We're normal people following God's unique & radical calling
We were going about our normal lives, working, hanging with friends, leaders at church, paying the mortgage, going to surf competitions - all the normal stuff, little did we know that God had different plans for us. Whilst in Uganda, Africa on our last family holiday before kids started leaving home, God started speaking in radical ways to us all about a new adventure. Catch the rest of the story on the video or narrative below.
Our story from New Zealand to Mexico
Whilst studying at YWAM Mazatlán, México, our creative friends produced this video capturing some highlights of our story.
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Sit down and have a read of our story ...
When I was a young and carefree twenty-two year old, travelling the world with my backpack, I wondered where and when God would stop me to be a missionary, because I had had a love for mission in my heart since I was first a Christian. But, as I travelled, I never had that place to be a missionary confirmed. Instead, when I paused at a beautiful haven where missionaries were stopping to be refreshed and cared for, often after years of caring for others with no break from ministry or genuine vacation, I realised that I didn’t want to be an ‘actual’ missionary, I wanted to care for missionaries who needed refilling and restoration.
Fast forward to 2015, and our home in New Zealand where I live with my husband Brendan and our four children...
One morning I woke up, having had a very detailed dream. It was so specific, and left me with such an intense feeling that I was compelled to write down all the details, which I had never done before.
The dream showed me walking out of an open, downstairs kitchen into what I knew was a missionary retreat. I was holding a tray of baking and grinning to Brendan. I saw a white two storey Spanish style building. There were red flowering bougainvillea (a flowering plant) and I could see the waves in the distance.
When I was writing down the details I pondered where this place might be. The building definitely looked Spanish in design, and it was obviously a warm climate with those beautiful red bougainvillea spilling everywhere, so I assumed it was Spain.
In 2020, after a season of God speaking to us about us travelling and serving alongside our kids, and trusting Him to work out the MANY details, we sold our business and headed to Mexico for a year to volunteer with YWAM (Youth with a Mission). In the first couple of weeks there both Brendan and I commented many times that we felt “turned around.” This was because the sun would now set into the Pacific, the opposite to our home in NZ; everything felt upside down. I reflected to Brendan that the only time I remember having this feeling was in my dream five years earlier.
Six weeks into our stay, I woke with yet another dream, again one that was so specific, I wrote down the details and dated it.
This time I dreamt that “Our missionary retreat and YWAM base would be between 50 and 55 minutes from Cabo.”
It felt crazy for many reasons. Firstly, we were new to YWAM and were just volunteers, and secondly, I knew nothing about the city of Cabo - just that it was south on the Baja Peninsula in Mexico, about 20 hours drive away, and we had no plans to go there.
But, of course, Covid has changed plans for us all, disrupting travel, the whole world making alternative arrangements ‘for life’. Covid turned our plans upside down, and we decided to head south to another YWAM base in Mazatlan, for a three month ministry school. We took three weeks to journey there, camping around the Baja Peninsular, sleeping on beaches, checking out quaint villages, surfing, and having quality family time, before going to cross over to mainland Mexico on an overnight ferry.
We explored a lot on this three week trip and did have a few days in the city of Cabo, the city in my dream. We finished our journey towards the YWAM base with a stop at a hostel/campground called ‘Surf Camp’, which a number of people had recommended to us. We had a fun three days there, packed up on our final day, ready to head off to catch the ferry to mainland Mexico.
Before jumping in the car, I went and thanked the owner of the ‘Surf Camp’ and told him how much we enjoyed our stay. We had learnt he sold Real Estate, so as a tongue-in-cheek parting comment, I asked him if he could please find us a hotel to buy for missionaries to stay at!
Surprisingly, he said that he actually had a hotel for sale, but I explained we were leaving in an hour! Not fazed, he invited us to meet him at the hotel in half an hour, so we did a frantic pack up and met him there. It was the most amazing experience of deja-vu. As we walked into the property I started nudging Brendan, whispering ‘this is the place I saw in my dream 5 years ago’, while of course, trying to look totally uninterested to the real estate agent!
As we hopped back into the car I couldn’t quite believe that the details from my dream from five years ago had been played out right here, in front of my eyes. I asked Toby to look on his phone at how far it was from the hotel to Cabo, remembering in my dream it had said between 50 and 55 minutes. Google maps told us that the trip was 53 minutes!
God is so specific with every detail. We are still stunned when we see how He is leading us so clearly to live and work in Mexico. He has grown our hearts for this place, and confirmed every step and His timing, time and time again.
We now call Cerritos home, located in the southern Baja Peninsular, Mexico.
We are learning how to run the Olas de Cerritos Hotel. We are transforming the hotel to a retreat and have begun welcoming missionaries and pastors here to be refreshed at the Olas Retreat.
We are also recruiting and training a team with the hope of starting our first Discipleship Training School at the new YWAM Base in September 2023. We have been gifted a block of land for this purpose.
It’s going to be a demanding few years but we are 100% confident it’s what God is calling us to. We are soooo up for it, and so excited to see what the Lord is going to do!
Thank you for taking the time to read our story. It’s an ever changing, growing journey, learning to hear God clearly and follow his directions. He has been teaching us to trust him for the next step, like Psalm 119:105 says “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” We have been learning that a lamp only illuminates a few steps ahead, it’s not a high powered spotlight that shows the entire path and destination, but with God, we can trust Him that the big picture – the map – is securely in His hands.
We can’t do this alone; we really value our friends and family that are on this journey with us, and who lend so much support and kindness, prayers and encouragement.