Mission Trips

Here is all of the info on upcoming and past Youth Mission Trips!

Why do we do Mission Trips?

Upcoming Missions Fundraiser:

Previous Mission Trips

March 23- travel
Marybeth - planes trains and automobiles, we took all three today while travelling 2 continents, 3 countries and and endless fun. What will tomorrow bring??????

WE HAVE ARRIVED IN EL SALVADOR! !! safe and sound!

March 24 - Orientation, Bible dustrubution and the Station (worship at the ywam base)

Preparing for Bible Distribution

Seth- hola! We are having lots of fun! The culture is sooo different, today we went to other parts of San salvador and handed out Bibles to people it was amazing how open they were when we offer to pray for them. The drivers are crazy here lol. Every one is making lots of friends here at the YWAM base because Salvadoran's are so nice like maybe even more friendly then Canadians, I'd say I miss home but it be a lie, haha miss my family ❤

Ben- second day in El Salvador! It was great! We got to meet more of the staff that live here! I practiced more spanish by yelling out of a truck to the busy streets of San Salvador! no one uses driving signals, and everyone is friendly to us! The hospitality we have received has been so overwhelmingly great it's perfect! I miss everyone at home and hope you've been praying for us! Dios te bendiga (God bless you)❤

Steve- the youth are doing great, many cool experiences as we handed out around 50 Bibles today and we're able to pray for many people. Many new things, and learning not to take things for granted, such as hot water...or water in general. Both last night and periods throughout the day there is no water when you turn on the tap because there are shortages city wide. It is unfortunate when it happens halfway through a shower and the water stops...just ask Dylan!

Relaxing in the pool at the YWAM base

March 25 - Children's Ministry and construction prep

Silas sharing his testimony for a group of Salvadoran teens

Silas - Today I shared my testimony. I was nervous going up but when I started the nerves calmed down. It felt nice telling people about my story and hopefully I inspire one or two of them. After the children's ministry we went to the people that we are building a new home. It was pretty special seeing their reaction when Steve told them that we are building them a new house. After we started working and I was having fun. I learned that I and a couple other people are deadly with machetes :) It was hard work but it was definitely worth it. It was a great day and can't wait to finish their house. Adios Amigos.

The house that the family is living in right now

Nya- what a beautiful experience getting to go out and meet this amazing family that we get to build a home for! Loved the smiles on everyone's faces, getting to play and hang out with the children here. It was an amazing experience. Through out the day we all learned that we need to work as a team to get through the day and help one another. Many more new things to learn and experience! Miss you all back home♡

We begun preparing for house construction by move all of the sand and rocks for foundation as well as cleaning the yard

March 26 - Church and a Volcano

Jenna - Today we had the chance to attend a El Salvadorian church! It was in a gorgeous ballroom of a beautiful hotel. The music was so up beat and we were able to figure some of the songs even though they were in spanish. They church was very accommodating for us as they provided us with translators and headsets so we knew what was happening. They also introduced us which we cool! The atmosphere of the church was amazing and Mary and I have both decided we want to go back there to get married because it was so beautiful!! ( better start saving mom ;) )

Brooke - My experience at church was awesome, the whole environment was so up lifting. When we entered the music was blasting and the singers were dancing. The worship songs were so powerful even thought they were in spanish. For the service I had a personal translator so they tried to interperate the message. Today we also went to see a volcano which was awesome. The volcano was so huge and we were high enough to touch the clouds.

March 27 - 1st day of Construction, Adult Discipleship and Homeless Ministry

Each night we prepare 150 meals to give out to the cities homeless and go with part of our team to deliver the meals

Clayton - We started close to the base and drove further and further away, looking for homeless people to give bags of a sandwich, juice, fruit, cookie and Bible verse. As we drove we found groups of 25-30 people, they would line up when we told them we had food. We would hand them out one at a time and say the blessing ‘Dios te bendiga’ (God bless you) It was mostly calm except for when we ran out of food, we had to give the food quickly they were desperately reaching into the truck trying to grab food. We started with 150 bags of food, and now didn’t have enough for everyone. When we ran out of food we had to drive off leaving some without any.
This experience really opened my eyes to see how little could make them so happy. One guy was so happy he started dancing when he received his food.
Through this I learned that I should not take things for granted. These people have nothing and receiving something makes them happier then anything, and even when we receive something big we are still not thankful.

Playing with the kids during the Adults Discipleship program in the community 'soccer field'

Andrew – This afternoon we went the soccer field down the street from where the adults were meeting for their discipleship program where Steve was preaching. We brought mini sticks and soccer balls to play with the kids. Nya, Jersey and Bethany were playing mini sticks with younger kids while Nic, Justin and I were playing fútbol (soccer) with older kids. We lost really badly even though they were younger then us. Overall, the kids were really joyful and they loved spending time with us. And a bunch of them hugged me afterwards.
From this ministry I learned that no matter how poor you are, kids just want to be kids and they are still overjoyed regardless of what they have. I really love the kids here!

Day 1 progress on the house - demolished the old house, cleaned and leveled the build site, made forms, poured cement and set up the metal studs

Caleb – Today we started building the house. And when I wasn’t dying from heat exhaustion I actually had a lot of fun. The kids and the people in the community are so willing to help and are eager to see what is going on. It was a long tiring day of work but also a fun day of creating relations and helping the people in the community.

We are building a bathroom with a real toilet, one of only a handful in the community. It will be at the ywam ministry site for families to use during ministry. Today the water and sewer lines were dug.

March 28 - Children's Feeding Program, Day 2 of Construction, Homeless Ministry

Preparing food for the children's ministry

Dylan - Today half the team and I served at a feeding program in the same community we are building the house in and doing most of the ministry. Prior to preparing the food and tables etc, Rosy, a YWAM member and the person who runs this program talked about how they use this program to really teach these kids very valuable lessons. For example, the kids are required to pay 10 cents for the food, not so YWAM profits from it, but to teach the kids the value of what they are receiving. They also use this program to teach the children good hygiene such as washing their hands and brushing their teeth I found it amazing to see the work God was doing through this program, shaping the future of this community through these children, and teaching them the Bible and the values of Christian living, as well as good manners and hygiene. I anticipate that when these kids grow into adults, their community will go from one living under authority of gangs, to a community living for God.

Josie - Today was a really good day. I spent all day at the construction site. We got lots done, we put up the walls, put up rafters and tin, and started to plaster some of the walls for painting tomorrow. The weather was good, it wasn’t too hot because there was a nice breeze. This was an answer from God because I mean who wants to work in the blazing heat? Today I saw God through one of the YWAM staff. On the way to the construction site he gave his testimony. His testimony was so inspiring. It taught me that no matter what you do wrong, and no matter how far away you are from God, you can always come back to him because he loves us all so much.

The community bathroom, taking shape. It will be functioning tomorrow!

March 29 - Last Day of Construction, Children's Ministry

Randall - Today we finished the house. The family was so excited and thankful for their new house and their new home. The mother had tears of joy and felt very blessed.

The bathroom almost finished

Jersey- Today was our last day of building the house. I had lots of fun helping and playing with the kids and they always want to help. Before we gave the keys to the family we got in a circle and we passed the keys around and each said something to the family. The family was crying the whole time. It was a very special experience.

Steve - Today half our group had the opportunity to work at the children's feeding program again, the same as the day before. At the same time people were working on finishing the house and the bathroom. For many of us, we think a bathroom isn't a big deal. But in this community, only a handful of people have toilets with plumbing. It is amazing to see how excited people are for this bathroom! It has also been eye opening to be able to bless this family with a house in such a short time and how we were able to build relationships with them.

Kids are just kids no matter where you are from. A bunch of boys wrestling behind the house

March 30 - A day of rest

Gideon - Today we had a rest day at the beach, it was my first time seeing the ocean but i forgot about putting on sunscreen (bad idea) overall it was a good day and it’s been a good week. I would say my favorite ministry was probably handing out meals to the homeless people because it was really eye opening and it challenges me to think about what I have.

Jenna – Fun fact: wearing sunscreen while at the ocean is extremely important!!! I’m sorry mom.. Today was really great. We had a good time building team unity and enjoying God’s beautiful creation. I sat amazed at the beauty of the ocean and a couple of us talked about heaven and hopes for heaven. I hope for beaches in heaven even half as beautiful as this one.

A prayer request is that six people were sick throughout the night. Thankfully everyone was feeling good enough to enjoy the day and at least everyone was feeling 100% during the building process.

March 31 - Shopping, University and Hospital Ministry, Station Worship Night

Our last day in El Salvador we went shopping at a local market. In the afternoon half of our team went to the public hospital. There they served coffee and cookies to people waiting for appointments or waiting for visiting hours. Some had been there for multiple days. The smells and the sights were difficult to digest . We were able to speak to and pray for many people.

The other half of the team went to the university and went to the language department and asked people if they wanted to practice their English. We had the chance to encourage people, share about what God had done through our team. As well as pray for people.

Tomorrow is going to be a long day. Please pray for us as we begin our long journey home. We are leaving the YWAM base at 3:45am and are scheduled to arrive in Winnipeg at 9:50pm.

April 1 - The Long Journey Home

- Pray for safety and smooth travels! Thank you again for your faithful support and many prayers! This trip would not have been a success without your support!

- WE ARE HOME SAFE AND SOUND! It has been a long day, 21 hours from leaving the ywam base to Boissevain, but God has surrounded us every step of the way thanks to all your prayers.

Weekend Adventure with YWAM Winnipeg, February 2016
See YWAM Winnipeg for more info