Through someone elses Eyes!

This post if from my friend Cassie, She has worked in Mexico with me, serving the Children of Monterrey. Cassie is currently living in Atlanta Georgia, where she is working with Nightlight Ministries. Nightlight works on the streets of Atlanta, serving and rescuing the girls in the sex slave trade. I knew that this was a huge problem in our world today, but I never knew how rough it was until I read Cassie's Blog this morning. My heart sunk. Why is our world so possessed with this. why do we continue to seek out the darkness in our world. Here is what Cassie had to say.



I Don't Ever want to Get Used to This

 Last night marked my first night going downtown to work with NightLight. We went downtown at about 10:30 PM while the night was still young and stayed out until 3 AM, ministering and praying for the young women on the streets caught in the vicious cycle and stronghold of sexual trafficking and exploitation.
As I sit here nearly twelve hours later, I am still processing and almost sitting in unbelief of the things that I saw last night. It's one thing to hear about these things and maybe even see documentaries of the sex trafficking industry on the television, but it's a whole different ball game when you are standing literally two feet next to a woman while she makes a deal with a man and climbs into his truck to sell her body in desperate hopes that she'll make enough money to please her pimp and make it through the next couple days. The feeling that I felt in my stomach is simply indescribable. I could say that it felt like I was punched straight in the gut, but it was deeper than that. I could say that it felt like my heart dropped into my stomach, but it was worse than that. I could say that I felt like in that moment I had lost all ability to see or hear anything else around me, but it was far more tragic than that.

For a moment, I believe that the Lord revealed to me just the slightest amount of love He has for this young lady. And for a moment, I didn't see just "another" girl climbing into a truck with a man to do her "dirty deed". I saw a desperate young lady, broken and shattered on the inside, trying to find her way in this world. And for a moment, the Lord delivered me from my hostility and anger towards the man who "purchased" this lady for such a low price and saw just another lonely and deeply broken man, searching for intimacy in all of the wrong places and resorting to such cheap forms of love. Because all in all, we're all the same- just searching for love and truth.

As I witnessed this deal go down though, I couldn't help but cry out to the Lord, "I DON'T EVER WANT TO GET USED TO THIS!" I will be doing this sort of ministry every Friday night for an indefinite amount of time, but I never ever want to get used to this. I never want to get to the point where I see a deal like this go down, and I don't feel something going on inside of me. While I was praying this, I heard the Lord tell me:

"I never get used to this. You come once a week. I'm here every day. Every hour. Every minute. Every second. I never get used to this. I never accept this. I am not pleased with this. These are my precious daughters. I see the pain, I hear the lies that Satan tells them every day and my heart is broken for them. I CRY FOR THEM. These are my precious daughters that I was nailed to a cross to and shed blood for. I never get used to this."

So now here I am, feeling completely inadequate to portray Christ's love to these girls. But in my weakness, He is strong. I realize that no matter how hard I try to imitate God's love to them, my love for them will always pale in comparison to the Lord's deep love and jealousy for them. Fighting against the sex trafficking and exploitation industry is a very discouraging work because it often feels so hopeless, but I will press on with the perseverance and patience that the Lord demonstrated on me when saving me probably felt hopeless and like a lost cause. He didn't give up on me, and I will not give up on them.




I can't imagine what the streets are like down there, or any place in our world that this is happening. But I know that God is in control, and he is using people like Cassie to open the hearts of these girls, and to shed light in this dark dark world we live in. Please, Please keep the girls out there, as well as all those people caught up in human trafficking in your prayers. Please also keep Cassie in your thoughts and prayers. Please pray that God gives her the strength to go out every Friday, and that he guides her through every step.

Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.
Proverbs 3: 5-6

Mazatlan Mexico!

Soo, Back2Back has been looking at a new site in Mazatlan Mexico. The site is on the west coast of Mexico, and is a lot smaller than MTY, but there is much need there, and so many fatherless children there. B2B has begun relationships with 5 children's homes there, and has fallen in love with the area. God is doing great things there and B2B has been praying about opening up a new site there.

I have also been praying about this, and truly feel that God is calling me to something here.

This semester in school I have been designing a sequence of buildings for B2B. The buildings make up an entire site, consisting of a new design for the Hope house, and LDM Building, Staff housing, a Bodega, a Teen center, a staff kids school and a tienda.  The idea with these buildings, is that they can be used for any of our sites, with slight variation depending on the site, and can create a standard across the ministry area. The buildings are a new design, and create more spacial options for the ministry, and especially for the teens in the Hope program.

I am excited to be designing this and to be using my schooling to benefit the ministry as well. Next Monday the 3rd, I will be traveling down to Mazatlan with JJ Lail, to check out the new site, and do some research for possible development there. I have been praying about what Gods plan for me may look like there, and I am so excited to pursue this opportunity. We will be there for just 4 days, but I am eager to see those ninos, and to get back to Mexico! My hope is that through this collaboration with my school and the ministry, we can create new opportunity's and better buildings for the ministry, the staff, and the kids we serve.

Here are some rough preliminary designs for the buildings. Nothing final yet, but gives you an idea of where we are going.

Please be praying for God has for B2B in Mazatlan Mexico, and keep checking my Blog for more updates on what we are doing there! 

Guatemala

After an amazing month In Gualtemala, Kurt and I both have decided that it wouldn't be the best site for a B2B site. The are many logistical things that would cause some problems, one being that it would be very difficult to get groups there. The vision is very different between our ministry and the pastors. Not a bad thing, but just different goals. We really love the ministry there, and what God is doing, but for me this summer, I truly felt that God was calling me in a different direction. This summer in Mexico I worked on a few design projects for B2B, and really felt like God had me where he wanted me. I loved every bit of Guatemala, but I figured out that my heart is in Mexico and that God is calling me to do something else. I have been praying for a while about it, and I truly felt this summer that God is calling me to be B2B's Architect. I love Mexico and the kids we serve, and I think God has put that on my Heart for a reason. I'm finishing up my degree at Miami, and trusting God for the next step he has for me. I know that each day he has drawn out for me, and that when I am ready he will tell me what is next.
I have been praying about going full time in Mexico as B2B's Architect, after I finish my Masters in 3 years! Its a few years away, but God has got me this far through school, I know that he will get me through the rest. I ask for your prayers and Gods guiedence on what he has instore, and ask you to continue to pray for the Kids in Mexico and in Gutemala.

The experience we gained in Guatemala was great and we will hold onto the memories forever. We both want to continue our relationship with the pastor and his ministry, and help them in anyway we can. But for for now, God has me here in school, and I trust him for what is next.
Adam