Sorry about the lack of updates from Mexico! Our ability to use the internet has been limited. Last week we arrived in Tijuana after a 29 hour bus ride from Mazatlan. It actually went by pretty quickly except the 6 or 7 times when we had to get out of the bus in order for it to be searched for drugs. It's not so fun to be woken up at 3 in the morning by a mexican police officer. We arrived in Mexico with a warm welcome from Carlo's family. I was actually really surprised by how nice and clean Tijuana looks compared to the southern parts of Mexico we've been in. It's such a huge contrast from seeing it by driving through California. It looks nothing like I remember it. We actually feel very safe here. Although there is danger here, it's obviously hyped up a lot on the news. There is a spiritual battle going on here, but I think that just makes it more evident how God is at work here. God is fighting for the people here an He is winning. We have already seen people accept Christ and miracles happen. I think the greatest miracle God is doing is love. It's already been a huge theme in our time here. Last Thursday I preached to a group of young people at the church. I spent all day working on a teaching about missions but as soon as I got to the church I could tell God was about to do something. Right before I went up to preach God changed my plans. I ended up sharing my testimony and preaching about God's love and grace. We were all so aware of the Lord's presence in the room. The worship band was worshipping from their hearts and Kelly ended up doing some worship dancing which she had never done before. We were all amazed by God's power and how everything just clicked. He spoke to many hearts that night and we had the opportunity to minister and pray for many teens and young adults. The next day we held an event at a mall called "what is love" It was centered around music and testimonies about God's love. We'll be holding 5 of these events while we're here in TJ and each one will be a bit different with elements of music, dance, and fine art. Those of us who weren't on stage spent time evangelizing and praying for people. Many people were changed that day! I felt like God had asked me to make a drawing for a woman and share with her how beautiful she was. She was really touched and said no one had ever told her that. The next day we were at an orphanage and There was a really shy little girl who was hanging around me a lot. I started talking to her I told her that she was really beautiful. When i said that she put her head down and looked really sad. I asked her if she knew she was beautiful and she said no with tears in her eyes. It broke my heart. This beautiful little 5 year old orphan had never been told she was beautiful. I felt that God was giving me a mission to tell people how beautiful and special they are. On sunday we had another event in a park. I made some drawings to give to people so that I could share with them how beautiful they are. I began asking God who they were for, but I didn't get an answer. Some little girls came up to me and I tried talking to them but we had a hard time communicating in spanish, so i asked them if they wanted to color with me. They were happy with that so I drew them some pictures and wrote "eres muy bonita!" on the back. Their eyes lit up when they saw that. I continued to ask God who my drawings were for while more kids kept coming to me. I eventually decided to give a drawing to a woman who was sitting by herself. She didn't have much of a reaction from it and I felt a little discouraged. After that like 5 more little girls came and colored with me and I made drawings for all of them. They loved them so much that their friends would come over and ask for one. That's when I realized that God was bringing me these children to tell them that they were beautiful and spend time with them. They all loved the concert and I felt like we were there that day for those children. Some people in the team were disappointed because a lot of people left and there wasn't as much enthusiasm as there was at the mall, but I was reminded of how God cares so much for even those little children, that they're just as important as the adults! I thought that was pretty awesome. This week we've visited an orphanage and have been preparing for our next events this Saturday and Sunday. Tomorrow we'll be doing some street evangelism. It's hard to believe that we have less than 2 weeks left here! But God still has a lot of work to do! Please pray for strength, endurance, and lots of love to share in our final weeks here. Gracias amigos!
