Our Journey with Esthela

Eddie and I have spent a whole lot of time praying, thinking and talking about the issue of adopting Esthela. We both have come to love her over the time we have known her and we both realized that adopting her is something we want. So we began to dig a bit deeper into the process and see how we can move forward. We spoke with DIF (like children services in Mexico) and they told us that if the mother wants us to adopt her daughter the process is very simple, an independent adoption. Then I checked with immigration, and an adoption agency in the US, to see what steps we’d have to take to get to her to be able to cross the border. What I heard was not encouraging for our situation. A new law passed, basically to help prohibit Child Trafficking, which does not allow children who have been adopted by an independent adoption to be taken to the US. This keeps parents from selling their kids. If we did do an independent adoption it looks like we would have to wait a trial 2 years, in Mexico, before we could even apply for her to cross into the states. For us this situation is impossible because Eddie only has a two year permission to be outside of the states because of his green card and the legal process to make the adoption official will take at least 7 months. The other option for us to take us is to move to San Diego, do a home study and get approved through the states to adopt and then carry on with the adoption in Mexico. We are still looking at the whole process, making sure we are clear on the steps we need to take and also making sure that it is for sure what God wants. If we do have to go to San Diego it means major fund-raising and I know God can do miracles but He has to be in the middle of it all in order for it to happen so we are still waiting to make sure that He is in it. Please continue praying for us, for wisdom, for guidance, and for sleep (we’ve not been able to sleep well lately). Thank you.

Esthela

We ask for your prayers as Eddie and I find ourselves in the middle of having to make an important decision that will change our lives and the life of the little girl we’ve been helping for two years. Esthela has been living in an unhealthy situation with her mother, who has to be taken care of like a young child. Over the course of the time we’ve been with Esthela we’ve only seen the situation become worse and worse. Esthela has suffered verbal and emotional abuse living with her mother. Esthela’s mom has basically said that Esthela could stay in an orphanage while she returns to her family down south. This has put Eddie and me in an interesting situation. Do we place Esthela in an orphanage? Do we adopt? If we adopt how can we afford it if we don’t even have enough support for ourselves? What about Eddie’s green card, would adopting a Mexican in Mexico affect the visa situation? What does this look like for us as a couple? What does it look like for Esthela? We do not want to make a decision out of emotion but really want to find God’s will for Esthela and for us as well. As we are praying we are researching both sides trying to find out the steps to take whether or not she is put into an orphanage adopted by us. So we ask for prayer. We ask that you join with us as we continue to find out what God wants

Living on the edge of water....Tsunami warning!

I'm sure we've all thought about what'd we'd grab if our house was burning down. I thought about it a lot too thinking that I'd grab pictures (memories) and my Bible (what else would a Christian want?) and other small sentimental things...well Saturday morning Eddie and I got a chance to experience this and find out what we'd REALLY bring.

Around 10:30 we were awoken (sleepy Saturday off) by a hard rushed knock on our door. The first thought that jumped into both of our heads was that there was some sort of accident and they needed Eddie as the nurse. When the door was opened we saw one of our fellow YWAMers there looking panicked.

"There is a Tsunami Warning for here, we are all evacuating. You need to grab your passports and leave NOW!"

We ran back into our rooms to get dressed. I ran down a few doors down to where my sister, Aliza and Eddie's brother, Bobby, live (yes, brothers married sisters and are neighbors. It's great). Because they aren't YWAMers YWAM hadn't contacted them. They too started the hustle of grabbing a few things and running to their car. Bobby's response was "well, we gotta go!"

What did we bring? Eddie first grabbed our little file box of legal papers then started getting the cat's stuff (food and litter) and our laptops while I run around like crazy trying to figure out what to do. My first thought was "clothes" but when I went to grab a suitcase I thought "WHAT AM I DOING" and grabbed a plastic bag and ran for the bathroom. I grabbed our toothbrushes (who wants to be stranded without a home and no toothbrush?) and a few other toiletries. We jumped in the car and drove off to my mother-in-law who lives up in the hills.

While driving away my mind rushed back to all the things we had left. Eddie forgot his wedding rings and my mind wanders to our wedding albums and my Bible - the things I always said I'd grab first.

Obviously nothing happened, no Tsunami praise God. We had a bit of an exciting experience finding out what our reaction would be to an immediate evacuation!

Back in Mexico!

Hello all!

We are back in Ensenada Mexico! The summer was absolutely wonderful but now we are starting the next step of our life. We arrived two weeks before our Biblical Core Course starts because this year there is a Foundation School and because this was my old position with YWAM I am training the staff before the school starts. I'm so excited for this family that is coming down to do their Discipleship Training School. They have four girls, ages 11, 9, 5 and 4. We are opening up a Preschool and a grade school Foundation School. Please be praying for the staff, Ximena, William and Lizzie as they take on the responsibility of discipling these great children.

Our Biblical Core Course starts on Sunday. There are many rumors that this course is a very intense school with a lot of studying and homework. I haven't been in school for almost 6 years so I am trying to prepare myself mentally for all the work but I know that this is going to be a huge time of growth for both of us in the Word of God.

Please continue your prayers for us. We are very grateful for each of you!

God bless,

Mexican Dinner Night!

Come and help support Eddie and Tammy Villavicencio and eat some delicious food!

Tammy and Eddie Villavicencio are going to the Biblical Core Course in Ensenada, Mexico and then going on staff with youth with a mission in san diego, california.

When: September 3rd, 6:30-8:00 pm

(Come when you can, Tammy and Eddie will be giving an up-date at 7:15)

Where: New Hope

“A Biblical Community”

1340 Haslett Rd.

Haslett, mi 48840

Costs: Suggested donation of $10 for adults and $5 for kids 12 and under.

Proceeds go to support Tammy and Eddie´s BBC and staff fees.

We’ll be serving Tamales and Tacos, rice and beans, spicy and mild options to please everyone!

Bring family and friends, it will be an event to remember!

Please RSVP by commenting on this blog.

Information on our NEXT STEP!

What is Youth With A Mission?

Youth With A Mission is an international movement of Christians from many denominations dedicated to serving Jesus throughout the world. Also known as YWAM (pronounced "WYE-wam"), our calling is to know God and to make Him known. Back when we began in 1960, our main focus was to get youth into short-term mission work and to give them opportunities to reach out in Jesus' name. Today, we still focus on youth, and we also involve people of all ages. Our many ministries fit into three main categories: evangelism, training and mercy ministries. We are currently operating in more than 1000 locations in over 149 countries, with a staff of nearly 16,000.

What is the Biblical Core Course?

This course is designed to give a thorough understanding of the inductive approach to Bible study, equipping students with many tools for integrating the Word of God into their personal lives, and using it as a foundation for ministry. During the course students will study many individual books in depth from both the Old and New Testaments. We will equip students to work with every form of literature in the Bible, including the Gospels, the Epistles, New Testament narratives, the Torah, Prophetic and Poetical books, and Old Testament narratives thus providing a holistic overview.

Find out more at:

Www.ywam.org and

Why are you raising money to be on staff in San Diego?

Every YWAM worker, including the founder, Loren Cunningham, raises enough funds to meet his or her own financial needs. For most people in YWAM, these funds come from friends, family and churches who contribute financially. Other YWAMers rely on their own savings, part-time jobs, foreign employment, small businesses or even--in the case of some of our older staff--pension income.

YWAM has purposely chosen to emphasize personal support raising as the primary means of funding for our staff. Although we recognize there are many other valid ways of financing ministry, the way we have chosen is based on Biblical principles and has enabled us to include tens of thousands of people each year from over 130 countries in the task of fulfilling the Great Commission.

It's also a financial model that enables many important ministries to exist in our world today. Just as the staff of a church or a community service organization relies on donations to pay their salary, so our staff also rely on financial partners to meet their financial needs.

We believe, and have experienced over and over, that personal support raising provides many benefits to our staff. It often creates a close bond between the financial partner and the worker on the field, it helps our workers experience God's faithfulness in tangible ways, and when combined with a commitment to pray as well as to give, it provides powerful teamwork that results in encouragement for our workers and supernatural blessing on our ministries.

Our time in Ecuador

All through Ecuador

Two months in beautiful Ecuador has changed our lives. We traveled all around Ecuador from the coast to the mountains to the jungle. During that time we were in 10 cities, did 55 programs, ministered to over 5,000 people and 30 people came to Christ. All of you were a part of what God did there through your prayers and financial support.

God’s Hand

Before we left for Ecuador we spent many hours in prayer and intercession for our trip. God spoke to us and promised us many things. He promised He’d use us to start a domino affect in Ecuador and that God would rain down His living water. We knew that it was possible that we’d never see the results but we had to have faith that God was going to do all that He promised. But our God is faithful and good to us and we were able to see results in every place we went. God’s spirit filled our meetings and ministry times. We meet people who were thirsty for the Living Water and God poured His Living

Water over them. We ministered in a small town called Baños for two days. God moved, we prayed and cried along with the people then left. Two weeks later the Pastor found where we were staying to tell us of all the things God is doing in his church because of what happened while we were there. The youth are forming outreach groups to travel to the surrounding areas and minister to those around them, a small revival has begun. We praised God and gave Him the glory for all that He did in Baños and in Ecuador. God not only showed up but He showed us that He was doing all He had promised. Hungry for the Word of God In the small village of Benitez Ecuador people are hungry, some even starving. Even though Benitez is a poor village the starvation isn’t a physical one, the people here are starving for spiritual food, the Word of God. As we walked through the town going door to door we encountered many people with lots of questions, open and ready to accept the gospel of Jesus Christ and longing for discipleship. As we finished our last church service I ministered to Grace, a new believer. After we finished praying together I walked away to gather my things and she came to me once again. “Can you do me a favor?” she asked with a desperate look in her face. “Of course, what can I do for you?” I replied. “Can you get me a Bible , I really want to study the Word of God,” she said and I could see that hunger, spiritual starvation in her face. My heart dropped, we had already given away all of the Bibles we had brought and Eddie had given away his personal Bible as well. I promised her that she would get one, even if I had to send it from the US I would get her the Word of God. I wished my personal Bible was in Spanish so I could give it to her but there was nothing I could do. Thank God that I was able to find one for her before we left Ecuador but I keep remembering the countless others who were asking for Bibles. What we are currently doing Eddie and I are now in Michigan. We are hoping to work for the summer to raise money to attend the Biblical Core Course in Ensenada, Mexico. The Biblical Core Course is a three-month course teaches an inductive approach to Bible Study. We are excited to dig deeper into the Bible. During our time in Michigan we hope to meet up with all of you. One of our goals for the summer is to reconnect with our friends.