Here’s some information to catch you up on the last 2 weeks…
Our final week of lecture phase was spent traveling, cleaning, and teaching.
Wednesday -Friday each of us prepared a message or shared a testimony with the team. It was really neat to see how each of my teammates has grown in the last 3 months. I felt lead to speak on “The power of words.“ We looked at several scriptures in Proverbs and a few in the new testament and Psalms. The overall theme verses were Proverbs 12:18 and Proverbs 18:21. The first one says,
“Reckless words pierce like a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.”Proverbs 18:21 says,
“The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.”I shared with my group that I was preaching to myself about this. I struggle with my mouth so much, and even here have said unkind words to people. Whether we are surrounded by Christians or non -Christians, we are all prone to speak harshly with people if we don’t guard our mouth. I used to pray Psalm 141:3 over my mouth on the way to work the last few years, but for some reason, I stopped doing so until a few weeks ago here. It says, Set a guard over my mouth O Lord, and keep watch over the door of my lips.” Another Proverbs says that the man who guards his mouth, keeps himself from calamity. AMEN ! We actually had a huge change of plans for the last week of our lecture phase.
A few weeks ago, our survival camp ( known as NIKO) was cancelled. We were supposed to leave 12/15 for the camp for 5 days. Most of us were super excited about going to the jungle together, but a few are happy that we don’t have to go without showering for 5 days! I was actually excited about NIKO, and was prepared to have a great week even though we would not be able to shower. I was told it was a pretty exhausting experience, so I think God worked everything for my good. We are all really excited about leaving for Germany tomorrow, and we will arrive there late evening on New Year’s Eve.
First week of OutreachOur first week of outreach was amazing and full of great ministry. Most of our group had to renew our visas, so we made a quick trip to Nicaragua. We arrived Monday night, and left Tuesday morning. It was pretty hectic getting across the border both times, but we managed to get in and out, pay our taxes, and get back to Liberia safely. We were staying with some friends of our leaders there in a house that was empty. We were all going to sleep on the floor in our sleeping bags. I spotted a huge scorpion on the wall in the bathroom and thought I was going to have a panic attack! There was no way that we were going to dinner and leave that thing in our home! So, we knocked it off the wall, beat it with the curtain rod, and then I took it outside where we dropped a few rocks on it. Praise God, I got to sleep in the home where the family stayed, and on a bed! I don’t think I would’ve slept that much in the other house, knowing there could be more scorpions! We waited about 2 hours to get back to Costa Rica because of the holidays. I enjoyed myself by dancing and singing with some other teammates to the loud music that playing nearby. We took a bus back to Liberia, and met up with the rest of our group at the church we were going to be working with for the week. The girls stayed at another pastor’s house, while the guys stayed at the church. Two of our leaders are from this town and church, so it was neat to meet their families and friends. We ate dinner and a hour or so later, we were on our way to our first kids ministry in Liberia. We typically do a few fun dramas, games, and maybe a story with the kids. My favorite moment all week was when a little boy ran up to me there, and just gave me a big hug! He took me by surprise, but I wrapped my arms around him quickly, and hugged him back! We also did kids ministry with the pastor who opened her home to the girls one night, passed out cookies with bible verses, and did some evangelism in the park our last night in town. I made some connections with a few little girls and they asked when we were going to return. I told them that I didn’t know when we were going to come back, and you could tell they were bummed. I love how kids just hold your hand and hug you when they first meet you. They don’t have any shame in showing that they just want love.
We also hosted a dinner for the homeless in Liberia on Christmas Eve. What’s neat about this dinner, is that we partnered with the government, and all we had to do was show up. We did a little more than that though to make it a special night. We bought soap and some other toiletries to pass out, and since it was at the local soccer stadium, they had access to showers. We also were able to collect some clothes and shoes, in addition to serving them a tasty meal. Some of our group even washed their feet! The government was going to provide vehicles to go pick up the homeless, but it didn’t work out. Our guys went to pick them up in our van, and brought them back load by load. I think we had about 15 or 20 folks show up. Some of our girls met a lady in the park the day before and invited her to come. She said that her birthday was on the day of the event, so we all pitched in a dollar or so, and bought her a cake. It was so awesome to see her face when they brought the cake out to her, and we all sang happy birthday. Some of the people were drunk, but for the most part, they were very attentive, and we had great conversations with them. We performed a funny drama and a serious drama while they were eating.
We will spent Christmas Eve with one of our leaders family, and it was such a special time for our group. It was so nice to meet Rossela’s family, because in addition to being my leader and one-on-one, she has been an amazing friend to me here. She and her mom cooked an amazing meal for us, and we exchanged gifts with our Secret Friend.
We spent Christmas day on 2 different beaches. We have one day off each week on outreach, and it was optional to go. I was tired, but I knew I could rest there. The beach has always been a place of rest for me, and a place where I feel close to God. The beaches were gorgeous, especially Conchal Beach, where the was no sand, just fragments of shells. The water was clear, and the tides were strong enough to carry you back and forth, so I just let the water take me with it!
More to come... getting on the van!!
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Weekend in Nicoya
Wow! It’s been too long since I have been on the blog. I have been busy trying to finish up the lecture phase of my Discipleship Training(DTS), and it’s been super hard to sit still at night without falling asleep!
We had a long weekend, as we traveled to a wedding about an hour away for 2 of our fellow YWAMer’s on Saturday, then drove another 4 hours to Nicoya. Heidi just completed her DTS, and Isaac is on staff but just finished his Children at Risk School and Outreach. The wedding was so beautiful, and it was really neat to see how God brought these 2 faithful people together. There were about 250 people there, most of whom were YWAMer’s.
Nicoya was wonderful, even though it was considerably warmer than the weather we are used to here in San Jose. We went from wearing beanies and jackets, to tank tops and shorts. It’s been pretty chilly here, and apparently it’s never this cold at this time of the year. One of my teammates mentioned that he believes that God is preparing us for Germany with the weather here in San Jose. Some of the German missionaries went home for several weeks and have returned saying that it is very cold there.
I really enjoyed this weekend in Nicoya which is in the Guanacaste province. It was absolutely beautiful as we were surrounded by huge mountains. We were out in the middle of nowhere, like out in the country, but with hint of jungle. For the first time ever, all 3 YWAM bases here in Costa Rica got together to fellowship for the weekend. There were a ton of kids, and since there were so many of us, some folks camped on the property in tents. We had a BBQ Sunday for lunch where the choice dish was pork smoked to perfection and deliciously seasoned. I rarely eat pork, but I decided to eat some to get full. They bought the pigs from a local farmer and slaughtered them the day before ( gross, I know).
A group of locals came by Sunday morning to take us on an optional hike, so I decided to go to get some good exercise. I was tired, as I had to be up at 6am to help with breakfast prep, I but knew it would be a great experience. I had no idea how hard the hike would be, but discovered later that the mountain was incredibly steep. I have never been on a hike for that long and on a mountain that steep, and I honestly was afraid that I was going to fall and hurt myself. We had an option to not go further at the first lookout point, and the guide told us that he had to go to work and needed to finish with us quickly, so he said we would not be able to stop the next leg of the hike. He warned us that it was really steep, but I wanted to go anyway. Well, I wasn’t prepared to hike fast and steep since I am not an experienced hiker, nor am I in great physical shape. However, I really wanted to take on the challenge, and almost had a heart attack a few times when I slipped, but… I made to the top!!!!!!! (The guides had machetes, and one cut me a good sized stick to give me some leverage. It was super helpful, but your legs are still doing a lot of work.) The view was amazing, and totally worth the trip! As Pedro (teammate) and I reached the top of the mountain, one of our friends said, “Vale la pena!” ( worth the pain!) I took a few pics, but they don’t compare to the live view! What a blessing to see God’s handiwork from the top of a mountain that we climbed!
I was also totally stoked to see monkeys for the first time here on the way to the mountain. They were just sitting on tree branches way up high, and once we started making some noises, they talked to us. They were really cute, but too high up to get good pictures. While we were hooting and hollering at the monkeys one of the ladies on the hike yelled at us from up ahead to be quiet, as the locals heard bees. They told us to walk quietly past the area where they believe they heard African Killer Bees! I immediately got quiet and my heart jumped to my throat!! I have spent way too much time watching Animal Planet, and I knew these bees are extremely dangerous. Thanks to God, we left the area without seeing one bee.
Another group wasn’t so lucky later that day. A large group, including several kids went to see some local waterfalls. I wanted to go, but was wiped out after hiking for over 3.5 hours. We were on our way to eat dinner, when we were informed that the group had encountered a hive ( still not sure if they were bees or wasps), and several people were stung, including a few that were stung over 4 times. I think one little girl got stung 7 times! Evidently it was pretty scary, because the kids were the ones who came upon the hive first and started screaming. Their parents immediately ran ahead, but once they got there, they yelled for the rest of the group them to turn around and run the other way. It was really a dangerous situation, and apparently they group had to split, because they were not able to pass by the hive again since the trail was so narrow. Then, one group got lost, had to cross a river, and finally were able to find the other folks. As far as I know, everyone is ok, but are dealing with some swelling and itching. One of our staff here at the base was telling me today that she has some major swelling, so she may go to the doctor in a few days if the swelling doesn’t go down. Another staff member was going to take her kids, but at the last minute decided not to go. She was so glad that she listened to the Lord when He said not to go because she is highly allergic to bees and wasps.
The weekend was tiring (traveling by car makes me sooo tired!), but worth every minute! We had worship around a bonfire both nights, and the sky was absolutely gorgeous as we could gaze upon all the stars. We even had smores on Sunday night! God seemed to be aware of our songs, as we saw shooting star after shooting star. One of our teammates said she saw 33 shooting stars between the 2 nights! I enjoyed spending time with people, but I was so tired after the hike Sunday, I spent most of the day by myself. In addition, God was dealing with me about something( and loving on me too) , so I just wasn’t in the right mindset to be with people the whole weekend. That is one thing that is really hard about being with people 24/7. I love people, but sometimes, I just don’t have the energy to be with them. It’s hard to choose between God and people, especially here. Please pray that I would have a good balance of time with God and time with people.
More to come…
We had a long weekend, as we traveled to a wedding about an hour away for 2 of our fellow YWAMer’s on Saturday, then drove another 4 hours to Nicoya. Heidi just completed her DTS, and Isaac is on staff but just finished his Children at Risk School and Outreach. The wedding was so beautiful, and it was really neat to see how God brought these 2 faithful people together. There were about 250 people there, most of whom were YWAMer’s.
Nicoya was wonderful, even though it was considerably warmer than the weather we are used to here in San Jose. We went from wearing beanies and jackets, to tank tops and shorts. It’s been pretty chilly here, and apparently it’s never this cold at this time of the year. One of my teammates mentioned that he believes that God is preparing us for Germany with the weather here in San Jose. Some of the German missionaries went home for several weeks and have returned saying that it is very cold there.
I really enjoyed this weekend in Nicoya which is in the Guanacaste province. It was absolutely beautiful as we were surrounded by huge mountains. We were out in the middle of nowhere, like out in the country, but with hint of jungle. For the first time ever, all 3 YWAM bases here in Costa Rica got together to fellowship for the weekend. There were a ton of kids, and since there were so many of us, some folks camped on the property in tents. We had a BBQ Sunday for lunch where the choice dish was pork smoked to perfection and deliciously seasoned. I rarely eat pork, but I decided to eat some to get full. They bought the pigs from a local farmer and slaughtered them the day before ( gross, I know).
A group of locals came by Sunday morning to take us on an optional hike, so I decided to go to get some good exercise. I was tired, as I had to be up at 6am to help with breakfast prep, I but knew it would be a great experience. I had no idea how hard the hike would be, but discovered later that the mountain was incredibly steep. I have never been on a hike for that long and on a mountain that steep, and I honestly was afraid that I was going to fall and hurt myself. We had an option to not go further at the first lookout point, and the guide told us that he had to go to work and needed to finish with us quickly, so he said we would not be able to stop the next leg of the hike. He warned us that it was really steep, but I wanted to go anyway. Well, I wasn’t prepared to hike fast and steep since I am not an experienced hiker, nor am I in great physical shape. However, I really wanted to take on the challenge, and almost had a heart attack a few times when I slipped, but… I made to the top!!!!!!! (The guides had machetes, and one cut me a good sized stick to give me some leverage. It was super helpful, but your legs are still doing a lot of work.) The view was amazing, and totally worth the trip! As Pedro (teammate) and I reached the top of the mountain, one of our friends said, “Vale la pena!” ( worth the pain!) I took a few pics, but they don’t compare to the live view! What a blessing to see God’s handiwork from the top of a mountain that we climbed!
I was also totally stoked to see monkeys for the first time here on the way to the mountain. They were just sitting on tree branches way up high, and once we started making some noises, they talked to us. They were really cute, but too high up to get good pictures. While we were hooting and hollering at the monkeys one of the ladies on the hike yelled at us from up ahead to be quiet, as the locals heard bees. They told us to walk quietly past the area where they believe they heard African Killer Bees! I immediately got quiet and my heart jumped to my throat!! I have spent way too much time watching Animal Planet, and I knew these bees are extremely dangerous. Thanks to God, we left the area without seeing one bee.
Another group wasn’t so lucky later that day. A large group, including several kids went to see some local waterfalls. I wanted to go, but was wiped out after hiking for over 3.5 hours. We were on our way to eat dinner, when we were informed that the group had encountered a hive ( still not sure if they were bees or wasps), and several people were stung, including a few that were stung over 4 times. I think one little girl got stung 7 times! Evidently it was pretty scary, because the kids were the ones who came upon the hive first and started screaming. Their parents immediately ran ahead, but once they got there, they yelled for the rest of the group them to turn around and run the other way. It was really a dangerous situation, and apparently they group had to split, because they were not able to pass by the hive again since the trail was so narrow. Then, one group got lost, had to cross a river, and finally were able to find the other folks. As far as I know, everyone is ok, but are dealing with some swelling and itching. One of our staff here at the base was telling me today that she has some major swelling, so she may go to the doctor in a few days if the swelling doesn’t go down. Another staff member was going to take her kids, but at the last minute decided not to go. She was so glad that she listened to the Lord when He said not to go because she is highly allergic to bees and wasps.
The weekend was tiring (traveling by car makes me sooo tired!), but worth every minute! We had worship around a bonfire both nights, and the sky was absolutely gorgeous as we could gaze upon all the stars. We even had smores on Sunday night! God seemed to be aware of our songs, as we saw shooting star after shooting star. One of our teammates said she saw 33 shooting stars between the 2 nights! I enjoyed spending time with people, but I was so tired after the hike Sunday, I spent most of the day by myself. In addition, God was dealing with me about something( and loving on me too) , so I just wasn’t in the right mindset to be with people the whole weekend. That is one thing that is really hard about being with people 24/7. I love people, but sometimes, I just don’t have the energy to be with them. It’s hard to choose between God and people, especially here. Please pray that I would have a good balance of time with God and time with people.
More to come…
Monday, December 6, 2010
Getting ready for outreach
I have been so busy enjoying life here that I haven't blogged in a while...sorry! There is always something going on around here, not to mention all of the awesome people here on the base from all over the world! I am doing great for the most part, and trying to enjoy this season of my life to the fullest measure.
Friday night was really neat because I spent so much time in prayer. We are gearing up for outreach, so each night during dinner (from 6-7pm) we have prayer to cover our trip to Germany. I was so full of joy after praying Thursday and Friday night. We can either fast the nights we pray, or have the kitchen save us a plate and eat later. We have different stations including tables where we can write notes of encouragement to each other, and write down our fears for outreach, and then tear them up at the foot of the cross. There is also a station with a map of Germany and a map of Costa Rica where we can write prayers or scriptures for the perspective nation. We have an Operation World book at the station that gives several facts about the country and also lists some specific ways we can pray for the people there.
I also prayed with my both of my prayer partners, Carol and Ryan. Ryan is praying for me until we go on outreach, and Carol is my new partner until we complete outreach in Germany. She and I share how our day has gone, what we we are struggling with,what our praises are, and then pray. Then I had tea with my South Korean friend, and we prayed for each other. She prayed for me in her native tongue, and it was awesome!
This week is our last full week of classes, and we are learning about Evangelism. We learned today that evangelism starts with places of closeness with God ( i.e. hearing His voice). We have several teachers this week, 2 YWAM German missionaries from our base, one volunteer YWAMer from Switzerland, and and we are Skyping (webcam stream) with John Stenson, a YWAM staff member from Wisconsin.
Please pray for our team to be unified as we head into outreach. The enemy is trying to come between us in small ways, so pray that we see his schemes and talk our frustrations out with each other instead of gossiping, and becoming bitter.
That's all for now...
Friday night was really neat because I spent so much time in prayer. We are gearing up for outreach, so each night during dinner (from 6-7pm) we have prayer to cover our trip to Germany. I was so full of joy after praying Thursday and Friday night. We can either fast the nights we pray, or have the kitchen save us a plate and eat later. We have different stations including tables where we can write notes of encouragement to each other, and write down our fears for outreach, and then tear them up at the foot of the cross. There is also a station with a map of Germany and a map of Costa Rica where we can write prayers or scriptures for the perspective nation. We have an Operation World book at the station that gives several facts about the country and also lists some specific ways we can pray for the people there.
I also prayed with my both of my prayer partners, Carol and Ryan. Ryan is praying for me until we go on outreach, and Carol is my new partner until we complete outreach in Germany. She and I share how our day has gone, what we we are struggling with,what our praises are, and then pray. Then I had tea with my South Korean friend, and we prayed for each other. She prayed for me in her native tongue, and it was awesome!
This week is our last full week of classes, and we are learning about Evangelism. We learned today that evangelism starts with places of closeness with God ( i.e. hearing His voice). We have several teachers this week, 2 YWAM German missionaries from our base, one volunteer YWAMer from Switzerland, and and we are Skyping (webcam stream) with John Stenson, a YWAM staff member from Wisconsin.
Please pray for our team to be unified as we head into outreach. The enemy is trying to come between us in small ways, so pray that we see his schemes and talk our frustrations out with each other instead of gossiping, and becoming bitter.
That's all for now...
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