Ensenada Outreach Center - YUGO

eight months ago i packed up my bedroom and i moved down here to the Ensenada Outreach Center. When i left roseville, i was excited, nervous, anxious and overwhelmed at the thought of living down here for over a year. my heart beat sped up everytime my mind would wander to the smiling and greatful faces of the families i'd built for before. i remember as i sat on the plane from Sacramento to San Diego, i fought back tears of excitement. my heart just couldnt wait to see how God was going to use me to change the lives of so many poor mexican families. i was overjoyed to be able to be a part of the wonderful work being done down here everyday.
for the last few weeks i've been trying to write a blog to express everything God has taught me and shown me since i began this journey. however, i dont think that any amount of words, any number of sentences...no matter how big the paragraph...could accurately justify the amount of change and growth i've experienced in my heart. God has shown me what it means to have hope and faith. He taught me that i need to stop putting my faith and my hope in the people around me. i relied so much on the world to tell me what to do, when to do it and where to go that i stopped looking to God for answers. i had more faith and hope in the people in my life than i had in God. also, He has taught me not only how to have patience, but also what it means to have patience. with that patience he's shown and given me peace. God is huge. He knows what He's doing and He knows that i wont understand right away. but he promises that if i just keep my eyes on Him, everything will be just fine. so far, learning patience and peace has been one of the hardest things i've had to learn while being down here. slowly, but just like he promised, God has been showing me what he wants me to do with my future. for a while, i still had no idea what to do when this next August gets here. should i stay or should i go? as of right now, my future is still very undecided, but i'm begining to see a little bit more what God has planned for me. i feel my heart being tugged in a few different directions. all of which are equally as great as the others. i've really experienced this crazy mexican culture in many more ways than i ever could have expected. i've been going to a church down here called Cedes. its a spanish speaking church that is more directed towards the older youth of Ensenada. being there has taught me how to start having a real, one-on-one, relationship with God that is a lifestyle, instead of just looking at christianity as a "religion" that i follow.
so far this trip has been one of the most difficult and challenging times of my life. while at the same time it has been so wonderful and amazing. i wouldnt trade my time here for anything in the world. i came down here with a heart excited to serve the people around me. through serving them, they have taught me more than i could have ever imagined. i've grown in ways i didnt know that i could grow. i've never been so hungry to have a relationship with my savior. by watching these people live and worship i've seen things that will change my life forever. they have a genuine and unchangeable love for their savior, a love that i wish the world could see. a love, that in-turn, has taught me how to love them more and more.