A Message from Sean Lambert
President, YWAM San Diego/Baja
“The Perfect Storm,” a phrase made popular by author Sebastian Junger’s novel and movie of the same name, is based on the true story of the deadly Nor’easter that hit the east coast of North America in 1991. The title refers to the simultaneous occurrence of major weather events that, individually, would be much less powerful than the storm resulting from their chance occurrence.
Our own perfect storm began to form in the fall of 2008 when the media began reporting that the U.S. economy was beginning to falter. Economically, our country started shutting down. Then in November 2008 reports of horrific gang violence in Northern Baja created a blanket of terror over the region, and many tourists stopped traveling to Mexico. And just a few weeks ago the N1H1 flu (swine flu) outbreak was identified as originating from Mexico City; today, the country of Mexico is being maligned by the world.
With news of the failing economy, sensationalized gang-on-gang violence, and widespread fears over the N1H1 flu epidemic we have seen a dramatic decrease in our team participation. Another kind of perfect storm has formed—three unique factors all coming together to create a very tenuous situation for our ministry and the people we serve.
The first thing our leaders and staff did to respond to this perfect storm was to start praying. Matthew 8:23-26 tells the true story of Jesus’ power over man and nature.
While traveling by boat with His disciples a storm came up. Although Jesus was asleep below deck He was aware of the storm raging above. The panicked disciples woke Him pleading, “Lord save us! We’re going to drown.” Jesus replied, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?” Then Jesus rebuked the winds and quieted the seas and it was completely calm.
In the face of this current storm we will…
• Continue our calling to serve those who are spiritually and physically poor and needy…whether we have teams participating or not.
• Seek peace in Northern Baja where the people we serve and some of our staff lives.
• Pray that God would calm this present “storm” and restore stability and blessings to the people of the country of Mexico.
How you can help…
• Pray for God’s peace to preside over the Northern Baja region.
• Support us with a general financial contribution. Our operations budget has been severely depleted by those teams that have canceled.
• Financially support our full time staff. Not one staffer has left and each one is committed to this ministry.
• Donate your time or resources to serve those families in Mexico left behind by this crisis. We have many families waiting to receive homes and we are still fully operational at each of our three campuses in Ensenada, Tijuana del Mar and Tecate. We believe it to be safe and would not keep our staff of nearly 100 adults and their children in the country if we felt otherwise.
In the midst of these troubled times I continue to have great hope and excitement about our future as a ministry. With Jesus in our boat we have nothing to fear.
If you feel called to donate your time or resources to help Maria and other families like theirs click here or contact me directly for more information.
Sheril Brasher
Mission Adventures Manager, Ensenada
YWAM San Diego/Baja
100 West 35th Street, Suite C
National City, CA 91950
Direct Phone in Ensenada: 619-240-7874
Personal email: sheril.brasher@ywamsdb.org
