Agua Viva Colleague Shares at Leadership Breakfast

Shaun and Maria Sheahan worked with us at Rancho Agua Viva during the majority of our time there from 1986-1993. Our friendship has continued and our lives and families are deeply connected and our life and faith journeys have been interconnected although we now live in different countries.

For that reason it was our privilege to invite them to our most recent Leadership Breakfast and to have Maria speak to the group that gathered there. Her comments challenged us to consider what it is that motivates us to serve God and serve others.

Along with the Sheahans, three other members of the community where they now live and work came down and attended the breakfast with them: John, Bri and Laurie. Sharing friends with friends--that is one of the most rewarding parts of our work.

Celebrating Laura's Birthday

Laura has been a blessing to our family and also to all those who know her. She recently had her 4th birthday and we celebrated with a cake in our Home Church. We rejoice with every piece of encouraging news and pray for the challenges that she and her family face daily. Here is an update from her mom about her current condition:

Dear friends,

Laura was diagnosed first with Pervasive Developmental Disorder. Later, she was diagnosed profoundly autistic, and now with epilepsy. The neurologist sent her a medicine. She took it for a month, and then we went for another EEG. In this it was obvious that not only did the epilepsy continue, it got much, much worse. So, we have switched medicine. We have an appointment later this month to see how this medicine is working out. I am very worried that it could be Rett’s, a degenerative developmental disorder.

Recently my sister called me with the awesome news that she was able to get an appointment with the most important expert in epilepsy in Mexico. We are looking for an appointment, also, with a neurologist that specializes in Rett’s: the point being ruling out Rett’s.

Friends, I want to thank you so much for your help and for your prayers. Though it has been a really tough time, God has done so much for us. He has kept joy in my heart, He has made sure we have friends that support us through it all. He has also made sure that the three of us are well between us. We are very thankful.

Summer B&B Retreat

This July only six women could attend our annual Bakersfield & Baja women's retreat in the beautiful mountains of Hart Flat, east of Bakersfield...and I was the only one from Mexico. Although we missed our Mexican amigas, we had a wonderful, relaxing, refreshing and rich time together.

Lorraine was our hostess and meal planner extraordinaire (lower right). Christie (lower center) led us in Lexio Divina where we listen to God's voice through His Word. Hope (lower left) our nature expert opened up God's creation to us. Jo (upper right) taught us extensively about God's grace. Barb (upper left) was the newcomer (but long time friend of Jo and Lorraine) who trusted us with her heart and wowed us with her creativity. And the person at upper center--that's me!! I shared about Freedom in Jesus and led the group in our first retreat craft--collages that represent our lives. Every collage was meaningful and unique--just like their designers.

Next gathering--February 2011 in Ensenada

Happy Birthday to Us!

How do a group of High School friends celebrate their mutual 50th birthday? Drawing pictures, having a "whine" and cheese session, eating delicious mediterranean cuisine, writing out their reflections about "soul sisters" and finally singing together "Happy Birthday to Us!"

There were lots of laughs, a few tears and an overall spirit of gratitude and appreciation for the renewal of our friendships and for all that God and life has given us.

Happy Birthday MVHS '78 Fabulous 50 Women!

Snapshots of January

It seems that each January begins with lots of activities, ideas, projects and plans for the upcoming twelve months and this year is no exception. Last week, in fact, we had five separate group gatherings in our home for everything from a birthday breakfast, to a strategy session, to a holiday celebration for the staff of the family crisis center. It’s a privilege to have a home where we can receive people from all different sectors of our community and share with them what God has given to us, both materially and spiritually. Allow us to give you a snapshot of a few of those times with people and what they can mean for our lives and work this year.

Monday morning David hosted a breakfast for the men’s prayer group he has been meeting with once a week for the past ten years. For many years we have had the vision and desire to see our city joined in prayer for its leaders and its specific needs in events like the ones we have attended in San Diego, Bakersfield and Washington, D.C. Around August God placed it on David’s heart to begin a “prayer breakfast” with the men he is already meeting with and build from there. Now the third Monday of each month this group is gathering to share a meal and pray for the city and its leaders.

Monday evening we met with three other couples to pray and strategize about ways to impact our community. One of the ideas discussed was a retreat similar to the one we attend each December at Mount Hermon but hosted down here by the Mexican delegation. Other ideas were a community center for counseling, medical care, training courses, Bible studies, etc; a breakfast program for needy children; a toy and blanket drive; a feeding program for the homeless and other ideas. These ideas are just in the dream stage, but what we did commit to was to gather for prayer each Friday morning at 7:30 am to allow God to lead us and seek His direction for what He wants us to do.

Friday morning Karen hosted a surprise birthday breakfast for our good friend, neighbor, hair stylist and Reflejo member, Dina. The exciting part was that the guests were women who live here in our neighborhood. The first guest arrived at 9: 30 am and she, along with two others, didn’t leave until 2:30 pm! Several mentioned that they would like to do it again. Perhaps this is something that could grow into a monthly gathering, or….

These are just a few of the plans that have us excited about what God may have for us during these next months. In addition we continue with our counseling several days a week, monthly times of gathering with Reflejo (our faith community), discipling and team building times, two home Bible studies, home church, David’s times with the men from the gym, a new monthly breakfast gathering in conjunction with another local ministry, two women’s retreat, a men’s retreat, at least two work weekends with Casa Esperanza (a woman’s shelter), raising our girls and being involved in their lives and activities and all the administrative tasks that support the infrastructure of this work.

What snapshots do you have of the first four weeks of this new year and decade? What are you excited about for the months to come? Let's work hard and trust even harder that God's dreams for us are even bigger than our own.

A Breakfast at City Hall

History was made today in our city!

Public servants representing the three levels of government met over breakfast at City Hall with leaders from the professional as well as the religious community. David attended the event accompanied by two friends he had invited--Hector Amador, a former school principal who currently holds a position with the government in the area of Physical Education and Marisela Luna, former first lady of Ensenada, former City Councilwoman and the former Director of Social Development.

Around 40 people attended this fourth Leaders' Breakfast organized by our friends at Ensenada Outreach Center (EOC) and the first to be held at City Hall. Co-hosted by a City Councilman and his assistant and members of the EOC team, the spirit of the gathering was one of relationships, friendship, unity and mutual support. Padre Miguel, a priest from a local church, read from the book of Deuteronomy and said the blessing for the food. The closing prayer was offered by Pastor Abraham, who serves with EOC as a liaison to the local churches and the Ensenada community.

Lucy Meza, a partner with us in ministry and Administrative Coordinator for EOC, wonderfully shared the vision for future breakfasts reflecting on her experience of attending the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, D.C. two years ago.

Those of us who have been praying for years for a Prayer Breakfast for our city, state and country view this gathering today as pivotal and monumental. Please join us in praying for the monthly Leaders' Breakfasts that are now being held the first Thursday of each month at the EOC facilities. Please pray as well that if this is God's timing and plan, that out of these relationships and our times together would come the seeds for future gatherings focused on the person of Jesus and on prayer for our communities.

A Home for Hope

Last weekend was significant for Ensenada and its community, but not for the reason many would assume. Yes, the much acclaimed and world renowned Baja 1000 Off Road race ran over the same time period and was followed by thousands. But the event we took part in was more low key, but of eternal significance.

In August we began working with two other faith communities to spend a weekend serving at a home for abused women and their children. Plans were made, preparations arranged and much prayer and anticipation preceded the arrival of over 40 people from the U.S., as well as some families from our Reflejo community here in Ensenada, who loved and served those who live at La Casa de Esperanza—the House of Hope.

During the two days of work a chicken coop was repaired, painted (fluorescent lime green!!) and equipped to provide a means of food and income to the Home. Also, a building that had partially burned was repaired and stuccoed, a new boy’s bathroom was tiled, vehicles and bikes repaired, a library arranged and organized, haircuts given, and close to 400 tamales made for a shared dinner. But even beyond the projects, as helpful as they were, the true ministry took place as we got to know the women, their families, their stories and those who serve there full time.

Our family participated alongside the others and was privileged to be a part of the time at Casa Esperanza. Some of the highlights for me were seeing our oldest cuddling babies in the nursery most of the morning and serving as a translator anytime someone wanted to communicate but couldn’t. She also made some friends with young people her age from the group and was sad to see them go. (She has already made them her friends on Facebook however!) Our youngest was the soccer girl. She jumped right in with the older boys from both sides of the border and held her own. David was given money by the group to buy bicycles for the kids and he and our friend Danny scoured the second hand shops and found nine fantastic bikes and presented them to the director. He also spent time talking with the women and the directors to determine more ways that we can serve on a long term basis. I served as a translator and was able to facilitate the building of relationships between the women from both sides of the border.

Please pray for these women who come from such tragic and broken backgrounds. Their greatest need is to know Jesus and receive His love and healing, and many of them already do. But they also need to have tools and training to begin a new life. Many of them are in school to finish their primary or secondary degrees. Others are studying a technical career. But more than that, they need to learn to be loving and caring parents, something most of them never experienced themselves.

Women's Retreat Life Changing

During the weekend of July 9-11 women from Bakersfield and Ensenada (along with two from Chula Vista and one from Tijuana) met once again for the annual B&B Retreat. This time the talks were titled the "Spirit of Fear" and "Faith the Antidote to Fear" taken from 2 Timothy 1:7.

We learned that most of the emotions we struggle with like worry, concern, doubt and the like, come directly from the spirit of fear and that does not come from God. We also learned that faith comes from God, we can ask for more of it and just a little bit of it can move mountains.

As we met in small groups the last evening, we shared where fear most manifests itself in each of our lives and prayed for one another. There were some powerful breakthroughs as we began to identify the root of fear in areas of our lives and realized that God can help us to overcome them and be free.

We are already looking forward to our next retreat February 2010 in Ensenada!

Ensenada Women do B&B in Bakersfield

Bed and Breakfast, Babes and Broads, Baja and Bakersfield, have all been possible translations of the acronym B&B used to refer to an annual women's retreat. But whatever you call it the 4th annual gathering of women from Bakersfield, Santa Barbara and Ensenada was an incredible time of fellowship, sharing and teaching focused on friendship...friendship with God, friendship with ourselves and friendship with one another.

Eight women from Ensenada braved the endless miles and the intense heat leaving behind families, jobs and other responsibilities to join with our friends for spiritual rest and refreshment. We were not disappointed. From the first night God spoke to us directly from His Word in Jeremiah chapter 31. Then the next two days our dear friend and spiritual mentor, Jo, not only led us in a study focusing on the theme, but also was instrumental in bringing times of healing through counsel and prayer.

The location for the retreat is in itself a gift and a blessing. Being in the home of our dear friends and partners, Rick and Lorraine, is in physically, emotionally and spiritually refreshing. Two log homes, nestled along a stream and surrounded by lush vegetation provides an atomosphere of peace and tranquility. The first afternoon we even spotted deer! It also helps that the higher elevation and mountainous surroundings represent lower temperatures than the valley a few miles below!

Whether we take a hike around the area, share a meal together, rest in the natural surroundings, join together for times of singing, sharing and teaching, the annual B & B retreat is a time of refreshment for body, soul and spirit.

Washington DC Prayer Breakfast

The National Prayer Breakfast in DC is unlike any event you can imagine. Sponsored by the U.S. Congress, for the past 57 years thousands of people gather the first Thursday in February to pray for the President and all those in government as well as for global issues.

It should really be called the International Prayer Breakfast as representatives of many nations attend each year as invited guests. Besides the "main event" the activities of the week include meals with special speakers and highlighting ordinary people doing extraordinary things through God's guidance and power.

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For example, we heard from a young couple who as newlyweds started a business/ministry to make small business loans to underprivileged individuals in impoverished countries. Now they are handling millions of dollars in loans over the internet each year with a 98% repayment rate!

Then there were two inner city, black women who are spearheading a ministry focused on promoting reconciliation. That would just be a great vision except that the son of one of these women murdered the son of the other. Reconciliation is not just theory to these brave activists.

Likewise, following decades of war and strife, a Catholic and a Protestant from Ireland took the stage and were interviewed by two Senators, one Catholic and the other Protestant. God is doing miracles in that country because of the prayers of many and because a few are determined to stand up and resist prejudice and discrimination in the name of religion.

So what were two couples from little Ensenada, Mexico doing in the capital of our neighbor nation as delegates of this unprecendented event? First of all learning and listening to what our God is doing around the world. Secondly uniting in a vision for our own city, state and country and its leaders that they would know Jesus and be challenged to govern following God's principles. And finally meeting others from many places we may never visit in this life who have this same heart for the places they came from.

We truly believe that one day we will send out invitations to the Ensenada Prayer Breakfast. Now that is something worth praying about!

Cross Cultural Fiesta

Two wild and crazy groups of people joined together to eat tacos and show Christ's love to families and the communities of Ensenada and Tijuana.

Individuals and families from a church in Redding, CA (guided by our friends Shaun and Maria Sheahan and family) invested a week of their lives to shower the love of Jesus on a public school in a forgotten part of Ensenada, a boys' home in Tijuana and the home of a single mom from Ensenada. They did repairs, played with kids, built a "snack shack" at the school and made a difference in people's lives through their generosity and kindness.

In our newly rented home, we found that our patio can hold 60+ people eating tacos and mexican sweet bread and hot chocolate. The group from Redding joined with our Reflejo community to share the love and faith in Jesus that we all share. The principal of the rural school and his family also joined us. As you can see, there are no language or cultural barriers when it comes to fiestas!

Men's Camping Trip

At La Calavera Beach (south of Ensenada) relaxing is the obvious thing to do. So that's what David, Danny and Andrew did on the annual men's camping trip--getting away from it all, to be together and enjoy this beautiful place.

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