My Outreach
What is Outreach? During the Discipleship Training School (DTS) outreach phase, I will join with others to take the message and love of God across the world. I will learn about the diversity of cultures and will participate in God's purposes for the places that I visit.
Where Is My Outreach?
San Francisco, California
Mazatlán/ Durango, Mexico
Dallas, Texas
My Heart
I have received a lot of prophetic words and words directly from God about this journey He has prepared before me. He is ready for me to take the wings He has created me with and fly into the night with His songs. I am so ready. I am so so ready. I can't wait to share this journey with you.
My Outreach Team
San Francisco Edition
Sarah Langkamp (Leader), Grace Rhinehart (Leader), Jordyn Quarandillo (Student).
San Francisco, California (The Tenderloin)
Our first stop on outreach is The Tenderloin. A 44 block neighborhood located in San Francisco, California. We will be here for 3.5 weeks staying at YWAM San Francisco, located in the heart of the Tenderloin. This is one of the most dangerous neighborhoods of San Francisco with 60% of the homeless population of San Francisco residing in this 44 block neighborhood. This is about 8,500 homeless people functioning in a homeless community.
YWAM San Francisco
This is a YWAM base located in the heart of The Tenderloin. It is a mercy ministry focused YWAM base. They believe God loves San Francisco. They believe God is pursuing real, transformational relationship with each and every person in their city, and they want to be a part of what God is already doing. Their mission is to engage San Francisco with a loving God.
(below is a video explaining the different ministries YWAM SF has and the heart behind their team)
Ministries
Our team joined the SF team for the ministries explained in the above video over these past 3.5 weeks! This includes, The Ellis Room, Art Club, The Food Pantry, Hot Chocolate Ministry and joining staff activities like, Meditation, Monday Morning Worship, Family Dinners, Bible Studies and our team of four also had weekly worship, intercession, team bonding time, and debriefs.
The People of the Tenderloin
After being here for 3.5 weeks and getting to know San Francisco, the team here, and The Tenderloin, there are a few things I want to share.
The people here in The Tenderloin are misunderstood. Everyone you ask says that this is the last place you would want to go and the most dangerous place in San Francisco. However, quite the opposite is true. I have come to love this little community a lot. The people who live here are family to one another, they have a whole functioning community, and the best stories of any people l've ever had the honor to meet. Each person you meet in this 44 block living room is so unique and special. They take care of one another here and are really protective of the YWAM family. The base here in SF has been around a really long time and has come to build strong relationships with the community of unhoused people here.
We learned that they are in fact not homeless, there home is the streets of this neighborhood and we have been invited into their living room.
The people here didn't just end up here on the streets. They have been through the most traumatic and painful lives of anyone l've ever met and this is the outcome. Most of the residents here have experienced immense trauma since childhood. The world has deeply scorned and betrayed them-but God has not.
They are people in deep pain. Something I didn't understand before meeting them is how people can just end up on the street and without a house or family. Most people would see the issue of poverty and say, "they just need to get off drugs and get a job." Which in theory I could agree with but poverty isn't actually the key issue at play here. They issue is these people have been through hell on earth and are doing a lot better then I would be doing in their shoes, are struggling with deep traumatic pain and are taking drugs because the drugs take the pain away.
They could get off drugs and get a job and get out of poverty and get a house but then what do they do with the pain?
The pain will bring them back down to these streets. Until the church can began to hold people's pain and sit with them in their pain and circumstance then unfortunately drugs will always be there for them. It's a huge perspective shift.
These people need love. These PEOPLE, just people, they were once babies named by a parent, need their Heavenly Father. They need connection and love and someone to walk with them in life.
That is what YWAM San Francisco does.
I met a man named Eli here in The Tenderloin. He has been living here for a few decades. He is apart of the unhoused community and everyone knows him. He started becoming apart of the services at YWAM SF, began to meet people, began to trust the team here through their love and consistency, and they began to walk alongside him. Now-when I met him, they call him "boss-man." He is now one of the biggest community volunteers at YWAM SF, is newly off the streets and in an apartment. He comes to serve with the SF team every single day. He wears the coolest embroidered jean jacket, has blonde/grey hair, wears a hat that's decorated with designed pins, and walks with a cane. His story is incredible and intense. He did used to have a family, a son who he lost to suicide, a pain so unbearable, he had a stroke, and his wife left him, he turned to drugs to cope with his pain and ended up here in The Tenderloin. He didn't choose these things, they happened to him. He was met in extreme pain by the love of Jesus and now walks the streets He calls home, offering the same hope, he now carries.
The Tenderloin got its name a long time ago. A corrupt cop took advantage of the crime rate of the neighborhood and began taking bribes from the people. He claimed because of the crime, he could now afford the best part of the steak, The Tenderloin. It conveys how violent and crime filled and drug filled this neighborhood is. But-after this neighborhood being my home for 3.5 weeks—| would claim that it is the most TENDER neighborhood in San Francisco. I would advise everyone to visit and volunteer at YWAM SF.
Art Opportunity
Our team got commissioned by YWAM SF to create 4 artworks that celebrate the city and where God is moving. They assigned each of us themes of, The City (Grace), The People of the City (Jordyn), The Music of the City (Sarah), The Animals of the City (Me). A whole series named "The Color of San Francisco", now hanging in the base.
Mine
Mazatlan, Mexico
Mazatlán, Mexico is a little fisherman town along the pacific coast. YWAM Mazatlán housed us for 3.5 weeks. It's campus houses about 300 people and is a pretty decent size campus that runs many ministries, hosts many missionary teams and schools. They have a huge connection to the local people in Mazatlán. The population of Mazatlán, Mexico is around 485,000. The average income of this city is $11,500 USD a year. There are immense amounts of family's below the poverty line, living in unfinished houses with multiple children and who are living in government housing to escape violence from the Mexican Mafia. We spent most of our time here in Mexico serving these families.
YWAM Mazatlán
This is a video that puts a visual on YWAM Mazatlán's heart!
Ministry
Women's Rehab Safe House:
One of our ministries included going to a Women's Rehab House. This small Mexican home housed over 25 women with some small children. They were staying here in a program where they were walked alongside while overcoming addiction. This is a ministry that YWAM Mazatlán has been partnered with for a very long time. We were able to bring creative gospel messages on being a daughter of God and creative activities to declare truth over them like painting, bracelet making, worship, etc.
Children's Christian English Summer Camp:
We ran a summer camp for the children of Cvive. A community in the outskirts of Mazatlan that have received land from the government in order to flee violence from the Mexican Mafia. These families are located essentially on a hill of dirt out in the middle of nowhere. They live in half built houses and battle wild fires regular from the harsh environments. We spent a week with the children of this community. We taught English, the creation story, played games and loved on these families.
Homes for Hope:
This is a ministry in the Cvive community that builds houses for them on the land given to them by the Mexican government. YWAM Mazatlan has been building homes for these families for years. This ministry had our team partner with them and run Sunday morning Bible studies for the community every week. They don't have a accessible church anywhere near them. We would come every week set up tents and tables and chairs, provide a teaching, a small group activity and children' Sunday
school as well.
Hospital Ministry:
This ministry we partnered with while in Mazatlan targeted the hospital. We would go share the love of Jesus and offer clean water, snacks and prayer to those hundreds standing in wait at the hospital. Healthcare looks very different in Mexico and many people aren't able to be seen. We were able to sit in pray outside with those waiting for loved ones in surgery, in emergency rooms, in desperate need of healing and needing love and support.
Ministry (Cont.)
Equestrian Therapy for Disabled Children:
This ministry we help from equestrian therapy for children with disabilities. These children would be placed on the calm and gentle horses and we were to act as extra structural support and seatbelts for these kids as the therapists lead the therapy and horses through the arena. We were able to help these beautiful angels build confidence and character. Seeing so much life come from their hearts.
Women’s Prison:
We led ministry inside of the women's prison in Mexico. Usually, with prior teams the women inside the prison wouldn't come to the classes or events, they would call the missionaries who came nuns and blow them off. These times that we went we brought art classes and activities with us alongside the truth of the gospel. Through art we watched walls of pride and prejudice fall. More women than we ever thought or imagined came and there was creativity and laughter and stories and games. The Lord moved amongst the women and we were even able to pray over them and encourage them.
Children's Art Classes:
We were able to run a few art classes for the children in Mazatlán. We built treasure boxes and taught them about the treasures of Heaven. We painted and designed our wooden boxes and built so many precious relationships with the teams that came alongside us.
Amazing Grace:
We got to join the mercy ministry upon the sailboat "The Amazing Grace." A boat that has a big story a reputation. They go out to far off places and bring medical care and resources like clean water and food to natural disaster spots. We were able to intercede for this ministry, tour the ship and meet the team!!
The People of Mazatlán
The people of Mazatlán have families and loved ones, they have beating hearts, needs and wants, dreams and imaginations, they bring laughter and joy, they carry heartache and tragedy, they are grateful for the very little they have and they are seeking for love. The dominant religion in this area of the world is Roman Catholicism and they for the most part worship the shine of the virgin of Guadeloupe. She is considered the mother of Mexico. They are rich in history and tradition. While being here I witnessed a lot of generational belief. The idea that we believe what we believe because that's what has been passed down to us to believe. However, when you really talk to the people here, they are really curious and receptive to know who the Jesus I know is. They are eager and willing to explore. The soil is soft here in Mexico and the Firstborn of Heaven is running after their hearts.
Art Opportunity
Our team got commissioned by YWAM Durango to complete a wall mural on the side of their main campus building that represents the great commission! We only had 13 hours to do so and in order to accomplish this task we had to dodge rain and stand on single planks of wood that compiled a very sketchy scaffolding but we by the Grace of God finished!!
How God Moved in my Heart!
The Lord did a lot in me while I was in Mexico. He stretched me in ways I've never been stretched before. He tested my limits physically, spiritually, emotionally and mentally. However, the biggest thing He did was with my perspective. He took me to a place that from the outside looks as if it has been missed by society, a people who have forced to build by themselves from nothing, a people that from the surface looks exhausted and deep in poverty. Yet— when you look closer and allow yourself to recline at their tables with them you realize how rich they really are. They are rich in family, in relationships, in joy, in purity, in thankfulness, in an abundance-that is different from the one I grew up knowing. They truly know about the treasures of Heaven the Bible says is our inheritance available to us now. They have made me fully understand what riches the Lord values. They truly help me understand what valuable things really look like.
Dallas, Texas
For many of my readers, Dallas is a form of home. Whether it’s the closest city that you grew up near, the very city you live in, or through knowing me and that I grew up very close to this city.
When I said yes to The Lord, in coming on this journey of DTS, we did not know beforehand our outreach locations. In my mind, I’d be going to the Middle East or the Pacific Islands, somewhere far away. However, The Lord had very different plans. He brought me right back “home”, to evangelize in the streets so familiar to me, to love the people so close to me, and to build relationships with the ministries that I would soon be coming home to after this program is over.
My time in Dallas on this outreach was a total of 7 weeks. This location made up approximately half of my entire outreach. Therefore, naturally, there is a lot to share.
In this newsletter, I will share about the ministries we partnered with, the city of Dallas and where God is moving, the people that I met, and the overall outreach experience I had in Dallas.
Then, in my November Newsletter, coming in just a few weeks, I’d like to share how God moved in my life specifically in Dallas but also in the entirety of this program as it is finishing up.
Our Accommodations
How we stayed in Dallas for 7 weeks was nothing short of a miracle. For starters, our outreach leaders, Grace and Sarah, have the job of planning and financially managing all of our outreach across all locations for all four of us with the money allotted for the program. Due to our outreach mainly being in the United States, everything is of course super expensive (as most of you know). In planning our outreach, finding places to stay in our budget, meals, travel expenses to each location and from each location, as well as travel expenses to get around in each location, etc, by the time we got to planning Dallas, we ran out of budget for housing. This is insane because we would need to to be staying there for 7 weeks.
Our team began to pray and our school leader remembered a conversation she had with a woman she met when she was in like for prophecy at IHOP (International House of Prayer). She mentioned the base wanted to send teams to Dallas to build relationships with The Dream Center and Church Eleven 32 and this woman immediately offered, “we will host them”.
So, Carol reached out to her and she explained the situation and that we would need housing for 7 weeks. This woman immediately offered again, “we will host them for all 7 weeks.”
This was an answered prayer for many reasons: we had ran out of housing budget, there is not a YWAM base in Dallas, but also because a family of four decided to graft us into their family for 7 weeks, they even gifted us their jeep to drive for all 7 weeks while we were there.
They insisted we be one family and soon we became one family. We had family dinners, game nights, movie nights, long conversations, laughter, we got to be there for their son’s homecoming dance, parade and his girlfriend’s one year anniversary, we cooked many meals together, we celebrated their other son’s birthday as well as Jordyn’s birthday together. We made so many memories and grew so close.
We could all agree that loving and pouring into this family as individuals and as a whole, was are most important ministry while we were there.
Ministry
Our Host Family:
Like I mentioned above, our host family was a big part of our ministry in Dallas. Loving them well, receiving love from them and their outpour of generosity, and interceding for them. We spent lots of free time hanging out, deep in conversation, watching movies, making meals, having family dinners, playing games, going out on the lake, and getting to know the family the Lord placed us with.
YWAM Wylie:
We spent every Monday, all day long, at the YWAM base in Wylie, Texas. This was a time to pour into the staff dedicating their time to Wylie and Dallas. We helped them paint bunk beds and dressers for their incoming DTS and secondary school students, we helped them set up for a city art auction to raise money for the city of Wylie and the missions base, we helped behind the scenes preparation for the store that YWAM Wylie runs, “Hopes Gate”, this is a store that sells items handmade from women in India, this is a huge ministry that this base runs in order to help families in India and long term relationships their get local families out of hardship. We helped serve wherever they needed us in order to help support the long term teams there. (Team Painting for this Base)
Beloved Ones (Letters):
Beloved Ones is another ministry YWAM Wylie runs. It is a ministry where a team writes prophetic letters to women in advance to meeting them. These letters contain the gospel, love, encouragement, truth, words of knowledge, etc. We helped write and design letters in prayer to specific women that the Beloved Ones outreach team would meet.
Beloved Ones (Strip Club Intercession):
The Beloved Ones outreach team goes out into DFW to men’s clubs and strip clubs to evangelize and love the women and facility. We went multiple times in partnership with this team to deliver the letters and pray in intercession for the women and people involved at these organizations.
Ministry (Cont.)
OurCalling
(Kitchen):
OurCalling is the biggest homeless ministry in Dallas, Texas. They outsource hundreds of resources to the unhoused community in DFW, such as, stewpot IDs to get them into shelters, services to help them get birth certificates, Social Security Numbers, State IDs, food stamps, into rehab programs, discipleship programs, community housing, medical care, lawyers, etc. we partnered with them every Tuesday. We worked in the kitchen and helped serve meals to both women and men. The chef at OurCalling is PHENOMENAL. OurCalling has a heart posture that carries the motto, “Would this be good enough for your mom…”. This includes all services and meals.
OurCalling
(Women’s Unit):
We served in the Women’s Unit where I helped run showers and take intakes. Intakes consisted of a gentle conversation with an unhoused woman to retrieve their date of birth, first and last name, if they are living on the streets unsheltered or sheltered or if they are already placed in a facility of any kind, then what they are in need of resources wise, (clothing, feminine products, hygiene products, a shower, etc.) then they get a current photo updated into the system so that when they come back we can track their care and growth. They hangout in a room specifically for women only to escape harsh and dangerous environments of street life. The ratio of women to men on the streets is very small. It’s about 1/3 of the homeless population in DFW is women. The homeless environment for them is high risk of harm and trafficking. We provide an isolated safe environment for women to come talk to people and receive love and gentleness.
OurCalling
(Search and Rescue):
We partnered with OurCalling and their Search and Rescue teams. These small teams of about 7 in total regularly go out into DFW intentionally searching for homeless. The homeless population of DFW, unlike in the Tenderloin in California, are scattered and hidden amongst the city. These teams have an app that anyone can use that is basically 911 for the homeless to actually receive help. If you see someone in need you can enter them into the app anonymously and this team will go out and make sure they are okay and safe. We went out a few times and into alleys, parking lots, and the literal Forrests and brush of highways where tons of homeless lived and set up small communities hidden in the trees. We helped them with water, food, and gentle conversation. The idea is to make them aware of OurCalling and connect them to get their needs met so they can meet Jesus, heal and get off the streets.
Door to Door Evangelism
(Oak Cliff):
We went door to door in Oak Cliff, a neighborhood in Dallas that is a food desert classified by the city by zipcode. This means that there are no grocery stores or fresh produce in the whole zipcode of Oak Cliff where families or anyone can get fresh groceries. We knocked on doors and gave people pamphlets from The Dream Center that shared the resources that the Dream Center offers in their neighborhood: pregnancy unit and medical services, women’s store and anti human trafficking ministry, free food distribution, prayer and community (soon to be regular church services). We met many people and prayed for them.
Ministry (Cont.)
The Dream Center (Women’s Store):
The Dream Center runs a weekly Women’s Store on Thursday’s that we partnered with. This store is specifically targeting women in dangerous situations such as abusive relationships and human trafficking. It’s to provide a safe place for women to bring their children and shop for free clothes, feminine products, baby products, etc. It is entirely donation based and we got to love on these women and children each week. We started using our arts to evangelize truth by sidewalk chalk. Each week we came early to decorate the sidewalk in biblical loving truth so that as they stood in line to come in they could read. I made children hopscotch each week for the kids to play while their moms stood in line. Most of the women and children coming were Hispanic and Spanish speaking.
The Dream Center (Food Distribution):
The Dream Center does weekly food distribution in the food desert zip code of Dallas. We went to neighborhoods and set up tables of fresh produce and groceries. Families would come and get free bags of fresh groceries and prayer from these tables as the outreach teams would go door to door offering information about the food distribution, The Dream Center, share the Gospel and offer prayer. We did this every single Thursday afternoon alongside Church Eleven 32 leadership school college students.
The Dream Center
(Adopt A Block/ Community Night):
Every other Saturday a month, The Dream Center puts on an “Adopt-A-Block” event for the neighborhood of Oak Cliff. Thousands of families come to get free resources such as medical care, pregnancy care, free groceries, baby diapers, school supplies, etc. Here, there are multiple teams at work, people building and bagging the grocery bags evenly with produce and canned goods, people building school supply bags and hygiene bags, people placing groceries and produce inside of cars as they drive through, and people praying, conversing and loving people as they come and go. They also put on Community Night Events for the neighborhood to come be unified, play games, hangout and eat a cookout style meal that we helped orchestrate.
Church Eleven32 (Young Adults):
Every Thursday night we were honored to join Church Eleven 32 campus in Allen for a young adults service. This is a service for 18-30 year olds to come, worship Jesus, hangout, and listen to a sermon. They do fun themes and activities afterwards as well, we got to play pickleball and eat corn dogs, get printed shirts made by a young fashion loving student and eat Elote mixed corn, and then one night we even watched a football game that was projected on the outside of the building. It was a sweet gift to be able to be plugged into community here in Dallas, Texas since we weren't staying on a YWAM base. .
Ministry (Cont.)
Church Eleven32
(Wylie Campus):
Every Sunday we served at Church Eleven 32 Wylie campus. This church is renting out a movie cinema to hold church services in. Every Sunday we would join their church staff and set up and tear down an entire church atmosphere. Church services and worship are held inside of a screening room. We got to remove movie marketing signs, pop up characters, happy hour signs, and set up welcome signs, next steps signs, information desks, coffee stands, bathrooms with diffusers, soap dispensers, napkin dispensers, etc. We set up kids areas and play areas for toddlers. We got to greet the church guests at the front door every Sunday with welcome signs and attend the church services as well.
Church Eleven 32
(Women’s Conference):
While we were in Dallas, we got to help run and attend a women’s conference with Church Eleven32. This was a huge event with childcare services, photobooths, InandOut food trucks, cream stands, multiple speakers and lots of moves from God. This was such a unifying night amongst the women of the surrounding metroplex and a huge honor to be apart of.
My Family:
Lastly, I was honored to be close enough to my family on this outreach location that I was able to spend almost every sabbath day with one of them. We only got one free day within a 50 hour ministry week. I got to see my family so many times. One of these times, I brought my entire team with me to have dinner an play games with my family!
The People of Dallas
The people of Dallas are so familiar to me. I met hundreds of people I had never seen before all living in the city I grew up right down the street from. We drove down roads I have memorized in my mind and hangout at places that I’ve loved for years.
The people of Dallas are full of life and full of color. Dallas is a very busy city people can feel very unseen in due to independent lifestyles. I met so many people whose main cry of their heart was loneliness and a hardworking tired spirit.
We met so many people who felt seen just by us stopping to talk with them. Taking time out of our day to spend time in another’s day. This seemed like a foreign concept to people in Dallas. A huge word we received from The Lord with Dallas was helping the lost feel seen and found.
We ran into hundreds of people who felt hopeless and alone and just by spending 30 minutes talking to them and listening to them they felt loved and filled with joy and comfort.
How I Saw God Move in Dallas!
At the beginning of doing missions, It was hard for me to see so much need in the world and believe that my tiny hands and our small team of four could do any impact worth putting forth effort. I can’t fix every broken thing in the world, I can’t comfort every broken heart, I can’t be the hands of every ministry, I can’t fix the world. I think through Dallas, I watched the Lord change the perspective of my heart for missions. I think I finally understand what He means when God says, He leaves the 99 in search for the 1. I am not called to save the world, I am not called to mend every broken heart, I am not called to take away all the pain and turmoil people are experiencing everywhere. That is the job of a Savior. That is the job of a Healer. One who binds the wounds of the broken. That is why Jesus came and died for us so that we could be in relationship with a God who can. I felt Jesus say, “I already have, it is finished.” My job is not to relive the steps of Jesus, my job is to point people to Jesus and what HE HAS ALREADY DONE. I have watched Jesus bring the kingdom of heaven to Dallas, Texas.
Art Evangelism
Our art opportunities looked very different here in Dallas. We had to be very creative with them. We got to paint a lot of things like bunkbeds, dressers, and house framing for YWAM Wylie, as well as make posters for their base instructions and a small painting to express The Great Commission for their lounge area. We were able to draw with chalk every week outside of The Dream Center Women’s Store, and we were able to be creative with thank you cards and birthday celebrations.
CONTACT INFORMATION
EMAIL: skylaraveryperkins@gmail.com
JESUS LOVES YOU
