Going back to Mexico!

Dear Friends and Family

I’m writing this letter to share what I have been doing for the last nine months and what the next step in my life is going to be.

                For the past year I have been a part of Youth With a Mission’s Chronological School of Biblical Studies, or YWAM’s CSBS for short. It’s a nine month school were we inductively studied each book of the bible in the order that the books were written. It was a very busy and crazy time of studying the entire Bible book by book. The last semester we studied the New Testament and it was incredible to see the whole story of the Bible really come together and see God’s faithfulness and sovereignty highlighted throughout all the books. These nine months have been the some of the most heart wrenching but also the sweetest months I’ve ever spent with God. God had been changing my heart and building up a passion for His word in me.  It was exciting and exhausting and I wouldn’t trade that time for anything in the world.

                After completing the Chronological School of Biblical, I’ve been invited to join the next year’s staff of CSBS in Tijuana, Mexico. My passion for the bible and a desire to go deeper in the word is what has driven me to join the CSBS staff  next year. It’s going to come with a lot of responsibility but I know that I’m up to that task. I will be teaching two books a semester, a total of six books. My first book will be Ruth, one of my favorites. I can't wait to show the students the amazing story of redemption that God shows through the characters in Ruth! Other parts of being a staff member for the CSBS will include grading the students work, helping them improve their homework, and helping them go deeper in what they are learning. There will be an aspect of discipling the students through all that they are learning in the bible. Discipleship is something that I’m very excited about. During my time of going through the bible I found I had a lot of questions about God and lots of issues in my heart that I had to work through. My leaders were there to help me wrestle with those things. I am excited to work with students and help them wrestle with the hard questions and the hard things that God brings to light as you study his word.

                This past year I became involved in the ministry where a group of fellow YWAMers and I reach out to the homeless and the people on the streets of Tijuana’s red light district, called Zona Norte. Every Wednesday we serve soup in a park to the homeless while a smaller group does a prayer walk through the streets.. After repeated prayer walks as a group, many along the street are beginning to recognize us and allowing us to pray over them. We come into contact with all sorts of people, including other US citizens who are there for the heartbreaking things the red light district has to offer. I hope to become even more involved in this ministry when I return.

                God has blessed me with an amazing support base throughout this past year, both financially and spiritually. I know that as I am preparing for a year of ministry oversees, having a strong base of supporters is vital to my ministry in Tijuana, Mexico. I ask for you to take time in prayer to consider joining me as a supporter in this upcoming year. Starting in September and lasting through July, I am in need of both spiritual and monetary support. I am responsible for discipling students, teaching books, and hope to be involved again in Zona Norte. Financially, I am in need of $500 of support per month, which covers all of my expenses in Mexico.

                If you are interested in being my supporter there is a donation button on the right of this page. If you would like more information you can send me an email at nicole.hope35@gmail.com. I hope to be able to send out weekly prayer request and monthly updates during my stay in Mexico.

                I would love to share more of my vision for teaching the word of God; so, if time allows I would love to meet with you before I head out again in September. God is doing amazing things in Mexico and I cannot wait to be a part of His work there! It would be such a huge blessing if you came alongside me and sent me out on this mission that God has given me. I hope to see you soon!

In Christ’s Love,

Nicole

Children of a family for whom the CSBS '12 built a house 

Transitions

Hello!
I must apologize for not doing the best job of giving out consistent updates. It's something I hope to get better at soon.

Well life here in Mexico is moving right along.There are only 2 weeks left of the CSBS, and then I graduate with 7 other students in June 22nd! Needless to say, we are are very excited to have made it through these exhausting 9 months of bible study. We have all learned so much and there has been a passion developed in all of us for the word of God.
Also, I have moved into a small flat that is right next to the base here with another friend. It has been such a huge blessing to have a small place to call my own. Right before we moved there my roommate's dog gave birth to puppies. When my roommate got the dog she had been a street dog and very malnourished, so only 2 of the puppies have made it. It is a miracle that the dog and 2 of the puppies are doing so well.
To celebrate celebrating moving into my house here in mexico, as my roomy and I went out to eat taco's in the city. We were sitting outside, eating our taco's and chatting about how much we loved living in mexico and how amazing it is here. Two seconds later someone ran by and snatched my purse right off the table! By the time I realized what had happened the man was already across the street and there wasn't a chance that someone could of gotten it. Thank God right before I left I had taken out some of the important things that I had in there. The poor guy probably thought that he was going to get loads of money from the american girl only to find that the purse was basically empty. The only thing I could do at that moment was laugh at the irony of the whole situation and just move on. Viva la Mexico
It's been a busy, full, and wonderfully exciting week!

So, right after graduation one other student and I from the school are going to be working 2 more weeks where we will constantly be preparing teachings and taking every opportunity we have to teach in the community. This is going to be a 2 week time of training on how to teach us how to teach the books of the bible next year in the school. We were given the chance to be trained on how to prepare and teach books and since I get nervous when I have to speak in front of people, I took the option to be given some extra help in learning how to do that. There are 5 out of the 8 students that are planning on staffing and teaching in the CSBS next year, and we all are very excited to work in the CSBS and pass on the knowledge that we have gained!

After those two weeks I plan on going home for a short period to see family and catch up with friends. I actually will be traveling to Canada for a week to take photos for my friends wedding that is taking place at the YWAM base I did my DTS. It will be such a great time of reuniting with my DTS friends.

Well my friends, I hope this update finds you well, I must get back to my homework now.

Love, Nicole

Our Puppies curled up into a heart 

Serious Risks

I've been trying to figure something out. My future.
There are many choices in front of me. I'm young, I have the time to take steps in one direction and if I don't like it I can go another, right? Because I have to much time in front of me it shouldn't be such a big deal to take time to try a couple different paths and discover which one is what I want to do with the rest of my life.

But it doesnt' feel that way. I feel like every choice in front of me is a risk. Because they all seem to ask for a 3+ year commitment. And after those three years I won't feel so young.

In the past 4 weeks 6 of my friends have gotten engaged and I feel like these kids have gotten life figured out and are stepping out and living. And I'm still standing in the same place, clueless as to what to do next.

Something I don't want to admit, because if I do, my brothers will have won. I don't like giving my brothers the satisfaction of having victory. When I was younger (ok, maybe only last month) they would tell me that I take things to seriously. I would always argue and tell them it wasn't true. But maybe it is, I take life to seriously. How can I not though? I feel like these major life choices are happening right now and each choice is a risk.

So my dilemma is this... So I need to calculate and be serious about these next few steps I have to take? Or is it one of those things where I have to listen to my brothers wise words and realize that I'm taking life too seriously and just learn to take risks with my life?

The wonderful thing to know is that I have faith on my side. Faith that even if I mess up and make a wrong decision. God will still want to work with me. It's a good thing that the most important thing in this life is having relationship with God, and as long as I'm pursuing that I don't think I can mess up too terribly.

Prayers

First and foremost I want to thank everyone who has been praying for me. It's been so encouraging to hear from different people who have been praying. It's helped me keep going here.

Being new to this whole sitting down and actually doing homework thing, I was struggling to get all my homework done each week. I kept trying and trying, my grader has been nothing but encouraging and always telling me that if I need help making  a schedule or anything else that I could ask her. But  I thought I could do it on my own, I was wrong.
This week is a very important and key week, we are studying the books of Kings and if we didn't buckle down and study kings we would miss out on a lot of the meaning to the books of the prophets, which is what we are studying next. My attempts at doing all my work were not working and I didn't want this week to be a week were I missed the main point to something and then end up not understanding the prophets. So I asked for help, I didn't want to, but I did. And guess what! It was a great thing. My leader and I sat down and she helped me make a schedule and she was so kind and is letting me study in her apartment, away from people. Because if I'm with people, I can't help but talk to them and thus, not get any work done.
At the moment, I am on schedule and getting all the needed homework done, praise God! If I can do this everyweek and learn to manage my time well enough, very soon I will be able to join one of the amazing ministries that go on here at the base. There are two things I've been dying to do.
One of them is the orphanage, twice a week people go to the orphanage to do dishes and help change and feed the babies there. The thing is, you have to wake up at 5 in the morning to go. So as soon as I get to a place where I'm not worried about homework all the time I will go!
The other ministry is "Zona Norte". In this ministry a group of people go and does a prayer walk through the red light district in Tijuana. When I first heard what this ministry did my heart jumped! One of my favorite things I did on my outreach in Brazil was work with the prostitutes in the city of Brasilia. There we got to go from bus stop to bus stop to pray, encourage and pass out roses to girls and tell them how they are beautiful. Seeing the change and light that came into the girls eyes as they listened to what we had to say and watching some of them come to except Christ was one of the most awe-inspiring things I did there. So the ministry of "Zona Norte" is something that is on my heart and I can't wait till I accomplish what God brought me here to do (school) and when I feel like I can, I will start joining people in these ministries.
Here is another missionaries blog on the ministry of "Zona Norte"  http://girlrelentless.blogspot.com/2011/11/pink.html

I have 3 more days of studying the books of Kings and I'm loving it! I've read the book twice before I came here and even reading it for the 3rd time while being here I thought it pretty boring. But as I study it, and really look at each king, the book is coming alive. Honestly though, the book is heartbreaking. Evil after evil king rules over Israel and Judah and brings them further and further away from God.
Actually, studying most of the old testament is pretty depressing. God is so faithful to his people, his promises and covenant he made with them. Israel just doesn't seem to care most of the time. I would like something a little less downhearted. I'm ready to read about Jesus!

So again, thank you for praying
Here are a couple of things you could keep praying for...

1) That I can keep the discipline and work-ethic I've got going this week
2) More revelation and excitement for each book I study
3) Health, I've had a cold this week and a lot of headaches lately.

Love you all!

In honor of the 5th

Hello my friends,
I can't say much right now, I am coming to the end of my all-nighter and I'm a bit tired. But today is the 5th of november and it is a day to be remembered.

I've always loved the movie V for Vendetta and thankfully I'm with a friend here in mexico that loves the move too, so we will be watching it tonight. A few of my favorites quotes from the movie...

V- His hope was to remind the world that fairness, justice, and freedom are more than words, they are perspectives. So if you've seen nothing, if the crimes of this government remain unknown to you then I would suggest you allow the fifth of November to pass unmarked. But if you see what I see, if you feel as I feel, and if you would seek as I seek, then I ask you to stand beside me one year from tonight, outside the gates of Parliament, and together we shall give them a fifth of November that shall never, ever be forgot. 

Evey- That the world needs more than just a building right now. It needs hope. 

Gordon- You wear a mask for so long, you forget who you were beneath it. 

V- Beneath this mask there is more than flesh. Beneath this mask there is an idea, Mr. Creedy, and ideas are bulletproof. 

Evey- Who are you? 

V- Who? Who is but the form following the function of what, and what I am is a man in a mask. 

Evey- Well I can see that. 

V: Of course you can. I'm not questioning your powers of observation, I'm merely remarking upon the paradox of asking a masked man who he is. 

Evey- He used to say that artists use lies to tell the truth, while politicians use them to cover the truth up. 

V- A revolution without dancing is a revolution not worth having! 

V-People should not be afraid of their governments. Governments should be afraid of their people.

Valerie- Our integrity sells for so little, but it is all we really have. It is the very last inch of us, but within that inch, we are free

Have a happy 5th!

Word Designs

So! I've been inspired by this graphic designer Jim Lepage. I've always loved his work and wanted to do something like it but never thought I would have the chance!
BUT now I'm going through each book of the bible and have 8 months of it left! I will try my hardest to keep making a different art piece for each book. So far I've drawn something for Ruth and done a little graphic design for 1st and 2nd Samuel. I will try and use the key verse from each book for the inspiration for my designs. But I might just use whatever inspires me the most in the book.
I highly recommend checking out Jim Lepages work though! His work is really awesome and has great meanings behind it. Plus there is a drawing taking place where I could win one of his posters.
http://jimlepage.com/word-designs/

Chronological School of Biblical Studies AKA CSBS

I'm sorry I haven't written an update until now. I know I should of done it sooner and I'm sorry.

So, I'm in Tijuana, Mexico doing YWAM's School of Biblical studies! It wasn't what I was originally planning to do this year but God changed my plans and told me to be here. So here I am and I am already seeing why God wanted me here. I've only studied the first 4 books of the bible and I've been brought to tears more than once because of the depth of love that God has for his people.
If you don't know, what we do in the CSBS is inductively study the bible in the order that it is in. So at the beginning of the week we separate into groups and read the book that we are studying, out loud, in one sitting. During the week we have lectures where a teacher or guest speaker teaches the background on the book. And from what we learn in class we have different homework assignments. Most of the time we have to chart out the book, that is where we observe everything we can find in each chapter and then from that we find an interpretation and an application of how it affects our life and how it could affect the church or the people around us.
We also have to do some background information on our own too. We have to find internal and external sources on Who wrote the book, When the book was written, Who the book was written too and figure out the mindset of the author and the mindset of who the book was written to. It can be very tedious but it is required if you want to be able to really dig deep into the the book and gather great insight into the reason the book was written.
When I tell people about the school I'm doing usually the response is "Oh, I could never do that". My response usually is that, I can't either. It's not easy, and the only way I've making it through right now is only with God's grace and revelation. I have a love/hate relationship with my studies. I can feel myself truly growing and creating an amazing foundation in God's word. But it's so much work!!! I know by the end of the nine months I will never want to trade this time for anything though. The relationship that is growing between me and God is becoming deeper and so much sweeter the more I learn about the things he has done and is doing for his people.

Oh! The base I'm at is beautiful. It is located about 15 minutes outside of Tijuana and is about 2 blocks away from the Pacific Ocean. All the buildings here are fairly newly built and done very beautifully. The CSBSers have two double wide trailers that we stay in. We were put in the trailers because they are better long term spaces because they have little kitchenettes and more space than the base dormitories.

So in about an hour our CSBS is leaving on a "wilderness wandering" camping trip. We are doing this to get even more into the mindset of the Israelites, We are studying them at the moment and they are wandering in the wilderness too. Also we are going just to have fun. Not that our group has had a lack of fun. On the coupl of nights that we have had off we have gone into town to karaoke and to dance. It's been a great time of bonding and becoming a great group of friends. There are 9 of us, a girl from cambodia, a girl from switzerland, 2 of us girls and 3 guys from the states and two more guys from canada. Also, my friend Jesse Evans and his wife Becky are the leaders of the school!

Unfortunately because of all the homework I haven't had much time to participate in the different ministries that are going on here at the base. But the base has some amazing, fruitful ministry going on. There is Homes of Hope, where almost every weekend a missions team comes down to build a house for the poor in Tijuana. Also there are jail, street kids, and homeless ministries that are going on every week. I'm sure there are other ones too that I have forgotten to mention. I hope that some time soon I get a good handle on the homework so I can join in a ministry!

Well my friends, I should go pack. Thanks for reading and hopefully I can get an update out more often.
Much Love,
Nicole

The base's coffee shop I love studying in.

Early morning prank us girls pulled on one of the guys.

He had pet turtles and in the midst of the prank war we had the night before we stole the turtles and set them up for breakfast at his desk the next morning.

View from the window of my coffee shop.

Our Trailers.