A couple of weeks ago we headed down to Mexico for the day. It was the most amazing trip yet! We loaded up in 3 cars: Pastor Gabriel's van, Rene's truck, and my car. We headed down to the border and as usual, we stopped at McDonald's right before going across :) Then we began to pray as we crossed over the border. You see, we can be fined or turned around if we get caught bringing the stuff that we bring over the border. So every time as we go through, we just pray that God gets us through. This time was no different. Gabriel's van made it through... my car made it through... but Rene's truck (which was carrying most of our stuff) was stopped. They wouldn't accept money from them (which is just unheard of there!) and they turned them around and sent them home. So now we were left with only 2 vehicles and without most of the toys and clothes. We had to change our plan of attack. So we headed to a different place than we'd initially planned. When we got there, we had to decide what to do. Should we hand out what we had even though we didn't have enough for everyone? After much discussion, that's exactly what we decided to do. So we gathered everyone around and Gabriel and Javier talked to them about God. We had 3 people that accepted Jesus! Then we began handing out the toys, blankets and clothes that we had. And they just kept coming... we'd finish giving out all that we had, and close the van doors, and then we'd open the van and it was like God multiplied what we'd had because there would be more! At the end of the day, we had enough! It was so cool to see God so plainly do a miracle! It reminded me of when Jesus fed 5000 with only a loaf of bread and fish.

Just wanted to share that story and some pictures... so here are some of my favorites from the trip.

Waiting at the border for Rene (little did we know...) Javier decided to take a nap.
When we got there, the people all rushed around us.
Javier and Gabriel telling people about God.
Javier praying for the people that accepted Jesus
Me and Crystal
Me and Karla (one of the girls we see every time we go.)
Me and Mango (with a soccer ball on his head). He's another one we see each time.
Handing things out and hanging out with the people there.
Javier talking to the guys that accepted Jesus.
Me, the teens that went and a couple of our new friends.
Me and Mango again (he loves me) :)
This man had this super cool bike he'd made... and he was kind enough to let us ride it! It was pretty fun!

One of our Mexico traditions is going to eat tacos before we go home...
Javier even got a little daring and tried a pepper... I don't think he'll be doing that again anytime soon...
Here are a few more of my favorites from the trip...

...my teens are amazing. They're hilarious, and they're thoughtful and they touch my heart.

A few days ago, I was driving with a couple of teens and we'd just picked up food. I looked over in the passenger seat and the teen that was sitting there had his hand out the window and a french fry in it. I didn't think much of it. I kept driving. Then I saw him reach in the bag and take out another one. I looked over and again he had his hand out the window with the fry in it. I asked him if he was throwing fries out the window. He replied, "No, they're hot. I'm just airing them out." And then he popped the fry in his mouth. :)

Sometimes my teens do things that I don't think they even realize that just make me want to hug them. One of the things we're doing right now, is allowing the kids to teach on Friday nights. It's been really cool to work through that with them and help to develop and teach them how to be leaders. So the other night, one of our boys was teaching. And he started quoting stuff that I'd said in other lessons. I was so proud! Not so much that he quoted me (although that was pretty cool) but that he'd been listening and that he'd understood!

I came into the office this morning and found this email from that same teen:

Hey Diandra how you doing? I wanted to send you my bball schedule so if you wanted to some of the rest of them. Thanks a lot for your support. And once again great job on Sunday. You did really well. And in case you don't know it you are a great youth pastor, and I am thankful that you are my and the whole youth group's pastor. Your compassion and love and desire is really great and I thank you for always being there for me and all of us. Not only are you my youth pastor but I also consider you a good friend of mine. I'm really glad that after Christine left, God chose you to step in and you did a wonderful job of taking over. I'm sorry if I'm being too mushy mushy but I just want you to know that you are appreciated and that you if you ever feel discouraged I can pray for you or just be a friend. Because I'm sure it can be tough sometimes, but just know that we all love you. Alright see you on Wednesday.

It is really a privilege to be able to be a part of the lives of these teens. I feel so uplifted and encouraged by them. They're amazing and they don't even know it!

We have started a new year... and with that, we've decided that we need to do some things differently. Javier is determined to be organized and on time. So far he has been pretty organized... he even lines up his pens on his desk. As for on time... well that will come :) I've decided to try to have a little bit of a life. I spend so much time at the church (which is not a bad thing) but I'm trying to make sure I have time with my friends and family as well. But we've also made some changes in the direction of the youth group. We're working on planning na dorganizing more ahead of time... although we sat down to plan the calendar for the year, and we got through March and Javi couldn't think any farther ahead :) So that has to be done in small doses.

One of the things we're pretty excited about is Evangelism. We have planned one evangelism day each month. So a couple of weeks ago we ventured out for our first one. We weren't really sure what to expect.. We thought maybe 2 or 3 teens would show up, but if not, we were prepared to do it anyway. So we printed out little cards...
...and we headed to the Long Beach town Center which is like a big outdoor shopping center with a movie theater and food court. We were happily suprised to be met by about 15 teens! We haded out the cards to the teens, prayed together and off they went to talk to people. It wasn't long before security cornered Javvy (Javier's 16 year old son) and told him we couldn't do that there, that it was private property. In the process of being kicked out, Javvy had this conversation with the security guard:

Javvy (while playing guitar): "Do you go to church?"
Security: "I'm sorry but you can't be doing that here."
Javvy: "I just asked if you go to church"
Security: "No."
Javvy: "Well do you want to come to ours? we have a service tomorrow."

Needless to say, the teens were awesome. They stepped out of their comfort zones and they did a fantastic job! And they were even disappointed when we couldn't continue!

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Last week we went to a local high school to watch one of our teens play in a basketball game. As we were leaving, we saw two girls running around the corner and into the bathroom. A couple seconds later, one of our teen boys came running after them. He saw me, and he said, "Oh good! You're a girl! Go in there and tell them you're my youth pastor! I want them to go to church!"

It turns out he'd been chasing the girls around trying to get them to go to youth group!

It's exciting to see our teens getting excited about God... and spreading that excitement and enthusiasm to the people around them. God is doing huge things in our youth group... I really believe that a revival is starting with our teens!

In youth group the other night during our discussion, one of our teens got pumped up. He was really excited about God and what God was doing in his life. He was talking about the feeling you get when you have a relationship with God and how great it is.

"Want to get high? Don't do drugs... do Jesus!"

And he was dead serious and so excited!

I think that is maybe the COOLEST part of my job... when my kids get excited for God.

Last Friday was pretty cool.

In Bible study on Friday night, we were having a discussion. We had some scriptures that we were going to read, so we asked for volunteers to read. Oftentimes when that is asked, there is silence. But on Friday night, we had many hands raised... the kids began to go back and fourth about who got to read... it ended in a game of rock, paper, scissors to determine who would win reading the Bible.

So super cool.

Santa made a visit to our youth group shortly before Christmas:



I really have no more explanation than that.

I heard one of the little kids saying to another little kid, "Did you see Santa in the teen room?"

In Sunday School a few weeks ago, I was asked a question I never in my wildest dreams would have EVER expected to hear: "Is there a ghetto in Heaven?" It made me laugh at the time, but I got to thinking about it later and it didn't seem so funny.

I grew up in small towns in Oregon. Most of the people I knew were middle class white people. As I've talked about before, I never really understood or knew much about racism. For me, a person is a person is a person. Race was simply a physical characteristic, like blond hair or brown hair. With that often comes culture, but I've always taken an interest in different cultures and I think that is so cool! But when we moved here to Southern California, my world got turned upside down. I couldn't believe the amount of racism and hatred that was around me.

I was also shocked at the amount of poverty and homelessness. I never knew what a "ghetto" was. I didn't understand what that meant. But when I moved here and I began to get involved in ministries and outreaches, I began to realize the immense about of suffering and pain that surrounds us. My eyes have been further opened since I began working with the Spanish ministry and going on trips to Mexico and doing things that are a little outside my comfort zone sometimes.

When I started thinking more about the question of a ghetto in heaven, I realized that there is a lot of prejudice and hurt in the lives of my teens. Many of my kids feel inferior because of race, social or economic class, or citizenship status. I realized that those feelings (though hidden behind tough exteriors, and never being admitted), translate into their understanding of God. At the time we made a joke about Heaven's ghetto having streets paved of silver instead of gold. But the fact is that to God, all of us are His children and He loves us all equally. It seems to be something that is lacking in society... loving people regardless. Loving people because of who they are to God... rather than what they look like or where they come from.

I am so grateful for kids who teach me lessons. I know that it is my job to teach and mentor them... but I often feel as though they are the ones that are teaching me. I am glad that God has allowed me to be their youth pastor and to see life through their eyes.

I know that there is no ghetto in Heaven. I know that because Jesus didn't die for ALL of us... He died for EACH of us. He loves us all... unconditionally... equally. I am so grateful for a God who sees who we are... not what we look like or where we come from.

It's 2009.

Which is a bit of an adjustment for me considering I'm still writing 2007 on everything... so I guess I'll just skip 2008 altogether.

I thought I'd share a few more stories from last year (that sounds so funny!) that I keep forgetting to blog about. So here is a compilation of random things that have happened... and stories that have been told...

Enjoy! :)

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I am terrified of spiders. It's a phobia. It's irrational. I cant explain it, but I do NOT like them. Well a few of my teens have managed to figure this out. We were sitting in small groups the other night, and apparently there was a spider web on the ceiling. One of the teens pointed it out to me and I proceeded to freak out... just a little :) One of my boys responds with, "you should call my dad... he's pest patrol!!!" Then there was a pause. "I mean control. Pest control." Javier's response: "So basically your dad is a hit man for bugs?"

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One of the things that happens at Christmas time, is that each department is responsible for doing something in the Spanish service as a Christmas celebration. Usually for things like this, Javier and I plan it and the kids carry it out. But this time as we were talking, I told the kids that we wanted them to plan it. So they got excited and began to brainstorm. Their idea ended up being something with a Santa suit... elves... and a song in Spanish with a few English parts. I believe there was also going to be some dancing and clapping. One of my teens says, "I'll bring the lighters!" (if this doesnt ring a bell, read this blog entry). To which I responded in protest, "Did you just say you'd bring the lighters???" Another teens answered, "you said we should plan it and that's our plan!"

Needless to say, Santa, the elves and the lighters all failed (I promise I had nothing to do with it!) and the teens sang 3 wonderful songs! :)

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Last Friday in small groups, we had a pretty small group of kids. We decided to do something a little different. We spent the whole time gathering around each of the teens and praying for them. Some of them had specific needs and struggles, and others we simply prayed for a solid, blessed year. It was a wonderful time of lifting our kids up and supporting and encouraging them. At the end, we all gathered in a circle and they prayed for Javier and me. In the middle of the prayer, I felt something wet on my arm (which was around a kid). I ignored it and continued praying. A few minutes later, I felt someone wipe it off. After the prayer, I turned around and one of my boys was standing behind me with a straw in his mouth laughing. I guess the straw had flicked water on my arm and he didn't know what to do. So he sat there for a minute and then decided he should wipe it off.

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