Deep in the Heart of Texas

What a summer! It is hard to believe that over 10 weeks ago I missed my first flight to Monterrey and was frantically searching for a new one. This has been a great summer filled with many exciting adventures. I never thought it would be hotter in Austin then it was in Monterrey this summer. In total it rained 4 of the 8 weeks I was there. This remains very odd in comparison to last summer when it was over 100 degrees Fahrenheit every day.

I let time slip away from me and realized that I have not finished my final blog entry for the summer. The past two weeks back in Texas have been filled with reuniting with loved ones, packing for school, and leaving again. I am now sitting in my room in my new house in College Station, Texas. I started work at my new store (H-E-B on Texas). Soon I will be leaving for a freshmen camp known as Impact. This camp is specifically designed to show students how they can be involved in reaching their campus at Texas A&M University.

It has been a somewhat smooth transition back into the real world here in Los Estados Unidos. For the first week, I was a little worked up and worried about losing sight of my purpose here in the states. When you wake up every morning with a specific routine of service, it is pretty easy to serve whole heartedly and keep the purpose of why your doing it intact. However, at home I do not have the luxury of a schedule telling me how I am going to serve God today. It requires a lot more discipline. However, I trust in the Lord, that he will provide me with opportunities to serve Him daily.

Another thing I have had to battle through involves serving others here at home. In a society filled with so much material possessions and wealth, it is very hard to see peoples true needs. Our spiritual and relational have nots are often masked by our material possessions. In Mexico it is very easy to see were peoples needs are because of the high level of poverty. Therefore, I can easily see that need and then make an effort to meet it. However, back home, if I never see the need, how am I ever going to meet it? This requires us to be vulnerable with others, opening up to them with the hope that they to will open up and share their burdens. Once those needs are exposed, we can meet those needs relationally and serve them. I have yet to make much of a effort towards this in my spheres of influence in Texas. However, I am trusting that with Christ I can have success in this at my new campus, work, and ministries at Texas A&M. These are the things that have battled through my head the past couple of weeks. Without Christ I can do nothing to impact others significantly. However, with Christ I can effect others and in return be effected. I am ready to join arms with Christ and take victory in this.

I would like to take time to thank each and every one of you who supported me through prayer this summer. I know that the days in which I felt like I could do no more, when I was run down to the bone, it was the prayers of the faithful that pulled me through. You have all been a inspiration to me in the spirit. If you would like to continue to pray for Monterrey and Back2back, here is a list prayer request to go out into the next year.

- That God would continue to bring about a spiritual renewing at the Children's Homes and poor communities which Back2back serves in

- That the staff would continue to pursue and follow the Holy Spirit daily

- That the people of Rio 3, who lost their homes and everything they owned to the flood, would find both spiritual and physical shelter and that Back2back would be intentional and effective in meeting those needs

- That the Mexican students who live on campus at Back2back would continue to fall more in love with Christ and be inspired to make a impact for Christ on their culture and community

As for me.....

-That God would continue to inspire me to reach my campus and that I would charge forward with bold persistence

-That I would not lose sight of the orphans cause and my purpose in Christ

- That if God so desires me to serve again next summer, that He would provide the money and recourses for me to do so

- That I would find opportunities and communities in College Station that would enable me to continue to practice and improve my Spanish.

I would also like to give a BIG shout out and thanks to all of those that supported me financially this Summer. I would not have been able to have had the experiences in Mexico that I had if it were not for your prayerful financial support. Many peoples lives were effected by Hurricane Alex and you enabled me to be their to be able to serve them in the aftermath. You enabled me to be able to grow a close relationship with Children and tell them that Jesus loves them when it feels like no one even knows who they are. You enabled me to build bonds of friendship with Mexican students in the hope of Christ would become real to them just as He is real to me. Thank you all for your continued prayers and support. May God revolutionize your life for Him this school year.

Dios Te Bandiga

Andrew Dixon

God is Still God.

Sorry its been awhile since my last blog post. I have not been very intentional in making sure this gets done. Every time I make my way to start writing I get distracted and thrown off course. We have had a good couple of weeks of American groups coming down. The past two weeks have been filled with whole digging, dirt moving, cement pouring, and rebar bending fun.

I would like to take this time to share some statistics with you about the orphans in the world. These number have been running through my head the past few weeks and at some points overwhelming me.

--There are approximatively 148 million orphans in the world according to the World Health Organization

--Only 8 million of those 148 million orphans are in a institution (who knows how many of those institutions actually meet their physical, spiritual, and emotional needs)

--That means there are 140 million children roaming the streets, serving as slaves or prostitutes, fighting wars as child solders, and who knows what else

--There are about 250,000 child solders

-- 90% of orphan girls fall into black market prostitution

That is a BIG problem which needs a BIGGER solution. For someone, who has felt a call in their life towards the plight of the orphan, those numbers can look awfully daunting. I often get caught up in the numbers. I look at those statistics as they permeate them in my mind, and I quickly lose heart. I begin to let doubts and conjectures slip into my head. What can one person do for such a big problem? How can my life and work even make a chip off the block? The truth of the matter is I can do nothing to fix the problem. I can do nothing to provide a adequate and feasible solution. I can do nothing. I quickly let this problem and lack of my ability to fix it consume me and dishearten me. Whats going to happen? How is this OK? Who will love them? In all this thought process somehow I easily forget one simple thing. God is still God!

Thursday night I went to Casa Hogar Douglas to help entertain the kids while some others began the process of bathing them. If there is one children's home, that I have interacted with and connected to on a deeper level then any other it would be Douglass. We put on a movie to watch with the kids while the care givers began marching them in for a shower one by one. One little girl, named Fatima, has really stolen my heart. She ran up to me and jumped into my arms. Throughout the entire movie she was lounging in my lap as if I was her leather recliner. Occasionally she would grab me head, bring it down to hers, give me a kiss on the cheek, and proceed to tell me thank you for everything. I have experiences few actions of gratitude that have moved me more.

As I sat there with that precious child, who preceded to tell me every single thing about the movie we were watching, my frustrations, doubts, and anxieties towards the orphan's cause and my role in it began to melt away. For the first time in awhile, I began to realize and understand the idea of starting with one child at a time in the effort for the orphan's cause. Thats all I can do, and with Christ love that little effort, that one step, becomes something so much bigger and grander then I could ever of imagined. God loves these children. For some wild reason which I am not strong enough to understand, He wants to use me. He will move. I will do little. He will do a lot. God be glorified. The world be changed. I am more then okay with this. Use me! Send me! God is still God.

I challenge you to not lose hope in the Sovereignty of God when you see trials of many kind in and around your life. I challenge you to not let your trust fall when you see the pains in this world. May you have 'faith like potatoes'. You may not be able to see the potatoes as the soil, water, and sun do their work, but the potatoes are growing. You may not always be able to see God move in, around, and through you, but God is moving. Trust in God and rely on Him. God is still God.

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. Roman 8:28

Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything... But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind

James 1:2-4, 6

May your afflictions be eclipsed by His Glory.

Love,

Andrew Dixon

Back to the Normal

Just wanted to time to say thank you for all of your prayers during the storms, and to let you know that the rain has stopped. Things are beginning to dry out here, finally. We have spent the past week just repairing our property and serving the Rio areas. The groups came in today. It is good to get back to the normal schedule. The new interns for July are here. They have a great heart and serve to there fullest extent. I am very excited to get to know them and work with them these next three weeks. Tomorrow I head off to Rio 1. My prayer this week is that God uses me tomorrow and the rest of this week in a way He never has before. That He would stretch me and bring me to a new point. That I would work outside of my comfort zone for him. I have three weeks left here in Monterrey. I am really excited to see what God does in these last three weeks.

Continue to pray for..

flood recovery for the rio areas

the abandoned children of Monterrey.. for there hearts to continue to be healed'

God Bless,

Andrew Dixon

Hurrican Alex -- Monterrey Mexico

So if you are wondering were I have been for the past several days, I now have the chance to tell you. I have been fighting through a hurricane, getting sick because of one, and cleaning up after one. Hurricane Alex hit Monterrey, Mexico on Thursday July 1, 2010. By the time it hit Monterrey, Alex had actually been downgraded to a tropical storm. However, I have never seen a tropical storm bring so much rain in my entire life. Withing 36 hours Monterrey had received 40 inches of rain. This is not good at all for a city thats has the water retention of desert. Everything started to flood. The city lost one of its most major highways to the river. The downtown area has close to 20 ft. of rain in the streets. Almost all of the homes here on our campus have received some flood damage. The most catastrophic and depressing part of the storm was the people who lived in the poor Rio areas completely lost their homes and everything in them. There are about 20 estimated deaths so far. However, by the grace of God all of the Children's Homes were spared.

People searching for items to rebuild their homes with in the Rio 3. That river is normally dry.

The storm began on Wednesday....... We went out into the Rio areas and did what little prep work we could before the storm hit. After 4 hours of rain we had to make our way home, and within only 4 hours, we were driving through 4 feet of rain in some areas along the major highway.

The real storm began on Thursday. By late Thursday morning we were building trenches around campus trying to save the homes from the water. We were blowing holes through the walls surrounding our facility in order to relieve the water pressure building up on the other side and to let it escape out of our property.

These are some of the picture of the water runing through our property. It only got worst that night. Several of us stayed up all night long working on water control for the sake of the property and those staying in it. Several sink holes formed that night, some as deep as 5 feet.

Above are the picture of the two bridges that we have to cross in order to leave our property. We were at one point afraid the bridges would collapse and we would be stuck. There is about 5 feet of water rushing over the first one. Both of these are normally dry creek beds.

Above are two picture of the floods affect on the city. That river normally has little to no water in it. The road that was taken out is how we used to get to the airport. Now we have two go a roundabout way that takes an hour or longer.

For those of you that knew I was sick for a few days with a infection or something from the water, thank you for all your prayers for they have healed me.

We have so much to give thanks for done here even after this massive amounts of rain.

-- No drought this summer.

--The children's homes were spared by a miracle of God.

-- No lives lost among those that we serve.

--The people of Rio 3 were able to find physical and spiritual Shelter in the church.

--Several people in Rio 1 were spared and are now choosing to serve others in greater need.

--We have our health.

--We have our shelter.

--God is still sovereign and He is still the God of this city.

Please continue to pray for the people in the rio areas who have lost their homes. We have been running both clean water and food to those areas. Continue to pray for their safety, food, health, shelter, and clean water.

If you would like to donate to the flood relief through the ministry that I work with down here, you can do so by following the link.

http://www.back2backministries.org/index.php/internationalMinistry/story/96/international/

Oh hey its raining again....

Thank you for your continued prayers and Support,

Love,

Andrew Ryan Dixon

P.s. Here is a video showing some of the devastation in Monterrey..

It's pretty crazy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3rpPkIO1x4

p.s.s. Please pray.... Bonnie may be coming our way

http://www.aolnews.com/nation/article/gulf-of-mexico-faces-possible-tropical-storm-or-hurricane-named-bonnie/19541747?icid=main|welcome|dl1|link4|http://www.aolnews.com/nation/article/gulf-of-mexico-faces-possible-tropical-storm-or-hurricane-named-bonnie/19541747&sms_ss=facebook

There Go the Little Things

Sorry, it has been awhile since I last wrote. It is because I have not had a day off since the last time a wrote a blog, almost two weeks, and I have been supper busy. I was even having trouble fitting in a quite time. It seamed that every time I tried to sit down with God to read, write, or pray, something would always come up and stand in the way. Satan was definitely trying to attack my schedule. He even broke to alarm clocks to prevent me to wake up early and do it like normal :). All that is fixed now. I found a new way to get myself up early and have time to get in the word. Please continue to pray that my time with God continues to stay very intentional while I am here cause without that so much falters.

The other reason I have not written in awhile is God has been pretty much teaching me the same thing for the past week, and it has taken me the past week to process it and actually figure out what He is trying to say. So it starts here with the little things. For the past week I God has been reviling to me 'the little things' and the importance of these. What does this mean? Well I will get to that or at least try to, but even I am not completely sure.

It all started with just short little voices or intentional understandings from the Holy Spirit.

The grander of Breath and Life.....

We are sitting in one of the Hope program houses (the homes where teens who grew up in the children's homes have a chance to pursue a high school and college education) celebrating one of the staff kids birthdays (Kinsey Couch). We gathered together, Mexicans and Americans alike, as one family celebrating the life God gave one individual. I have never been one to take a birthday as a big deal. However, this time the Spirit gave me a new meaning for birthdays. They are no longer chances to eat cake and play games. A birthday is a celebration of life and breath. Standing in the house I came to the realization that I to often over look the importance and the heaviness of the simple fact that I have both breath and life. It is often viewed by me and I know many others as a LITTLE THING. The Spirit spoke to me and said this is a little thing to you, take notice to the little things, meditate on the little things, understand the blessings of the little things.

The importance of shoes... zapatos.....

I was standing worshiping God last Monday night during a beautiful Monterrey summer sunset. I was perfectly comfortable in my lovely leather flip flops standing on sharp, hard rocks. I was completely unaware of the protection which my shoes gave me and the comfort they instilled on my feet. As the Spirit continued to lead me further and further into worship, He asked me or commanded me to take off my shoes. I, being a intellectual being immediately said, 'Why would I do that God? These Rocks are sharp which would cause some slight discomfort in my fleshy feet'. He quickly and directly responded, 'Just take of your shoes'. So reluctantly I took my shoes off and immediately God spoke. These shoes are a blessing. Millions of people in this world live their life without this blessing. The Spirit spoke to me and said this is a little thing to you, take notice to the little things, meditate on the little things, understand the blessings of the little things.

The fresh smell of a new clean shirt.....

So it was Wednesday and I was serving in Rio 1 again. It was the end of the day and we had some donations to give out. So we set a system for which the donations would be handed out in both an affective and fare method. Everyone would receive a brand new shirt which had been printed and brought down by one of the groups. Almost every time someone would come through the line to receive their new shirt, they would smother their senses with the scent of fresh vibrant linen as they held their face against the new shirt. God spoke to me and told me that I better like the smell of my clean shirts because they are a blessing. The Spirit spoke to me and said this is a little thing to you, take notice to the little things, meditate on the little things, understand the blessings of the little things.

As you can tell God continued to pound into my head the importance of the little things. He wants me to pay attention to them, ponder them, understand them, and know that they are blessings. It is so easy to get caught up in life and forget how blessed we are in so many different ways. My application for this was to walk through my day and find one common or little thing in my life and thank God for it and be aware of its existence as a blessing. It is unbelievable the things God has showed me that are blessings. I had never spent time to thank him for most of these things.

However, the most important thing that God was trying to teach about the little things was involving the works that he does in me. To often have I diminished the importance of God's early works in my life because I feel like He has so much greater things in store ahead. I think 'oh well the things that happened in high school were okay, but God is really going to move when I am in college' or 'college will be a good time to serve Him, but when I am graduated and have a job I can really make a difference in the world'. You get the point. To often I ignore or diminish the little works or the beginings that God does in my life.

Do not despise these small beginnings, for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin.... Zechariah 4:10

I often daily take God's daily works in my life and diminish them to minuscule things. As we can tell by the this verse in Zechariah it is these small things which bloom into grand God glorifying stories.

I challenge you to rejoice in the small works God does in you for it is from these small works that God brings about grand stories.

Thanks for your continued prayers.....

Andrew

Hunger.... What do you hunger for? --- Jesus Christ

Hello all!!!

I have not really had the most exciting and adventurous past few days. I worked on the campus here at B2B on Wednesday and Thursday. Friday was staff development day and intern day out which was fun. Saturday was more work on campus and a pool party on campus for two of the children's homes we serve where I diligently stood above a grill and cooked 432 hamburgers with my intern friend Reed. It was just the routine. Did not really get a chance to hang out with a whole lot of kids. These past few days it was extremely challenging for me to keep a good attitude on my shoulders. However, with all that to say, I still experienced God this week.

The theme this year for Back2Back is hunger. I definitely came here hungry. I was hungry for a great summer. I was hungry for lots of Taco Fedeys. I was hungry for Vita's cooking. I was hungry for a good time with some cool kids. I was hungry for relationships. I was hungry for Mexico. I was hungry for the next fall. However, while some of these are righteous things, none of them where what I am supposed to be hungering after. The theme for Back2Back this summer does not have to do with hungering after our finite desires and wishes. What then shall we hunger after?

Hunger for.....

³² Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, Moses didn’t give you bread from heaven. My Father did. And now he offers you the true bread from heaven. ³³ The true bread of God is the one who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”

³⁴ “Sir,” they said, “give us that bread every day.”
³⁵ Jesus replied, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry again. Whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. ³⁶ But you haven’t believed in me even though you have seen me. ³⁷ However, those the Father has given me will come to me, and I will never reject them. ³⁸ For I have come down from heaven to do the will of God who sent me, not to do my own will. ³⁹ And this is the will of God, that I should not lose even one of all those he has given me, but that I should raise them up at the last day. ⁴⁰ For it is my Father’s will that all who see his Son and believe in him should have eternal life. I will raise them up at the last day.”John 6:32-40 (NLT)

So as I came here this past week, I experienced a not so immediate wake up call. I slowly realized that I am not hungering after the right things in life. I continued to hunger after other things more then Christ Jesus. Christ Jesus should be the very center of my every will and desire, but He was not. One's hunger for Christ should a exponentially increasing desire, but mine was not. Well its another part of the journey of my faith.

On top of all that, one of the devotionals this week talked about the importance of focusing on and hungering after Christ in our struggle against sin. So often we put more attention onto stopping the sin instead of focusing on Christ which remains pointless because we are powerless to have victory over it. We must focus on Christ. In order to have true victory over our sins we must have Christ. I have experienced this true victory. Through prayer my chains have been broken, and by faith I focus on Christ with a exponentially increasing desire as I follow the path He has for me walking away from my sinful past. By the grace of God, this is the life I have chosen. This is what I hunger for, never looking back.

Do you HUNGER FOR THE ONE WHO GIVE LIFE!?

As the weeks go by, I will need more prayers then ever.

Please pray for the following...

--energy

--growth in my Spanish... for God's supernatural power to come through and help me with my Spanish

--Peace among all interns and staff

--Growth together for the interns

--Opportunities to show the love of Christ to the children.

--the abandoned children of Monterrey, Mexico

Dios Te Bandiga!

Andrew Ryan Dixon

A Time to Renew and Revamp

It has been five days since I arrived in Monterrey, Mexico. However, it feels so much longer then that. I believe this is due to the simple fact that in many ways this place feels like home. I spent last summer here and several random weeks here. Therefore when I arrived this summer, it just felt like a continuation of all the time I have spent here in the past. I believe I have spent enough time here to call this place my home away from home. When I returned to Monterrey, I knew that in this moment this is where I am supposed to be.

Lets reflect on the past few days...

Sunday I went with to an area we call Rio 1 or Meme's Rio. Rio areas are places which individuals who are in extreme poverty can come and live on free land owned by the government. They are also refereed to as squatter's villages. They set up their homes out of any materials they can find laying around, other man's trash becomes another man's home.

We at Back2Back believe that this is the root of the orphan's conflict in Monterrey. A good 70% of the orphans here come from families who live in these devastating conditions. This is why serve in the Rio areas, to help hold these families together in their darkest of times.

The individual who leads our cause in Rio 1 is named Meme. Meme lives in the Rio by choice in order to serve her people, in order to be where God wants her. I have never met someone with a greater faith then Meme. I have never met someone who gives more glory to God then Meme does. I have never met someone who lives out more humility then Meme. From watching her live out her faith over the past two years, I have come to this conclusion about faith and humility, with great faith comes great humility. Clichéd, I know but powerful. I know that if I ever come to a point in my walk with Christ where I go 'man I am a person of great faith'. I know it is time to take a step back and reexamine this faith of mine. I have always felt that Paul is also a great example of great faith and humility. He seamed to have it down. I think I am going to be taking a look at what he had to say about humility over the next couple of days.

While we were at the Rio, we helped Meme with her soup kitchen, put on a little vbs, and played with the kids.

I talked to three little boys named Estaban, Angel, and Carlos. They definitely had a spirit of joy within them.

It was a easy and very relational day.

Monday, I helped with the low and high ropes course at one of the orphanages. Back2Back tries to find ways in which each orphanage can sustain itself. So with one of the homes they built a low and high ropes course for people to use. They use this for a fee which in return goes directly to help support the home. I was the rope man/ encourager in the tree for a good 2 and a half hours. Standing in a tree can be very tiring. Especially if you are trying to not fall out.\

Well I smell dinner. I hoping Vita made her amazing tostadas.

Untill Next Time

God Bless

Andres

Evidently I Have a Literacy Problem

So as many of you know, I am going to be or am in Monterrey, Mexico this summer. I am serving as an intern for Back2Back Ministries. I will be here until July 31st. I will use this blog to communicate the experiences of the summer and the stories that God brings to me.



So to start my blog, I will tell you the reason behind my title. It is Thursday afternoon, I am packing for my flight which i believe is to leave Friday morning. I get a call from Mexico, the lovely Steve Ross is on the line. He ask me if I am coming to Mexico. I insistently reply 'yes tomorrow'. Steve dictates, 'Well we have you down to arrive today'. OOOPS!!!! I realized that I somehow managed to completely miss read my flight itinerary for the past 6 months. Sure enough my flight was Thursday morning not Friday. In a frantic rush I began to call Orbitz and Continental in a attempt to redeem my colossal mistakes. After sitting on hold for a hour, Continental was able to help me and for a simple fee of fifty dollars that put me on a flight to leave Friday morning. When I arrived in Mexico, the joke surfacing was that they requited a illiterate intern.

I arrived in Monterrey Friday and began my summer in Mexico. I soon realized that I needed to take a step back and take this summer for what it is, a amazing opportunity. I realized I had been way to distracted with my recent confusion and last minute changes with my college decision. I had been thinking about what I was doing the next fall instead of what God was doing in my life right then. So right now my prayer is that I focus on Gods working in my life at this moment and not the fall or years to follow. To often I absorb myself with the future instead of this moment.

Therefor, to start the prayers off....

That God would reveal himself to me the way he desires to this summer...
That God would penetrate into the ministry here and make himself more present then ever before...

I appreciate your prayers and support.
Until next time...