Stories

When I launched into this plan to raise funds on my 40th birthday to build a home in Mexico I had said I wanted to use this as a platform to also tell some stories! I’ve had the opportunity to partner with YWAM San Diego/Baja and Homes of Hope for 15 years. In that time I’ve participated in many house builds! Sometimes I’ve played more of a facilitator role and brought students from Edmonton to build the homes. Other times I’ve been able to strap on the tool belt and swing a hammer all day! During our families three month stay in Tijuana in 2012 I even got to serve as a stand-in YWAM “staff” and be a translator and host for a few different teams!

Over the next few posts here I’m excited to share a number of stories from my experiences there!

That said, I’m also excited to share some other people’s stories. I have also had many opportunities to build some amazing relationships with people who are in Mexico full-time and are a part of various ministries there. I get the privilege to be able to be connected with many of them and quite often get to hear their stories of the amazing things Jesus is doing in and through their service to Him and the people of Mexico. So I also want to share with you some stories that aren’t necessarily my own.

One such story is best told in the video below.

Giezi and Amanda Niño are some very good friends of mine. They have been serving with YWAM San Diego/Baja for many years. Their primary ministry is a ministry called “Zona de Esperanza” (Hope Zone). What started years ago as a heart to love and advocate for children being raised in the red light district of Tijuana has grown into a phenomenal ministry that is seeing radical changes in a community plagued by darkness!

Earlier this month there was a group from the United States who had planned go to Tijuana to build a home with Homes of Hope. Given the pandemic realities, it did not make sense for their team to go. They had already raised the funds, so they decided to give the funds anyway, with the hope that YWAM would be able to put a team together with people who would not need to travel.

It was decided that the Hope Zone team would build a team from families in the Zona Norte community. So earlier in December, my friends Giezi and Amanda - along with their Zona de Esperanza team and 7 families from Zona Norte - set out to build a home for a family in need!

Please take a few minutes and enjoy this story!

**A quick note**
I’ve said all along that I want to raise the funds to build a home and then go and build it. If the global pandemic reality is such that I cannot travel with a team, I’ve said “worst case scenario” I get to raise funds for someone else to build a home. This video shows what that sort of “worst case scenario” could look like. I’ve gotta say, I’m pretty excited about the possible outcomes!

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