Youth With A Mission (YWAM)
San Francisco
Y2K Missionary Trip

    In the year of our Lord, 2000 A.D. a small band of missionaries trek into a distant land on a quest of peace, and spiritual conquest.  Little did they know what lie ahead... 

	The trip begins with a photo of one of the photo-takers, who in turn was taking a photo of the other photo-taker.  And yea - that's Elizabeth's head on the left there.  Whitney took her car, and the rest of us, 8 in all, squeezed into this van we borrowed from another church - THANKS Valley Christian Center!  :-)
Mark wants to know if "...we there yet?"
	The weary travelers are growing impatient.  Mark growls while Elizabeth glares with steely eyes -
Scotty cried himself to sleep while drinking a slurpy.
	Scotty awakes to find himself in "The Streets of San Francisco".  Thinking I was a photographer for the Wallstreet Journal, he quickly snaps into a business pose.
The first night we were there was a ground breaking night.  We familiarized ourselves with the territory.  From left to right, we see Scott, Eric, Christian, and Jenny.
	Here we are wandering down the hallway to our room.  Josh is still sad that he was rebuked for trying to start a food fight... (Just kidding)  Eric is in the back there trying to catch up...
The YWAM base in San Francisco also happens to serve as a temporary church on Sunday mornings.  Here we are in worship, giving praise and honor and glory to God.
	"You expect me to sleep in that???"  Well no, he didn't actually say that.  In fact, we likened our room to the Hilton of missionary dwellings.
Christian points out our current location while Eric displays his impression of Atlas.
	Here's me!  I may not be on the top of the world, but at least I have it in the palm of my hand...
Here's me, Josh, and Mark     praying in a park    (That rhymes...)
Our groups all went out, and ended up converging at the Golden Gate bridge.  Our mission on this day was to pray over several landmark places - and over the city as a whole.  We were also encouraged to meet and talk with people and if possible, steer our conversations to the Lord.  We often just chatted with people, getting to know them, and share with them.    In this location, we prayed against the water babies.  (Inside joke - don't ask...)
Chillen...
	The busses were a bit cramped.  When we got on, I saw a few sardines complaining as they got off.    I was tempted to "Moo" but refrained.  There were so many people, someone was bound to take it as an insult.    A fight nearly broke out one time we were on one of the bus rides.  This one guy kept yelling at everyone.  Praise God nothing happened!
We witnessed and prayed with this guy who was having a pretty tough time.  He was a humble man, glad to receive comforting words from the Lord.
	After a day of spiritual warfare, witnessing, and being filled with the spirit, we fill our bodies with food as well.  Jenny thinks it's delicious!
And at table #2, Josh is still fuming about the food fight that could have been.  "Should I... should I... no - I better not.  Man, he's asking for it!"  Scotty antagonizes him, and Eric says "You gonna let him dog you like that???"    Just kidding - we had a great time eating our meals and partaking in some of the activities in the center there, such as foosball, pool, ping pong, skeet surfing, bungee kayaking from sky-scrapers, etc.
	On this day, we made cards and lunches for the homeless, and ate lunch with whoever we could find on the streets.  I met a man that live in the city for about 7 years on the streets.    I suppose Josh is praying over the cards, being spiritual.  He is still convinced that his "happy face" card was inspired.
Elizabeth met this nice woman, and talked with her at length about a great many things.  She made me take the picture twice, because she wasn't prepared for the first one.
Here's Elizabeth, being cheerful while riding the bus.  On this day, we prayed over several churches.  We were always in a time crunch, trying to complete our missions and get back to the base by certain times.  SORRY Jen - for all those times we were late!
	Here's a sample of one of our ping pong tournaments - which more frequently resembled tennis without the table...    On this night, we went out to do hot chocolate evangelism.  The way it works is we walked around the streets with a thermos and styrophome cups, asking people if they want some hot chocolate.  If they say yes, then we hang out and chat.  I met a guy named Terri - who went by the nick name smiley.  He said he was 21, and his twin brother was 20 - interesting story.  (He was born premature, but his brother remained in the womb for an additional three months...)   It turned out that Smiley had an uncle that was in the same military unit as a friend of mine.  Even stranger, his last name was the same last name as that same friend of mine - Evans...    God bless Terri Evans!
That hot chocolate evangelism makes Mark sleep like a baby -
	Josh too -
This is Scotty's impression of a water baby.  (Again - you had to be there)...
	From left to right, rear to front, we have Scotty, me (John), Josh, Whitney, Elizabeth, Mark, Eric, Christian, and Jenny.   On this day we had the love feast, where we invited many people to attend a dinner with us.  Our motif was Ephesians, - put on the whole armor of God.  We had a knight ride his horse in - not really.  Actually we had decorations of armor and swords all over the place, and made a helmet and sword from wrapping paper, etc.  During the feast, we had several events.  Jenny gave her personal testimony, then we sang together.  Other youth groups put on skits -
This youth group had a really good skit about a girl that was drawn into a sinful lifestyle, and weighted down until she was crushed.  Then during her darkest moment, a Christian came and witnessed the light of Christ to her, and she was saved.  Her backpack, which had the label of "Sin" on it, was quickly discarded, and she was filled with joy!
	This man's name is Joe.  He walked into the Love Feast as a Buddhist, and left two hours later a born again Christian!  I don't think it's possible to become desensitized to the witnessing of a new birth in Christ.  People there at the YWAM center cried - actually cried with joy, hearing Joe explain to the best of his ability what God was telling him.  He knew that Jesus is the way.  We just explained the gospel as it is presented HERE AT THIS LINK, and it hit him like a sledge hammer.  His spirit already knew - his mind just need to catch up!   God bless Joe!
Here's Eric standing next to his buddy, Willie.  Willie loved that guitar so much, he'd just walk around town with it, sort of like a jacket.
	Here we all are - except for this time, Kanayo, his wife Oby, and Jen, are here with us.  Kayayo and Oby are from Nigeria, Africa, searching for missionary recruits to their homeland.  Gatherings in excess of 100,000 meet weekly in Nigeria, and the pouring out of God's spirit is unlike ever before.    In neighboring Sudan - the Sudanese government murdered 1.2 million Christians last year, but despite the ever looming threat of evil governments, people are reaching out to the Lord, and the gospel is spreading like wild fire.    Our church may go to Nigeria on next year's outreach.  Interested in missionary work?  Email Kanayo - he'll hook you up!!!    kochiemelu@yahoo.com
	On the last day of our mission, we got a little time to poke around some of the shops at the wharf.  Here's a quick pic of a horse and carriage.
Finally going home - the travelers are exhausted.  This was truly a filling experience -
See two video clips! 1. Prayer on the streets - 2. This was a STRETCHING experience -

   We all have our stories - our experiences that can never be taken from us.  For anyone desiring to experience a closeness with the Lord, and discover what life is really all about, I highly recommend mission trips.  When I got back, I was asked "How was the trip?"  My answer is with a story - 
   I watched an episode of Star Trek Next Generation once where the crew encountered a probe floating in space. When they scanned it, a ball of energy shot out of it, penetrated the Enterprise, and smacked Captain Piccard on the head.  The next thing he knew - he was on a planet, in another world, in another time, as another person!  As the show continued, it became evident that Piccard was trapped in this place, and despite all his attempts, was never able to return to the Starship Enterprise.  Years passed, and the culture and time of the people that Piccard was immersed in began to unfold.  These people lived on a dying world that was going to explode, and had no hope of ever being saved.  They put all their efforts into a single project - to create a huge time capsule (probe) that would preserve the knowledge of the people and culture for any future species that might encounter it, so they would never be forgotten.  The heart of this project was a probe - the same probe the Enterprise encountered.
   Piccard lived his entire life on this planet, and with his dying breath, witnessed the launching of this probe into outer space.  The next moment after he died, he awoke to find himself lying on the floor in the Enterprise.  Only a few hours passed for everyone on the Enterprise, but for Piccard, and entire lifetime was lived.  When they asked him what happened, he couldn't speak.  An entire lifetime of experience - a wife and kids - a lifetime's work - many people, friends, and relatives - everything - was fresh in his mind.  He stammered and wandered off.  The last scene showed him sitting in a ventilation shaft, playing a musical instrument that he learned how to play while alive on that planet.
   This is how I felt when I got back.  It was a lifetime of experience - packed into a single week.  Answering the question "How was it?" - I understand how Piccard felt...
   Thanks for visiting this site - and GOD BLESS YOU ALL!!!   :-)