Spring is here in Denver, Colorado. With the unseasonably warm winter spring feels as though it has been here for sometime. As I sit and write this I look out of my balcony at the 16’ of snow that sits below and laugh at how unpredictable the seasons are around here. I feel like in many ways this has been my life.

Just to fill you in. I have been staffing for YWAM Denver up at our Eagle Rock campus for the past few months. I came out on a temporary status before my team leaves again for Bosnia. I have been helping facilitate the two courses running this winter. It has been a great joy to be a part of watching almost 100 men and women between 17-32 have their lives changed and then given the chance to go and change others. This weekend the students leave for the outreach portion of their schools. We have teams leaving for Mexico, Panama, Thailand, and Albania..

During their schools I was in charge of running a weekly outreach to the homeless in Denver. Every Monday we would take 15 students to either Boulder or Denver and spend time talking to, getting to know, and sharing our lives with some of those living on the street in our area. It has been an amazing experience to engage in the community in this way.

                This has been a season of change for me. My coming to Denver was originally a transitional period between my time at home and leaving for Sarajevo. Shortly after coming here our team discovered that our leaders wife has a medical condition that will keep them in the states for at least a year. This of course is very disappointing, but we as a team and myself as an individual believe that we should also stay in the states and return as a team. This changes quite a bit for me. After some consideration I believe I should stay on staff with YWAM Denver. I will be working with the base here in training and outreach. YWAM Denver has a vision to train and send out aid workers into the world. We do this through a beginning training course called a DTS. This is a course where students come and learn about how to do aid work in some of the worlds most difficult areas. We are a faith based group and there is also help in learning about their faith and some of the "whys" for what we do. After their lecture phase is over we send them out to various places of the world where they are involved in meeting physical, emotional, and spiritual needs in very practical ways. Currently we have teams in Thailand, Mexico, and Panama. As a base we send 20 short term teams out a year and have 3 long term teams as an extension of our stateside base.

       My role this quarter in YWAM Denver is working with the multi cultural DTS. I am a small group leader with the school. We basically work as mentors with a few students; talking with them about what their learning, coming along side them, and serving them in any way we can. This is really the heart and soul of what we do and I am excited to be a part of it.

    What’s on the horizon for me... I am heading back to Columbus April 6- 11. During this time I will be meeting with supporters, visiting with my family, and raising support. If you are interested in meeting with me please email me back and let me know that you are interested and what time frame works for you.  If you are interested please email me at humanitarista@mac.com or call me at 614-893-9629 . I will be sending out monthly updates via email if you know someone who is interested in receiving updates please feel free to send me an email and give me their contact info.Please feel free to contact me with any questions, comments, or concerns, Know that you are all in my thoughts and prayers and I hope that God continues to bless you all.

Peace and Joy,

Laurie Granger