Alto Voltage

Alto Voltage is an awesome youth group that takes place at the Open Arms Campus every Friday night. Now this isn't just any youth group, this youth group is GIGANTIC and welcomes kids from miles around. Daniel (married to Heidi, the couple who founded Open Arms) and the High Voltage leadership team drive to 5-6 different stops to pick up and drop off teenagers from destinations that surround La Mision. On the average night, 100 teenagers will attend high Voltage...100!!! The Open Arms campus takes on an entirely different atmosphere compared to it's usual "orderly" environment. With 100 teenagers roaming the grounds it's quite lively and always entertaining. The usual activities consist of teatherball, basketball, foosball, pool and air hockey. The night begins with hanging out outside, continues with worship and a 20 min message and then ends with the "House Sandwich". Every night they serve the classic ham sandwich on white bread and a warm cup up hot co co!


My BFF Jessica came to visit for the weekend and
got to help make the famous house sandwiches!


When I first volunteered to work at Open Arms I knew nothing about High Voltage and therefore had no intentions of getting involved. Fortunately God knew what was up and the High Voltage Leadership team has adopted me as a new member. They all invite me to tag along with them to the beach, nail appointments, family lunches, trips to Ensanada, etc. I love these people! Ranging from age 15 to mid 50s, the High Voltage team is eager to do God's will and to share God's love to the teens of Mexico.

The first week I arrived to Open Arms Daniel presented me with a big task...at the time I was unaware of its grandness. He asked me to plan the decorations for a formal dinner they would be hosting for High Voltage. He said that it would take place in two and a half weeks and that he wanted me to take charge and make it look like a Hollywood premiere. For those of you who know me personally...you will not be surprised when I tell you that I was wide eyed and jumping out of my skin, I live for this stuff. As the previous 2011-2012 ASB Commissioner of Clubs I am quite experienced with decorating, planning and  organizing. I got to work and soon found myself feeling useful and important to the High Voltage team. I had literally been living in Mexico for less than a week and the team was perfectly satisfied with receiving my orders....in my controlling, perfectionistic brain this seemed absurd ,but I was happy to help!

Daniel and Rafa brought along some
 extra help from their Bible College!

It was the eve of the dinner and the High Voltage team piled into my apartment to prep for the big night and to also bake 200 cupcakes for our 100 guests. Remember that I had only been living in Mexico for 3 weeks and my Spanish was far from where it is now (and where it is now is far from fluent!). It was me and about 10 Spanish speakers with google as our translator, lets just say we had some major laughs and mistakes along the way! But God used each moment to welcome me into my new home. By late Thursday night the cupcakes were decorated, the decorations were prepped and we were less than 24 hours away from the Hollywood premiere.

The dinner started at 7 and our decorating began at 3! We thought 3 hours of prep would have been sufficient...but of course things never go according to the plan. We rushed to the finish line and the outcome was just as we had envisioned. 80 teenagers arrived in their best attire, ready to enjoy a night in Hollywood. 



The Lovely Heidi

I too arrived expecting to sit back and enjoy the night that we had all worked so hard to put on. Once again God knew what was up and I was caught in oblivain. Daniel had arranged for his Bible college teacher to speak at the dinner...it was 7:00 and his teacher was no where to be found. Heidi and I were sitting at the table and she looked over at me and said, "Well if she doesn't show up are you ready to give you testimony?" I began to laugh as I thought she was kidding. But after a few short chuckles I realized that she was completely serious. What! These were my peers, kids that had lives unimaginable to me, how could I speak to them? Peace began to overtake me and I knew that I it was going to happen, I could kick and scream but either way God was going to have me speak. After several years of learning, God has taught me that He will have is way in you, its just your decision to decide if it'll be hard or easy. I decided to make it easy for him that night and began praying. I said, "God, you knew this was going to happen and I'm sure glad you did becasue I have no idea what to say! Speak through me!"

Of course he was faithful...so out of character for God right?...NOT! I gave my testimony and explained that God has rewarded me for choosing Him. I also shared my views on some issues that us as teenagers face. Partying is luring but His love endures forever. Sex seems enticing but His love is forever fulfilling. God used me when I least expected it and I was blessed through his surprise. I'm slowly learning to enjoy these spur of the moment deals, they keep it fun, thanks God :)



The dinner was about 3 weeks ago and its seems so distant. At the time the High Voltage teem was merely a group of people who shared a common goal, now they are a group of people who I have grown to love and spend a large amount of time with. I cannot express my gratitude to God. He loves to throw in those extra bonuses...ya know like 20 or more new friends you were totally not expecting! Every day I ask God, "Why me?" "Why did you choose me to work for your kingdom?"

High Voltage only began this past January and is still trying to find new ways to bring more and more kids in to here the gospel. Please pray that God helps the leadership team and that he works in the hearts of the kids here in La Mision.

Open Arms Overview 2!

Hey Everyone!

Sorry that it's been so long since I've written. I'm kind of a perfectionist and if I don't have time to correct what I write..I don't want to post anything. But here it is! Sooooo much has happened in the past month that I don't even know where to begin. My homesickness has melted away almost entirely. I've made several new friends and some close relationships have been formed. Heidi and Daniel (the couple who started Open Arms) have taken me in as family and they're awesome to hang out with. Like I told you before, I work with the kids ages 4 months-5 years, and I adore each and everyone of them. The workers here are constantly filling the campus with laughter and joy and I look forward to their company each day. Although my surroundings are foreign, I feel as though this is my home. Over the 6 weeks that I have been here God has been transforming and maturing my heart in ways that I can hardly explain. His great love has become so apparent that my joy is overwhelming. Each smile, each hug, each loving touch has impacted my life and caused me to desire more of Him who is my creator, my savior, my love.

I've obviously never had my own children but when I look into the eyes of the kids here, I feel this love that is so strong that my heart leaps. Their little faces are so precious and I lock away each smile in my heart. When I embrace them in my arms or spin them around I am filled to the brim with God's joy. It seems silly to receive so much joy from something so simple, but the only way I can give account for such emotions is to say that it's the result of God's love for me. God chose me. He chose me to come here, to spend my days changing diapers, to put kids in timeout, to dance to silly songs, to race little boys to the end of the courtyard, but most importantly: to share His love with HIS children. Everyday I ask Him, "Why me? Why did I get to come here and do ALL this?" A good friend that I recently acquired told me, "I'm not amazed by what God has done in my life, I'm amazed that He did it in MY life." How perfectly true is that? God can do whatever he wants whenever he wants;he doesn't need me to show his love, but he wants to show his love through me. He WANTS to let me be apart of his great gift of love.

Now child care is not all rainbows and daisies; it's often frustration and prayer for patience. When I change the same little girls pants 3 times in one day because she doesn't want to potty train, I kind of want to scream....really loudly. But then I take one glance at her little smirk and I can't help but kiss her on the cheek and laugh out loud. I have formed specific bonds with each child and each bond grows as I watch them learn and grow. I love hearing them yell my name when I enter the room or seeing their faces light up when I spin them around. It's also heartbreaking to know that some of these kids don't get all the love and attention a little one should receive. But knowing that they need love makes me feel all the more crucial to God's kingdom. I'm here to love and they need more love...sounds like a perfectly orchestrated plan to me. Gloria a Dios!

There is one little girl in particular,Jenny (above), who my heart cries out for. Her father died a few months ago and she is slowly healing from the tragedy. When she first arrived at Open Arms she arrived in shock and confusion. Heidi rescued Jenny and her brother Miguel from an orphanage. Jenny's mother reached a point of desperation and felt as though an orphanage was the only option for her kids to receive sufficient care. Heidi knew the mother and heard that she had taken Jenny and Miguel to the orphanage. The same day the kids arrived at the orphanage, Heidi raced over and brought them to Open Arms. Their mother was called immediately and offered child care for her children at Open Arms. Jenny and Miguel now live with their mother but feelings of abandonment and grief for their father are issues that will painfully linger. When I first met Jenny she wouldn't say a word to me, she simply stared at me. After several weeks of love and attention, Jenny now refuses to leave my side. We have become best buds and she loves to fall asleep in my lap during movie time each day. When I hold this precious girl I feel as though I'm fulfilling my purpose in life, I'm doing what God has called me to do. 

I know that God still has an extravagant amount of work to do in my life, but their is no resistance left in my heart. I want Him to have His way in me. I'm ready to dive in and go wherever He wants to take me. Each day I am presented with a divine appointment. Whether its a conversation with a brother or sister in Christ or getting some one on one time with a child, God is using so many different people and situations to bring me closer and closer to His will for my life. God has completely confirmed that missions is for me.

God's Word That Keeps Me Thriving :)

2 Corinthians 9:12-15
This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of God's people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God. Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, men will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else. And in their prayers for you their hearts will go out to you, because of the surpassing grace God has given you. Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!