Grace like Rain

6 weeks later,
okay, i know, i owe each and everyone one of you the biggest apology for not writing.
and really, i dont have much of an excuse.
so im just going to say, im sorry.
Please forgive me,
Moving on.
Haiti
Amazing
Haiti is such an incredible place.
Always full of suprize and adventure.
Our ministry in haiti has been wonderful.
We have had the opportunity to work, worship, pray, interceed, share with amazing haitian people.
The country is hurting, the people are hurting.
Our DTS outreach team was assigned to a specific tent city here in Port Au Prince (PAP)
We were resposible for the ministry in that tent city, so each day we would head out!
It has been an amazing experience overall, I have really been able to see God in the people here, and i believe that God wants to transform this nation.

This past week I had the opportunity to visit the base in St. Marc while they hosted the US Air Force Medical team. In 10 days they saw 5500 people.
The most common problems amoung child and teenagers was scavies and malnutrition.
It breaks my heart.
Children are dying in this country because they don't have food.
I cant even imagine how their parents feel, not able to provide the basics for their children.
Thankfully our heavenly father is perfect, and when we open our hearts, his grace is upon us, and will be our eternal provider.
Have you thanked God recently for the food you eat? the clean water you drink? the shoes on your feet? The roof over your head?

God is Love.

mexico city

so im going to write this fast, because internet doesnt stay around alot,
I just wanted to update on my thoughts of mexico now that i have had time to digest and process.

The first day of outreach began on a tuesday at 6pm in the bus station in Mazatlan, Mexico.
15 hours later we arrived in Mexico City, ready to begin.
We waited in the bus station for our contacts to arrive, hoping their vehicle would be large enough to accomodate 9 women and all their baggage for 2 months.
3 wonderful people greeted us after about 1/2 hour of waiting, and we were ready to go.
Bags on our backs, bags in our hands, bags everywhere.
We walked out to the road, and realized we are headed for the transit system.
We struggled for 4 hours with TONS of luggage, in the busiest most complex transit system I have ever seen. What a battle.
4 hours later, we were home.

This was hugely symbolic of our time in D.F.
We were ready to fight for the two weeks we would be in Mexico city.

God really worked my heart while I was in Mexico city.
And I learned alot about me, God, ministry, and Mexico

If you ever have the opportunity, I highly reccomend you make a trip there.

That is all.

P.S.

IM IN HAITI! (blog comming soon)

bitter sweet

today is an epic day.
today is our last day in DF (mexico city)
tomorrow morning, bright and early we will leave the amazing church we have called home and set out on a new adventure.
Here our days were pretty cool, usually started with some prayer, worship or intecession, then headed out to do some evangelism or something of that sort. In the afternoons and evening we would work with youth groups or different churches all around xochimilco. I have met some of the most wonderful amazing people here, and will really miss them.
Mexico has stolen a part of my heart so it is hard to leave, but knowing we will be going to Haiti, is totally exciting.
I have come to love the mexican culture. Mexicans are some of the most warm, and hospitible people I have ever .. ever met. Like to an extreme.
Every time you greet someone, you greet them with a friendly kiss on the cheek, and everytime you leave, you do it again. I should probly bring this trend to canada.. watch out.. i will get you
mwahahah

moving on..

tomorrow morning we will leave for the wonderful church we have called home before 5am,
our flight leave mexico city at 9am and heads to costa rica, with a hopefully wonderful 4 hour layover. our next flight leaves and arrives in dominican republic at 11.30pm
the base there will pick us up and shuttle us to their base for a wonderful nights sleep.
in the morning, we get right back to it, catching a bus to take us right to port au prince, haiti.

Please be praying for our team as we travel!

i will try to update as much as possible. I loveyou guys

excitment

so, here it is.. the long awaited update

It is saturday afternoon of my last weekend in Mazatlan Mexico.
Just hanging out at a sweet little coffee shop right near the beach called Looney Bean
thought i would jump on here and give y'all a quick update

Tuesday is the day. We leave 'home' and head for Mexico city.
The bus trip is going to be pretty wild. I hear it is something like 13 hours.
Should be awesome. We will be working in Mexico City for the next two weeks with Mega Cities.
After doing a bunch of ministry there we are gunna goto the airport and say good bye to the comforts we know and love, like.. Tacos, beds, showers, food.
You know.. all the good stuff

We will arrive in the dominican and travel by bus to Port Au Prince Haiti. Our new home for the next 6 weeks. We will live in tents, and have bucket showers. All the things an average person would think they have the 'right' to, we have given up. All for Jesus.

Well thats all i have time for.
Please continue to pray for my team and I as we embark on this amazing journey.
Im really hoping to post another couple blogs in the next few days..
just know i love you, and thank you soo much for your support.

blessings

freeedom

WARNING...as always.. not edited, or proof read.. but .. is with love, from the heart!


so you may, or may not have noticed that i havent posted a blog lately.
let me start by saying, I am sorry.
I am sorry for not staying in contact with all you wonderful peoples.
This past week our topic in class was 'identity and freedom in Christ'
I have been battling some lies in my life, and i really believe that I am free from them!
Today our whole dts got together, confessed, and prayed for one another regarding the lies we believe in our lives.
the lies that controlled my life,
lies of worthlessness, rejection, and self hatred.
We rejected the lies and brought in the truth about who we are, and who God created us to be.
I mean this doesnt mean i will never have a 'F@t' day again.. but it means that i finally have a good understanding of who I am.
So yea... woooo. PRAISE!

This weekend is going to be super busy!
We have been planning and are hosting a camp for the local wonderful teenagers, super exciting!
We are going to go surfing with them, play paintball with them .. all with a little friendly competition. Very Exciting! Im soo super excited about it.

Outreach is getting closer and closer, we only have two more weeks of classes.. then we all pile on a bus to Mexico city! Exciting!

hahahaha, for those of you that didnt see it on my facebook, i have a super funny story..
So when i first got here, i took my laundry to the laundry place to have it done.. cost about 10 dollars CND. Not too bad.
then we started getting into classes, learning to hear Gods voice and such.. and God asked me to give away the money i had budgeted for laundry. WHAT_!_ i am not going to wear gross dirty clothes. but i was obedient, and gave away my money.
so.. i had to learn to handwash my clothes.
At this point i was only here for like 2 weeks, i had no spanish skills, at all.
i went to the store, bought some soap, and for 2 months handwashed my clothes.

a few nights ago, talking with M (in spanish) i discover, i did not buy soap, i bought fabric softener. It even says on the bottle 'despuis la laver' or something like that .. which is AFTER WASH BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
so.. i havent actually had clean clothes in two months..
dont worry. i took 15 pesos (like a dollar something CND) and bought me some real laundry soap.


PRAISE REPORT!
our team has decided to bake and sell cookies to try to raise money for HAITI,
we took 50 brownies out last friday night to a very popular weekend hangout .. and we sold ALL of them! We anticipated about 500 pesos to come from the night, we came home with over 1400 pesos!
Praise JESUS!


any who.. i better get going.. I have a meeting in a few momentssss!


PRAYER REQUESTS!
our team still needs a significant amount of money to go on outreach, please pray for the release of these finances!
and .. prayerfully consider giving!!!!

thank you all soooo much for your support.
means soo much to me.

Got haiti on the heart < 3

not edited, or proof read.. enjoyyyyyyy

So, as i am sure you are well aware. Haiti is calling my name.

Well no, thats an understatement. God is calling me to Haiti.

My heart breaks for the Haitian people.

In the same breath, I am so excited for them.

The entire nation is hurting, and broken, and turning their eyes to God.

What an opportunity!

My team has the opportunity to share the gospel with these people.

To show them real LOVE.

My passion and hope for this outreach is to help physically.

There is obviously a significant amount of need in Haiti, and I am coming ready to work.

I wish I could truly show you how totally excited I am for this trip. For the opportunity to serve in a place that is truly in need.

Now I know what you are all thinking, wow christie, how can i help?!?!

Thats a great question!

I need prayer support!

Pray for my team

- unity - health - protection - energy - finances - language barrier - provision -

pray for me personally

pray that i will continue to seek God and His plan for my life.

pray that i will take advantage of EVERY single opportunity to serve Him, and be a shinning light to the world.

support me financially

I need to raise another $3,000 in the next few weeks, and I can't do it without your support.

If you feel called to support me you can donate online at;

www.londonaccess.ca/ywam/christie.htm

or you can send a chq/money order to my Dad

1523 Jalna Blvd

London, On

N6E3C5

your gift will go directly toward my outreach fees which cover such things as;

my airfare

the purchase of a tent I will call home for my time in Haiti

food - rice and beans baby!

transportation within haiti

and more..

thank you for following my blog.

I love you dearly.

xox

radical obedience

-disclaimer -

i am super tired, and burnt out, and using a spañish keyboard ha ha ha

please use caution

i can not be held responsible for the spelling and grammar of this blog

thank you :)






so this past week was carnaval
the 3rd largest carnaval to be more exact


we spent a week preparing for this massive party.


YWAM MAZ plays an important role along side the local churches here
we run 5 different ministries during that time


Remnant Skate - bringing local skater kids out and gives us an opportunity to love on them and share the gospel


Beauty Salon- a place of calm and peace, where women (and men) can come get a mani/pedi or a new hair cut .. also another opportunity for us to share with them :)


Free Cafe - with all the alcohol around this city, we give people an opportunity to enjoy a free cup of Java, and a great convo with US!


Evangelism - we send a team out on to the streets, and into the parties to save peoples souls!


WISE - worship, intercession, spiritual warfare, evangelism,
this team just does whatever, they pray alot and are lead by the Holy Spirit


before carnaval we were asked to pray about which ministry God wanted us to be involved with.. for me the answer seemed obvious, i LOVE TO SERVE, so either the salon or the cafe,


so i prayed about it and God was like evangelism,
ha ha ha.. no way.. the signals must have been crossed somewhere because I am not an evangelist!
so back into prayer.. and God told me evangelism again.
so i kind of was like no God, i dont want to, but God was sure so i joined evangelism


the week of preparation was cool, we got to pray alot, and seek God for direction.
The whole time i was praying for God to break down the language barrier, because I don't speak spanish, and im living in mexico!


God clearly spoke to our team about making signs to draw peoples attention and get them to ask us questions


So i made a sign that said 'abrazos gratis/ free hugs'

back to the language barrier
-ask and you shall receive - right?
we are the first people to ever do anything like this.
AMAZING
the free hugs sign was amazing. people would just walk right up to me and give me a big HUG!
it then gave the spanish speaker i was working with an opportunity to start talking to them and translate for me, about carnval and JESUS!
we saw many people come to Christ, and were able to pray over many many more as well.
Brilliant


Our God is amazing, such a wonderful and faithful provider <3

There is A LOT more i could say about how God moved during carnval, but .. i don't have enough time, or enough internet space to do so.

I really just want to take a second here to say thank you.
Thank you to each and every person that has supported me in various different ways
your investment, and faith in me has changed my life forever.

when i hit the streets to share to gospel, or spend time loving on children, or when God uses me to speak to people, find comfort in knowing that a part of you is with me. Thank you for your support.

im sorry my blog isnt as up to date as i'd like it to be, but during carnval it was mayhem around here, consistantly busy.

i have two really huge prayer requests;
a) this week we are learning about Spiritual Warfare, today was only the first day and i feel attacked in every area of my life .. please when you think of me.. be praying for me
b) pray for direction, i need to raise another $3,000 US in the next month, I know God will provide for me, so im just really seeking his guidance,
what to do, who to ask, where to look

again, thank you all so much.
and sorry for the spelling and such.. but hey. you saw the disclaimer :P


until next time, be blessed, and thanks for reading.

i love you.

p.s. HAITI!!!!
SO EXCITEDDDD

love you.

the calm before the storm?

this last week was pretty chill.

nothing major to report. had a bit of an issue with my tummy, praise God we got that dealt with :)

OH! we have officially officially got our outreach destination.

HAITI!!!

i am so thankful, joyful, and pumped to be on this adventure.

everytime i hear a news report or hear of something haiti, my heart breaks for the entire nation.

we had the opportunity to sit in on a video conference with YWAM Haiti, this week,

and it sure did add fuel to the fire in my heart, i suspect it will be a very difficult outreach, which makes it that much more exciting.

prayer requests;

strength and patience - living with 10 women is forcing me to grow. alot.

open heart - i want to remain open to everything God has for me - sometimes its a little difficult

i know its a quick blog, but i promise to update again soon

love you!

break through and reach out

HELLLOOOOOO WORLD!

So, finally an update.

This whole not having a computer thing.. is kinda intense. I have coordinate writing blogs around when i can use other peoples computers and such. It kinda tough.

So the moment you have all been waiting for ... where is christie going on outreach?

Last week at our weekly meeting they disclosed our two outreach locations.

Shanghai, China

Mexico City, Mexico

We had a week to spend praying about it and listening to where God is calling us (since last weeks topic was 'Hearing the voice of God')

But for like 2 or 3 days i still had no idea where i was supposed to go, did i come to the right DTS? I dont really have a passion or love for either of these lovely cities.. what do i do?

Moving on.. Last week (as i am sure you are aware) an earthquake struck Haiti, HARD.

So our intercession was spent praying hard for the people and the relief.

But my heart was hurting for them hardcore.

God totally put it on my heart to be in Haiti helping. (of corse right?)

So a friend and I pulled a leader aside, and she already knew exactly what we were going to say, it was on their hearts too!

Our dts leadership team got together, and prayed about it, they felt we are supposed to go to haiti too! WHAT?!

So they submitted it to the base directors to pray about it, and give us a final yes or no.

Yesterday.. during our weekly meeting we found out we got the greeeen light!

We are going to haiti to pour out lots of LOVE!

So, yea, tomorrow we make final decisions on where we are going (our DTS splits up into different teams, to different locations)

Please keep us in your prayers!

What else is new?

Saturday we went out to the colonial, and served breakfast to the little childrens, and played some stellar soccer, I scored three goals. Yea, im planning on going pro next season.

Then sunday was spent at the beach. word.

This week B is speaking to us about 'the father heart of God'

What an insane week.

Each day i discover something new about myself.

this week I have had two major breakthroughs,

my heart is really healing and getting in the right place to be able to serve with my whole heart, and for the right reasons. SO RAD!

please keep me in your prayers!

S needs her computer, so i have to go.

But i hope you are all keeping super well.

you're all loved.

miss you.

xox

danger.. jelly fish

so today was a super awesome day!

Beach Day!

My days start at 6am when S wakes me up for a run.

We hit the pavement by 6.15 and off we go.

We run down the malecon - or boardwalk to a cute little place called the flag pole, we do stretches and work out a bit then run back. We get back just before 7 - BREAKFAST!

WoNdErFuL

I love breakfast. Especially after a day of fasting. <3

We get ready for the day and usually have class but today was a little bit different we all packed into the vans and went to the beach.

I was talking to people about my fear of jelly fish - everyone thinks its irrational but such is life.

We drive for about 20 min down the malecon, through the golden zone (the tourist area) out to an amazing beach known as cerritos

Walk down the path, down the stairs and our feet hit the sand!

HELLLLO BEACH!

Being the wonderful Canadian i am .. i check out the flagpole - swimming in the ocean isnt easy, so i wanna know what im getting myself into.

A red flag was flying - meaning 'danger' the waves are big today

A white flag - jelly fish warning

my stomach dropped. I can handle being smashed around by the waves and such, but JELLY FISH?! JELLY FISH?!?!?

Not going to happen.

So we spend the first little bit walking down the beach talking about how afraid I am, and saying one last adios to M, man im going to miss her.

They finally talk me into going into the water, with the jelly fish..

Before we go in .. we pray about it.

We are all in the water, im learning how to swim with waves bigger than the CN Tower, and trying to ride the waves.. so much fun. Sometimes you get smashed around really hard, where is up.. where is down? i dont know.. all i see is water!

S and I were chilling waiting for a sweet wave to ride, and then it happend.

OW!

me- i think i just got stung.

S- are you sure

me- (curled up in a ball in the water hanging onto S) ow ow ow ow

S - are you serious

me- ow ow ow..

S - let me see

me- owww owww owwwww

S - well lets go in

me- i cant swim, pull me (dragging S under water)

S - common

me- ahhhh he just got my foot, owwwww

S - lets go in

me- im too scared

S- common

so we swim into shore

i show M, in her cute lil mexican accent she looks at the wonderful red mark on my arm and says ' i dont think you did but you should pee on it just in case'

S- i'll pee in a cup for you

me- owww

ha ha ha.. what a day.

smell that? .. yea.. thats fish..

So, here i am, in Mazatlan Mexico.

I feel like i have so much to tell you, but not enough words, or time.

Leaving Canada was an interesting feeling, I wasnt really feeling anything.

I mean it was tough to leave my family and friends behind, but I can deal with it.

I had a pretty good flight from toronto to mexico city.

The highlight of the flight was when the flight attendant asked me if i requested a 'lactose free' meal. I told her yes, so she hands me my tray that says 'lactosa free'

the smell of pancakes an syrup flooded the small plane we were in, I got excited to see what I was going to have for breakfast.

Eggs, Salsa, Homefries, all smother in cheese.

Ha, FUNNYY

My flight from mexico city to mazatlan was average. It was in the smallest passenger plane I have ever been in, I arrived at the airport slightly delayed to find C. A wonderful part of my DTS staff waiting with a sign that read 'YWAM'

We got all my stuff in the truck, and headed for the base.

We arrived at the base, I put my stuff in my room, and went downstairs to catch the end of dinner. I sat down meeting many many people, and felt totally at home.

this is where im supposed to be.

Although I was totally exhausted I went out exploring the town with some of the other students. One of which is a french canadian, who was homeless in Mazatlan for the last few weeks.

Mexican culture is amazing, taco stands everywhere you go, music, fun, and laid back all the time.

The base itself is amazing.

We are right on the beach of a bay. Our balcony over looks the ocean.

Me, being the canadian I am, I sleep on the balcony listening to the waves.

Its to 'frio' (cold) for the other students but its just perfect for me.

The base needs to raise 4 million pesos in the next 2 months for the last payment to own this piece of property, please keep our finances in your prayers!

Over the last few days of classes, I wasnt really learning anything, but then again it was just orientation. This whole week is just getting a ready and setting expectations for the next 6 months.

Yesterday G talked to us about the 'rights' we have as people that hold us back from God.

It really got me thinking about my own life, and what I have the 'right' to. I discovered so much about myself and how selfish I can be.

Yesterday really brought light to the fact that I am going to transform as a person while Im down here.

Im so stoked to be here serving God, by serving the people of Mazatlan Mexico.

Thank you for being a part of this journey.

love you all.