November, 2008

November 29th, 2008.

Dear Friends,

This month has been the highlight of the year. The first weekend I went to a Women’s Retreat and I had a great time of fellowship with the ladies from my Church.

Then, I spent 7 days interpreting for 4 missionaries from Missouri . They taught the local Church a new way to bless the community. We went into businesses in the neighborhood and we just asked the employees and/or owners if we could pray for them. Then, the local Pastor invited them to come to the Church services. The missionaries also got to share their testimonies with cell groups in different homes. At the end of the week, the local Church organized a soccer tournament for the youth where the missionaries also shared with the players about God’s love. I really enjoyed the variety of activities!

On November 16th, I flew to Costa Rica to be part of the Youth with a Mission DNA Conference. There were around 300 YWAMers representing 24 countries. We worshiped God and heard lots of uplifting stories (testimonies) from the Co-founder of the organization. I was really challenged to make an effort to provide for others The Book that transforms hearts! I had a great time visiting with YWAM friends who I have met throughout the years who work in other Central American Bases. I also started new friendships from other parts of the world! I loved it!

Now, the last and BEST event of the month was the visit of my host mom and 10-year old host brother from Arkansas , U.S. It was a dream come true to have them down here in El Salvador for a few days. My heart rejoiced and greatly thanked God for the privilege of having them to spend times of joy with me. I will always thank God for the blessing of being part of their family which is my greatest wealth.

May God bless you all,

Susy

October, 2008

El Salvador, October 1st, 2008.

Dear Friends,

I hope you all are doing fine and enjoying of God’s grace in your lives.

I just wanted to ask for your prayers as I go next week to interpret for a team that will be sharing the Gospel here in El Salvador. This Mission Team is coming from Missouri and will be here from October 5th to the 11th. We will be going to a city that is located 2 hours away from San Salvador. Please pray for protection. It is very exciting for me to be able to be part of this Mission! God’s missions are always fun to be part of!

I also wanted to share with you the new two projects I have embarked on:

Number one, I am translating material for Wycliffe Bible Translators. The vision of this Christian organization is to make God’s Word accessible to all people in the language of their heart. I have been asked to help Wycliffe Bible Translators in El Salvador to translate some Intercession Seminar material for them. The whole project is about 1000 pages (it will probably take months to finish it), but I am really enjoying doing this because I am learning so much on topics such as “Our Time of Need”, “A Spiritual Inventory and Spiritual Markers”, and “Life Tasks”.

And number two, I have started to teach English to family, friends, and I may start teaching to a group of believers in the Church I grew up in. I mainly do One-on-One classes. But it will be a challenge to do it for a group because I will have to prepare the class by myself.

Well, may God bless you all and please email me when you get a chance. I would love to hear from you all.

Blessings,

Susy

September, 6th, 2008

El Salvador, September 6th, 2008.

Dear Friends,

Something that I really enjoy about working with Youth with a Mission is that every week is a new adventure. “Routine”, “monotonous”, “repetitive”, and “recurring” are not words that can describe our life in this ministry.

For instance, a couple of weeks ago, three-year old Liam came with his dad from Guatemala to teach for a week to our Discipleship Training School students. Some times in the mornings, I got to hang out with Liam while his dad was teaching. It was fun to play with him and to do chores with his help! Liam was definitely a blessing during that week. In this ministry, I love the fact that I get to spend time with people of ALL ages!

Last week, we had a Breakfast for Local Pastors, Mission Leaders, Mission Agencies, and friends. We wanted them to meet our new Directors. We also wanted them to know that we want to help them in anything we can. Youth with a Mission El Salvador really feels called to support the local Church. We felt very grateful to be able to share with them what is in our heart. I hope we will continue developing long-lasting friendships with more local ministries. It is great to see what we can accomplish when we come together in unity.

Well, these have been some of the light lights during the last weeks of my life.

I would love to hear back from you!

“May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.” (Phil 4:23).

Susy Ayala

Prayer requests:

That God’s healing power may continue to completely heal my lower back.
That God may provide the necessary finances to attend the YWAM DNA Conference in Costa Rica in November.
That we may develop new and healthy relationships with other local ministries.

Music Band, 2008

July 28th, 2008.

Dear Friends,

Do you remember I was doing the logistics for Alivewire, a music band from YWAM Texas? Well, they came down a couple of weeks ago and it was amazing to see how God orchestrated and took care of the little details while they were here. We had "open doors" to minister to the students at the Baptist School I attended and graduated from. It was good and encouraging to see teenagers willing to surrender their dreams to God to do His Will. Praise God!

I want to thank all of you who are financially supporting me. Your help brings a lot of freedom to my life. I do not have the burden to worry about how I will pay for basic needs. What is more, I get to bless others and I also become a better servant. I get to bless my mom, dad, siblings, siblings-in-law, nephews, niece, and friends. I also get to get involved in other activities at Church like cell groups, sign language class, tennis, etc. I truly enjoy being able to serve brothers and sisters who come down to bless Salvadorians!

If you would like to support me financially (one time, one special offering, or monthly), you may do so by making checks to YWAM attaching a separate note with my full name (Sandra Susana Ayala Alvarado) on it and then, you may mail it to…

YWAM
Accounting Department
P.O. Box 3000
Garden Valley, TX 75771-3000

Lots of blessings,

Susy Ayala

"May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen." Fil. 4:23

July 8th, 2008

El Salvador, July 8th, 2008.


Dear Friends,

I wanted to tell you that God has allowed me to make some relevant changes in my life for which I am very thankful and happy! Now, I get to sit still with God for a larger amount of time. As a result, I spend a better “quality time” with my God! I have realized that I cannot give what I do not have, so I want to make sure I receive lots of GREAT things from my Father to give to others!

This week, I got to buy Children Bibles for my niece and my nephew. Carlitos (6) is learning how to read, so I hope this will be an encouragement for him to start looking into God’s Word by himself.

I always wonder why they did not make this cute bibles for kids while I was growing up!

A couple of weeks ago, I was able to join a Youth Team from Omaha, Nebraska. They spent 5 days at a public school teaching them English and doing Vacation Bible School activities. We all had a blast! I got to interpret and be part of most of the activities. It was great!

The schedule is ready for the Music band that is coming for 9 days to minister to the Salvadorians kids and youth. They will have two big outreaches with two different Churches. One of the Churches is already organizing a skating event right before the concert! Please pray that God will take control over the schedule and that His Will and not ours be done in people’s hearts and lives.




Lots of love,

Susy

Life is good...

El Salvador, July 21st, 2008.

Dear Friends,

Last week, I found myself with a friend at a music store trying to buy a mic stand. It was almost 6 o’clock. It was almost time for the business to close. I noticed how most of the employees were closing their desks and organizing their purses to go home. It felt like, we, the customers, were being a nuisance. They wanted to get out of there. And we were keeping them from leaving their workplace. So, there was not a good customer service for us. At that point, I started to think about my life. A few years ago, I felt the same way regarding my job. At the end of the day, I just wanted to go home. I did not have any passion for what I was doing. The sooner I could get off work the better. Now, things are a lot different. It is hard for me to stop my activities every day. I do not want to go home. I want to continue “serving my customers.” I want to continue emailing friends or people who want information about Youth with a Mission. I want to continue interpreting. I just thank God for allowing me to use my gifts to serve others. It is a great privilege to work for Him to enhance His kingdom daily. It feels good to trust Him to do His Will in my life.

Just remember, “If you want to walk on waters, you have to get out of the boat.”

Love,

Susy Ayala