Hello sweet friends,
Where do we begin, outreach has been smooth so far, but not without its bumps. It has been beautiful, but oh so dirty and stinky. It’s been heartfelt and heart wrenching at times. We have moments we love it here and some when we don’t.
The base here is pretty small, and could use a make over, but it’s safe and it’s a peaceful environment to be in. The staff are amazing and the food is fantastic. \On base we get to be a part of Monday worship, Wednesday intercessory prayer, and we eat all our meals here too.
The city is large and the Dalys are not big fans of cities, but we have enjoyed a small area “Centro” that is much like what we imagined old Mexico to be like. It has a great coffee shop (The Looney Bean) owned by the YWAM leaders daughter, so that’s been a favorite. The rest of the city is loud, lots of traffic, it’s crazy driving here, it’s very dirty, and one block back from the base is pretty much third world living conditions. The beach is subpar, it’s there, and pretty to look at but you wouldn’t want to get in it.
It all comes together to make a beautiful mess when we get into our outreach opportunities! There are many opportunities to serve here, the hard part is picking which one to do each day. So far we have been a part of:
Homes of Hope- this is a neighborhood where the Homes of Hope ministry has built homes for locals. We do not help with the home building but we go in to help support the local kids programs, and evangelize in the neighborhood. The kids are so sweet, but very poor. They run around barefoot on their trash filled streets, like it’s no big deal. We have had to practice our “love wisely” knowledge we gained during lecture phase. But the kids have fun, and they asked our hosts if we could come back every week!
Co-ed rehab center - this is a drug and rehab center, at this facility we get to do worship with the patients, share a bible study and testimony, and then end with prayer and hugs!
Hospital - at the hospital we get the opportunity to set up outside in the “outdoor waiting room,” and share the love of Jesus. This looked like our kids doing our Friday family time dance songs that we did in Kona, which led into praying for lots of families, handing out water, and we got a neat opportunity to celebrate with a guy who was all alone waiting for his wife to come home after 4 months in the hospital!! He just wanted a hug, but he got a whole lot more than a hug, lots of bear hugs, prayers, stickers, and so many smiles of celebration!
Local church - We mostly help with children’s ministry, and help support local pastors with their programs and outreaches. One Sunday we handed out flyers all over town for a free dental clinic.
Campus - On campus one day a week we help with “facility maintenance”.
We have had some ups and downs in team morale and some culture shock, but for the most part we all get along great, and work well as a team. It’s been a blessing so far and we are excited to finish up our last few weeks of outreach strong in the Lord!
