you to partner with us as we continue to offer hope to the people of Baja California, Mexico. You can find out more Information at: www.aneveningofhope.org We are looking forward to seeing you on the 25th June Its hard to believe that we are nearly half way through 2020 already. In this crazy time, its sometime good to look backwards to look at what we have accomplished to give us the energy to go forwards. Here is an amazing report, highlighting our work and fruitfulness in 2019, a great reason to push forward into this year and beyond. Enjoy... YWAM SDB 2019 ReportThe question of this era on everyones lips is definitely going to be "How did you spend Lockdown?" We went into this time thinking what are we going to do with all our time? There has been a few "Lazy Netflix Days" but we decided that we wanted to use this time to learn, grow, connect with others and prepare ourselves for the future. Bringing the YWAM Family togetherFrom the first days of the lockdown, we decided to put the call out to the YWAM family to connect in ways that we have never done before on a regular basis. Each we we have been arranging a Zoom call for North America, and a Zoom call for Mexico and Central / South America. In each call we've had up to 500 locations connecting to hear from Senior YWAM leaders from around the world. Each one challenging us is a different area. Even our Founders Loren & Darlene have been part of our calls. Building Hope - Building Forward
My biggest takeaway and challenge from the seminar was put simply in this line: " I cannot transform what i don't love, and i can't love what i don't know" If we want to see transformation in our communities, our friends and even our families, we must first learn to know them and Love them I pray that you are doing well during this lockdown and that any free time you have, you are using to rest, learn, grow, and become the best version of yourself.
One of the biggest needs that we are seeing at the moment is with families that are loosing their jobs. Like many developing nations, Mexico is a mainly cash based society with many people working to provide for their families on a day to day basis. With many of the factories and other employers closing down, families are in desperate need for food to help them through this time. So we are teaming up with the local government, local churches and other ministries to help distribute food packages to families in need. To date we have delivered over 1000 food boxes to families, plus orphanages, rehab centers and soup kitchens. We have set a goal of raising and distributing $120,000 worth of food to families in Ensenada and Tijuana. You can visit our Baja Food Relief site to find out more information and to get involved.
During this cray time of lockdown and Covid -19, we've all got our stories of how our lives have changed. Well we now have our own family story. Levi & his now wife, Jayne were flying from the UK, just around the time that the US boarders closed to foreigners. He was coming to start work on his Lyme Disease treatment in Idaho. They flew into the USA early March, just as everything shut down. They didn't want to come down to Mexico with the fear of not being able to get back across the boarder. After spending a month in San Diego & Murrieta, they decided to do something crazy and elope. In this uncertain time, when everything is crazy anyway, they figured, why not some something really crazy. On top of that, we don't know when all of our families can be together again, so we gave them our blessing to get married. So like a pair of nomads, they drove to Arizona, (as there were no government offices open in California) and along with our friend Theo, to officiate, drove out into the dessert and got married. We were sad that we couldn't be there with them, but are looking forward to the party when we can all be back together again. Levi has now started the first phase of his Lyme Disease treatment up in Idaho, and continues that in the next few months. Thank you to everyone who was part of making that happen. We will let you know how it develops.
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