Help Make Camp Possible!

A few weeks back, I was reminiscing about how I was involved with kids camps last year and how awesome it was. Then, it hit me: why don't we do one here? Pastor Elvis had been mentioning about how he wanted to do camps for the teens and young adults, so why not for the kids? We started to talk, which now has turned into planning. We possibly might be having our FIRST EVER Kids's Camp here at Mision Familiar Bethlem!!! Unfortunately, the keyword is: possibly. That "We possibly might" can be changed to "We ARE" with YOUR help! And you can help in multiple ways:

• Pray. We need all the prayer we can get: for God to show us which kids need to go, for God to send us leaders to help with camp, for awesome ideas of things to do with the kids at camp.
• Donate camping items. It could be anything you might think we could use for camping: tents, pillows, sleeping bags, blankets, toothbrushes, toothpaste, soap, bug spray, sun block, flashlights with batteries, and whatever else you think would be useful.
• Donate craft/game items. This camp is something I want the kids to remember forever and look forward to every year. For that, I need several items to make this a super fun and exciting experience: several large tarps, TONS of baby shampoo, a giant, inflatable beach ball, TONS of water balloons, multiple rolls of different colored duct tape, an assortment of wood paint, thick, wooden picture frames that can be painted/drawn on (3x5), beach/sand toys, floaties, life jackets for kids, good walkie talkies (actual ones, not kid ones), shaving cream, square swim goggles for kids/adults, and anything else that you think would be useful/fun to do. I am open to ideas!
• Sponsoring a Child. Unfortunately, camp costs money, and almost all of these kids that want to go don't have the money for it. For one kid, it costs $120 to have an amazing experience at this camp. Not only with fun and games, but they will be entering into the love and presence of God in an environment where there aren't any distractions of home/chores/work getting in the way and where only God's true and amazing love is shown. We are planning on bringing around 20-30 kids to camp, and with your help, we can. Here's a list of kids that we are praying for to be able to come to camp and have their lives changed forever:

Boys:

• Carlos, age 8
• Samuel, age 10
• Israel, age 9
• Raul, age 7
• Alfonso, age 10
• Iliseo, age 7
• Bryan, age 8
• Sami, age 7
• Octavio, age 11
• Oscar, age 11
• Everardo, age 10
• Leo, age 9
• Alan, age 9

Girls:

• Karla, age 11
• Estefani, age 10
• Noami, age 9
• Angela, age 11
• Danely, age 8
• Danitza, age 7
• Sara, age 8
• Paola, age 10
• Melani, age 10

I will be adding  kids on this list once I find out about more kids that can go, and I will be updating the statuses of the kids once they get paid for, so be sure to keep watch on this list to see our progress! Also, our teachers/camp counselors need to be paid for to go (12 in total as of now, same price as the kids) and transportation costs need to be funded for, as well. If you have a van/bus you can donate, we would be more than happy to accept that, as well. We are planning on the camp being on August 16-18, so it's coming up fast! Please feel free to also pray for all of the finances to be covered.

If you would like to donate any items for camp, please contact me via email: daniel.ratz92@gmail.com

If you would like to sponsor a child, please do so by clicking the donate button on the side and, in the for space, indicate which child you wish to sponsor.

If you would like to sponsor a teacher/camp counselor, donate towards transportation costs, or would like to send a financial donation for a non-specific purpose, please feel free to do so as well by clicking the PayPal donate button on the side and indicate in the for section where you would like the money to go towards. If there isn't a specific purpose, be sure to put that in the for section.

Thank you for taking the time to read this and for joining us in prayer, as God is going to move in these kids' lives like never before!

June 2013 Newsletter

Since I finally have a computer, I can make nice-looking newsletters!¡ Here's the one for this month of June:

In His Hands

Today in church, Pastor Elvis was saying something about placing everything in the hands of God or about Him blessing us or something along those lines, and he then called people to come to the front for prayer. Usually, at this point, I go and play background music for the altar call, but oneof the other band members did. I decided to go to the front and pray with the other people who were up front. Things have been really tight with money, and not having a computer really was making things hard. I have everything I need, but I want to be able to be able to bless the kids just a bit more. I prayed, "God, please provide a way for me to get a little bit extra money so that I can do something awesome for my kids. I know that You're providing all I need, but I want to do just a little bit more. Meet us all where we're at." He then spoke to me:

"Daniel, stop worrying. I've got you in My hands."

Tears started to well up in my eyes. In that moment, I knew it was God.

After church, I went to talk to the pastor. I've been trying for a while now to buy a nice computer for really, really cheap, but it's so hard when I don't have much money nor a job to get money. I asked Pastor Elvis if there was any way we could talk to his friend I was buying the computer from about letting me have it now and then paying the guy later once I could work and get the money. I have no idea why this wasn't brought up before, but Pastor Elvis suggested that I use his wife's computer that was in his office. After arranging things and testing it out, everything worked out! It's not perfect, but the computer works. It's enough to do what I need to do. I actually might have a possible job coming up soon, too!

Now that I have a computer, I'll be able to get out more updates about what's going on here and be able to get those newsletters made!

Also, I'll be posting a new video EVERY MONDAY on this YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/AWayWithWords24. I'm changing things up a bit, too.

Along with music, I'll be adding:

- Meet My Kids (interviews/crazy stuff with the kids I live with)

and

-Missionary Lyfe (an exaggerated vlog-series about what it's like living as a missionary in Tijuana, Mexico)

There's no particular order to what will come next, but it'll be one of the three EVERY MONDAY, so be sure to check me out and let all of your friends/family/neighbors/supermarket ladies know to SUBSCRIBE!¡

God is faithful.

"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened." Matthew 7:7-8

Technical Difficulties.......

I haven't been posting any new blogs due to my computer being stolen. I want to be able to add pictures and make it look nice, but it's hard to do that on an iPod. We will be getting a new computer at the church soon that isn't ancient, so I'll hopefully be able to do a bunch of updates with that. Also, there isn't a newsletter for the month of April, either. Hopefully, there will be one for May.

In the meantime, I post stuff about my time here on my Facebook and Twitter, so feel free to check them out! I only accept friend requests from people I know, but if you don't personally know me, send me a message so I can!

facebook.com/daniel.ratz92

Twitter: @Life_Of_Daniel

Livin' the Life of Job

So, for the past two weeks, things have been a bit challenging:

On April 1, which happens to be April Fools Day, is when it all started. I was planning with Pastor Elvis about the shirts for my kids's soccer team. My computer was almost out of batteries, so I grabbed my charger, plugged it in the kitchen, and placed it on the table. Now, Hermano Jesse told me before that if I were to do that, to put something over it so that no one could see it so that no one would steal it. I knew this, but the pastors were here, and their kids were at the table where I plugged it in, so I thought, "It's all good. Nothing is going to happen when the pastors are here, plus their kids."

Yeah, right.

I left the church, washed my clothes, and then remembered that I had told one of my kids that I would help them with something. I ran to his house since it was late, but didn't tell anyone. It was during that time that the pastors had left. When I came back, I went to check something on my laptop, and it was gone. GONE. I flipped out a bit, but then calmed down and thought, "Maybe Pastor borrowed it for something. He didn't ask, which makes me upset, but maybe he did. I checked upstairs, in the office, the kitchen again. Nothing. I then remembered that no one could get into my computer without the password, so why would Pastor have borrowed it? I then remembered the day and thought that someone was playing a joke on me, but I then realized that that is just an American thing. My last thought was that maybe Hermano Jesse wad teaching me a lesson. After telling him what happened, then calling Pastor and telling him, I realized that he wasn't teaching me a lesson. I was learning it the hard way. The weird thing about it, though, was that the person unplugged my charger and placed the cord nicely on the table instead of taking it. Also, my notebook was on top of my laptop, and that was neatly placed to the side, as well. Weird.

Fast forward to Sunday, April 7. That night, we had chicharon for dinner, which, after asking several times what it is, is pork rinds. They soak them in salsa verde and heat them up. The taste is good, but my stomach hurts a little afterward every time. This was the third time, so I was kind of expecting it. Only, this time, it wasn't just a little bit. It hurt that night all the way to last Sunday. A little Sunday night, a bit more Monday, a LOT Tuesday, and normal pain from Wednesday until last Sunday, digressing a bit every day. The first Sunday was also accompanied by a headache, which lasted until Tuesday, and it turned into a migraine on Monday night. It hurt so bad, I couldn't even walk. I spent Monday night and Tuesday resting. I had to cancel the English class for the kids on Tuesday because of my ill condition.

I had asked Hermano Jesse to pray for me on Tuesday, so he did. He then told me on Wednesday that maybe the devil had asked God for me, just like he asked God for Job. After looking back on what happened to me, it seemed to make sense. First, my possessions (laptop), then my health, just like Job. Thankfully, no one died here, like Job's kids and servants did. Pastor Jesse telling me that reminded me that I need to thank God through everything and give Him all the praise and honor, no matter what happens and even if I don't understand. So I did.

Thank God I'm better now. I really think the devil was out to get me. Too bad, for him, I'm not turning away. NOTHING will EVER separate me from what God has called me to do. NOTHING.

Satan isn't happy with me, guys.

March 2013 Newsletter

Here's the Mision Familiar Bethem newsletter for the month of March! I'm currently working with the parents of the family on the second page and will be posting updates about their progress. I might also be doing a documentary on them, but I'm unsure of that at the moment. Keep an eye out for updates about them.

Cerro

This is a video of the poorest area around where I live. It's called Cerro. I think it might actually be cero, which means "zero" in English. This video speaks for itself.