Youth With A Mission ~ Modesto, California

February 9th St. News

2012-01-26T15:56:00.000-08:00

There are some exciting possibilities in the 9th St. News that we'll be handing out this month. Please pray for us as we gear up and partner with others to see good stuff happen on a forgotten street in our town. For more info, CLICK HERE.

News from the 9th Street Cafe...

2011-11-17T16:41:00.001-08:00

To read all the news from the 9th Street Cafe (including a great poem from a cafe regular),

GLONK HERE!

An Evening of Justice and Worship

2011-09-21T14:43:00.000-07:00

YWAM Modesto proudly presents "An Evening of Justice and Worship" from Steps of Justice, an educational, inspirational and practical initiative from Youth With A Mission. Come join us for a night of music and challenge with Phil and Amy Cunningham and Chris and Jenna Wilson. They will be with us on Tuesday night, October 18th at 7pm at New Hope Christian Fellowship, 300 Trask Ln. in Modesto. This night is open to all. A free-will offering will be taken to help support these families on the road with a most important message.

You can find out more about the tour, hear some music and read about Steps of Justice over at their website...CLICK HERE. If you have any questions, call Chris Whitler at 209-404-4027

A Man Apart - Patrick

2011-09-15T12:40:00.000-07:00

This is a poem that was handed to me by my friend Patrick. We met him at our 9th Street Cafe that we host every Friday morning. It's a cafe we set up on the street as a way to build relationships with the people that live there. Through this time and getting reconnected at church, Patrick has rediscovered his faith and has been a wonderful addition to our cafe community. He is quick to sit and listen to others and offer kind words and comfort to the broken people that come for a cup of coffee and friendship. He is also very bright and quite fun to talk politics, religion and culture with. I have re-posted his beautiful and challenging poem describing life on 9th Street with his gracious permission. -Chris

A Man Apart

When the darkness gathers
And I forget my name
When all my dreams are hollow
And love's a distant thing

With empty soul and pockets
I'm ashamed to meet your eyes
I've lost the skill for living
But I'm too afraid to die

I can't even name that drooling thing
That mocks my broken heart
I don't know how to find the Word
I am a man apart

In Memory Of Sandra - Sierra Gibson

2011-09-13T16:29:00.000-07:00

Sierra is a young volunteer that has come out to our Friday 9th Street Cafe. In her time with us, she developed a friendship with Sandra who lived in one of the motels there. Sandra died this past May. This tribute is re-posted with permission. -Chris

Each tear felt like a memory gliding down my face, free falling from my chin, tapping the pavement. My heart beat sped up to match the rate at which i pleaded on her behalf, begging God to show his loving kindness, his mercy.

Her name was Sandra. She loved me as much as the last crystal piece of her heart could; it may have been jagged and broken, but it was enough to make me feel special. She would light up and blow smoke near me when we spoke of life's railroad tracks and dead ends. There was a hint of roughness to her tone yet i always felt soothed by her motherly character.

Maybe, when she lay awake that midnight after being stripped of hope, she counted me as the 8th blessing in her life. Maybe, a slight smile broke when she remembered how she nurtured me like her own daughter.

I can picture her praying that every word she whispered would float in the air and find its way to my ear, "Don't worry Julie...", like she'd always say.

I felt the sky weigh on my shoulders. For a minute i doubted every belief i held. There was beauty in her heart. Why is it the world had to sabotage such a heavenly trait? She had power to arise from the pit of prostitution, from a motel room overflowing with violence, and strength in her legs to run from a pimp destitute of compassion.

"Jesus", I cried.
There's so much that lies behind closed doors. Brokenness lies in my backyard.
Did she know the end was coming? Did she feel the pain of the last blow? Or did she cling to the wall and watch the blood flow?

Abuse is like a stamp, applied to a silent woman.
One more statistic to the world, another victim.
One less child of God alive and breathing.
One less friend to a lonely girl afraid to keep moving.

She believed in my dreams even when her life seemed bleak.
She invited me to be me.
How could a woman so addicted to pain violently heal my heart torn at the seams?

I found myself after a while of feeling lost; I was awake, I was not dreaming.
This was My Reality.
I began to stand although i was weak. My eyes searched the ground for hope. Yet all i could find were more stories of tragedy that occurred upon this ground.
It's time for light to invade the darkness of 9th street.

Now I'm committed to remember a woman forgotten.
May she find peace in Heaven. Since she only knew pieces of hell.

I love you Sandra. I think about you every day.
I'll tell your story to every generation
You were a voice that calmed seas
But never had the chance to speak

About us...

2011-08-18T17:08:00.000-07:00

We are friends who are praying and working to be a creative, compassionate community in broken and forgotten places. We live by the kingdom principles of giving and receiving and seek to be a collective catalyst that releases one another and friends around us into the good things of God.

We serve a Mission...

Youth with a Mission (YWAM) is a specialized, inter-denominational missionary order desiring “to know God and make Him known.” YWAM is committed to...

Convey the message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Change lives through training.

Care for those in need around the world.

We are aligned with this vision and one or more of these elements is a part of everything we do. We connect with others in our mission regionally for mutual prayer and conference. We teach our style of outreach to YWAM trainees when called on.

We serve the church....

We connect with local congregations and networks of church and ministry workers to build relationships and serve where we can. We host teams from out of town and locally to teach them the joy of simple outreach by taking them along with us to 9th St. and other hurting places in our city. We partner with local inter-church worship and outreach efforts.

We serve international friends...

Through short term and longer trips, we have met the impoverished families on the Thai/Burmese border. We are continuing to pray for creative ways to come alongside these displaced peoples and friends who live and work among them.

We assist Global Youth Network in Canada in the training of young leaders by hosting an annual group for 10 days. Global is an international justice and education organization that some of us worked with and learned from before coming to Modesto. We also partner with Global in other projects including retreats and camps.

We serve the poor, lonely and broken...

Each Friday, we set up a little cafe in a forgotten place in our city and spend time with hurting people. We bring coffee, some food and friendship. Friendship is the heart of our little team. Out of friendship comes everything else. We have been with people through recovery from substance abuse. We have seen people come to and back to relationship with Jesus. We have seen people leave the street. We have seen them fall, get up and fall again. Through it all, we offer friendship, prayer and support. And we seek to engage our creativity in being a voice for these friends.

And, because we are a 501c3 non-profit in California -

We also keep our own books, manage donations, and raise our own personal and corporate support. Some of our ministry is right out of pocket and some of it comes from our corporate budget.

Please pray for us. Sometimes it's a lot to juggle and we are in a constant state of re-evaluation as this life is quite dynamic. Thanks for reading and thanks for your support and friendship.

Summer in Tsartlip

2011-07-02T14:29:00.000-07:00

That’s pronounced “Sart-lip” and it means the “land of the maples”. This is a native community near Victoria in British Columbia. In Canada, the native people are called “First Nations People.” You can read about our previous visit to Tsartlip at our website HERE.

July 21, our YWAM team and our youth group at New Hope Church in Modesto have an opportunity to partner with Youth With A Mission in Tsartlip to help run a summer program. We will help lead activities like swimming and field sports, as well as working with the younger kids of the community in crafts and games. We will also be interacting with the high school aged youth and learning about First Nations culture.

Our team needs your help! In order for our whole team to go, we need to raise a total of $3500 in the next few weeks. This will cover our travel expenses, food and lodging. Would you consider making a one time donation to help us go on this trip?

You can give on line at our YWAM Modesto paypal button over there to the right.

Or send us a check made out to: Youth With A Mission, 300 Trask Ln, Modesto, CA, 95354

No gift is too small!

If you're a Modesto local...
Join us for our community team fundraiser, Friday night, July 15 at Salida's Kountry Kitchen on Broadway in Salida. $10 gets you an awesome burger, fries, drink and a raffle ticket for some fun local prizes. Food will be served from 5:30 - 8:30pm. For more info, you can call us at 209-404-4027 or email ywammodesto@gmail.com

Pslams - Inspiration for Life

2011-06-16T11:52:00.000-07:00

Next week will be John Wason's 4th tour to the Modesto area. John is from YWAM Canada's Word To Life Theatre Arts, he performs large portions of memorized scripture presented with excellent story telling. (Check out last year's tour HERE)

If you're a Modesto local, come on out Tuesday night for a live performance of...

Psalms - Inspiration for Life
Tues night, June 21, 7pm
New Hope Church
300 Trask Ln
Modesto, CA

A free-will offering will be taken. There will be no child care services but kids of all ages are welcome.

John will also be performing at Shelter Cove's M2 Saturday morning men's bible study at 4242 Coffee Rd in Modesto, June 18 at 8:30am

An Evening of Justice and Worship

2011-06-09T08:14:00.000-07:00

This week, I've been in San Diego with friends here teaching for a YWAM Mission Adventure team. Last night was a special evening for prayer, thinking about justice and the heart of God and responding through singing and commitment. This was put on by Phil Cunningham and Chris Wilson who are a part of Steps of Justice, an initiative to inspire the church to begin to take steps toward those living in poverty with our hearts, our minds, our choices and actions.

This fall, the Cunninghams and the Wilsons are taking Justice and Worship on the road all up and down the west coast (and beyond) and I'm happy to announce they will be stopping in Modesto (more to come on that). This evening is interactive, challenging and very helpful to inspire the "next step".

If you'd like more info on the tour and how you can book a night at your church, you can check out their site at http://justiceandworship.com/

A quarterly report...but not too boring!

2011-04-27T20:13:00.001-07:00

The first bit of 2011 has been a bit of a whirlwind for the Whitlers and YWAM Modesto. I realized this past week that there are a few things I would have blogged about that I didn't. Here's a little scrap book of posts that I never got to...

Modesto Youth Reach Out in San Francisco

In January, YWAM Modesto and New Hope youth in partnership with YWAM San Francisco and Eastridge Church of the Nazarene spent an evening reaching out on the streets of the "Tenderloin" neighborhood of San Fran. Here, the YWAMers in the big city brief our team on life on the streets and ways that we can be a blessing to the marginalized in the city. We had a profound experience as well as a lot of fun together. If you're local and/or looking for a great location to take a mission team, pray about joining up with the YWAM team in San Francisco!

Tsartlip comes to Modesto!

Together with our friends at Global Youth Network and YWAM in Victoria, B.C., March brought us a team from the Tsartlip Native community on Vancouver Island. Our family (the Whitlers) visited this community in 2008 and we are planning to visit again (with our church youth group) this Summer. These guys came down to spend a week with us on their school break to learn leadership skills, the basics of reaching out to others, to interact with Native Americans and have a bit of fun in the process. This picture is during a BBQ for the struggling community on South 9th St. They did a great job.

This team also blessed the Whitlers greatly by helping us with a surprise, short notice move from our home of 4 years..our landlord was foreclosed on and lost his house :( They had all our stuff transferred to our new place (walking distance from our church!) in 5 hours! Thank you Tsartlip!

Steps of Justice

For the season of Lent, YWAM Modesto hosted a Steps of Justice group to go through the Steps 30 day Prayer and Action Guide. This is a great way to gain awareness, fuel intercession and take action around issues of global injustice. Our group of 12 or 13 dwindled down to a small group of 5 by the end of our study (I hear folks are pretty busy these days :), all who participated said this was a really good experience. It's a great way to carry with you the plight of the poor and let it help inform your choices, lead you to prayer and help you to give. Read more about my experience HERE.

YWAM Pismo Beach Discipleship Training School (DTS)

Now this one is truly pitiful. I did not even take one picture of a great team that came to be with us in the beginning of April...the Isaiah 61 DTS. 12 girls and the DTS staff joined us for a week of training and outreach on evangelism. This was an awesome team. They hit the streets with passion and purpose to love and pray for our city. It was a special privilege for me to set these folks loose in Modesto. They touched quite a few lives and are now reaching out in Israel and China! For more info in a DTS in Pismo Beach, go HERE.

New Hope Youth Car Wash

We wash cars waaaaaaay better than we spell, we promise. We spent the first of a few Saturdays washing cars at Yosemite Lanes here in Modesto to help raise money for our group to go to the Tsartlip community this Summer. Be on the look out for other fundraisers...more car washes to come as well as the classic bake sale and plain ole asking for donations. If you want to give toward this trip, let me (Chris) know! Email me at cwhitler@gmail.com

Blankets of Hope

We were able to link up recently with this great group of folks from a local church in Salida that have started a group to make and distribute blankets to the homeless. Deb brought 30 new, clean, handmade blankets out to our most recent 9th St. BBQ to give away. Everyone loved them and were so thankful for this meaningful gift.

Which leads us finally to...people from Fresno continuing to rock!

Like LAST YEAR and THE YEAR BEFORE, we hosted a team from Fresno First Baptist Church for Easter week. A couple of newbies (including the new youth pastor) and a couple of veterans joined us for a week of outreach in Modesto. This group spent the week praying, feeding, and helping all over the place.

A highlight for me was they day we had the high schoolers pray without us leaders and come up with the agenda for the day. What'd we do? Well, we bought 36 pairs of socks and 50 tacos and drove around handing them out to the homeless, that's what. Drive by Sockos. Then we spent the afternoon at the park with some kids that YWAM Modesto has been involved with for some time. A great day.

So that's a lot to cram into a little space but we did it! Our thanks to all the teams, churches and new friends we've been able to make in this first part of the year. And here's to more as we continue on in Spring and into the Summer...this week, the Whitlers head out on a month long North American tour to visit friends and share stories and songs with congregations and households and YWAM bases across the country. In June, we'll host John Wason from YWAM Canada's Word To Life Theatre Arts. In July, we'll have visitors from Stanley Park Church in Kitchener, Ontario. We'll also take our youth group to Tsartlip and I (Chris) am looking at visiting Thailand in August. All the while continuing to partner with our church and many other organizations to be a light in our city and neighborhood.

We need your prayers, support, friendship and encouragement now more than ever!

Global girls...

2011-03-01T08:52:00.001-08:00

This past week was our annual visit from Global Youth Network, a justice education and action organization in Canada. And continuing with a popular trend, they sent me a team with 9 ladies and no dudes (7 were vegetarians unlike last year :). This was my first time hosting a Global team on my own and without knowing any of the group that was coming to boot. This was a great team. It was a tiring week for all of us but so rewarding.

Some highlights...

Games - Global teams love to play games. It's just part of their DNA. I think it comes from being stuck in airports, train stations and other uncomfortable places for undetermined amounts of time. So we played a lot...at my house, with my kids, in our host church, with the youth group and our airport kids group. Leave Global alone for a few minutes and games will ensue.

Day out in the city - We usually send teams out for a little day scavenger hunt in downtown Modesto. The girls split in two groups and went about downtown talking to folks, making new friends among the homeless and learning about our community from them. One group took some new homeless friends on the tour through our historic McHenry mansion. They gave these guys the gift of dignity. It seemed like all had a great day being with the people on the street.

Partners and friends - I got to show off some of the great (and quiet) things happening in our city, taking them to meet friends at The Vine House, City Ministry Network, Advancing Vibrant Communities, Jeff in the Airport neighborhood and Denise who feeds (and loves!) people at Tower Park every Saturday and Sunday.

Day out in San Francisco - We usually take visiting teams for a little tourist day in the city. Josh went along this time to give me a little male companionship and we all had a great time seeing some history, some tourist spots, the golden gate bridge, the ocean and awesome Indian food.

Surprise (again!)- Every year with these teams, I sit in awe at the beauty of simple friendship and the magic that happens when we just take a little time to stop, notice people, listen to them and care about them. It changes our whole perspective. It changed me once again and I want to live that change more every day.

Thanks girls!

P.S. the late night run to the emergency room after an impromptu wrestling match was quite a hoot as well. Let's just say Global Youth Network has a funny way of deciding who's going to be the leader :)

A quote from South 9th St.

2011-01-24T10:10:00.001-08:00

Merry Christmas from South 9th Street!

2010-12-24T14:45:00.000-08:00

Soup...

Good friends...

And a few surprises!

Merry Christmas!

Top 10 indicators that Youth With A Mission, Modesto is way more female than it used to be:

2010-12-09T23:43:00.001-08:00

#10 - team members now wonder if I’ve noticed their new hair highlights

#9 - If you serve team members coffee, it’s best to have fancy creamers like “French Vanilla” available.

#8 - Coded language like “BF” and “BFF” is used way more frequently.

#7 - Team members are already planning a staff party to watch the royal wedding in April.

#6 - Everything kind of smells better.

#5 - There is much more giggling.

#4 - Amie actually shows up to meetings.

#3 - Conversation could be incredibly deep one minute and in an instant, “Jersey Shore”.

#2 - Public burping (among other functions) are at an all time low.

And the #1 indicator that Youth With A Mission, Modesto is way more female than it used to be...

We actually think through the details!

Fairy tales and the Soul of YWAM Modesto

2010-12-02T17:51:00.000-08:00

I was reading last night in "Blue Like Jazz" by Don Miller (I know, everybody read this 5 years ago) in his chapter on community. He says that he always assumed his life story was about him. I guess there's a way that we all kind of do this. We see ourselves as the star of our own little show. It's easy enough to live this way, our eyes are literally the eyes through which we see the world.

I woke up this morning thinking about stories. Have you noticed, in many imaginative stories (fairy tales, fantasies and the like), the plot boils down to a group of three? If you read literary critics much smarter than me, they would explain that a lot of imaginative stories work with what is know as the "soul tryptic", three characters that represent the soul...body, mind and heart (or spirit).

In the Harry Potter stories, Harry is the heart, Hermione is the mind and Ron is the body (always eating!). In The Lord of The Rings, Frodo is the heart, Sam is mind and Gollum is the body ("...to catch a fish so juicy SWEET!"). In Percy Jackson, Percy is the heart, Annabeth is the mind and Grover is definitely the body (always hungry!). Dorothy's quest is aided by three who are looking for a heart, a brain and physical courage. After being made aware of this, it's fun to look for. There's Trinity, Morpheus and Neo; Gayle, Peeta and Katniss; Luke, Leia and Han and Peter, James and John!

The "mind" and "body" in these kinds of stories exist to help the "heart" find it's goal or accomplish his or her task that usually involves saving the world from a great evil.

I have been a part of a beautiful working tryptic for the last few years in YWAM Modesto. People would refer to Jimmy, Aaron and I as "the guys" or "the YWAM guys" and they meant the three of us. Even though Amie, Kelly, all our kids and John and Rhiannon have all been with us to varying degrees, we three have been seen (for good or for ill) as the core of our work here.

And like any short sighted person may do, I have assumed for my self the role of "the heart" of this story I'm living. It's been easy to do. Of the three, we were here first. It's the only reason I was given the role of "director". I've been hailed as the leader, the pioneer.

If I'm the heart, then Jimmy is for sure the body. He has always pushed me to my physical limits. From learning how to build things to getting in better shape to actually pushing me up a mountain, Jimmy has been a great challenge and encouragement to me. And Aaron is most definitely the mind that has served me. He has helped me think a better way more times than I can count. He has handed me book after book and sat with me through many dark hours to help me see things more clearly.

But as the Sustars have left for Thailand and Aaron took off today for a Sabbatical year away in Canada and who knows where else and after I read what Don Miller wrote about assuming you were the star of your own show and after pondering this idea of the tryptic while in the shower today, I'm changing my mind.

What if Jimmy was the heart? His passion has pushed us to try things we would have never thought of. Jimmy has picked up the banner of love for the most vulnerable and run with it straight to Thailand. His and Kelly's obedience has been heartbreaking and beautiful to be a part of. If Jimmy is the heart then Aaron is his body. Aaron has been there to reassure, go along and serve, and be a true under-girding in regards to Thailand. Aaron has been Jimmy's traveling companion there and will be the one to show up way more than I will to support and encourage. That makes me the mind. Jimmy bounces things off of me. My role in his life has been to listen...sometimes to give advise but mostly to let Jimmy hear himself think and figure things out. Yep, Jimmy might be the heart.

Or maybe Aaron was the heart? The way he has supported struggling people has, in a way, been the soul of who we are together. His unrelenting hope for lives who many would say are hopeless and his willingness to fight for a better day has been the drive for much of what we have done together. If Aaron is the heart, then Jimmy has been the mind, faithfully cutting through fogginess and uncertainty to get to the heart of the matter for Aaron. And if Jimmy is the mind, I am surely the body for Aaron. I often ride along to help be eyes, to push us physically into a new spaces, I suggest places to eat and ways to be with people.

Looking at it this way, it seems we all carry a piece of a bigger heart and we can all serve that heart in others in a great variety of ways. Jesus is the heart, His Spirit gives us his mind and we are his body working his will in the world. We can all be these things for one another according to the natural gifts we carry and the specific grace God gives us for the circumstances we face.

And of course, you realize these things as you get far down the road and look back. Our little fellowship has made some wrong turns, we've not seen the whole picture, we have not been a perfect team. But that's not ever the point of any story. As long as the Heart is served by His friends, even through missteps and short sightedness, the world gets saved, evil is pushed back, sacrifices are made and light is shed in the darkness.

Amie and my kids and Aaron and Jimmy and Kelly and Dave and my Church and my friends and my extended family and supporters and countless others have faithfully served my heart, so much more than I deserve. I hope I have served them too. I can only pray for the grace to notice ways that I can be a physical presence, a listening ear, a comfort, a strong shoulder, offer a clearer perspective, a prayer of faith, encouragement and stubborn hope that a new day will come.

"But now faith, hope, love abide these three; but the greatest of these is love."

May our lives be marked not by great deeds and accomplishments, but by great love. Love for God, each other, and the broken world around us.

10 boys and Giving Thanks.

2010-11-23T18:37:00.000-08:00

We've been doing a monthly event with the Club Awesome kids and this month was all about Thanksgiving. We gather the kids, play games and do special projects together. This month, after telling the story of Squanto, we made some makeshift Native American head pieces.

Then we watched the Charlie Brown Thanksgiving Special...

...and ate a Snoopy style Thanksgiving dinner complete with toast, popcorn, jelly beans and pretzels!

Awesome having Alexa and Julie coming out to help lead...

And after some basketball,

We assumed the "thankful" position, which Aaron says is with your legs out, head back and hands behind your head...kinda looking up wistfully.

We gave thanks for food, Jesus, friends, popcorn, basketball, hot chocolate and our time together. A great day!

Canalien Invasion or What We Did With The Canadians

2010-10-28T18:12:00.000-07:00

October is our time to have our friends down from Stanley Park church in Kitchener, Ontario in Canada. Here's a few pics in no certain order...

We went to the taco trucks

We made some food

We served it to some kids

We played with some kids

We made some chili

We ate it with our friends on S 9th St.

We went to the taco BUS.

We saw some big trees.

We happened upon a dead whale.

Really...that's a dead blue whale...85 ft. long!

We went to church.

We had coffee with friends on 9th Street.

We went to a Bigfoot museum.

Yes, a big foot museum.

We went to Knights Ferry.

We made pancakes.

We even made very special pancakes.

We ate them with friends on South 9th Street.

A great week with good friends.

A Candle For Lorna.

2010-10-06T10:44:00.000-07:00

I never spoke to her. I only saw her. I don't know if she ever really talked to anybody. She was quiet but more than that, she was in another kind of reality. At least once a week I'd see her walking. She walked everywhere in a determined kind of way. Always there on the 9th St. bridge, somewhere downtown, walking Yosemite Blvd. Always walking and always a concentrated look on her face. Not mean, not angry, not blank but something like frustration. She didn't talk.

We could never get her to stop and have a coffee at the 9th St. Cafe. She was always in too much of a hurry to get somewhere. I wouldn't have known her name if not for Arlie. Arlie has known her for years. He remembered when she used to talk and laugh. He remembered what she was like before. Some abuse or tragedy had caused her to retreat into herself. Sometimes she would just stand and look at the road in a silent, troubled reverie.

Arlie was the only one that ever got her to take something we offered. She once took a hot dog from him at one of our cook outs. It was like a miracle.

Lorna passed away two weeks ago from a hit and run driver. She is the 13th victim of hit and run in our county alone this year.

Last night, I was a guest at a prayer service hosted by our local chapter of the National Alliance On Mental Illness. It was a beautiful evening. As people shared their pain and reasons for thanksgiving, I couldn't help but think of Lorna and so many like her in our town that have just fallen through the cracks.

So many have gotten sick or hurt. They are confused and alone. They have no meds so they take what's available on the street. These people are like ghosts haunting the forgotten places. And they will remain that way until we slow down, until we stop, until we listen, until we pray with them, go as far as we can with them, eat with them and somehow find a way to make a place for them among us.

At the end of the service, we were invited to come and light a candle at the altar as symbol of our prayers to Jesus who is the light cutting through darkness. I had Lorna in mind as I lit my candle, thinking of the others out there like her that are alone.

Please, please don't drive distracted. Don't say it won't happen to you. Please put down your cell phone and pay attention.

And better yet, let's work hard at not being distracted people. Take some time, even a little bit, to lay down your life and follow Jesus. He's walking with the broken and lonely. Let's walk with him.

For new things to begin, old things have to end (kinda)

2010-09-29T12:08:00.000-07:00

Today, we helped Jim and Kelly pack up a van and a Uhaul for storage and clean the house they are vacating. It's another step in the move to Thailand to work with good friends at Compasio. They don't have all the funds they need yet but it is coming in slowly but surely. We're getting surprise hits at the YWAM Modesto Paypal button (wanna surprise us? You can HERE! : ) and we are assured that God is going to provide all they need.

A couple of nights in Modesto and then they are off to pack up their storage, get some training and say goodbye to family down south while they finalize their plans.

It's a bittersweet time. We are sad they are going and happy to watch God do what he does so well. He sends, he ignites, he breaks our heart, he gives us a choice, he invites, he compels, he opens doors and creates connection and he loves when we love... when we love so much that we can't help ourselves but pour it out into the broken places of the world. He loves when we are so captured by his love that we drop it all and go and do the thing his love has compelled us to do.

For them, it's taken a lot of frustration, obstacles, communication and plain hard work to get here. And they are not 'here' yet but it's coming. What helps is to remember why. It's love, love so big we call him God, that makes it worth the effort. The Sustars have made me want to get ready to go. Only I'm going here for now. What is it that holds us back? Let's pack up the non-essentials, put hindrances away, keep what's important, say a prayer with our friends, support one another and take off into the good works that have been prepared for us to do.

"For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do" Eph 2:10

This is a video of the "why" they are going. If you're reading on facebook, you can find the video HERE. And you can follow the Sustars at their blog HERE.

By the way, that great song is "The Reckoning" from the album Counting Stars by Andrew Peterson.

How to start a children's ministry...

2010-09-18T13:24:00.001-07:00

I was reminded this morning of the three simple steps to starting a children's ministry...

Step 1. Get some friends together...

Step 2. Find some kids...

Step 3. Hang out with them for a bit.

Sustar Send Off!

2010-09-14T10:03:00.000-07:00

We are hosting a send off fund raiser for the Sustar family, preparing to leave us here in California to work with our partners in Thailand at Compasio. So, save the date and c'mon out to...

Salida's Kountry Kitchen
4702 Broadway in Salida
Tuesday night, September 21
From 5 - 8pm
$10 gets you a burger (with all the fixins), fries and a drink.
We'll have some live music and entertainment from our community
Get some plates to go or stick around to enjoy the food and company.

All profits go to help the Sustars get on the plane for their new adventure. Do you want to know more? Folow their journey at their blog...CLICK HERE!

Tickets are on sale in advance and available at the restaurant or from the YWAM Modesto guys
For more info, call Chris at 209-404-4027

9/11 Airport neighborhood clean-up day!

2010-09-11T13:57:00.000-07:00

Thanks to our friends at Advancing Vibrant Communities and some good hard working partners from Millcreek Church and...um...Sam (pictured below).

This...

is no longer there...

!

It was a great day to be working together with the body of Christ in our city. Lots got done. Let's hear it for good, filthy work!

Who is YWAM Modesto and what do you do?

2010-08-17T17:47:00.000-07:00

Youth With A Mission Modesto is Aaron Alford, Jimmy, Kelly, Mila, Zion and Gabriel Sustar, Julie Harrison, Alexa Blevins and Chris (me!), Amie, Josh, Sam and Stella Whitler. We also have many friends, partners and supporters that make our life and work here possible. We live exclusively on the grace of God through donations to our work from congregations, families and friends.

We serve a Mission...

Youth with a Mission (YWAM) is a specialized, inter-denominational missionary order desiring “to know God and make Him known.” YWAM is committed to...

Convey the message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Change lives through training.

Care for those in need around the world.

We are aligned with this vision and one or more of these elements is a part of everything we do. We connect with others in our mission regionally for mutual prayer and conference. We teach our style of outreach to YWAM trainees when called on.

We serve A church...

Aaron and I are deacons at New Hope Christian Fellowship, a small, Bible based, non-denominational congregation. I lead the congregation in worship on Sundays. We facilitate the youth group meetings in a team and are available to listen to and pray with them. We attend the leadership meetings. We help run monthly prayer meetings. We serve the members who have needs and help to connect people to resources in the community. We serve the vision of the elders. We serve the activities of the congregation.

We serve THE church....

We connect with local networks of church and ministry workers and build relationships and serve where we can. We host teams from out of town and locally to teach them the joy of simple outreach by taking them along with us to 9th St. and other hurting places in our city. We partner with local inter-church worship and outreach efforts.

We serve two international organizations...

One is Compasio, a ministry to impoverished families on the Thai/Burmese border. Jimmy and Kelly are moving their family to Thailand for two years to work with them (read more about that HERE). Aaron goes to work in Thailand at least once a year for a month or more. I sit on the US board for Compasio.

We assist Global Youth Network in Canada in the training of young leaders by hosting an annual group for 10 days. Global is an international justice and education organization that we worked with and learned from before coming to Modesto. We also partner with Global in other projects including retreats and camps.

We serve the poor, lonely and broken...

Each Friday, we set up a little cafe in a forgotten place in our city and spend time with hurting people. We serve coffee, some food and friendship. Friendship is the heart of our little team. Out of friendship comes everything else. We have been with people through recovery from substance abuse. We have seen people come to and back to relationship with Jesus. We have seen people leave the street. We have seen them fall, get up and fall again. Through it all, we offer friendship, prayer and support. And we seek to engage our creativity in being a voice for these friends.

And, because we are a 501c3 non-profit in California -

We also keep our own books, manage donations, and raise our own personal and corporate support. Some of our ministry is right out of pocket and some of it comes from our corporate budget.

Please pray for us. Sometimes it's a lot to juggle and we are in a constant state of re-evaluation as this life is quite dynamic. Thanks for reading and thanks for your support and friendship.

An answer to some difficult questions...

2010-06-30T09:38:00.001-07:00

Recently, I was at a community outreach in West Modesto and I got asked one of the three really hard questions to answer, I stammered around the question as I often do. Here are the 3 hard questions... What do you do? How much of your time does YWAM take? How can I volunteer with your program?

The following is an older email I stumbled on today that I wrote in response to someone who wanted to come and join our work here. I have changed it to make it make sense as a blog post. So here's my answer to those hard questions...

"My family came to Modesto from Canada (we had been with and still partner with Global Youth Network) as YWAMers to work with a little local church that couldn't afford to hire us. We came to help the church start doing community outreach, we didn't even set out to start any YWAM (Youth With A Mission) thing here at all...we were just YWAMers seconded to a local church. Then, Aaron came from Canada to join us and then the Sustars and then YWAM told us we should become an official operating location so that's what we did. There are only 2 families and a single dude here and the Sustars are headed to Thailand for 2 years to work with some good friends we have over there.

"We do outreach. We spend regular time on the street (especially 9th street that has a lot of old residential motels) just meeting with people and building relationships with them. Every Friday we host a little coffee time out there on the street and hang out for a bit. Lots of other things we do come from that....from the friendships we form on Friday. So like, today, I hung out with my homeless friend in his shack he built in his sister's back yard...it's really rainy and windy today so I took him a little food and checked in on him. Aaron is with our other friend who is trying to recover from an alcohol addiction...they went to the movies to just spend a little time together. Last night, we picked up another friend at the Shiva motel for Bible study at our church. So, we do stuff like that.

"And we are partnering with the local church....uniquely with one church, New Hope Christian Fellowship...the church our family originally came to serve. I am the worship leader and a deacon and we facilitate the youth group. We also have developed lots of friendships with other churches through the youth pastor's network, Youth For Christ and City Ministry Network. So we do some speaking at local churches about evangelism, local poverty and simple outreach. We also host them in local outreach experiences when there's interest.

"We don't look for it but we do host teams...like we don't actively recruit teams but through relationship we have about 4 - 5 teams a year. We use these times to try to impart the simplicity of reaching out through relationship. So we do teaching and take the teams out with us to hang out on the street here in Modesto and do what compassion moves them to do.

"God has continued to challenge us to go further and deeper but at the same time drop more and more that propensity in all of us to lean on programs or systems instead of relationships. Our heart has been to keep the greatest expression of love at the top of our priorities... friendship that's willing to lay down it's life.

"In the past few years, we have been taking trips to Thailand to work with some good friends that have started a ministry to vulnerable families on the Thai/Burmese border. Our friends at Compasio are such a good fit because they are a lot like us...they don't really know what they're doing but they just go ahead and do what they can. Like I said, the Sustars are headed there, Aaron visits regularly and I serve on the U.S. board.

"The work here was born out of friendship and continues to be. We are not a YWAM base...as in we do not have a property, we live in the community in rental houses. We do not have secured staff housing here. We have no real money as we have no programy source of income...our ministry exists on little gifts here and there and us chipping in from our own individual support to do the things we do.

"Our mode is to release one another into ministry by regularly meeting and praying together and serving one another to do what God has put in our heart. To be friends and extend friendship to others. And to articulate our story creatively. We sensed God giving us these words in a prayer day a couple of years ago...'creative, compassionate community'. So, that's our aim. We are a work in progress that grows dynamically through friendship."

So, hope that helps. If you still have questions, let's have a coffee!

Breaking Bread

2010-06-09T16:35:00.000-07:00

This video was put together by Aaron. This is our heart. If you're reading this on facebook, you can watch it HERE. From Aaron..."A lot of what we do in Modesto is centered around food. Burgers, burritos, coffee & donuts have been the beginning of some of my best friendships."

Breaking Bread from Aaron Alford on Vimeo.

We don't just serve people on 9th street...

2010-05-17T10:05:00.000-07:00

You can only post so many pictures of flipping burgers on South 9th Street. But during a great BBQ this past Saturday with 412 Crew youth group of Church of the Cross here in Modesto, I caught Arlie feeding a new friend.

Our youngest group yet!

2010-05-14T14:36:00.001-07:00

At the very end of April and beginning of May, we hosted a team of Junior High students from Sacramento for a small outreach here in Modesto. We've never worked with a group so young (several of them were 12!) and didn't know how they would respond to our style of non-work project/relational outreach. That's them up there, eating at one of our favorite taco trucks.

They did great! They really caught our heart to listen to people's story and give folks the grace of listening. Their last night with us, we threw a BBQ for the South 9th Street community.

I was flipping burgers on the grill which puts me kinda in the center of things and there was a time when I looked around and saw all the kids patiently and kindly listening to someone's story.

There was one group of kids that listened to a struggling friend for two whole hours. Yeah, TWO! It was beautiful. This was a nice night on south 9th St (I know for you locals, that sounds a little strange) but God really met us down there and we had a great time with the people and the group did so good.

After we cleaned up and prayed our last prayer, their leader wanted to take them for ice cream and that's when we remembered Elvis Karaoke at our downtown A & W. Oh yeah.

Me and Jimmy got things started...

And the group got into it too...maybe a little too much ! : )

Jonah - God said Go

2010-04-26T10:55:00.000-07:00

I've been meditating for the past week on the book of Jonah. I went through it six times. Well, ok, so I haven't been in intense Biblical study, I've been hanging out with John.

John is an old friend with YWAM Canada's Word To Life Theatre Arts based in British Colombia. This was his forth year coming to Modesto for a little tour. John presents the scriptures through creative storytelling and Jonah is one of my favorite's so far.

John shared "Jonah - God said Go" at a couple of churches, a recovery group, a bible study, a retirement home, and a community youth group. We had a great week and I had the specific privilege of seeing all of them. John's presentation is funny, disarming, inviting and insightful. It was fun watching the different groups respond to John and the scripture. John's performance puts the old story in historical context and brings the message right back to us.

Why is it that we make people, dearly loved and longed for by God, our enemies? We can be so quick and reactionary to wish judgment on other cultures, nations, peoples, classes or even individuals. How easily our own comfort and ideas about who is in and who is out can get in the way of what God wants to do through us.

At the end of the story, Jonah is angry that God had compassion on the wicked, repentant Ninavites and he sulks under a shade vine that God causes to wither. And Jonah even pouts about the vine. And God speaks...

"You have been concerned about this vine, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight. But Nineveh has more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left, and many cattle as well. Should I not be concerned about that great city?"

And that is the question that ends the story. And I think about Modesto, about gangs and the thug culture so prevalent here, about drug addicts and dealers, about prostitutes and johns, and even about how easy it is for our churches to miss the point. And I know that God loves us all. He is concerned with this great city.

And part of the message came to me through John himself, not just the story. This was his least lucrative trip yet. John does not charge a set price for a performance, but gives guidelines and trusts God that he will be provided for. Of course, most of the places I can book him into do not have a lot of money or resource. I even talked to him a week before he came to ask if he wanted to cancel as there just wasn't a lot of paid performances.

But he came anyway, to serve, connect and share his gift wherever he could. We had a great week together.

Upcoming YWAM Modesto Events! (woo hoo!)

2010-04-14T13:37:00.000-07:00

Howdy all,

We've got some things coming up that we'd looooooove for you to be at. Here they are...

This Sunday Night, April 18! - John Wason from YWAM Canada's Word To Life Theatre Arts joins us at New Hope Christian Fellowship for morning and evening performances.

The evening performance is a community event and free of charge (with some love offering love available). Join us at the new New Hope on the corner of Haddon and Trask (CLICK HERE for directions) in Modesto for John's presentation of
"Jonah - God Said Go" at 7 pm. This presentation can be enjoyed by the whole family!

And coming soon - Justin Fox will join us live in the New Hope Chapel for a great night of music and sharing, Tuesday, April 27 at 7pm. Justin travels all over the country sharing his music and passion for God. You can check out his website at justinfox.com and come see him with us.

P.S. - John Wason will be with us all this next week of April 17 - 25 and his schedule is not filled up. If you have an event or church service (Sunday the 25th is open!) that you'd like to book him for, you can contact me, Chris at cwhitler@gmail.com

P.S.S. - Amie Whitler is debuting a modern dance piece this week at MJC's Choreographer's Showcase (you can see her previous works HERE and HERE). The programs including her performances are Wednesday and Friday nights. The show starts at 7:30 and the box office opens at 6pm.

P.S.S.S - The Sustars made it back safely from Thailand last night and are taking a bit to recoup and get over jet lag. You can read about their adventures at their family site HERE.

Thanks and we hope to see you soon!

Chris Whitler
YWAM Modesto
ywammodesto.org

People from Fresno STILL rock!

2010-04-03T08:42:00.001-07:00

Last year, we hosted a high school team from Fresno First Baptist. WE loved having these guys...they were so willing to jump in and serve with cheerful hearts. So when Jon (the youth pastor) decided to come back with another team, we were very happy to have them again. And once again, this team (6 that came last time and 5 newbies) was so fun to host for outreach. They brought life, laughs and light to whatever we did together. Here's a few pics...

They love playing games together whenever there's a free moment and they are quick to include others in the fun. This one's called 'Ninja'.

And they loved everybody on South 9th Street in our time there...everybody!

They served...

They sang...

They played...

They even flipped...

Art and dance were unplanned themes with this group. We spent time listening to local artist, Emilio Martinez, who has a heart to see his neighborhood change through creativity.

And we were able to take what he taught us to a group of kids from the same neighborhood...

They had an impromptu dance class from Amie...

And they danced...

Danced,

DANCED!

Thanks Jon & Co. from Fresno First B. Thanks for loving us, our city, our church and our friends.

A Saturday with the kids.

2010-03-29T13:12:00.001-07:00

We don't really have a kids program anymore but we do know some great kids. This past Saturday, we took some of them to our local library for a magic show and some reading together. There are few better ways to spend personal time with a kid than experiencing a story together. I'm thankful for Manuel and Alexa who came along with Aaron and I to make the day possible.

Surely we did more than eat...

2010-02-21T23:03:00.000-08:00

This past week, we hosted another annual team from Canada. Every year, Global Youth Network sends us a team of student leaders to hang out with us in Modesto, learn about how we do outreach here and hopefully glean some useful stuff along the way. It was a great week but looking through my pictures, I'm having a hard time finding anything that doesn't involve food.

Of course, we started the week with our customary story telling tour of the places we have and do work in the city. And we end it at the taco trucks...of course...that's to be expected.

Yeah, but then we did a BBQ on South 9th Street

Well, yes...that's food too, I guess. Arley got creative and had his burger on a doughnut instead of a bun...

And Gilad and Trista gave it a shot...

But yeah, we did other stuff...like, uh, we...

Reconnected with the kids! Yes, we reconnected with our kids group in the Airport neighborhood...here we are playing soccer with the kids...

Right after we ate beans and rice with them at the park.

But seriously, we also did things like meet up with some ministry and initiative leaders to hear their heart for their neighborhoods. And the only picture I have of that is of the team picking grapefruit...to eat...

Ok, we ate. Alright, we admit it, we ate!

Oh, and we did take them into San Fransisco to see the sights...

New Sustar post.

2010-02-10T12:36:00.000-08:00

Visit their site for the latest from Thailand...GLONK HERE.

A new update from the Sustars...Easing In...

2010-01-31T15:26:00.001-08:00

Here we are.
This week has been full of beauty, fun, work, and the sadness of human suffering.
Here it goes...read more HERE.

The 9th Street Cafe's not afraid of a little rain!

2010-01-22T15:41:00.000-08:00

It drizzled on us till we got the tent up and then it just rained. Once it was all over and everything was taken and most people had gone, the sun came out. It was a great day on 9th Street anyway.

If you pray, two ladies named April and Dina asked for it today...for shelter, healing and recovery.

The Sustars take off!

2010-01-18T09:06:00.000-08:00

Not bad for a family of 5 for 3 months!

Howdy folks, a quick note to let you know that our good friends and 1/3 of Youth With A Mission Modesto, the Sustars, headed out tonight for 3 months to Thailand. They are going to serve with Compasio, working on the Thai/Burmese border with vulnerable families and children. Please keep them in prayer and you can follow their journey at their blog...http://wwwsusthai.blogspot.com/

Little things, big difference (by Chris)

2010-01-15T17:00:00.001-08:00

It was cold in Modesto today. OK, you east coasters, it never gets cold cold but it still gets cold. Cold for being outside most of the day. And it's wet cold. The fog and wind today made it a "in your bones" cold. This week, Kelly (a home school mom at Sam's baseball class) brought by our house three grocery bags filled with small things that made a big difference today. She got the idea after hearing from Amie what it is we do on 9th Street. So, at our cafe this morning, as well as our usual hot drinks, bread and pastries we gave out these little bundles...

All this, wrapped up in a hat and scarf. People were so happy to receive these thoughtful gifts. Many put the hat, scarf and gloves on right away. These took some time to put together and we are so grateful. A little creativity, intentionality and generosity made today a little better for some of our friends.

This is what we do.

2010-01-08T16:03:00.000-08:00

This is what we do.

Honored Guests

2009-12-08T17:21:00.000-08:00

He approached me with hesitation because we don't quite know each other. He has unusually bright eyes for someone stuck on South 9th Street. Most who live there wear their years like an old, heavy coat that's too big. He does not. There is some light and a little hope. He pulled me over out of her earshot to ask me a question. "Hey, I was wondering something. I missed her birthday, it was a while ago, and I was wondering if you guys would be able to help me get a cake for her?"

They are stuck right now. Stuck down on 9th. Stuck because they don't see a way out. Stuck in addiction. Stuck because they choose to be. Stuck from ignorance. Stuck from fear of the unknown. Stuck because it's all they've known for years and years. Just stuck. They live in a motel. Everyday they survive. But, they have a plan. It is a broken plan. It's a bit dysfunctional, but it is a plan. And they are working it for what it is and things are getting a little better. He really wants to get her off that street.

She's been on 9th street for around 12 years. They have been years of abuse, soul-tearing violence and addiction. It is really hard on South 9th Street.

"It has to be chocolate and I want it to say 'Happy Birthday Honey Bunny,'" with a bit of an embarrassed smile. "Can you help me?"

I told him that I thought I could and we made our scheme. "We'll be right here Wednesday at noon. If anything comes up, call me."

I called a woman in our church that likes to bake and who could actually write on a cake and have it be legible. She happily accepted the challenge. "I'm not professional, it won't look like at the store." It was beautiful. We picked it up and headed over to our spot on South 9th.

In our work, 6 times out of 10 something goes wrong. People can be difficult to find and a little hard to pin down. Planning can be sketchy as most days blend into the next. And things happen. We usually set a time for how long we'll wait for an arranged meeting to materialize. We decided we'd wait 20 -30 minutes. Right around 12:05, she walked out of the mini-mart and was coming past our van. I got out and said hello. He wasn't with her and I didn't know if I should say anything about our surprise so I made some small talk.

She smiled, "Ok, I know there's a surprise...what's going on?"

I laughed and told her to get in the van and we'd go down to the motel and find him. She got in the front seat and Aaron started driving. I pulled out the cake from the back seat and set it in front of her eyes. 'Happy Birthday Honey Bunny' She squealed and started to cry.

Back at the motel parking lot, she jumped out of the van and invited everyone there to her "birthday party". Everyone gathered around and we sang to her. She cut her cake and served her guests. "Thank you for coming to my party" as she handed each friend a piece. And for a moment, she was laughing like a girl.

We were honored to be guests at such a party.

Looking for signs

2009-11-29T22:15:00.001-08:00

This is a sign posted in Modesto's airport neighborhood at a strange bend in the road. Classically (and a little notoriously) called the "Airport District," this part of our town was settled at the arrival of the dust bowl refugees. Plots were cheap and times were hard. While the demographics have changed here, poverty has not. It has always been a part of the story in this neighborhood. On this side of this street, it is county property. Some of the area is claimed by the city and other islands are in the county. You can tell the county areas by the lack of side walks and street lights.

This sign caught me off guard while walking with a friend in the neighborhood. Just a simple hand painted sign warning motorists that kids are near by. But it speaks. It speaks of caring parents or a concerned neighbor. It speaks about going the extra mile. It speaks about using what you have to do what you can. It is resourceful, creative and compassionate. It speaks of hope.

What can you do today to make the world better? How can you use what you have, where you're at? Who needs encouragement? Who needs your time? Who needs a gracious ear? Who needs food? Who needs a call or letter?

In our first Advent service at church, we talked about living as people of hope. We can live awake, alert and intentionally looking for opportunity to express our hope to an aching world. Keep your eyes open. Signs of hope are everywhere.

9th Street Surprises

2009-11-21T07:59:00.000-08:00

The past couple of Fridays on 9th Street have been good but a little different. With the Sustars in Ohio and Aaron in Canada, Bob and Arlie and I have been holding down the fort. Yesterday brought a few surprises.

Looks like a normal day at the 9th St. Cafe...friends having coffee and goodies, relaxing and laughing. But...

there's Julie! She came today to try her hand at being a 9th St. Barista. It was great to have her out with us again. And then my pastor showed up! He talked and prayed with folks and tried his hand at being a Barista too...

Then Amie showed up...she's not usually able to come out on Friday...another nice surprise.

Mary (in the middle there) really likes it when other girls come with us. We can have the tendency to be a bit of a boys club : ) Speaking of which, Arlie proceeds to pull out a little pool table he found. So the cafe upgraded to a game room!

It was fun to see this little thing work it's magic on friends down there who carry so much worry. It's like they got to come up for air in the simple joy of playing a game. It's exactly what we want our time on 9th Street to be.

It's the simple things that matter the most. Times like that leave me grateful and amazed. Let's pray for eyes to see God's little surprises everyday.

Why did Jimmy climb a mountain?

2009-11-12T10:47:00.000-08:00

In September, Jimmy climbed Mt. Whitney as a fundraiser event for the Sustar's upcoming trip to Thailand to work with our friends at Compasio. You can still help to sponsor this trip at our website DONATION PAGE and earmark your gift for "Thailand" or "Mt. Whitney."

Stanley Park Team '09!

2009-11-11T12:56:00.000-08:00

For four years and running, we've hosted a team from Stanley Park Community Church in Kitchener, Ontario; Canada. This has become less like hosting a team and more like a visit from friends. This year was no exception. They have have been so faithful that they even have people in Modesto they go see from the friendships they've formed in previous visits. Here's few pics and highlights of their week with us...

This was our first group to host in a new location...they were small enough to fit in the Haddon house at New Hope's new property (still very much under construction).

But the guys seemed fine with our "casual" digs.

On a previous trip, the guys had connected with Ken here and helped him patch up holes in the roof of his trailer. Ken is a shut in due to illness and lives alone in a trailer park off South 9th St. This year, the awning covering his front porch was all but gone and with the rainy season on it's way, the guys set to work.

You can't keep Danny away from a project : )

It was an engineering marvel and just in time. Of course, we spent a lot of time on 9th Street with coffee, chili and BBQ, just doing what we do, spending time with people...

They spent time in the hobo shack...

Lots of taco trucks including the TACO BUS!

Yosemite...

And of course...

Thanks guys...see you again next year!

From another perspective...

2009-11-07T06:14:00.001-08:00

Yesterday we had a new friend join us for the 9th Street Cafe. Her name is Bethany. She wrote about her experience and I wanted to link to that here. It's good to see this thing we do all the time from a different perspective...

http://beth0329.blogspot.com/2009/11/south-9th-street.html

The people in your neighborhood

2009-09-26T16:44:00.001-07:00

I got to talking to a greengrocer a couple of weeks ago at a local market. He's a guy we see quite a bit and share small talk with. Always a friendly hello and sometimes more. Here's a story he shared with us...

There is a homeless man that meanders outside of his shop and his wife and he decided to engage with this man just to offer him a bit of friendship. This homeless guy is out of it quite a bit but they started slow, offering him a sandwich and such. As they got to talking they realized that they knew him from the town they grew up in...that they had actually, long ago, been family friends. So they are just trying to listen, befriend, build trust and help this guy however they can.

The grocer knows what we do and occasionally asks our opinion on how they are proceeding. They aren't getting carried away. They have no illusions that they will "fix" his problem. They are simply meeting him with dignity with the offer of friendship and the opportunity to reciprocate, trusting that friendship will lead the way. What a wonderful example! After hearing his story, I told him that I had no advice for him because what they are doing is the only thing I know to do.

This grocer said he and his wife fell in love with quiet service the year a kid ripped their son's jacket off of him at school. They met with the other parents in the principal's office to resolve the issue, expecting the family to replace the damaged jacket. The other mother was distraught, saying she'd replace it but she couldn't afford jackets for their own kids. That's all it took.

The grievance was dropped and the grocer and his wife bought jackets for everyone. Ever since, they have anonymously bought jackets for a needy family as a "back to school" ritual. So beautiful...that's the gospel! Laying down our rights to help meet the needs of others.

Friendship, reaching out across whatever divides us, helps us see that people are just people. People respond to honest, if clumsy, attempts. You don't need a fancy program, just a few extra minutes and a good honest try.

John and Rhi's update

2009-09-09T15:10:00.000-07:00

Near the beginning of July, I (John) went with Jimmy and our friends James, Jordan and Ruth to the backcountry, to take some of the older boys that we work with (of the Hatch Rd. Kids) on a backpacking trip. It was an awesome time. I don't think any of the four boys had ever really been to the mountains before, and they had a blast. We slid down rock waterslides, we hiked a many-miled loop and we climbed a mountain (which involved climbing a vertical rock-face).

The best part, of course, was being able to enter a deeper level of relationship with all four of the boys. They each brought a different element to the group dynamics, and it was really cool to see the boys grow in how they interacted, not only with us, but also with each other. On top of relational breakthrough, the boys let us walk alongside them as different family or personal issues cropped up, through the catalysts of physical challenges and a week's lack of personal space! By the grace of God, those boys, and us leaders, will never be the same.

A couple of short weeks after the “Awesome Camp” backpacking trip, we held our annual “Camp Awesome” event. We gathered all of the Hatch Rd. Kids--and a few extras that we have met over the course of our time in the West/South side areas--and took them up to a YWAM base called the Lord's Land, an ex-hippy commune in Mendocino, in the mountains, near the beach. All of the YWAM Modesto families came along (that is, all of our staff's kids) and a group of friends from Global Youth Network in Canada came to help, too. We had 4 days of fun, food and frolicking through fountains of God's forever flowing favor and grace. fffff. The days were packed with craft-esque activities, as well as games and exercise morning and night. For a couple of hours every afternoon the whole gang (about 40 people, total) caravanned 5 minutes to the beach. Practically none of the kids had ever been to the ocean before, so as you can imagine, they made a B-line right for it, and stayed in as long as they could. At the beach we had a campfire, climbed a rock wall (and some of the kids were naturals at it), explored caves, and, would you believe it, saw a crab, starfish and jellyfish.

And here’s Rhiannon’s take on our most recent trip to Thailand:

Thailand. "The land of smiles."

Firstly, thank you to all of those who supported us financially and prayerfully. We love you and continually thank God for you.

Each day we were able to work along side Compasio workers. Simply doing what they do each day, loving these beautiful Thai and Burmese children. We worked for the most part at three locations.

The drop-in center is a small room located in the market. Each day at 1 pm it opens to receive a swarm of Burmese children. Most of them are sub-refugees, some homeless, most on the street begging for their survival and their families’ survival. Each day a meal is provided for them. We played, we held, we hugged. They would teach us Burmese and we would teach them English. My favorite week was the week we painted the drop-in center. God blessed me with the opportunity to paint a mural for them. A hand full of the kids would stay behind to help us paint. I could tell it meant a lot to them to be a part. We became their safe place.

Compasio also has two "safe houses". I believe there are about 17 children total between the homes. Most of these children used to be begging on the street, and three of them were born in prison. These children now have safe, happy homes. It's so beautiful that God cares to provide Compasio staff to parent these children. We had such a great time with them. They took to John and me quickly. We had the honor of being part of their family while we were there. We did a lot of playing, talking, teaching and, of course, painting! We taught them how to mix colors. Both therapeutic and fun!

These children are so close to God’s Heart. As we were Christ to them, they were Christ to us.

Please pray for the Compasio staff and the children they serve. It was our goal to love these children fiercely and to be a blessing to and refresh their staff; by the grace of Christ it was accomplished.

Thanks be to God.

Love, John and Rhiannon

New Compasio Video

2009-09-09T12:05:00.000-07:00

Our friends at Compasio have a beautiful new video about their work with street kids on the Thai/Burmese border. I couldn't get it to look right embedding it on the blog so please CLICK HERE to watch. So worth a 5 minute investment!

I'm the cat.

2009-08-30T00:47:00.001-07:00

This is Aaron and Bucket. Bucket is one of the last of our wild cats at the church. Bucket has lived most of his life outside hunting for his own food and living by pure instinct. He's always fearful and on edge. His life is pure survival. Aaron has been working with Bucket, being very careful, keeping his distance and slowly, over time, getting the cat to trust him enough to eat out of his hand.

When I snapped this picture I was thinking about being on South 9th Street. We go there on Friday mornings bringing food, cold drinks, chairs in the shade and the offer of friendship. The culture there is so paranoid that it takes a long time of being there to develop trust.

But tonight, sitting with my family and some friends from church over a meal I thought of this picture again. I thought about the long faithful pull of God in my life leading me through darkness and fear and continuing to offer grace, provision and patient love. I thought about how God bides his time and doesn't get antsy or worried. How his slowness is from patience not willing for anyone to perish.

I realized that I am the cat. I don't trust God. I am afraid of how life moves. I take what I can get while I can get it because I am afraid it won't be there tomorrow. I live in a kind of soul-survival mode. I get by. I lay down with one eye alert and waiting for something to go wrong.

But there is God, crouched at a distance with a handful of good food and purity in his intentions. If I only knew that I could rest and trust and receive. If I only knew that there is a life beyond survival, that I could be near him and happy.

He doesn't give up. He waits and knows how much I can handle and probably chuckles a little at my protests at his kindness.

"There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear..." 1 John 4:18

At YWAM Modesto, we're all about togetherness...

2009-08-28T14:47:00.001-07:00

Well, we moved.

2009-08-26T12:35:00.000-07:00

YWAM Modesto is officially in our new office with our friends at Youth For Christ! Thanks YFC!

A different perspective...

2009-08-22T06:43:00.000-07:00

There's a friend from Thailand visiting here in Modesto this weekend and she wrote a nice entry at her blog about our 9th St. Cafe. READ IT HERE. Thanks Rachel, this was really encouraging.

9th St. art project

2009-08-21T23:04:00.001-07:00

Down on south 9th St. today we found this. Someone has taken it upon themselves to decorate this stretch of fence with hundreds of old cigarette boxes. It must be a collaborative effort that somebody started and the neighborhood is keeping going. I don't know why but this gave me some feeling of hope for South 9th St.

I've written about 9th St. before and this is something I have not seen down there. It's just not a place to participate in a whimsical, colorful thing. I've been surprised before, like when a guy (now a close friend) played bagel toss with us and when I saw a woman run a hug our friend playing Santa around Christmastime. But these are few and far between. My heart lifted today when I saw these boxes. On one hand it's litter, but on the other, it reveals that there is something there still in the heart of the most desperate people that wants to play, laugh and appreciate.

I guess it's another lesson in hanging out long enough and looking through the right lens.

John and Rhi in Thailand

2009-08-19T09:48:00.000-07:00

Hi, this is Rhiannon and John in Thailand. We’ve been here in Mae Sot for over a week now and have been having a great time and making good friends. Here’s a taste of what’s been the haps!

Our first day in Mae Sot, we went to Compasio's safe house where former street kids are living a healthy life. Here are Rhiannon and Nokia coloring.

Here we are at the Compasio's house for a group of children born in prison. The officials and mothers approached our friends to take these kids in. We brought some string and beads and hit the ground running making necklaces and bracelets. The children on our laps (plus 2 others) were born and raised in prison while their mothers serve their sentences. Compasio has the task of teaching these kids how to be kids, ie, how to play. They are also working to stay in relationship with the moms so that when they get out, they will be able to reestablish their families.

These boys are from a group of give or take 15 “street” kids (depending on the day). Compasio has been graced with a little room near the market for a drop-in center. They supply the kids with a warm lunch and a chance to play and be children for a couple of hours every weekday. This is where we have spent most of our time thus far. You can see “Jungle John” (as opposed to Gym) doing his daily routine. Rhiannon is currently working on an indoor mural that takes up an entire wall of the drop-in center. Pictures will be posted as soon as they can be!

Our last day in Chiang Mai we met Fran and Owen, a couple of Australians who used to live in Thailand and are here visiting old friends and seeing how they can get reconnected in serving here. We spent pretty much all of our first 4 days in Mae Sot with them. Here we are at a vista, looking over the border at some Burmese mountains (there’s a village that you can just barely see the outskirts of to the right of John). We were standing on an old guardrail right before this picture was taken. Rhiannon and our friends are standing on a falling guardrail in the picture.

Our Australian friends introduced us down the line until we came here, a YWAM base on the border near Burma that works specifically with the Karen people: teaching them first aid and basic health, as well as teaching a strictly Karen-village person’s Discipleship Training School. This is a picture as you enter the grounds of their base.

Thank you for all of your prayers, and keep it up, we need it! Thank you to everyone who made this trip possible (and not only from us, but from our new friends, too!). We love you all and we’ll see you soon!

May the peace of Christ be with you. John&Rhi

Why Jimmy's gonna climb a mountain.

2009-08-17T17:19:00.000-07:00

Hey folks, the Sustar family is planning an extended ministry trip to work with our friends in Thailand. The following entry is taken from their FAMILY PAGE on our website...

This is Jim preparing to help a 2 yr. old after he uses the side of the road as a bathroom. This is what we did in Mae Sot, Thailand last May. We found the kids on the street, fed them, taught them, and acted as their guardians. We often found them wandering the streets as late as midnight because they had not found a place to hide for the night. There are thousands of children left vulnerable to disease, kidnapping, exploitation, prostitution and severe abuse. Our friend Sia is working hard to help these kids, but there is a need for more help. Moved by compassion & led by God, we feel that He is calling us as a family to be in Thailand as much as possible to serve Him and rescue these little ones. Since our trip in May 2008, God has provided a home for these street children to live in a home. There are many more to be rescued.

We as a family are making a long trip to Thailand with our entire family this January. The specific training, experience, and heart we have is a perfect fit for the work we’ve been invited to take part in. We will be working with, and serving Compasio, (www.compasio.org) for about five months. We’ll be back in Modesto by May 2010.

We’ve developed a very unique relationship with Compasio and we’re excited to see what God will do through us and in us.

Please pray with us as we venture into the unknown. In the meantime, we work to love, teach, and befriend the broken and lost on the streets of Modesto, California, and everywhere we go. We need you all to keep praying for us. Thank you and Amen.

And it's why Jimmy's going to climb a mountain... This one in fact and you can help!

Jim will be climbing Mt. Whitney as a fund raiser. The elevation of Mt. Whitney is 14,505 ft. above sea level making it the tallest peak in the lower 48. The trail-head starts at around 8,000 ft. Total feet climbed would be around 6,500. We’re asking for pledges for each foot climbed. The goal is to collectively raise $1.00 per foot, and we are scheduled to climb the first week of September. Please let us know what you are able to do. Pledges can be recorded by e-mailing: robotsinthesky@yahoo.com, & would need to be collected by Oct. 1st.

You can give to this venture through our website donation page...CLICK HERE!

Checks can be written to:
New Hope Church,
& sent to:
Jim and Kelly Sustar
5217 Cottage Ln.
Salida, CA 95368

Remember, our name must not appear on the check but attach a note designating your gift for the Sustar's work in Thailand.

Thank you for your support. God bless you!

Kelly in Thailand!

2009-08-17T11:46:00.000-07:00

Kelly and a friend, Laura traveled to Thailand in May of this year. This is Kelly's account re-posted from our website...you can find the original post HERE.

In one word- BEAUTIFUL!

The people, the land, the sticky rice with mango... I loved it! We spent a lot of time with the kids who live & beg on the street. We played games, gave them food & water, gave medical attention, awkwardly tried speaking Thai or Burmese with them (which was fun!) & just spent time with them. Sweet, sweet kids with not much of a chance in life. But our friends from Compasio are there everyday, bringing HOPE! (Please learn more at www.compasio.org) The goal is to someday soon have a drop-in center where the kids can come anytime.

The rest of our time was spent with the kids in the safehouse (kids formerly begging on the street or living in an abusive situation or both). It was so cool to see them in this safe, loving environment after hearing Jim’s experiences with some of these same kids while they were living & sleeping on the streets.

A quick story... we went to Burmese church with the kids & while we were singing, I looked over at one of the girls (14, beautiful, rescued from an abusive situation) and she had her hands raised to God in worship & was singing her heart out! Overwhelmed with gratitude & love, I started to cry at the beauty of it, when one of the other girls (9, cute & funny, rescued from a desperate situation) grabbed my face & started wiping away my tears, saying “No cry P’ Kelly!” Then the other girls joined in wiping my face & hugging me. I was a complete wreck at that point, but I was honored to be there with them, showered by their sweet, simple love.

I LOVED being at the safehouse, it is truly a family & not just a “program”. I was (and still am) inspired by the men & women loving & serving God there. I look forward to going back & seeing all of their beautiful faces again!!!

-Kelly Sustar

Justin Fox live!

2009-08-12T15:22:00.000-07:00

Youth With A Mission Modesto and New Hope Church present a day with recording artist Justin Fox!

Sunday, August 16 at 7pm, come out to hear Justin in concert in the Brunswick Hall at New Hope (corner of Dale and Pelendale behind the new bank). The concert is free and an offering will be taken to help cover Justin's expenses. Please bring your friends to an evening of great music! If you haven't heard Justin Fox's music before...go to his website here...justinfox.com

And ,as a special bonus...

Would you like to learn more about the song writing process? Justin will be offering a song writers workshop on that same Sunday afternoon (August 16) from 1 – 5pm (suggested donation $30). Bring your guitar, paper, pen and a willingness to try something new.

If you are interested in the workshop and would like to register or have more questions, please call Chris at 209-404-4027 for details.

Remember, two great events in one day...

Song writers workshop with Justin Fox, Sunday, August 16 from 1 -5 pm ($30 suggested donation)

and

Justin Fox in concert, Sunday night, August 16 at 7pm (free with offering)

at

New Hope Church (4220 Dale Rd. Modesto, CA) in the Brunswick Hall

GLONK HERE for a map

Tsartlip village

2009-08-05T12:10:00.000-07:00

It's hard to know how to begin this post. I don't feel like I have to be careful, I want to be. It's how I felt all last week in the Tsartlip village near Victoria on Vancouver Island off the West coast of British Columbia in Canada. The Tsartlip village is a reservation for indigenous people. In Canada, they say "First Nations" people or "aboriginal". The people in the village say "Indian" and "reserve" or simply "the rez".

We were there with a team assisting a YWAM couple that do community service and youth development there. Mua is Samoan. His wife Marie grew up in Tsartlip. We helped them run a day camp for the kids of the community. Nothing fancy, just hanging out with kids and having positive interactions.

We were welcome. The people's natural disposition is not overly warm but they are welcoming if a little held back at first. They did want to know who we were, why we were there and who these strangers were taking pictures of their kids. It's the way I would feel if complete strangers showed up to run a program for my children. I would check them out.

The wounding of indigenous culture by larger, invasive cultures is something I don't completely understand. But I know it's important to learn about here and all over the world. It's part of why I went...to learn, listen and carefully seek out. It was a great time for our family and the team we were with.

Before I got there, I felt a bit intimidated going into an unknown...worried I would misstep or say something stupid. And then I remembered a meeting I was a part of in Fresno. A couple of friends and I went down to talk to some ministry leaders down there. We were talking to Brian King about his work with the gangs. One of the guys with us asked if we would ever have credibility with the guys in gangs as many of us came from middle-class families. Brian looked at us, smiled and said "man, people are people." Everyone responds to genuine attempts at friendship and understanding even if the attemps are a bit clumsy.

So that's what we did in Tsartlip. We flowed with the slow, methodical culture, asked questions, listened and played with the kids. We attended and volunteered at the Pow Wow weekend. We ate fried bread (mmm). We danced. Kids are kids. People are people.

Here's a slide show from our time there (facebook readers will have to click "read original post up there at the top)...or you can view it by GLONKING HERE.

Camp Awesome was awesome!

2009-07-28T20:15:00.001-07:00

I realized that I didn't say much about the camp in this post so I thought I'd come back to it. We had 24 kids and 16 staff travel together for 4 great days of camp all thanks to our wonderful hosts at The Lords Land (YWAM Mendocino). Most of the kids (minus our staff kids) are from our Kids Club that we do throughout the year. This camp was a colaborative effort between YWAM Modesto, Global Youth Network (9 came down from Canada to create the camp with us) and The Lord's Land. Thanks everybody for a great week! Here's some pics...Facebook readers with have to click "view original post" at the top or GLONK HERE for the slide show...

Spiritual Warfare

2009-07-09T17:32:00.000-07:00

“For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy,
Now I will arise,” says the LORD;
“I will set him in the safety for which he yearns.” (Psalm 12)

This is a picture of our friend hearing that there is hope for her to get out of a run down motel infested with vermin, abuse and wickedness. This is a picture of forms being filled out, files opened, information given, friendship offered, smiles and a tangible way out. There are evil people, earthly systems and demonic spirits that oppress the poor. They greedily want to keep them down. Their gain is directly related to keeping the poor in hovels, discouraged and feeling isolated, weak and vulnerable. This picture is of true spiritual warfare.

And there's a much better article about this out there, so if you have time...go here...A 401K Plan You Can Tickle by Brant Hansen

Unlikely ministers in unlikely places

2009-07-01T21:09:00.000-07:00

We have been pleasantly surprised this past week finding little groups we didn't know about. While visiting some of the boys from our kids club we stumbled upon these church people doing a small, faithful thing in the park. They come to pray with folks, encourage them, share food and clothes...no big promotion (or funding I'm sure), just Christ's community doing it's thing. And the sermon was great too...basically a small scripture reading and the pastor saying something like "so let's all remember that" and a closing prayer. Best sermon ever!

Then we happened upon "Beans and Rice and Jesus Christ" in the Airport district. It was just happy people serving and eating beans and rice...very simple, very cool.

And finally today we stopped to visit our friend James (who we've shared about before) and new friend Stan happened along with perfect words to share about recovery, staying encouraged and hopeful.

Nobody has the entire answer but we all have a part to play. Friendship and compassion win the day!

What we do with teams

2009-06-20T13:01:00.001-07:00

We're hosting a team this week and I thought you might like to know what we do with 'em. We have taken a different tack with teams - often, urban mission destinations will give a team busy work with organizations in the city (soup kitchens, clothes closets, work projects, etc.) as a way to help those groups do projects they cannot normally do with regular staff and to let the team catch a bit of missionary vision by osmosis through interaction with different agencies. We've done this but have begun to grow in a different direction.

Following YWAM's model of training then outreach, we have designed every day of a team's week to be educational with practical application. We start out with an orienting tour that tells the story of YWAM Modesto's beginnings and the issues in the communities in which we work.

Each morning is spent in worship, prayer, reflection and debriefing together plus a teaching from one of our staff members.

Early on, we provide a wide event like a community BBQ or another way to just plant in an area for a while to meet the people we want to be with throughout the week. We let the team meet the people on the street and then debrief with them to see what they would like to do with these new friends for the rest of the week.

Then we follow the team's lead to help them make the things on their heart possible. This leads to all kinds of creative ideas...some are possible and some are not but the team gets a good idea of what it's like to engage a community and try out creative, compassionate ideas with their friends.

This week, we helped a couple of people with simple but overwhelming yard projects...

... we spent quality time creating safe spaces for people to be refreshed and out of the weather...

and we threw a party on the street...

We want our teams to leave with a passion for going back home and doing something similar...putting yourself out into a forgotten community, meeting the people and letting friendship and compassion lead you into engaging that community with the good news through listening, learning, serving and celebrating.

And of course we take them for the always important cultural experience, the taco trucks!

Hobos.

2009-06-10T09:14:00.000-07:00

What do you get an admitted hobo for his birthday? A chicken leg in ice cream of course. Just in case you wondered.

Recent events and thier sub-standard phone photos...

2009-05-25T08:12:00.000-07:00

Our kids club is still going. We had fun Saturday with 12 of the younger kiddos. We're sad that this is our last little bit with with the seniors from the Bible club at Downey High. They have been a big blessing to us and the kids...they really love them...

Last week, we were honored to lead a confirmation retreat with about 56 eighth graders at Our Lady of Fatima church in Modesto. The theme was "light, oil and meal" ...explaining our christian life like a meal shared with family.

This was our object lesson for the day...adding place settings as the teachings progressed from "us and God" to reaching out to the world...

Rhiannon and John are great teachers!

We're still faithfully on 9th Street...every Friday we set up the 9th Street Cafe at the bus stop by "The Brave Bull" bar and guests come for bread, coffee, tea, water and a sweet snack. We have chairs, shade, music and friendship to go around. Arlie has been helping us with this for some time now and he's taken to even feeding the ants in the cracks of the sidewalk : ) St. Arlie of Assisi...

People from Fresno rock!

2009-04-25T08:51:00.001-07:00

Over Easter break we hosted a team from Fresno...the youth pastor had a great idea for a mission trip. Instead of going abroad, they came to Modesto (2 hours away) and spent 3 days with us...learning how we reach out in our valley city. Then they went home to Fresno and implemented what they learned from us in their own valley city for the rest of the week.

This was one of our best high school teams...very eager to learn, jump in and go for it. This picture is them serving food on south 9th St. in the rain. Not one complaint and lots of laughs. Laughter and rain cleaned 9th Street a bit...and we had some great burger dogs (we got a donation of hot dog shaped burgers...weird and really good)!

New news!

2009-03-21T13:59:00.001-07:00

Hey folks, YWAM Modesto's new Spring letter is available as a free PDF download...

GLONK HERE to enjoy!

Into the Wild

2009-03-05T15:27:00.001-08:00

There are several children we have been working with in Modesto for the last three years. We found them living in a motel room with various members of an extended family. They were not in school, had little or no supervision, malnourished, and surrounded by violence, prostitution, and drugs.
We have been spending time with them for the last three years teaching them how to live. We have helped them to get back into school, and are teaching them basic communication and relational skills. We have seen dramatic change in behavior in some of the children, and others very gradual, but all the same, God is using us to affect change.
One vision we have is to take the four to six of the oldest boys (12 and 13 yrs. old) into the wilderness for a week of hiking, backpacking, swimming, and outdoor education.

We believe giving opportunity to these boys to experience something beyond hopeless- city-poverty life, can open their eyes to a brighter future. We believe a sense of leadership can be established in the hearts of these boys through having their strength tested against the wildness of nature. This will help them to understand the power they already have to cultivate change in their own lives and communities. We think in the truest sense, this is how we outsmart the often appealing competition of drugs and gangs.

Our goals for this trip would be to teach basic outdoor skills, communicate/teach about our relationship with the earth, and how this relates to our relationship with God. Also, it would be great to equip them at the beginning of the week for releasing them to map out a day-hike and reach their own destination near the end of the week. We hope to have great times throughout the trip of team-building games and exercises, and personal achievement. We want them returning to Modesto with a greater sense of strength, leadership, and responsibility to each other and their community.

We need to raise $3,000.00 for this trip. Please help us if you can. We are also going to put the boys to work with fund-raisers so they can play a part in planning this activity.

Thank you.

Thailand 2008

2009-03-04T11:39:00.000-08:00

I brought this over from the old blog, pictures from Jimmy and Aaron's last trip to Thailand to work with Compasio. Aaron is there right now until March 14. We'll put up some stuff from his trip here soon. On this video are pictures of Burmese street kids on the border of Mae Sot. Some of these kids now have a home at a Compasio safe house! -Chris

New Interview

2009-03-03T21:41:00.001-08:00

Hey folks, our friends at Advancing Vibrant Communities interviewed Jimmy and I for their hour long show called light house live. Glonk the link below to listen...

http://lighthouselive.blogspot.com/2009/03/ywam.html

Also, it's downloadable in the itunes store under "Lighthouse Live"

Please help!

2009-02-27T17:53:00.001-08:00

This letter was sent to me by friends with Compasio working on the Thai/Burmese border...please read, pray and help if you can...

Subject: Prison Baby Campaign

Hi Friends,

I just wanted to let you know about an immediate and urgent need that came up here in Mae Sot with Compasio!

A couple weeks ago when Sia was taking some of our children to visit their parents in jail, one of the prison guards approached her and asked why the children were with her. She explained that we have a safe house for children that have been abused, neglected, abandoned or were at risk and formerly living on the streets. Some prison officials were very interested and said, we have some babies here that were born in the prison, can you take them too?

Well we are faced with a dilemma, we were asked to help children, that are obviously in a bad situation, surrounded by criminals, and they have never even seen the outside world. But we do not have a place or staff at the moment to meet this need. We were told that we had until the 5th of March, and then to come pick up the toddlers if we wanted to help. There are five babies from ages 2-3, three boys and two girls. What will we do? Well our motto has always been, Risk on the side of love. And we're believing in faith that the needs will be met and taken care of. We've said Yes, okay, we'll take them!!!

The challenge is this: We have 10 days to find a home, caregivers, and funding to take care of these five toddlers!

Please pray for us to find safe loving staff to care for the children, for us to find a house to rent, get it cleaned, stocked and prepared with diapers, beds, and bottles.

Look for more information on our Website: Compasio.org over the next few days, and to donate to this cause specify that your donation is for: The Prison Babies Project.

Thank you!
Compasio, Mae Sot

Global Youth Network

2009-02-26T16:19:00.000-08:00

We partner with a Canadian organization called Global Youth Network. Every year they bring a batch of young leaders to Modesto for a week of outreach and training...which really means they hang out with us and do what we do with us. We love Global teams! Here's some pictures from the week...some from my phone and others from the team...

Day #1 - The obligatory touristy day in the city...Fisherman's Wharf, Golden Gate Bridge, Sunset over the ocean and awesome curry!

Day #2 - Church in the morning and a tour of Modesto and where we work for orientation.

Day #3 - the team spent the whole day downtown with no money, food or resources. They had to rely solely on homeless people to find out where to go for food. They ended up making some really good friends.

Day #4 - We spent the morning with Advancing Vibrant Communities hearing about their work and then we went and did a project with them...chopping and stacking wood for an elderly lady and her daughter...

...then we barbecued for the South 9th St. community...

This team dug in to our heart to make friends and let relationship and compassion lead the way.

Day #5 - Yosemite!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Day #6 - We went back to 9th St and reconnected with friends from earlier in the week...

These guys were more than just another team...they dove into our heart for people and became friends and co-workers. We even dreamed together about the future. Yay team!

And I think we wore them out a bit.

Club Awesome!

2009-02-17T14:42:00.000-08:00

We didn't mean to start a kids program...it just kinda happened. The kids were there at the motel every week and we knew we should hang out with them somehow. We started taking side walk chalk and games, then we bought a Bible story book, some snacks and it was all over from there. It's such a privilege to hang out with these guys through the weeks. Here's a couple of shots too great not to share...

Monique and a puppy.

Selena...I love the t-shirt : )

Junior helping make the hot dogs.

Jesse

Anastasia, hot dog and actual dog.

Lisa has her own, special personality : )!

Jeremiah, trying to figure out how to catch fish.

Willie

Amanda

These aren't all the kids but please pray for these, their families and all the kids from "Club Awesome"...he has a unique destiny for each one.

South 9th St. Barista

2009-02-07T06:31:00.001-08:00

We take coffee out to S. 9th St. every Friday...I think I mentioned that before...it was Arlie's idea. So people come now and sit to enjoy something hot and some company. Everyone's favorite is something called a "Cadillac" that I think was started by another group of ladies that comes down here...one scoop of coffee, two scoops of hot chocolate, one cream, one sugar.

This is Amy, she lives near S. 9th in a trailer park. She stayed with us all day and pitched in to help make coffee. She was so awesome! Undeniable service with a smile.

Somewhere Green

2009-02-05T22:26:00.000-08:00

We don't know him that well but we're becoming fast friends. We met him on South 9th St. at a barbeque we were throwing with a bunch of Canadians. He doesn't really have any where or any one. He loves to sit and talk...mostly about fishing. He told us his world is noise and concrete and he hadn't been anywhere green in a long time. This is where we went to soak up the quiet, talk about fishing, tell our stories and just be in a place that's not concrete and noise. A great day.

Arlie went too. He jumped in. He said it was pretty cold...in February!

James

2009-02-04T09:27:00.001-08:00

He is alone, in despair, bound by chains of which he will not let go

He is taken advantage of, almost helpless, fallen through the cracks

He played piano, had good work, never seemed to fit

He is unkempt, uncared for, written off

He wants to live, he craves friendship, he is not beyond hope

Please, pray for James.

this sign posted by Jimmy after spending a day helping James clean his apartment

The end of bread

2009-01-29T20:59:00.000-08:00

As we've recently revealed that we have decided to end our 6 year run of handing out bread in 2 city parks on Thursday afternoons...we have gotten a lot of questions about the why and how we came to this decision. This was a response to a good friend's question and I thought I'd post it in part here with some pictures from today, our last Thursday community bread share. It was a great day full of appreciation and blessing...

We inherited the bread line from New Hope Chruch around 5 years ago...until then it was kind of a loose association of friends that we participated in, before that, it was officially run by New Hope church. When it fell to us, we just kinda unquestioningly took it on and stewarded it...thinking it was a good thing for the community. And it has been.

Last year we considered dropping it as it really is the thing in our week that is least in line with our stated values of being relationship focused. As we took inventory we realized that not one of our long lasting relationships (like our kids club, girls on 9th St, etc)...which is what we feel strongly called to, have come from the bread line. As it is a bread line...people stand in line, we manage the line, they get what they want and leave, unless you have a ton of volunteers, there is not that personal connection.

We didn't drop it last year as we felt through prayer to stay the course. This year, we asked the question again and discerned together that it was time to give it up. Among other issues was that the bread donations from the stores have dramatically decreased due to the economic turn and we have been having trouble just servicing both parks.

Since managing a bread line or "food program" is not in our corporate values, it's not something we are invested in with our passion fueled by a strong sense of calling. We are called to focus on the kids and south 9th street and a freedom to be faithful to relationships in a more sufficient way.

This week, Aaron and Jimmy and I helped our handicapped, alcohol addicted, lonely friend James (who lives in utter filth) clean out his apartment and we got him a new bed and prayed with him and are in his life. That's what we want to do more of...to have more time to really be in people's lives. We found that keeping the bread truck going was working against that on Thursdays instead of supporting it.

Please do pray for us...we're still here doing what we do and in a way that is more in line with our calling.

From the Modesto Bee's "Every Monday Matters"

2009-01-28T08:00:00.000-08:00

by Matthew Emerzian

FACTS

61 percent of low-income families have no books in their homes.

43 percent of adults with the lowest level of literacy proficiency live in poverty.

Only 4 percent of adults with strong literacy skills live in poverty.

55 percent of children have an increased interest in reading when given books at an early age.

Children with a greater variety of reading material in the home are more creative, imaginative, and proficient in reading. They are also on a better path toward educational growth and development.

There is only one age-appropriate book for every 300 children in low-income neighborhoods, compared to 13 books per child in middle-income neighborhoods.

TAKE ACTION TODAY

1. Go through your bookshelves...

Read more here

Some pics from South 9th St.

2009-01-27T17:23:00.001-08:00

Every Friday we spend the morning on South 9th Street in Modesto. Well, it's actually between Modesto and Ceres in a kind of no man's land. 9th Street used to be Hwy 99 and the little motels there used to actually host travelers. When the freeway was built, this stretch of street in our town became dilapidated with junk yards, little mechanic shops, industrial supply warehouses and the motels are still there, but they are now residential rooms for the addicted, prostitutes, handicapped, alone and stuck. It's a kind of catch all for those who fall through the cracks.

We go down, set up and hang out. People come by for something to eat, a hot drink, company, prayer, whatever. There are others there other days of the week. It has become one of my favorite times of the week. Here's some pictures from a couple of Fridays...

This past week, it rained the whole time. We set up a little covering and huddled under there all morning. It was cold but folks still came out for a great bowl of beans (Arlie's recipe - chorizo, ground beef, beans, onion and garlic...mmm!)

This is "Arrow"...a dog that belongs to nobody. We think she is an angel. She just belongs to 9th Street. Everybody feeds her and loves on her and she just brings a bit of peace in a hard place. She often comes by to say "hi" while we're there.

This was a couple of weeks ago. We presented our visitors with a little challenge. An old, stale bagel, a metal folding chair - instant 9th St. ring toss. This is Jimmy trying.

Bob gave it a try and came in second only to...

Jeff who was the first to ring the bagel around the chair leg! Congratulations Jeff.

Pray for 9th Street. Pray for us and others who regularly go to 9th Street. Sometimes a listening ear, a bowl of beans or a silly game can make all the difference.

This Sunday Night!

2009-01-24T07:37:00.000-08:00

Calling all Modesto locals...

We are hosting a band called "The Experience" on Sunday night...this Sunday night!!!, Jan 25, 7 pm at New Hope Church's Brunswick Hall (4204 Dale Rd, behind the new bank). This band's music and message is all about the human trafficking issue and how the Body of Christ can respond. Please come and bring some friends if you can. You can hear some of the music HERE. A love offering will be taken.

Come on out and bring some friends.

Chris M. Whiter
YWAM Modesto