Outreach started! Houston

Saturday:
We left at 9 on Saturday morning with one van, 1 trailer and 13 people. Our first stop was at the YWAM Houston base leaders house for orientation. We spent some time there introducing ourselves and they told us about their ministry and the "what to and not to do". We left their house and went to the rescue center in the third ward of Houston to drop off the girls and the couples then the guys went to the MLK community center to drop off their stuff and figure out our sleeping situation. We were told that at the community center (gated in buildings) not to leave the property and ask if we are ok to play basketball outside, it was a very bad community to be hanging around in.

The first night we were there we went to a tree in the center of Montrose and did worship and prayer. After that we went out in groups to the streets of montrose and did our first ministry time. We walked around with bottles of water and snacks and talked to pimps, prostitutes, drag queens, gays, homeless, drug addicts and more. we just gave them a bottle of water, snack, talked and prayed with them. What could be a better way to be Christ to someone than just be kind and loving to them and praying for them. It is amazing just talking to them and treating them with love they recognize the wrong themselves and you have no need to tell them about it.

Sunday:
We got up and went to a church to do a service. It was a small church of about 50 people and they met in a Chuck E cheese kinda place. We did our dances, Dramas, testimonies and one of the girls in our group did a lesson on shame, how it was something that just held us in our sin and kept us from our growth with Christ. After the service we help them clean up and they took our whole team out to lunch.

Monday:
We got up and worked at the rescue center. The rescue center is a small gated in block with 4 houses in it. The girls took care of the kids and sorted clothes while the guys emptied out the buildings and organized all the junk.
in the afternoon we had a meeting about what to do for the service that night and we headed our for an hour and a half drive to Galveston, TX. We were going to a youth retreat for one of the Houston churches......a church of over ten thousand and half of the youth group was there which was about 250 teens. Their team led worship then they turned the service over to us. our plan was:
-dance (Spanish hip hop dance)
-introductions and information
-dance (called Jump)
-Me speaking on taking a leap of faith
-Clincher drama
-David Elliot
-Personal time of prayer
It was an amazing night. At the end our team was spread out all over the room to pray with people and hear their stories and confessions (if they wanted to). Its an amazing thing to get your problems off of your shoulders and tell someone and get prayer for it.

We had been going from early in the morning till late at night so a few of us decided to hit the energy drinks.

Tuesday:
We got up and went Downtown for a time of prayer. We went up to the 60th floor of the Chase bank tower, where there is a lookout. We spent time praying for the "7 spheres of influence"
-Business
-Art/Entertainment
-Media
-Family
-Church
-Government
-Education
We just spent 40 minutes praying and interceding for those influences in Houston.

When we were done praying, we went out to eat. The base leaders treated our team out to Chipotle, if you don't know it is a burrito restaurant with delicious and large burrito.
After eating we went down to the planned parenthood building to pray and do worship over that. On that one city block there is a planned parenthood abortion and planning clinic and on the other half is a Christian run pregnancy clinic. We prayed over both of them and a lady came out of the pregnancy clinic and told us about how she had been working there and they were reopening to compete with the planned parenthood clinic.

Wednesday:
We got up in the morning and went to a place called open door ministries, a place for recovering alcoholics and drug users. We worked in the kitchen from 10:30 until 2 organizing the pantry, freezer, refrigerator, and doing other miscellaneous jobs.

That night we went to a parking lot in the Montrose to do a service called "Street Church". A church service for anyone from the streets; pimps, prostitutes, gays, homeless, drag queens and anyone else from the streets. We did the service then gave out meals and clothing.

That is our time here so far. I am trying to keep this as up to date as possible, but it is kinda hard being so busy.

As far as finances go, I am still in need of another $1500 for outreach. We leave for Germay on the 9th of July.

Thank you
God Bless
-Ben

No even a week left.

Well, I has been good. I only have a few days left before we head out for stateside outreach on Saturday. For our stateside we will be going to Houston, TX and working with the YWAM base there. We will be doing street ministry in poorer and downtown areas, working with a churches and street kids.

Next Saturday we leave Houston for Chicago. In Chicago we will be taking Urban outreach Classes, learning about how to do outreach in large cities. In the afternoons and the nights we will be putting what we have learned into practice.

Then on the 9th of July we will be leaving for Germany. We are flying out of Dallas with one layover in Germany.

I am very excited about this outreach. There is so much we are going, and great things are going to happen. I am going to be honest and tell you that I am also freaking out about it. During my first school the school took so long and outreach was something that we couldn't wait for it to happen, as much as I am excited about it.......this school has gone by so fast that it feels like there should be more.

Please keep my in prayer. First for my focus on what I should be doing during this time, and second for Finances. I still only have $750 in so far for the outreach and I am in need of $1,850 to play off the plane ticket and the grounds fees. I know That God will supply for what he has called me to do.

Thank you
-Ben