I got to do something with them, that they haven't ever done before! (I love it when that happens!) We made sugar cookies and frosting from scratch. Here are some pictures for you!
Denise in the blue and Jenny in the white.
Other girls came by the time the cookies were cooked and cooled...just in time to decorate! I forgot to take pictures when they were here though.
Above is some of our finished results. (They called these ginger bread men "Felipe and Kelly") The others aren't shown because the boys showed up just as I was taking this picture...and just in time to eat! They didn't last long. What a hit! But we now had 12 kids in the house. Felipe pulled out the "Apples to Apples" game making it the second of the "firsts" for the night.
Dear Friends of Young Life, Merry Christmas! I hope this letter finds you well during this season of thanksgiving, remembering the birth of our Lord Jesus and to the start of a new year! It’s been a little over 2 years since I accepted the call to Young Life on the East Side and God has shown up in BIG ways. One is that HE has provided people like YOU, who are reading this letter. I am so thankful to know that you are praying for me and all the kids we are walking with. It’s because of your prayers and God’s answer to them that kids are entering HIS kingdom. You may remember me talking about Angel. I met Angel the first month I started greeting kids on campus. He was in 8th grade at Santa Barbara Jr. High and he was one of the kids that would always meet me on Fridays to grab a slice of pizza. To the kids I was the “pizza guy” who randomly showed up at lunchtime to hang out with them. It wasn’t so random. I was there with a purpose. I was there because I cared about them and wanted Jesus Christ to be a part of their lives. Since then I have learned so much about Angel who is now a sophomore in high school. He has not seen his mother since she was deported to Mexico over two years ago. She was addicted to drugs and ended up being arrested and deported. His father was an alcoholic and also used drugs; as of today Angel has not heard from his father for several months since he was also arrested and deported. About one year ago Angel was involved in a nearly fatal gang related stabbing. Angel belongs to a gang and was chased down by a rival gang member and stabbed from behind. He had a collapsed lung and nearly died because of it. His journey in life has not been easy and since that stabbing it has been even harder. He was put on probation, violated his probation, was then sent to Juvenile Hall, and now he is currently at Los Prietos Boys Academy for 6 months. I know God has a perfect plan for him. I feel that being away from his gang life will open up the doors for God to work on his heart. I will continue to visit, encourage, and love him. The photo above is of Angel and me the first time I went to visit him at the beginning of Nov. He has a great smile, one of a kind. During these visits I can bring him food and I asked him to give me a list of his top three favorites. His number one was my wife’s potatoes! My wife was blessed to hear that! Hopefully he will earn the privilege to be home on Christmas Day with his sisters. Please pray for Angel and that he will be able to choose Jesus and not the gang life. Ruben is another kid who I’ve known for almost 3 years now. I have seen him mature and grow in his walk with Christ so much. Last summer he spent one month with me at Malibu, a Young Life camp in Canada, washing dishes! That month changed his life. You might have heard his testimony at this year’s Young Life banquet. I am so proud of him and thankful that God took hold of his heart and life! I am excited to walk alongside him the rest of his high school career and beyond. God has big plans for Ruben! It is a joy to be able to be in a relationship with these two young men. Each are on different journeys but both know that God loves them so much that He sent His only son to die for them. Every kid should have the opportunity to know that! As you know our country has been hit hard with the condition of the economy. In light of this situation there have been many blessings that have come with the ministry and of course the privilege of talking to kids about Jesus. But now the reality is that the economy has affected my position on staff. It’s not easy to find the words to write this… Since May I have been on 75% salary and now I’m faced with the possibility that Young Life will not be able to support my staff position because of loss of income. I need to raise $20,000 by the end of the year in order to remain on Young Life staff. This is a job I have loved for the last two years, and I know if it is God’s will He will provide. I need to trust that HE has everything in HIS hands. Please consider a one-time gift or a monthly pledge. Thank you for those of you who already have made a gift or pledge, I am truly grateful. Please keep me in your thoughts and prayers during this difficult time. A best friend and mentor of mine reminded me of this verse: Romans 8:28 “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” Blessings,
Felipe Contreras
HIGH LIGHTS
Two Clubs on the East Side.
55 kids from the east side at WyldLife club every week.
Latino Leadership Experience: 11 students from SBHS. These are kids who have leadership gifts and potential. It is a year long discipleship and leader training experience.
10 volunteer leaders who are investing in the lives of kids at SB High school and Jr. High.
A Strong Campaigner Group (Bible Study) for both guys and girls
Over the last two years or so, I have had many "firsts". Tonight, I added to the list.
On October 30, 2009, a friend of our Young Life kids committed suicide. The kids have been rightfully upset and as always so supportive of one another. (I love how much they love and stick be each other.) Tonight, they had a rosary to pay their respects at a house here on the east side. The boy was a part of the east side gang so all the gang related people were there along with friends and loved ones. ...and then me. It wasn't my original plan to be there. I offered to take two kids to get some candles, but felt like I should stay to just be with them. Once I was there, I saw about 8 of our regular Young Life kids in the mix. They easily picked me out being the only "white person" there. It was hard not to look in my direction too since I apparently sat next to the only 4 drunk people there. They kept singing drawing more attention, unknowingly, to themselves.
They had chairs everywhere. People were overflowing all the way around the house and out to the street. They must have rented the chairs along with the port-o-potty in the front of the house. The woman leading the outdoor service stood in front of the memorial table as she went through the rosary. I stood there clueless with no Catholic background (again) and not nearly enough Spanish and just tried to be respectful. I watched my kids one by one begin to cry as the last song was sung. I could only understand half of the words...something about "into your hands". The tune reminded me of a song that we use to sing when I was little:
In His time, In His time He makes all things Beautiful in His time Lord, Please show me everyday As your teaching me Your way AND I'll do just what you say In Your time.
In Your time, In Your time You make all things beautiful in Your time Lord, my life to You I bring May each song I have to sing Be to You a lovely thing In Your time
It made me pray for the kids that were there. "God, take care of your babies... your children. You make all things beautiful in Your time. Help them to see Your plan in all of this. That YOU are faithful."
Towards the end, one of my girls (Jenny) that I was with caught one of the drunk singers taking a shot. If you know me at all, I have a hard time being serious at these sort of things. I told Jenny that I was going to be "the first to buy their cd when it comes out..." I know, Felipe...leave it to me to say something like that. I couldn't resist.
What a busy start to the school year!! We have Young Life on Monday nights and Wyld Life on Wednesday nights. Its been such a great start and I can't wait to see what God is going to do in the lives of some of the kids. Wednesdays are always long days for me, in a good way. Tucker (An amazing leader from Westmont) and I have campaigners (AKA:Small group, bible study) with 4 young men and we are going through the Gospel of John. Its been interesting and exciting to read it along side them for the very FIRST time, for them. They are reading the bible for the first time! they are asking questions! They don't give me the typical church answers! Please pray for these young men who are just beginning to learn about Jesus. They come not only for the pancakes and waffles we make but to learn about HIS word.
Here are a couple photos from our first few weeks of Club.
Tonight we had club at Taco bell! It was all you can eat for $3! We had about 45 kids eating tacos and burritos till they could eat no more!Here are some of our leaders and kids showing off their Muscles and FAT!
The kids pimped out the leaders rides!!
(aka: covered our cars with caution tape and foil paper)
Please pray for those kids we spend time with! Club and all the fun that comes with it is just a small part of what we want for these kids. We want them to know they have a God who loves them and that their life could be different. It could be how God intended it to be full of LOVE!
Please Pray for the Young Life Banquet next week. It is an important time for the Young Life ministry.
Please Pray for the Latino Leadership Experience and the 19 high school students who will participating from Santa Barbara and Oxnard. We will meet once a month till May 2010!
This is our Mission Statement: The Latino Leadership Experience exists in order to develop and cultivate the leadership skills of the Latino youth of the Gold Coast & Central Valley Region. We believe by the empowering of the Latino youth through this experience will serve to enhance their confidence, give them an identity, cast vision in their lives, and most importantly give them a Christ centered meaning that will lead them to become valuable leaders in their communities.
Please Pray for Angel. He as been locked up in Juvenile hall for the last three weeks. He will be sent to boot camp soon. Pray that during this time he will think about all the words he has heard, all the love he was given and most important that he would turn to Jesus. Both his parents are deported and only has his older sisters to look after him.
Please Pray for Carlos. He does not go to school in town anymore. Pray for protection. Pray that I would get opportunities to spend one on one time with him. Pray that God would change his heart.
Let me share that this month my wife and I celebrated 5 MONTHS of being married! I know, I know it sounds like a long time but really we are still newly weds. We have been learning so much about being married. It not only has been hard at times but so wonderful and beautiful. We are falling more and more in love with each other every day!
Thank you to all who pray for us and our ministry!
We had a great girls Bible study here at our apartment tonight. We are taking the girls through the book of John. In chapter one tonight, we talked about how the "Word became flesh" that the "Word" refers to who God is. (Hence the Cap letters.) Later, John the Baptist gives his famous line " Look, the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world!" We talked about how at this time the people would sacrifice a lamb for their sins. But this was John's way of preparing the way...to elude more/less that of what was going to happen. Melissa always says the best lines. The ones that make me proud--like, Oh! You were listening. At the very end, she said tonight... "So Jesus was the big sacrifice that they are talking about!?" EXACTLY!
This year we took our kids to Lost Canyon located in Williams, Arizona. It was an amazing week for us. Kelly took 4 girls to camp that she has walked along side for the last two years. I had 8 boys in my cabin along with another leader named Tucker.
It seemed like in that one week we went through every kind of emotion possible.
There was points where I felt so angry and frustrated because of how disrespectful some of the kids were behaving. There were points were I was in tears because of the stories each of them poured out during cabin time and there was points of complete and utter non stop laughter and fun.
On the last night at camp I had the boys write a letter to them selves. I told them to write about their week at camp and what it meant to them.
Here is what they wrote:
I learned that through all the things I do God is still there. I learned that gangs are everywhere and that you can’t run from them. I like the zip line, ropes course, playground, bikes and the pool. God told me to forgive my dad. He also said gangs are bad. I had fun at the pool party, fair/carnival and the course. In the future I would like to get out of the whole gang thing and get a job. I would like to see my mom and dad again and for my sister to live a happy life. I would like to graduate from high school and go to college. I want to get married and have children and see them grow up.
This week was good. It made me think a lot of how God is going to change my life because I have accepted him in my life. HE even changed it this week when I was here. Like when I had my one on one with Felipe. He told me about the group that can help me actually do the thing that I want to be. That the dream I have might be able to actually succeed and do it. This week was also cool because I got to learn more about some people. This week also showed me that God is not going to be able to do every thing him self, you have to help him and try to do some stuff for your self.
This week I learned that I will never be alone because God is always with me. This week I had a one on one with Tucker. This week was the best because I met new people. The new people I met were cool. When I was out here at camp I was able to learn more about God. That he was put on that cross for our sins. What I did this week was went to the pool and hung out and played sports out here with different people, went on the blob. What I did when there was nothing going on was go to the pool hall and played games or go to the store. What I didn’t do was call back home because I didn’t want to hear about the problems. When we went biking it was cool because I wasn’t able to do it back in SB. We also had a pillow fight war just for fun because we were bored. The best thing that happened to be here at camp was just having fun with friends. What I want my future to look like is good and not do what I was doing before. I hope everything changes. What I want my return to look like. I would like it to be prefect and for there to be no problems!!!
I had fun this week but also it came with ups and downs. From problems with the girls to problems with really close friends. This week I had a one on one time with Tucker and we talked about the worst day that I had. I believe in God because no matter what he will always be there for you. This week I met a lot of new people, I met the people that I had beef with.
This week I learned a lot of things like how I can create a relationship with God and how I can be less of a sinner. I also had a great week because I realized how great life can be if you have a relationship with God. Also I realized that I have to work at having a relationship with God but it also doesn’t mean it’s going to be easy. My week here meant a lot because it got me away from the streets and violence and possibly of getting in trouble. It helped me escape. My high this week was meeting new people and my low this week was drama.
This week has been really good. I have learned that no matter what God will be with me forever. He is eternal. He died on the cross for our sins. He is pure. He will forgive us for any sin that we have had. One of my highs was just being with my best friends. My low is all the drama that happened with other cabins. This week meant that God took in all our sins so we can live with him in heaven. I want my future to be with God and follow in his footsteps. I want my life to be better and for me to have more faith and love in God. God will be with me 24/7. God and I will stick together forever.
God is spoke into each heart and I am excited to see what God has in plan for each of them.
Now I'll let my wife tell you about her week:
The week was so special! Here I was with my four faithful girls who have walked with me through my experiences just as much as I have walked with them. These are the same four girls that came to our wedding! I love sharing life with them. I love their child like faith with me and their colorblind and sometimes even culturally blind eyes that they have.
From left to right: Maria, Ashleigh, Kelly (me), Denise, and Melissa
We did a lot together at camp. Pool games, the amazing race, cabin games in our matching gray shirts, camouflage bandannas, and face paint, the obstacle course at night (…I was the only one really injured), the ropes course, the playground, dress up nights (see picture above), club, girls dance party, and much more. I loved our late night chats and giggles around my bed! I love when were silly and can be real with each other. I always treasure the one on one time I have with the girls. They come alive and share things that I can’t believe they trust me with! I’m so thankful for their trust!
Post camp…
At 2:30am, I dropped Melissa off after arriving home from camp. With little energy, we pulled her things out of the trunk of my car. She gave me a hug good-bye and whispered in my ear "That was the best week ever!"
A few days later, I got a routine call from her mom asking if she was really going to be with me that night. It was a camp reunion night, so of course she was going to be with me--she wouldn't miss it! I asked her mom how things had been since she has been home. Her mom proceeded to tell me that Melissa told her in a conversation that they were having that "she learned that she can put the past behind her and start fresh..." I knew that she had gotten that from listening to the club talks.
On the outside she appears to be a lion, but inside, she's a lamb.It is neat for me to be the one to see her progress and little by little understand things more. While Melissa did not make a full decision for Christ, I am please and encouraged at the growth that happened during "the best week of her life".
This past Monday, we had our first Bible study at our apartment. Three of the four girls were able to make it along with the other two camp leaders (Gaby and Sara) and their 6 girls. I love their honesty of where they are. Denise gave her heart to Jesus at camp and was excited to read the Bible for our study. Melissa so boldly says that she’s not there yet. She has great questions and is learning little by little. Maria doesn’t really say much, but our conversation tells me that she loves to be in this safe community of people.
Below is the video is the video that I made with Maria at camp when she went on the big swing on the Playground. It’s called “Maria’s Great Adventure.”
Thank you to all of you who made it possible for these kids to go to camp!! Thank you for all your prayers! You are HUGE part of reaching these kids for HIS Kingdom!
Kelly and I have been married for 107 days as of today. It's been a busy summer and it finally has slowed down but not for long. The school year is about to begin and Young Life will start up with CLUB soon.
Kelly and I live in a small apartment on the East Side of SB. Harbor View Apartments right next the Country Club Golf Course on Old Coast High Way. We just made our second trip to IKEA ever and have found some great deals on furniture. That place is amazing! We are slowly filling our small apartment with needed furniture and decorating it too. For a while our place looked pretty empty.
Here is a link to the photos from the photo booth we had at our wedding:
Denise in the blue and Jenny in the white.
