A little girl with the courage of a giant..........

Imagine being a 10 yr old girl or boy and the sun is out all you want to do is play outside with your friends or at school and have fun running around, playing games, hide a seek, tag and all other fun that you have as a kid, well imagine if you cant do that, imagine if the sun was your worse enemy, imagine, if your body burnt so bad that you were in pain all the time, well this is the life of a little girl of 10 yrs who I got to meet along with others of our team and this has been her reality............

But with God he has the power to change our realities and in this case I wanna tell you how.........

Well through our ministry here called Homes of Hope, Mariana's family were selected to have a house built for them, a team from the states came down that weekend to build a house for the family, little did they know that they would end up investing in a little girls future.....

The new house was built by the team and the family like to help too as this is a life changing event for them. Anyway they met Mariana and she is allergic to the sun, only on in a million people have this problem, They asked about treatment and her mum said basically the Dr's have said that there is nothing they can do for her and that she may die because she hasn't had the right care from the beginning her face has become cancerous and she may die.

With this one of our staff at the base was so stirred by this little girl that she researched and went to special hospitals to ask about it and didn't let this rest, the building team too were keen to support Mariana to get treatment so that she could have a life of some sort.

Mariana has not been at school because her face has been so painful and bad that school is very hard for her, people will make fun of her and she has to try and not be in the sun, which is hard here in Mexico and she didn't have the right protection to wear either, also in the Colonia's (villages in the hills in Tijuana) where she lives it is very dusty and as she was living in a very small little shack with no clean sterile water this has been very difficult.

Seeing the seals!! 

Well the team paid for Mariana, mum and her little baby sister to get passports, to get an appointment in San Diego with a specialist Dr and paperwork to grant them across the boarder as they don't have Visa's for the states. Dr's said that they could perform surgery on her face and scrape off the infections and the cancerous parts and graph skin from her arm over her face, once this is to be done then the family would be given the right head wear for her to protect her from the sun, they will be able to see if the cancerous cells have gone and then as long as she looked after herself how the Dr's in San Diego told her too then she will be able to go to school and have friends and life normally.

One day after this me and my friend were able to go to San Diego and meet Mariana
and her family as they had been in a hotel for two days waiting for surgery, so we got to take them out to the coast for the day and see the seals and have ice cream and have a fun day, wow this day was so special for for all of us, for me i got to meet a very courageous little girl we had so much fun and enjoyed seeing the seals and laughing at the posh dogs in the streets, She was so full of confidence and identity i was so challenged by her courage and bravery for life, she loves to be out and see things and do things, she is very social little girl. Being in the states was a real adventure for them all, they had asked if there would be hot water in the hotel for a shower and electricity and toilet paper for them.......

Well the next day Mariana started the first stage of her surgery on her face and they covered 3 areas of her face with new skin, this was a very painful process for her and her mother who was so nervous for her daughter, it was like finally a dream coming true that there maybe hope of a future for her little girl, which they had never talked of and had lived enjoying each day together as they had it. But equally a very scary day for her seeing her little girl under surgery. The recovery days were very painful for her and at one point the Dr's were very unsure of what to do with all the bleeding but they sorted it and she has been allowed to come back to Mexico and she is very happy to see her dad.

She still has 2 or 3 more stages of surgery to go.....................

This is one amazing life that i was and am so blessed to be apart of, please be praying for her future surgeries and that the cancer goes and isn't something that is scaring the family, pray that she can continue being so courageous and strong, Pray blessings on the house build team who are paying for all her medical costs to make this happen and for our team here to be able to support this beautiful family through this whole process....

Last time one of our staff was with the family, the mum said that maybe one day her little girl will get married and have a family, this was the first time that we have heard mum speak of any future for her little girl.....
This is a miracle happening...............

Happy after ice cream......

Shaking things up................

So sometimes when things are shaken up we are falsed to make a change, we are made to look at what we can do and what choices we can make instead of relying on what is our situation and what is familiar.........

God continues to restore....

So a testimony of this, I don't know if you remember the lady who lived in the park with her little tiny baby, well we met her a few weeks ago in the street and she has now moved into a tiny little Flat/Apartment with her baby, it is very basic but it is not on the streets!! This was so good to see her and the little one looking better and knowing they are a bit safer each night, praise God!!

So we are praying about Zona Norte as you know that the park where we used to meet all the Men, Women and Kids has been cleaned up and now there are police there and none of the people can be there, so some went in a bus to Tecate which is a neighboring city, to a house where they can get some help, we think and hope, this is what we have been told.

Others have been pushed out of this area and have had no choice but to live in the canal which is massive and a sewage canal from Tijuana, and many people are living there on rubbish piles, they live, sleep and do everything there, they wash in the sewage water and learn how to survive.........

Ministering on the edge of the canal

We are seeing how we can minister in the Canal area and maybe we will see less people than before but we are hoping to start up a discipleship group for those who are seeking God more too, later in the week!!

It is so good to be ministering along the top of the canal, but it is a different world, so we need your prayers of protection, God is moving though and it is exciting to see what is next.........

People living on rubbish piles 

Welcome to the best Dad I know

This is my second week back in Bible school and it has been a week that has touched my heart so much that I am broken again in my heart for the Love that God has for me and for each one of us, it has humbled my heart and brought tears of thankfulness, let me tell you.....................

Can you imagine you are a father, you love your child so so much with all your heart, you want the best for him or her, you want to show them everything you made for them; you want to share all the fun things in life with them, you want to see there faces when they smile and you want to be the one that wraps them in your arms when they are hurting or are sad or sick, you tell them off when they are naughty because you love them and you want them to be the best person they can be. Well this is how God has been and is with us every day!!

Studying through the Old Testament with every book I see God's passionate pursuit for his peoples hearts he is running after them, they need water, he gives it, they need food, he gives it, they face impossible situations and God shows them a away through it. He loves and loves and loves on them all the time even though they are sinning and turning their backs on Him and worshiping other gods and treating others unfairly.

"He will tend His flocks like a shepherd: 

he will gather the lambs in his arms; he will carry them in His bosom, 

and gently lead those that are with young" 

Isaiah 40 v 11

In Isaiah this week we are seeing how God's heart was so broken over the pain of his people not following Him. We see that God has so much love for them that he restores them, he rebuilds what is ruined and he restores their hearts, he brings them out of Exile....

 "I have blotted out your transgressions like a cloud,

 and your sins like a mist, returned to me for I have redeemed you" 

Isaiah 44 v 22

We read about so many prophecies about,...JESUS coming, this is how much God loves His people even after they for years have turned their back again and again to Him, He still loves them with His whole heart and wants to give them something so precious to Him.

So seeing these prophecies in Isaiah about Jesus coming and how he is sent to earth to show us how to live with each other, how to love each other and to be kind to those around us and afar, to be generous, to share, to be gracious, to have mercy and to walk how Jesus did........... He never judged, he never thought he was better than anyone else, he had a humble heart he was selfless, he was someone who loved and loved those that no one else wanted to love!!

For me this has shown me even more how God Loves us so much, that he wants us to live our lives with him, it made me be so thankful of God's heart for never giving up on me, even when I have turned my back on Him, even when I have done things that I know have hurt God and gone against his will, he has never left me or ever turned against me, he has taken me back with open arms and loved me unconditionally!!


That's the Dad I want you all to know, like I am blessed to know............

A new year is coming.............

I cant believe the year that I have had, started off living back at home with the parents which I hadn't done for 11 years, and then in March I moved back out to Tijuana Mexico!!

In the last 9 months I have seen God's power and known Him in a deeper way than ever before, I have seen more of his character, more of how it is all about Him and not me, that He is doing so much more than I could ever for the people around me and our team!! I have seen finances come in for my school fees, I needed $1,700 for each term/semester and I am able to pay for two of the three terms/semesters, which is a massive testimony of people's generosity and Gods provision for this situation.

Firstly I was staffing for the first 5 months the Diciplship Training School where we had 17 students from about 5 different nations, we saw each student grow, and discover more of God and who each of us are in God. We then lead an outreach for 2 of those months to Mexico City for 2 weeks and then 6 weeks in Rio De Janiero Brazil!!

In these two months we saw people knees get healed and hearts healed from hurt and disappointment, we were able to serve the community with the local churches and see God move and encourage people in their walk with Him. We did Kids clubs too!! Then in Brazil we ran English and Spanish lessons, kids clubs and church services, dramas and songs in school, and just to serve and love the people we met.

This is a time that was amazing for all of us in so many ways we learned so much, were humbled by God providing miracles and learning more of how He cares for us daily.

We then came back to Tijuana and the DTS finished, some students coming back to the base to staff and others leaving for their home towns and carry Jesus with them to spread what they learnt!!!

I then have completed the first 3 months of the Chronological School of Biblical Studies, its hard work but i love it, It has truely changed my world and my understanding of the Bible and God and his character!!

In 3 Days time i will be returning to Tijuana and will be straight back into the next 3 months of Bible School!! I am looking forward to it so much!!

I have had such a precious, blessed time since i have been home in England seeing all my friends and family. I have laughed so much that my eyes are sore from crying laughing, its been nice having Summer fruits squash again haa ha ha and spending time with everyone. I have had such fun with Lilly and Benny and seeing how they have grown so much and are so so  much fun!! It will be hard to leave but i know i am going back to my second home too and look forward to seeing friends there again!!

I want to say a massive thank you to all of you who have been reading, following, praying and supporting me in friendship and finances throughout this year, i would not have been able to do this without you all, so thank you for being a part of this vision God has called me too and i pray massive blessings on you all and massive hugs from me and my heart if full of gratitude to you all!!

Thanks Giving........................

Yesterday was one of my best days........

We got to do a thanks giving meal for 600 women, men and children who live in the streets in the Zona Norte Area in Tijuana. This is where they have been deported from the states and brought over the border with no way of getting home.

Stepping into the park was amazing, there was such a buzz, conversations, hugs, laughter, worship and love everywhere I looked!! This was such a special thing for everyone. It was a time to really celebrate their lives, and treasure them with the love that they deserve from God and us. It was a time to be family with them, as many peoples family, wives and children are in the states or different parts of Mexico. One man was telling me that he was trying to get 50pesos (40p, 25c) so he could get a ticket home to be with his wife and 2 children. He was trying to sell two little necklaces, but he has been there for months.

Ma y Baby

One lady who we know from week to week was enjoying the day yesterday. She was sharing her little 2 month baby with us and liking that we were holding the baby and making a fuss of him. She has been living in Zona Norte for a long time and she had the baby there. For me, I am still not understanding how this is possible for the baby to be well. I know God must have his hand of protection over both mum and baby, as it is a very dangerous place to be. Please continue to pray for this little family, that she will be able to find somewhere stable for her and the little babe soon.

This day was amazing,especially as this week in school we have been learning about the book of Job, which is a book about a man that was a God fearing man, who had everything. Satan took all Job had away: family, livestock and livelihood. God knew that Job loved him and knew he would stand true to Him. God blessed him abundantly for the later years of his life. In studying this book taught me so much more about how to be grateful for all I have and not to take that for granted, but also to know the immense power of God and that if I had nothing would God be enough for me? This was such a point for me to think and consider, is God really enough for me? If all else was gone, would I have complete faith and trust in him and him alone?!

Going to Zona Norte and seeing that these people have nothing around them but they are longing after God was a real life example and challenge for me in my faith and in my relationship with God!!  

Please take a few mins to have a look at our day
in Zona Norte!!! I like the share the fun with you all!!

Redemption.............................

This week in our community meeting we had the chance to listen to this Dan Brauman who was arrested in Iran for being a missionary and potentially being a spy!!

Things were desperate and he clung to who God was and His character as that was all that made sense to him in that time.

I sat listening, glued to what he was saying and seeing how He has such incredible faith in God in that time of hopelessness but he still offered Jesus' love to his Interrogator. The man that beat him daily.

This is the power and strength of God!!

Can you ever imagine.................................................

Ideally i would love to be speaking this to you so that you can close your eyes and imagine what you would be feeling and experiencing when i tell you this....................................

Can you imagine being pulled over by the Police one day and being asked for your paperwork, your licence, and you don't have it right so for us we would have a couple of weeks to take this to the Police Station, well not in the states. So they arrest you, put you in a cell, you don't get the chance to call home or anything, you don't have anything on you and you are then taken into a bus and you are driven to the Border of Mexico, Tijuana. This country is new to you, you have been brought up in the states all your life, you don't speak the language, know the culture and you have no phone, no identification, no money on you nothing and you are dropped the other side of the border where life is so very different to what you can imagine.

Maybe you can see the states through the border fence but you are a million years away from home, family, mum, dad, sons, daughters, husband, wife....................

The Border , San Diego is through the fence

Unlike home there is no homeless shelters, no food banks, no day center, no benefit help, just the concrete floor to sleep on and about 500 other men and women who have had the same experience who are looking for survival. Who are keeping a low profile so they don't get taken into the trafficking trade for sex or drugs.

Can you imagine this??!!

Zona Norte

Can you imagine not talking to family, not knowing when or if you will see your kids, spouse, parents, brothers, sisters again.....................

I cant imagine this, i cant imagine sleeping at night on the streets being scared, will you be jumped, mugged, robbed, raped, attacked.

This is miles from what you have been living in your house, working your job and maybe one day you ran a red light or were speeding................................

This is what i was asked to Imagine this morning and God really touched my heart, i felt His heart breaking for the people down in Zona Norte, Tijuana. Where hope seems non existent, happiness seems to be lost and real love is rare.

 Old lady works to get money as people wait in the Border Line!

Well this is where we are called too and this is where God longs us to be, this is where my heart longs to be, to love the way God loved us and to bring hope and family to these precious people who made a mistake, haven't we all done that one time or another...........

"The spirit of the lord God is upon me because he has appointed me to preach Good News to the poor, bind up the brokenhearted and proclaim freedom to the captives..... Isaiah 61 v 1-2