Why I Went to Oaxaca

Here is a video of Mike from the band, "For Today" speaking the first night at the "Righteous Anger" tour in Oaxaca. There were at least a couple hundred, or more, kids in attendance that night in a very public square in downtown. There were very many people milling around the park and the message and music could be heard for several blocks away. You may not be too sure about the style of music that For Today uses but I can assure you that the guys in this band are on fire for Jesus and care about reaching kids for the Lord very much. They are on tour over 300 days a year in the US and took over a week off without any type of pay and raised funds to go on this trip. (And, contrary to popular opinion, these guys aren't making tons of money anyway). Tyler and I were blessed to stay in the same room at the orphanage, Casa Hogar, with these guys and got to know them and see their hearts beyond even the "stage presence thing". We think it was a God thing big time as we will never forget them and now know more how to pray for their needs and ministry. We encourage you to pray for these young guys who are on the road so much and ministering to so many kids around our country. I will post some more pictures and videos of the weekend as I go along. (Please pray for the bands, Man of Sorrows and Saving Grace as they are on tour in the Southern US and continued prayer for Sarah and Rolan as they will be returning to the US the end of October. Also please keep praying for ongoing fruit in the hearts of the kids who were reached by this year's Warriors tour)

Oaxaca 2008

This is the first entry in our Worldwide Hope Ministries blog. Worldwide Hope is a ministry set up as part of Outfitters for Adventure in Morris, MN which is being overseen by myself, Rick, my wife Deb, Michelle and Adam Hanson who were part of our church in Cokato, and Neil and Ruth Thielke of Morris. Our goal is to assist in meeting the needs of people with disabilities, the disadvantaged and the disconnected around the world as we are able. We have a fund set aside to facilitate meeting needs in these areas as they are presented to us, but are actively seeking people to partner with us as we seek to be part of the heart of God in coming alongside the most vulnerable and Spiritually hungry people in the world.

This year it was Rick and Tyler's privilege to be part of an awesome adventure to Oaxaca for just a few days to visit a friend and her husband that we met last time we were in Mexico and be part of their incredible outreach to the unreached youth of that area. I must warn you that the things I will be posting here about that trip are "on the front lines of ministry" and may not be what you are used to seeing being used for reaching people for Christ, but I assure you that the heart and soul of everyone used by God in the days I was there was genuinely focused on the eternal need of every kid in Oaxaca. In fact, what I saw in ministry and Spiritual warfare was beyond what I have ever seen. We saw God working mightily in some very incredible ways. We want to thank you all do much for your prayers, thoughts and support as we undertook this awesome journey into the world. I will be posting pictures and videos very soon. But wanted to get this blog up and going to really let you know how much we appreciate all your support. God is doing great things around the world and I can't wait to tell you more!