Peace

"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." - John 16:33 - What has the Lord told you in the past so that today you may have peace today?

As things get harder throughout the year and that dreaded thoughts about ministry come to mind, I am reminded of the one thing that brings me peace in the middle of my storm: I am loved.

I think that the phrase that always soothes, always calms, and always fills me with joy and energy is when I hear Jesus tell me "I love you."

I'm not sure why exactly that phrase brings me all those reactions, but I think that it's because that is what we ultimately want... to be loved and accepted as the people that we are at that moment. To be loved in spite of our errors and short-comings. To feel what a fully-dependent baby must feel when they are completely embraced and taken care of by their father.

In Northwest Chicago Young Life, we have been in financial ups and downs this year. And each time those financial downs have felt like this equation:

fire + storm + hurricane + earthquake + quicksand

and the equation always had this other factor as a multiplier

(fire + storm + hurricane + earthquake) * fear

And... this was an equation for disaster; an equation that nullified faith until I constantly remember this:

(fire + storm + hurricane + earthquake) * fear] <>

In remembering that faith is an action word, I remember that my faith is increased when I act on it. However, I always need to go back to why we are here in Chicago, and that's because Christ called us here. So what is the thing that Jesus has told us that brings us peace? It's that there is no safer place than in His will... and we are smack dab in the middle of it.

A Burden to New Christians... and Old ones as well!

I was reading my Bible this morning in Mark 2 and even though I have had Bible Studies on this passage before, I could NOT get why Christ said:

21No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. If he does, the new piece will pull away from the old, making the tear worse. ²²And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, he pours new wine into new wineskins.

I read it over and over and could not get it. So I prayed about it... and nothing. Then I went back to my desk to look it up on my computer and I got distracted and starting working. However, I feel that the Holy Spirit stopped me in the middle of my "working and doing ministry" (haha) and had me look up the meaning and meditate on it. So I did. And here is what I read in Matthew Henry's Commentary:

That these were early days with them, and they were not so able for the severe exercises of religion as hereafter they would be. The Pharisees had long accustomed themselves to such austerities; and John Baptist himself came neither eating nor drinking. His disciples from the first inured themselves to hardships, and thus found it easier to bear strict and frequent fasting, but it was not so with Christ’s disciples; their Master came eating and drinking, and had not bred them up to the difficult services of religion as yet, for it was all in good time. To put them upon such frequent fasting at first, would be a discouragement to them, and perhaps drive them off from following Christ; it would be of as ill consequence as putting new wine into old casks, or sewing new cloth to that which is worn thin and threadbare, v. 21, 22. Note, God graciously considers the frame of young Christians, that are weak and tender, and so must we; nor must we expect more than the work of the day in its day, and that day according to the strength, because it is not in our hands to give strength according to the day. Many contract an antipathy to some kind of food, otherwise good, by being surfeited with it when they are young; so, many entertain prejudices against the exercises of devotion by being burthened with them, and made to serve with an offering, at their setting out. Weak Christians must take heed of over-tasking themselves, and of making the yoke of Christ otherwise than as it is, easy, and sweet, and pleasant.

It really struck me! I am doing my first volunteer training sessions with my first volunteers and when I tend to prepare a study tend to over prepare at which point I need to scale things back. It has been going well so far and I don't feel that I have over-burdened them, but this is such a great reminder that I need to remember that these people, while they are not baby Christians, need to not be over burdened by the homework that I give to them, by the task that I have them do, or by anything that I put on them that Christ has not asked me to put on them.

Then I think of my guys (my Young Life middle school guys). And I think about how they are not yet in Christ, but when they are (AND THEY WILL BE!!!), I must remember to gently help them grow with the patience that Christ had for his disciples. I will be with them for years as Christ was with His disciples and I need to make sure that I am not putting new wine in old wineskins not that I am patching something old instead of waiting for it to be new!

LORD I pray that You be the leader through me. That nothing of me remains in them as it is useless. I pray for the leaders that you placed in ministry with me. That you keep them united in all that they do for you and by you. And I pray for my guys. And I rejoice in knowing that You have great plans for them! And that You will bring them into Your Kingdom when you decide to!!

To find out more about our Young Life Area go to www.NWChicagoYL.org

First Club Night.... Check!

Wow... as I laid there in my apartment, exhausted from a night of programming, music, games, skits, kids and more kids with never-ending candy-infused JR-high-type energy and thought to myself, "This is great!" Unfortunately my wife wasn't able to be there to rejoice in this with me since she's back in Santa Barbara, CA working, but I called her right away to share how the night went.

Can I share a bit about the night with you?

If you're reading this, then I assume you've given me permission... if you didn't give me permission then WHY ARE YOU READING THIS? :)

It was 7 o'clock. The Hip Hop music was loud, the lights were off in the gym and the kids were outside wondering what was going on as they have not experienced the craziness that is a Young Life Club. We snatched a kid (Gio) inside and locked the door to the other kids. They went crazy trying to come in, but couldn't. All they wanted to do was come in a see what was going on in there. We had them just where we wanted them.

Once we instructed Gio to go outside and have them all run in screaming we let him loose. We gave it 30 seconds and let them in. They came in running and screaming into the loud darkness as they got pelted with candy, inflatable balls and more candy. They didn't know what to do except run around, find us (all dressed in military fatigues) and tackle us. It was a great start!

We had a whole military theme that first night. We did this to show them that they were on a mission that night to make it through basic training, on a mission for the next week to bring kids in order to make it more exciting, and on a mission for the school year that end with Young Life camp. We showed them the YL camp video and they could not contain themselves in thinking that they would get to do all the things at camp. A handful of kids throughout the night asked me where they need to sign up to go to camp. Perfect!

So we started with a skit where I was Col. Temper, a colonel that's always mad because a volunteer, Matt Sollie, aka Private Goofs, always messed everything up and was not able to to salute correctly, do a pushup correctly, or anything. We had kids participate and get prizes to encourage them to participate. They all wanted a prize and all wanted to participate.

We move on to a game of duck, duck, goose, which we renamed Navy, Navy Seals. Instead of touching the kids' heads, we gave them a cup of water and on “Seal!” the kids sitting down got wet and they ran around trying to catch the person that got them wet. While this game took place, we had music blasting, and we had 2 of us running around, jumping and diving into the kids yelling things like, “I'm training!” and “get down!” I felt that I might be having more fun than the kids themselves!

Then came Skydiving. This is a classic YL game where we blindfold 2 kids and play a joke on them. We told them that they would be blindfolded and jumping off a table that Matt and I would lift up above our heads. However, the screaming kids and the wobbly table that was only 2 inches high tricked them into thinking that they were indeed up about 8 feet! Haha. When they jumped off they were super scared. Just think back of those times when you think that there was an extra step as you walk down the stairs and how awkward you look and you'll get the picture :) We of course gave them prizes since they were a good sport about it. They loved it.

Once Skydiving was over, Private Goofs grabs the microphone and starts telling his “military stories” and in the middle of that I chuck a rubber ball from behind the crowd and smack him really hard. Private Goof falls and the machine gun sound blasts off of the speakers. All the leaders yell, “get down get down!” as we grabbed youth and pulled them to the ground. We directed kids to low crawl to two different sides of the gym in order to get them to play Prison Ball / Dodge Ball. The only 2 things that were different was that when you got hit, you staid dead on the spot. All this happened while the leaders continued to run around and dive into “fox holes,” screaming military type commands and doing emergency field treatment on the wounded soldiers. It was great. Kids yelling for us to heal them, kids running all around trying not to get hit while trying to not step on us and other fellow team members.

We then calmed them down... at least a bit... since we wanted to remind them about the missions. Once private Goofs reminded them of the missions and gave them more candy (sorry parents for the super hyper kids that night :-) ) he introduced me as Pablo instead of Col. Temper and I gave the talk. The kids listened and I know that 2 of those kids heard of Jesus for the first time. We have a pretty diverse group as we have some church kids, some kids getting to know Young Life, and some kids that have never heard of Jesus nor want to. But they were all there listening intently because we have started to be their friends and they care about what we say.

I am really excited about next week, more contact work, and bringing more kids to Christ. Please pray that the LORD reveals Himself as He gives us vision as to how to integrate church and un-churched kids together into Young Life. Please also pray as we plan out our first Benefit Dessert this upcoming November 16, 2009. And also please pray as we seek God to give us vision of how this ministry in NW Chicago YL Humboldt Park - Hermosa should look like.

Thanks to you guys for all of your prayers and for taking the time to read this.

Blessings,
Pablo Otaola
NW Chicago YL
Area Director

Laila Otaola: Our New Dog

Anna and I just adopted a 3 month old German Short Haired puppy that we named Laila. Her name is pronounced: "LAH-EE-LAH" and not "layla." We had been thinking about getting a new dog, but we wanted a pure bread, smart dog and did not have the finances to get one at this point. However, the LORD totally blessed us as we got this $800 dog, plus all her shots, some toys, food, and a large crate FOR FREE! The people that had her just wanted her to have a good home :) She is super smart and we love her so much already. She already learned where to pee and where not to pee and learned "down" and her name in just one day! Paisley loves playing with her as well as they play rough all day and all night. They actually cry when they cannot be together! It's such a blessing to have them get along so well. They even drink out of the same water bowl at the same time! We look forward to taking them to the dog beach. More pictures and videos to come :)


She's asleep here!






Waiting for treats of course :)
And they both sat :)



Laila!

Her paws are huge and she's 3 months old while Paisley is 5!

Young Life in Humboldt Park Update!

Summer Camp is over for 2009. Praise God for the lives that are now His!

Now we're planning for Young Life this next school year (09-10) and it will be an amazing time where our team gets centered on Christ and begin to love one another as brother and sisters. We are looking forward to our prayer and planning nights as well as our first Club for Jr High on October 5th and our first HS Club Oct 6th!

Please pray for us as we seek his Face in planning themes, skits, games, and events. Also please continue to pray for us as we being to do Campaigner (Discipleship and Bible Study) meetings with the kids that are now in the Kingdom because of camp! And, please continue to pray as well as we seek financial partners in our ministry. If you feel led to partner with me in any way, please call me as I would love to share the great things that are happening in Humboldt Park / Hermosa! Please private message me for my phone number.

Blessings to you all and a special thanks to people that are partnering with YL already!

Pablo
pablo@nwchicagoyl.org

Gun Shots - NW Chicago - Humboldt Park

Anna and I experienced gunshots in the block for the first time just a few hours ago. The police is still hanging out in case of some sort of follow-up. We were watching TV and we heard 4 pops followed by 3 more pops. I looked out the window and there were some young people running around asking, "Where'd they go?" while another said, "I don't have my gun!"

It was all fast and just as fast was the police with about 7 cars and an ambulance. We are not sure that anyone got injured as the ambulance came and went rather quickly, but it could have been that quick because they were rushing someone to the hospital.

We were surprised to not be alarmed. More curious than anything. I know that being on the third floor makes us feel more secure, but above all of this I know that the peace that a person has when they are in the LORD's will is incomparable with anything else.

There is no safer place than where the LORD has placed you.

Otaola Humboldt Park Apartment Update Video

Our Apartment in Humboldt Park!

It's a mess right now! But we wanted to get a before and after picture :) Here's a video though... the pictures don't do it justice :)

CHICAGO update

So we did quite a bit today with the help of Jose Ramos and some of the Grace and Peace Church guys again. I would say that we are 85% moved in :) We are waiting until Monday morning to move in completely as our gas will not be turned on until Tuesday mid day. No gas = no hot water :)

Anyways, we are SO happy to be pretty much moved in! We've had our things in boxes for more than 3 weeks and while we're getting used to not having our of our things, we are a bit irked about the situation. Not complaining though as we feel SUPER blessed at the deal we got from Beth and Dave Kanelos regarding the apartment that we are transitioning out of.

Yesterday, Keith and Debra Cantrell hosted an amazing networking dinner for us. The Cantrell's are Thomas Cantrell's parents. Anna and I know Thomas from Wesmont College. Mrs. Cantrell saw my facebook update that I was going to be doing ministry in Chicago and were immediately interested in being a resource for us. Praise God! They invited us over for dinner and also invited a few of their friends that have relevant ministries and interests. It was amazing! Thank you LORD for reminding us that it's your universal body!

Tomorrow we'll get to go to Park Community Church (http://www.parkcommunitychurch.org/) and meet with some people at the church that are also interested in the Humboldt Park area. One of the church elders helped Anna and I get settled and, again, other welcoming brothers and sisters invited us for dinner and the conversation took off! We look forward to hanging out with them and their friends as well as enjoying and participating in what I hear is an amazing service.

More news to come soon!

Settling Into Chicago

Hi everyone,

Sorry it's been a little bit since I wrote, but again, moving is exhausting and SO time consuming.

Anyways, enough with excuses :)

So my dad and I got here on Thursday the 14th and I can't believe it's been 1.5 weeks already! I am very thankful that we had a community waiting for us as Jose Ramos and other men of the Grace and Peace Community Church (www.graceandpeacecommunity.com) in Humboldt Park welcomed us by helping us move our things into a garage and a temporary house that we will live in until next Saturday the 30th. Again, Jose Ramos and some church men will help us move into our new place. Praise God that we don't have to do it ourselves!

The first weekend went by quickly as we welcomed Anna on Friday the 15th and said good-bye to my dad on Sunday the 17th. In between, however, we saw 4 apartments in the Humboldt Area and we began to fall in love with 1 of the 4 places that we saw.

On Sunday at Grace and Peace, Pastor John Zayas called me up to the front and the whole church prayed for me and the ministry. It was great and I felt really welcomed and protected by people that don't know me at all :)

Monday was crazy as we began our all day apartment search at 9am and ended at 8pm. EXHAUSTING! None of the apartments measured up to the one we saw on Saturday so we prayed about our options and we felt that the LORD allowed us to have the desire in our heart as we signed a 1 yr. lease on Tuesday morning for our 3rd floor apartment :)

We really look forward to move in on the 30th! Even though we now have a place to call home, both Anna and I are having a hard transition as we miss our family and friends from the West Coast, but we have rest in that we are both confident that the LORD has called us into Chicago. However, please continue to pray as we transition into Chicago and grow roots in the land the LORD has prepared for us.

The rest of the week I spent trying to put the puzzle pieces together as I talked to my new boss Brett Hersma, Dan Hofford of Grace and Peace, and as I mingled with some donors and brothers in Christ on a Friday morning Bible Study. I worked during the day and connected during the evening as Anna and I had dinner with some old friends and some new ones as well. It's so so so good to be able to walk into a foreign place and see that the Universal body of Christ is at work and welcomes us with open arms. Praise God!!

There's lots of work to be done and I know that I need to breathe, relax, and get on my knees to see what the LORD has planned for this place and not what I want to do. Please continue to pray that the LORD reveal His vision for Humboldt Park and Hermosa.

In Him,
Pablo