Speaker 8th week ... Larry and Joyce Sandberg

Blog for the 8^th week... HIV/AIDS

Larry and Joyce Sandberg

Larry and Joyce have been in missions for the past 53 years. Larry is a physician and Chemist, and Joyce is a Nurse and has had training in psychology. They have an orphanage in Swaziland that they, visit once a year. This year they will be bringing down a team from there church. I was so encouraged and moved by the stories that they shared. Their perseverance and unquestioning desire to follow God is shown by the fruits of their labor. I love to learn from people that have been obedient to their call; it is a true testimony of God’s power. I have always believed that experience is the best teacher, and you can see Gods hand at work in their lives through their testimony.

Main concept:

The first source of information that Larry showed us was the Epidemiology of HIV/AIDS. This showed the statistics of HIV/ AIDS worldwide and the people that are being infected. He also gave us the history of the disease and modes of transmission. All of the knowledge that Larry shared about this devastating disease has brought a new light to the situation that is going on with HIV/AIDS globally. This has helped me to see the reality of this disease, and to know what to pray for.

 I also got so much out of Joyce’s teaching and the movie that she showed us. I now have a visual of what they see when they are in Africa.  She also shared a day in Swaziland, by asking us to take a journey with her in our minds. She told a story of how they walked through a village and the different situations that arose.  There was a fifteen month old baby just sitting in front of his hut, waiting for the older sibling to bring some food, if he could find some. There were no parents they had both died from AIDS.  As they walked further down the road a very sick man was holding a young baby, and asked if they would take the baby. The mother died of AIDS and he is dying also of the disease. They took the baby to the orphanage and he was cared for. This last part tore at my heart.

As the garbage trucks pull into the dump, many children are rushing toward them waiting for the trucks to dump the garbage. This will be there food for the day or maybe the week. Then someone found a plastic bag which was moving, there was a living newborn baby with the cord still attached. They took her and cared for her and she is doing well.

How do we know what to do or even what to say? My mind is racing and I want it all to stop.  Where do we go with all of this?  I am confident that God sees all of this and that it hurts his heart, so I turn to him, praying ‘God let me feel your heart for these people.’

I ask God to give me wisdom and understanding on how to respond, and he gives me his word.

        “But he lifted the needy out of their affliction.” Psalms 107:41

“She opens her arms to the poor and extends her hands to the needy”. Proverbs 31:20

I finally understand why God has given us the bible!  It is our hope, and his answers are in there.  He tells us about His heart and who He is and who we are to Him. I know that without a shadow of a doubt that He loves each and every one of those children. I also believe that if we as Christian’s would walk in alignment to God’s will for our lives, we would be making big changes in this world.

  

The other speaker we had was Lenneke  Van Veen she is from the Netherlands. Lenneke is part of the staff for our school, and has been with YWAM for the past 5 years. She also has been working with the Women and Children’s Advocacy Center for the past two years.

The main concept that she brought to the table was a refresher of the past eight weeks. It really tied it all together, and how she organized it helped me to see it more clearly.  She also gave us a scenario of missionaries in India and how they would have to help a mother in need. Therefore we had to put all our teaching into action to come up with different solutions to help this mother. It really stretched us to use all our teachings, and encouraged us to move forward in solving this problem.

I have truly learned so much in these past eight weeks and I am very eager to keep on learning.  I want to share with you all that I will not be going on the outreach with this school.  I have prayerful thought about my decision and feel very confident in it. I will be going back to Florida for a couple of months and then will head up to New York. In this time I will be praying about where God is sending me next. I have been doing some research on a couple of different medical missionary schools, and I believe that God will give me the wisdom and direction that I need.  I want to thank you for all your prayers and I look forward to seeing everyone.

Blessings,

Linda

child Development

Blog entry Child Development/child with special needs

Speaker: Leslie Freeman

Leslie has been with YWAM for the past fourteen years. She has a B.S in social Services from the University of the Nations and a M. A. in education from Regent University. She is now living in Costa Rica. Leslie and her husband are working with child at risk in their local area. 

The first concept >this week was a very good week for me in growing and learning about the development of child. When we first started I thought I really didn’t need to learn more about children’s development, but as the week went on I learned so much. God really was speaking to me, about parenting and things that I needed to deal with from my past. I find it so amazing how God helps you to grow in areas that you never really though you needed to let go of or even think about.

The second concept was about Attachment. The goal of attachment is to keep the infant feeling secure.  Attachment develops out of transactions. These actions come from the mother or the primary care giver. When a child cries and the parent responses this becomes a vehicle for sharing feelings and learning to communicate and play. This may sound like common sense, but children that are at risk will not have this kind of attachment.  So this is very important to know when you are working with at risk children.

The Migrant Camp

My Blog (The Migrant Camp Week)

My first day on the migrant camp was a slow process of adjusting and taking in all that God was showing me .We started with cleaning and painting the rooms that we would be staying in for the next four days.  After we were done working a couple of girls and I wanted to take a walk around the camp. As we walked down this one little road there was a lady sitting out in front of her home with her baby. So we walked over and engaged in a conversation with the lady. Her name was Maria and her baby girl was three months old, as we talked with her more we found out that she has seven children.  She also told us that she and her husband had come from south of Mexico looking for work and a better life. I felt so blessed to be able to just talk with her and hold her little baby girl. The one thing that we have been learning in our classes was how important it is to build relationships, Therefore, I felt like I was able to put some of our teaching into practice. It was as simple as talking and hanging out with her and her neighbor, and showing a genuine interest in their lives.  I also felt so blessed that they were so open to us being there.

The second day was more of manual work which I love to do. So I helped start a hole that was going to be an outhouse for the community. We also had a time with the children painting nails and showing them good hand washing technics. They all really enjoyed it.  The children were always filled with so much joy and smiles; it amazes me, and showed me that we don’t need material things to make us happy.

The next two days were filled with many different projects, we filled holes that needed to be filled and cleaned drainage ditches out so they would drain better and be more effective. There was an area where they would have to walk through that was filled with contaminated water and garbage so we filled that in and burned some of the garbage. I know that many of them appreciate this and were very thankful. I am so thankful that God gave me this opportunity to grow in what he is teaching me and be a blessing to others. It was hard to say goodbye to them all and especially Maria and the children, but I know that we were able to plant some good seeds of God’s love in this place. I  will hang on to that hope in Christ . I know that he loves these people more than I could ever, and is faithful to watch over them. 

I have learned that God does hear our prayers and we must give our burdens back to him, remembering that he is most powerful and all seeing.( Matt: 11:30” For my yoke is easy and my burden is light’) These are his children and I pray for the ones that don’t know him, that one day they will see and experience his love.

 I want to ask you if you can remember them in your prayers and know that we all live in different ways.  However; just because we don’t have every convenience that we think we need in front of us and at our disposal doesn’t mean that we cannot be happy. Because I did see something different with these people that don’t have the certain conveniences  like running water and electricity .However they still have smiles on their faces, and they opened there doors to us.

Deuteronomy 15:10-11

Give generously to him and do so without a grudging heart; then because of this the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to. There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded towards your brothers and towards the poor and needy in your land.

Blessings and Love in Christ Jesus,

Linda

School Pictures

Our welcome dinner

Cooking up a little Mexican food for the team ........Yummy!!

  
    This is the beautiful site that I end my day         with....Thank you God!!

newsletter

                                Newsletter

                                   This is the view from my room; it is so beautiful!!

Dear Friends,

It has been four weeks here in Tijuana.  I have learned so much about the risks children face each and every day. 

First, let me tell you a little about my day.  I have work duty three mornings a week so I get up at 6:00 am or sometimes 5:30 am to do breakfast prep.  I also have dinner prep two nights a week.  I enjoy getting up early, so after kitchen duty I have quiet time with the Lord and then community time with worship and other topics for the day.

Our class time starts at 9:30 am every day except Saturday and Sunday with a new speaker and Topic each week.  I have been posting on my blog each week the speakers for that week and the concepts and teachings they bring to our classes.  Please check out the details on my blog at lindascall.blogspot.com. 

There have been some hard realities I have had to process and have been going to God with.  I am learning to give it to Him and know that He will take the burden.  I believe we need to be praying and be the light of Jesus for these different risks that children face.

We are also involved in a weekly outreach called Circulo.  This outreach involves going into a local neighborhood and doing an after school program with the children.  We separate them by age and grades and do some teaching with a different lesson each week.  They are given a book for the week to check out like a library system.  They get so excited about this and it’s great to see their little faces shine when they walk around with their books in their little bags, knowing they can take the book home to have with them all week. I think that this gives them a sense of responsibility.  The children are all so beautiful and I love the joy they have in their eyes just because we are showing them attention.  I do believe seeds are being planted by this program and the love of Jesus is shining through. 

In the weeks to come I will be part of another outreach in downtown Tijuana.  We will be feeding the homeless and provide ministry to the kids and women on the streets.  Prayer walking is a major part of the ministry.  It is very powerful to know that God hears our prayers. 

This next week we will be doing a ministry with the migrant workers in Ensenada for four days. It’s a little south of where we are now.  This will be a little bit of a challenge, because we will be staying in the small rooms where the workers live.  We will not have any electricity and will be sleeping on floor. 

We will work with them from the time they start at 5:30 am until 5:00 pm at night.  I know this will be an awesome learning experience.  I pray we will be able to reach them with the love of God, and show them that they have as much worth as anyone else.

 I will be very busy for the next week and hope you will all pray that God will give me the strength to do what I need to do, open the doors that need to be opened, and to bless the people we meet so we might build relationships with them. 

I will also be preparing to make a decision on doing the internship part of this program.  We have a choice to go to Costa Rica or remain here in Tijuana.  I will be praying about this and I hope you will keep me in your prayers. I want to thank you all for joining me throughout this school.  I will keep you all updated on my next move.

With many blessings to you all and love in Jesus name,

Linda

           God’s beautiful art work that I see every day…                                                 This one was purple!!