Click here to visit our web page

©2010. DJ Ministries, All Rights Reserved

Vision, passion, and an excitement for what we do. These are three things that have once again sprung up in our lives over the last week as we have had the honor of working with a DTS from our Destination Paradise base (located in Belize). The main focus of their time in Guatemala City has been ministering to those which society has decided have no hope and thus, no meaning to life ...which means that the majority of their time in Guatemala City has been spent visiting our street friends, visiting prostitutes, and visiting men going through rehabilitation for their addictions.

Daytime Street Visits Have Returned
Something that we have not been able to do a whole lot this year is visiting our street friends during daylight hours. This was actually a facet of our ministry that we began several years ago and found it a very effective, but very different opportunity to bring love and hope to their lives. In general, there are far less homeless people out on the streets in the daytime, which actually opens the door for us to give more undivided time with those that we do see. The men and women are also quite a bit less drugged at this time, which also allows us to do more practical things like playing UNO, drawing pictures, and reading the Bible to them. Thus, last Monday morning had us going out and visiting our street friends. At first, they were quite shocked to see me there in the daytime again, however, it did not take long for them to appreciate our arrival.
One thing that grabbed my attention and concerned me a lot was meeting an 11 year boy named Orlando. It has been quite a while since I have seen children hanging around with our street friends, so immediately I took the opportunity to talk to him. Though he would not tell me much, what I did find out is that his parents were alive and lived in a town near the coast and that he came to Guatemala City because he did not like it there. The thing that really concerned me and broke my heart was the amount of drugs he was inhaling as well as the great amount of fear that he had in his eyes. He was also very desperate for anything that he could get his hands on and because of that, had already developed some problems with some of the other guys. I asked if he wanted to go back home and he said "no, I like it better here." How he could like it better, I don't know. But what I do know is that he does not belong on the streets. Thus, I wanted to ask for everyone to be praying for him over this next week. We will see him again tonight and hopefully I will be able to begin finding out more details of his story and talk him in to returning home.

La Linea
This past week, we also had the privilege of bringing Destination Paradise out to La Linea to ministry to the prostitutes and the men that pass by. As the girls were visiting the prostitutes, one thing that really struck me once again is the number of men and women who are literally in chains because of this place. As I stood as an intercessor and body guard, I could not help but see the

1. Pray for us as we seek His face for our next step. We are sensing a pushing to placing more emphasis in our dream and need more specific direction as to how it should take place.
2. Pray Orlando, an 11 year old boy living on the streets.
3. Pray for the YWAM base in Guatemala City. Pray for new staff and a new passion to see Jesus glorified in our ministries.
4. Pray for the DTS from Destination Paradise who will be working with us from August 21 till September 5.
5. Pray for William and Nathaniel as they continue to grow and learn about the world around them.
6. Pray for the faithful staff of Teen Challenge as they continue to minister to men who desire to break their addictions and start their lives over again
7. Pray for our street friends in Guatemala as rainy season continues to send rain on us daily.
8. Pray for the homeless of Guatemala. Our return this year has helped us to realize how important our role is in their lives. Pray for safety and joy in their everyday lives.
9. Pray the women of La Linea that they will see who they are in Christ and that they are worthy to leave this dark place.

deep struggle written all over the faces of the men and women. In fact, I clearly remember seeing one man who kept walking back and forth, not sure if he really wanted to go in with the prostitute or not. Despite our continuous intercession for him, he finally decided to go against what his conscious was telling him and went in.
I also clearly remember seeing "Esperanza", one of the girls we have connected with many times, flirting with some older men hoping that they would choose her. What would make her do such a thing? A young 25 year old woman with 3 children chasing after older men hoping they would pay her for sex! In fact, the last time we visited (before the DTS outreach), I had the opportunity to talk with her. We had spent a good 30-45 minutes chatting about various things when suddenly, she ran out the door and grabbed a 60 year old man who was passing by! It was quite shocking for me personally as up until that moment, I had completely forgotten that her profession was prostitution. So to see her jump out in mid sentence and then bring the man into her room was an absolute shock and left me completely stunned and without words.
Both of these stories are very common in this old train station that has now been converted into one of the cities darkest and most dangerous places. However, the question still remains in my heart.."if no one is happy here and no one wants to be here...why does this place still continue to exist and why do the men and women keep coming back?"

First Soup Run is tonight!
Please be praying for us as tonight, I will bring the Destination Paradise team back to the streets to make our first ever soup run! As I mentioned in our last news report, this is an idea that was inspired by the work of 2 fellow YWAMers at our base in Antigua, Guatemala. We are estimating that we will give out over 100 cups of soup and tortillas tonight. There has been a lot of rain over the last several nights, so pray for the weather to cooperate ...though we will still go out, rain or not.

Walking Right Past the Guards and Right into the US Embassy!
Over the last couple of days, we have had the opportunity to experience the favor and grace of God in ways that have been truly mind blowing! One of these occasions took place yesterday as I went with one of the students from the Destination Paradise DTS to the US Embassy. She was actually in need of applying for a visa, while I needed to go in and renew my passport that will expire in December. As we were waiting in the line for the visa appointments, a woman came by, kinda upset, and told us that she was an American that had just been denied entrance to the US Embassy as the second and last Friday of the month the US Citizen Service department is always closed. I thought at that moment, oh no! What am I going to do now! Anyhow, as the line moved forward, I watched one American after another get denied entrance. I decided at that moment, well, if they don't let me in, then I will just come back Monday ..however, I am at least going to still try. Well, to my surprise, when I got to the entrance, the guard asked if I had my US passport. I said yes and showed it to him and then he proceeded to open the gate and let me in! WOW! How that happened, I don't know because after I left the embassy and watched for 30 minutes one American after another get turned back. Anyhow, once we were in, I decided to go to the US Citizen services area and ask if they could make an exception for me and let me process my paperwork, despite the fact they were closed. To my surprise, the woman behind the window gave me a HUGE smile and said sure, let me have your paperwork! She then went on to make some copies that I needed to make and then told me it would be ready in 10 days! I almost laughed as I could not believe that I was not only able to walk past the guards to get in, but have my paperwork accepted and processed on a day in which they were closed!

Our trip is official and our plane tickets are booked!
As you all know, we have been talking for about a month now about coming to Houston for an extended visit to rest, pray, and do some much needed fundraising. Well, last week we were able to come up with enough flyer miles to get a free ticket (thanks Dad!) and with that, we finally purchased tickets to come to Houston! The dates of our trip is October 1 thru January 15. There are a number of things that we desire to do in this time, however, one thing that we definitely want to do is take time to visit with everyone and share our vision for 2011. We believe that the Lord is moving us forward in 2011 and that we will be returning to placing our focus on our core ministry. Thus, if you would like to have us come speak with you, or your cell group, or your church, please feel free to contact us at any time!

Also, we will be in need of borrowing a car during our time. Thus, we wanted to ask if anyone can help us out with this. We know it will be a long time to borrow a car, so if multiple people would like to loan their car for different times during our trip, it would be a HUGE blessing! Just let us know!

I believe that is it for now! We are once again very thankful for the prayers and support of everyone. You are all so critical to our ministry and we recognize that it would not be possible without you! So thank you!!