Change of plans

Well.  Here we are.  I am sitting at Dunn Brothers coffee in Hudson, WI and finally updating my blog again.  I got "home" from Mexico on the 18th of July and almost wish I had never left.  Now, I know many of you are thinking "Colin!  Brazil!  What the crap!?" And well.  Yeah.  That is kind of my feeling as well.  But we will get there

So as many of you know, I recently graduated from a Chronological Biblical Core Course (CBCC) while in Ensenada Mexico with Youth with a Mission (YWAM).  This was one of the better decisions I have made in my life, and am so happy that I go to experience this with all these wonderful people.  It was a lot of work, and a lot of long nights, and much frustration, but it was so worth it in the end.  I learned more about myself and the Bible and God during


these 3 months than potentially the rest of my life.  I read the entire Bible in 3 months, alongside studying in depth 14 books.  I got to see the consistency of God's character throughout the whole bible, and saw the "Old Testament God" and "New Testament God" merge into just God.  I learned how much grace he had for the Israelites.  I saw the true beauty of Jesus and his work, and I saw how much theology I never understood.  It was extremely helpful, and it has stirred a desire in my heart to commit to the 9 month long version sometime in the future.  Getting a solid basis of theology and beliefs, in my opinion, is vital to our walk with God, and unquestionably necessary for anyone pursuing missions work.

During this time, I also made a lot of new friends that I can not wait to see again when I go back this fall.  Out of our 21 students, we have 7 coming onto full time staff (including 3 that were already on full time staff!)  Many of these friendships helped me decide to stay in Ensenada and join full time staff there.  We laughed together, cried together, struggled with homework together, ate many, many tacos together, and bonded closer in these 3 months than I thought we would.  It s also heartbreaking knowing that I may never see any of them again.  To all my CBCC 2016 folks, I will never forget you and you will always have a place in my heart!  You guys rock and I can't believe we actually all did it!

So Ensenada.  During my time in Mexico many things happened.  It started to look like the base I was going to in Brazil was not going to work out so I ended up trying to go somewhere else.  I managed to get accepted and was in the process of getting my visa forms so that I could apply as soon as I got back from Mexico.  During all this time I was struggling with my future and what to do about Brazil.  I felt so at home and peaceful in Ensenada and didn't want to leave, but ignored all those feelings because my heart was still set on Brazil.  There were a lot of other crazy connections with the base, but I pushed them all down and continued pursuing Brazil.  Eventually someone close to me had a prophetic dream about me and the theme of the dream was God calling me to give up my passions for Brazil and stay in Ensenada.  After struggling immensely with this decision, I decided to follow God and felt peace about it.  My desire and passion for Brazil is all from myself.  I saw something that lit my heart on fire and ran after it.  God called me to give this up for a new passion for Mexico, and while I still strongly believe that God will send me to Brazil, having to give up that control and certainty has been very difficult.  I am very excited about my future, but my heart still aches to be in Brazil.

I am currently at my parents house in Houlton, WI.  Yeah that IS a city that is unincorporated and has nothing. I am working for a friend doing landscaping and outdoor lighting while I am home to raise money for moving expenses and support raising.  While I am going to be contacting many people to meet about supporting, do not hesitate to ask me any questions about it!  I would love to meet and talk about what I do or why I do it anytime.  I will be going back sometime in the fall and committing to at least 2-3 years at the base.  Who knows how long I will be there.  I love my family here and my friends in the USA, but I can't wait to be with my other family and friends across the border.  Eating tacos.