Destined for great things

Trying to catch you up...

I wanted to share a few things about our week on the Father heart of God which was 3 weeks ago. We had the privilege of being taught by a very godly man with an amazing father’s heart. Jack Kody lives in South Carolina and travels to teach for YWAM mostly in Central America. We got to meet his wife who came with him for a week before our lectures to teach a marriage conference. They have 4 kids and I loved the way he talked about them. He was like a big teddy bear, and was our dad for the week. He not only taught us the Father heart of God, but he demonstrated it. He took our who class bowling and then for ice cream. Yes, he paid for all of us, staff and students. He also had ice cream brought in for us the next day during one of our lectures. He said his goal for the week was to touch our hearts, and he succeeded in my book! It truly is amazing to think about how much our Father loves us. We talked about how we saw God because of image of Him will impact the way we: read the Bible, talk to Him, treat others, treat the devil, etc. One key thought I will always remember is the Bible is a book of relationships, not formulas. He is huge, and he sits on His throne and puts His feet on the Earth! Why is it that we think we can use formulas on God? It’s kind of like us taking orders from an ant. Pretty funny huh?

Local Outreach
I have enjoyed the local outreaches we have done in the last few weeks. We went back to the University of Costa Rica and talked with some students about the Gospel. I went with a girl in our class named Valerie and we met some really sweet girls and had great conversations. I like to start talking to the students by asking them if they are from Costa Rica, what they are studying, how old they are, etc. About 7-10 minutes into the conversation, I ask them if they go to church. Most have said they go to Catholic church. We then talk about salvation and I ask them about the way to heaven. It’s pretty cool to hear some of the students, most of whom were freshman, say they go to church. They actually agree with us on doctrine, but may not have the personal relationship with Christ. The neat thing about talking to people here, is that they are open to talking about spiritual things, but the key is to be relational first, not just start talking about God.
We also did homeless ministry a few times, once with the Salvation Army, and once on our own. We got to serve the homeless breakfast at the Salvation Army, talk with them, and pray with some of them. When we went downtown last Thursday and took bread and coffee. We split up into groups of 3, and went to find a homeless man or woman to invite back to the park for refreshments. My heart just breaks for these people because most of them are so far removed from society. I did speak with some (at the Salvation Army )in English however, and was able to really understand their situation. One man spoke really good English, and he mentioned that he had a job, but was afraid he would lose it. He said he was involved in an accident at a previous job, and has minimal usage of one of his hands. He is in a position where he has to type and works with a lot of young people, and he was afraid that they would replace him with someone who could work faster. He was super nice and I got to pray with him before he left. When we went downtown my group found an older man, and talked with him for about an hour. He was quite the character and told me that I was a good person and said he wanted to marry me. I would love to marry a Costa Rican, but he was old enough to be my grandpa!!! I smiled and thanked him, and we all just laughed! He talked about many interesting things, but I think he was happy to have someone listen. He told us he was an angel too! Wow! I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry when talking to him.
This week our lectures are on Destiny by Design. I am really excited about receiving insight into my God given purpose here on planet Earth. I have been praying about what to do after this school, and I think this week could give me the guidance I need to take the next step into my destiny. I will share more at the end of the week, but at this point, I feel led to work with children in some capacity. Tonight I’m excited about my small group with our teacher for the week. He is trying to help us process the material and we can ask him questions to get a better understanding of how God designed us.

Prayer requests

* My body needs healing. I think the lack of sleep, change in diet, etc. have finally caught up with me. I’ve been tired, but now all the changes are manifesting themselves in many ways in my body.

*That I would hear God’s voice and have time to seek Him the next several months on His purpose for my life.

* Our team needs over $20,000 for our outreach to Europe. I have all of my training and outreach paid for, but staff and students still need their support. We are working on some fundraiser ideas right now, one of which is with a local restaurant.

Thanks and God Bless!
Please e-mail or FB me your prayer requests!