Tym, our fearless instructor

This week, takes us on a road trip to Tijuana for a few days.  Acutally, it takes Steve on a road trip.  The kids still have school, so Gemma is staying home with them.

Monday – Wednesday,  the interns, and some other staff are doing a course in sound reinforcement.  That’s a fancy way of saying, they are learning how to run sound for live events, and set up sound systems.  As a musician, whether it is in a worship context, or performance, it’s always important to know the basics of the gear you are using, so that you can help with set up, and troubleshooting.

Yesterday the interns learned about the basic layout of a sound system, and cables.  Today we got into some of the physics of sonund, and will be wrapping it up on Wednesday with some hands on.  Next time we have an event, many hands should make light work, as everyone will be able to pitch in to get the job done.

In the mean time I (Steve) miss the kids, as today is my birthday, and I’m spending it wihtout me.  They’ve baked me a cake, for when I return tomorrow evening.

Benny Uses his music as a way to gain access to places that are closed to the gospel, and he uses her testimony as a powerful way to speak to God’s purposes for his life.  You see, Benny was a most unremarkable child. Sever asthma, combined with improper medication had destroyed 60% of his lungs by the time he was 16 years old.  The doctors said he would never be able to fly on a plane, but in a span of 6 and a half years, he managed to visit 245 countries to perform his music.  That’s every country on earth.

Benny started taking music lessons when he was 15.  He took one lesson, and his teacher told his parents that there was no point in training him as a musician, as he possessed none of the necessary attributes of a musician.  Currently he plays before 2 or 3 heads of state each year, and has been invited to play at the FIFA World Cup Finals, and the Olympic Games.

Benny’s life is a real testimony to what an unremarkable life can become when it is just made available to God.  If you want to see a short video of his performance, you can check it out on Steve’s Facebook wall, posted last night.

http://www.facebook.com/steve.law3

They emailed us a few weeks ago, and asked if one of us could teach on intercessory prayer, so Gemma has prepared some teaching, and will be teaching there each morning this week.  This is a bit more teaching time than she’s used to, as it is about 15 hours of total class time, so she’s got lots of time to go in depth, although it can be challenging to plan that much material; especially when you’re used to teaching with translation

One of the activities that Gemma is having them do it to research, and prepare, in teams, for a prayer time over a specific Nation, city, or people group.  On Thursday, each team will lead the group in a prayer time for their specific target.

Please keep Gemma in prayer as often in teaching biblical truth, we can know a lot about a subject, and can find it difficult to communicate what you know, as it is based on layer upon layer of revelation.  It can be challenging to bring the message into a format that can be understood by all.

Sarah, one of the interns, working on her song

This week in the internship our Topic of study was songwriting.  It’s always fun to do a songwriting week, because it has never really occured to many people that they can write songs.  We had a little bit of teaching to outline the process, and perhaps “demystify” it a bit.  I (Steve) shared on Monday about his songwriting process, and then a little bit on the mechanics of writing.  On Wednesday we listened to an audio teaching by Brian Doerksen, a songwriter responsible for a lot of the vinyard worship music that was well known in the 90′s. Today, Nick will also be sharing his experiences with the interns.  We’ve also had a fair bit of hands-on time, as you can’t learn how to write songs without a little bit of trial and error.

In a couple of weeks we’ll be having the interns share a song that they’re working on, in a coffee house sort of setting.  I remember the first time I had to share a song that I wrote, and how unnerving that was.  I told the interns that, “Sharing a song that you wrote is a bit like walking around in you’re underwear.  It can feel uncomfortably vulnerable.”  Discomfort and vulnerability aside, I’m looking forward to hearing what they write, as they do so from a very genuine place with God.

In the mean time, Steve will be teaching this upcoming week in the intership on Song Writing.

Loren and David Cunningham Speaking at the conference

From time to time we are just blown away by the goodness of God.  As we write this, we are staying at an exclusive resort in Orange County, in California. The room charges alone for the weekend would cost more than we make in a month, and that’s not to mention the food, and it’s not cost us a penny.

Some months ago, Sean, the president of YWAM San Diego/Baja set up this event as a fund raiser in a capital campaign that’s been going on since 2004.  They’ve been trying to raise the funds to complete construction on the TJ campus, along with some other stuff.  The donors originally invited for the event couldn’t make it to the event, and we had a non-refundable reservation at the resort.  Janet, Sean’s wife, was praying, and felt that we were to gather for a time of worship and prayer, giving it to God, and letting him do what he does best; further his kingdom.  The theme of the conference is “We Speak to Nations”.

All of the senior leaders from Tijuana, Ensenada, and San Diego are here with us, along with several friends of the ministry, our board of directors, and others; around 100 people.  We’ve spent the last couple of days hearing reports of the things that God has been doing in and through our ministries for the past while.

Praying over a map of the world

Yesterday, it worked out that Loren Cunningham, the founder of the whole organization of YWAM was in Los Angeles on a layover, and came to visit us, and give us a word of encouragement.  It was actually really amazing how that just worked out, without any planning.

One of the things that we’ve been praying for is a wave of Mexican youth to come through our training courses.  We’ve always had a few, but finances have always been a challenge for students from Latin America.  A new scholarship fund has been set up to make funds available for students without means.  What this means is that we may have a better mix of Spanish speaking students in our upcoming schools, which is very exciting.

The conference wraps up tomorrow morning, and then we’re back to Ensenada, where Gemma will be speaking in our internship, starting Monday morning. In the mean time, we’re going to enjoy the hotel, and enjoy the fellowship.

We felt that it would be appropriate, therefore, to change the event from a fund raiser, to a worship and prayer gathering, and just let the Lord do what he does, as we just spend time drawing near to him.

The event just happens to be at a fantastic resort in a very exclusive area of southern California.  None the less, we will go and “suffer” for the Lord at this hotel

We still can’t travel with the kids, so they will be staying home in the care of our interns, who’ve graciously offered to help out while we’re gone; which is fantastic, because we’re just wrapping up the busies week of activity at the base since last fall.

Anyway, back on point!  We’re very excited about the event this weekedn.  More so about what we’re going to see come from this time than anything.  In the past, when we’ve gathered to worship and pray, we’ve always seen the Lord come through in ways we never expected, and give us fresh guidance and direction.  Please keep us in your prayers – the event runs from Thrusday to Sunday.

We’ll be spending the next 20 weeks working closely with a group of interns.  At this point we have three interns, with two more waiting for visas to clear.  We’re not sure if they’ll make it, but we’re hoping so.

We’re doing our orientation over the next couple of days, and then we’ll start classes next week, with Steve teaching on the biblical and historical basis of worship.  We’re doing 3 days of class per week with the interns, and they’ll work around the base two days per week; so the lecture phase will last for 20 weeks, rather than the typical 12 weeks.  The following week, Gemma will be teaching on intimacy with God.

We’re really excited about this next season.  We really have a great opportunity to invest a lot into the interns we have.  We’d like to impart some of what the Lord has been teaching us over the past few years in them, and learn a thing or two along the way.

In the mean time, we will be accepting donations in the form of coffee; it seems every one of us has a problem.  We’re all addicted to French Roast   Feel free to send coffee to

Steve and Gemma

100 W 35th St, Suite R

National City, CA 91950

we’re kidding…but kind of not.

We called around this time, and we were told that things were a little behind because of the shutdown for the holidays (the courts shut down for more than a month at Christmas, and didn’t reopen until January 10th).  We hadn’t head anything at all since then, until this week, when we called.

The kids were born in Tecate, which is a small town, about 90 minutes drive from Ensenada.  Because it is a small town, there is only one family court judge, who is apparently in poor health.  The judge is waiting for a kidney transplant, and as such is only working a few hours a week, which is resulting in a large backlog of cases.  Our case should have been settled months ago, but it’s buried somewhere.  Our lawyer said she can pay a deposit to have our case expedited, which she would get back when the case is settled, so it won’t cost us anything, but in the mean time, our expectation of when this whole thing is going to wrap up is being pushed forward.

Originally we’d hoped to spend this summer in Canada, and then we realized it would have to be Christmas, and now that’s a question mark.  Once this phase of the case wraps up, it will transfer to the Ensenada court, which still only has one judge.  We could be waiting for 6 months for a court date for that, and then another month for paperwork.

So I guess that’s just our way of saying please pray that this whole thing get’s sorted out soon.  We’d really like to be able to travel with the kids, and get to see family and friends that we miss.  We realize that it’s all in God’s hands, and we trust in him, but we’re looking forward to the day when David and Maya are officially and legally our kids.

This cycle will wrap up on Thursday night, and then we’ll have about a week before the next groups arrive, but before which we’ll be starting the worship and prayer internship program with 4 interns that we’ll be working with until August.  Two of whom are in the pics from worship tonight.