Mourning To Dancing, Deserts To Gardens by Andrea Lambert

A couple weeks ago an inner city youth group that I worked with in East Vancouver came down to Mexico to be a part of the Mission Adventures program that we run here.

East Vancouver can be a ruff place to grow up, with high instances of drug and alcohol abuse, broken families and violence.  These youth know what it is to mourn. During the course of their week in Mexico we had special speakers sharing with them the love of God, there was training for ministry, we built a house for a family in need, and we had lots of worship.  I couldn’t help but be overwhelmed by the goodness of God on our last night of worship as I danced for joy with youth whom I have wept for so many times.

We first brought this group to Mexico 5 years ago. When we arrived at the construction site to build the house we found a family of 7 living cramped in a tiny little shack.  Their children were working with them in the fields just to make enough money to survive.

5 years later we went back to visit and it was amazing to see the faithfulness of God in this family’s lives. As we enjoyed the fish tacos that they made for us, we found out that two of their children are in high school.  This is exceptional, as many children in Mexico never make it past 6th grade.  The family built on a kitchen/ living room off the side of the house.  They also built an extra room for the parents and a nice bathroom.  Their oldest daughter was so excited to show me that they now have a computer. While I loved seeing all these things, I was probably most excited to see they have planted a garden with flowers, fruits and vegetables.  God loves to grow gardens in the desert.

My God is a God of restoration, a God of beauty a God who changes sorrow for dancing and makes gardens grow in unlikely places.

Andrea Lambert is a full-time volunteer with YWAM San Diego/Baja.  She currently serves in our Tijuana Campus and helps to coordinate our Homes of Hope minsitry as well as fundraising and special donations.  If you would like to read more of Andrea’s heart for the people of Mexico follow her blog here.

For more information about how you can get involved or how your students can be fruitful in the midst of their sorrows, visit our website or our Mission Adventures page.  Contact us if you have any questions.