Well since my last update much has been happening, including a warm and not very white Christmas. It was just over a week ago that we officially finished our lecture phase here in San Jose. A day that came so much sooner than I was hoping. We finished strong though with a week of teaching on Evangelism. To be completely honest, it was not a week that I was particularly looking forward to. In fact it was something that scared and intimidated me. After spending days in lectures with some of the staff here at the base though I learned that it’s not something to be afraid of. :) A few things that stuck out to me during the week and made me feel better were that evangelism is not a switch that you turn on and off, but rather it’s a lifestyle. Our perfect example of an evangelist is Jesus. He lived a life of prayer, spending time with God, hearing from him, and being obedient to what the Father. A life of humility, identifying with those that he ministered to, and also a life of listening to those that he ministered to. Which in a nutshell is evangelism...it’s a lifestyle, not a switch that we turn on and off. Evangelism can simply be a smile, a listening ear, or an in-depth conversation...just to name a few. I have to say that after our week of lectures on evangelism it was something that I was excited for. Which brings me to our first week of outreach.
We spent the last week in Liberia, Costa Rica, which is located in the North-western region of Costa Rica, about 5 hours from where I have been the last three months. Chill, relaxed, friendly, welcoming, and loving are just a few words that I would use to describe both Liberia, and the people. To say the least, it was definitely a blessing to partner with the church and be involved in ministry in the area. A few experiences that stick out in my mind that I would like to share with you.
Firstly, Christmas dinner with the homeless. Here in Costa Rica they celebrate Christmas on the 24th, so on the 23rd, Christmas Eve, we came along side and helped to put on a Christmas event for the homeless. An evening that touched my heart. When the homeless first arrived to the event we got to give each of them a Bible, and a new set of clothes. It was absolutely amazing and honestly brought me to tears when I saw the joy that came over them when they received these things. Then we were able to both wash their feet and shower them. By that time they were all looking really good, and then we got to fill their stomachs with an amazing Christmas meal, and their hearts with a little program. My highlight of the evening happened after all of this when myself, and another girl on our team, Jody, were talking with one of the homeless ladies. Well...actually...Jody knows Spanish so she was talking, and I was listening. :) But the lady began to open up and talk about her family. As she began to remember certain people in her family she was brought to tears. As she continued to talk, she confessed many things in her life and from the depths of her heart cried out for reconciliation with her family. We had the opportunity to pray with her, and lead her to salvation, as well as share with her that because of the blood of Christ she has been made clean. She is no longer “dirty”, which is something that she thought of herself. To top the evening off, we were the last three sitting on chairs, which they were wanting to clean up. This lady did not want to leave yet, so after taking away our chairs I sat down on the ground, both of us proceeding to help this lady down. Next thing I know she has plopped right down on my lap, and didn’t even think twice about it! Now I was sitting there in the grass with an older homeless lady on my lap, and there was nothing we could all do, but burst out laughing. Her response simply was, “I don’t want to get my new clothes dirty!”. Fair enough, can’t argue with that! So we sat there for another 15 minutes, just talking and laughing very hard, which was just absolutely amazing and liberating for all three of us!
The amazing thing is that we were able to build on that relationships we made that night with the homeless throughout the rest of the week as we would be out and about and would run into them, or could take time to go visit them at the park, or they would simply run up to us with their Bibles in hand, a thumbs up, and big smile on their face! It was such a blessing!
Amidst the busyness as a group we were able to enjoy a warm and not so white Christmas. As I shared earlier, they celebrate Christmas on the 24th, so we enjoyed a wonderful Christmas dinner and party at one of our leader’s house, and in keeping with Costa Rican tradition we had Christmas day off and were able to go the the beach. All in all, a very different, but wonderful Christmas!
Now we have been back in San Jose for two days, busily getting ready for our next outreach location...GERMANY!!! As we head out, your prayers would be greatly appreciated. For safe travels. Continual unity within our team. So far all we know for sure is that we are starting off in Frankfurt, and then heading off to Berlin, so that that we would be sensitive to the Spirit’s guiding. As well as protection spiritually, as we are heading into a harder and colder culture than Central America. Thank you so much!
December 29, 2010
November 22, 2010
A weekend in God's playground...
If I had the option to go to any type of amusement parks I would definitely choose the water slides over the roller coasters and other rides. I absolutely love water parks, and a couple of weekends ago, I got to play in God’s water park. There was a small group of us that headed off to a small town that was up in the mountains about 4 hours from here called MonteVerde. It was absolutely amazing. It’s like one of those little tourist towns that you see in the movies.
Once arriving in Monteverde, our day started with enjoying some delicious coffee from the Tree House Cafe. Not only did they have absolutely amazing coffee, but it was a real tree house! Down below you can see some pics of both the cafe and some great animal latte art. We were all loving the different animals our server was making for us, so before leaving the cafe he invited us to come and watch him make a few of them.
From there it was off to the water park of God for some water fall repelling. I wish I had some pictures to share with all of you, but essentially we repelled down a series of 6 different waterfalls. Some smaller, some larger, some more slippery, and definitely some where I wasn’t sure what I had gotten myself into, but it was so much fun.
The most fun part of the day was yet to come though...zip lining! This was the one thing that was on my to-do list for in Costa Rica. As you can see from the pictures below we got to go on the longest & highest. I would say that the pictures say it all, but in all reality, I was way to scarred while on the zip-line to take any pictures, so I had to settle with taking from the different platforms that we were on. We went on a series of 9 zip lines, with the longest one being 2460 feet long, going at a speed of 75 km/h. There is not really any way to describe the feeling flying over top the canopy of the rainforest, or how much fun it is! Definitely a weekend to remember.
Being the hands and feet...
The week after the Father heart of God we studied the Character and Nature God. Now each week is different, but this week entailed some great ministry opportunities to live out the Character and Nature of God, and to be His hands and feet.
Straight off the Monday night we headed to a couple of different parks downtown San Jose for prostitution ministry. It’s a very sad fact that firstly prostitution is legal, and secondly a lot of Costa Rica’s tourism rests on the prostitution industry, along with tranvestite prostitution. It’s a very sad and heavy fact. There are people here at the YWAM base that have been expending a lot of time and energy into building relationships with the prostitutes of San Jose, which is awesome. For us as a dts though, even though we did not talk to any of the prostitutes that night it was powerful just to be able to stand in the gap, and to be able to intercede on behalf of them. I challenge any of you who are reading this at the moment to take the next minute to lift up a prayer on behalf of them, along with those that ministry to the prostitutes on a regular basis. Something that really hit me the night we were interceding was that we might be the only ones praying for the prostitutes of that area, and something l have been learning more and more, is the power that there is in prayer!
That next morning we had the opportunity to go to the Salvation Army, to serve breakfast to the homeless. Something that hit me this morning, while serving breakfast was how incredibly much God loves them. In God’s eyes the sins that they have committed, and the sin that I have committed, and the sin that you have committed are all equal in His eyes. God loves them just as much as he loves me! As sad as it was to see the situations they were in, it was fun to try interact with them as much as one could between the broken Spanish on my part, and the broken English on their part. Clearly there are always those who are there just for the meal, but then others that just long for that attention and pure love.
A highlight of this week and something that spoke to me through the lectures was learning what it meant to have a healthy fear of the Lord. What it means to be in awe and reverence of God, and how we need to live our lives in both fear of God and in intimacy with Him. With this in mind the story of David & Goliath really spoke to me. When David battled Goliath he approached him with so much confidence. This confidence did not come from himself, but rather was an unshakable confidence in who God is. David knew the God that he served. David had such a healthy fear and reverence of who God is, and walked in that. I felt really challenged with this in my own life. To walk in that same fear and confidence of knowing the God that I serve, and knowing that he is big, and he is good!
Something for all of us to remember!
Straight off the Monday night we headed to a couple of different parks downtown San Jose for prostitution ministry. It’s a very sad fact that firstly prostitution is legal, and secondly a lot of Costa Rica’s tourism rests on the prostitution industry, along with tranvestite prostitution. It’s a very sad and heavy fact. There are people here at the YWAM base that have been expending a lot of time and energy into building relationships with the prostitutes of San Jose, which is awesome. For us as a dts though, even though we did not talk to any of the prostitutes that night it was powerful just to be able to stand in the gap, and to be able to intercede on behalf of them. I challenge any of you who are reading this at the moment to take the next minute to lift up a prayer on behalf of them, along with those that ministry to the prostitutes on a regular basis. Something that really hit me the night we were interceding was that we might be the only ones praying for the prostitutes of that area, and something l have been learning more and more, is the power that there is in prayer!
That next morning we had the opportunity to go to the Salvation Army, to serve breakfast to the homeless. Something that hit me this morning, while serving breakfast was how incredibly much God loves them. In God’s eyes the sins that they have committed, and the sin that I have committed, and the sin that you have committed are all equal in His eyes. God loves them just as much as he loves me! As sad as it was to see the situations they were in, it was fun to try interact with them as much as one could between the broken Spanish on my part, and the broken English on their part. Clearly there are always those who are there just for the meal, but then others that just long for that attention and pure love.
A highlight of this week and something that spoke to me through the lectures was learning what it meant to have a healthy fear of the Lord. What it means to be in awe and reverence of God, and how we need to live our lives in both fear of God and in intimacy with Him. With this in mind the story of David & Goliath really spoke to me. When David battled Goliath he approached him with so much confidence. This confidence did not come from himself, but rather was an unshakable confidence in who God is. David knew the God that he served. David had such a healthy fear and reverence of who God is, and walked in that. I felt really challenged with this in my own life. To walk in that same fear and confidence of knowing the God that I serve, and knowing that he is big, and he is good!
Something for all of us to remember!
God's personal love...
So much has happened here in Costa Rica since I last updated my blog that I don’t even know where to start...there are so many things and stories that one could tell from the time between my last post and now, that I can’t possibly just pick up from today’s date, so bare with me through the next few posts as I go back in time a little...
Firstly a small testimony of God’s personal love...
It was during the week of learning about the Father Heart of God, which was obviously my last post. Throughout the lecture phase we are required to read and complete a book report on a few different books written by Loren Cunningham, the founder of YWAM. It was this particular week that we were receiving our second book to begin reading. Now being the procrastinator by nature that I am, for the first book I only started reading the book not too long before the book report was actually due. So this time as the books were being handed out I decided that I was going to start reading earlier, so that I wouldn’t be scrambling last minute. Sounded good in theory. The only problem I saw was that if I were to start reading the book early, and obviously reading it over a longer amount of time I easily forget main and important points in the book, which obviously makes writing the book report a little bit more of a challenge. As I received my book though, I open up the front cover, and on the inside cover is a page full of little sticky post-it tabs. Something to stick into the book at main and important points that stuck out to me. For myself, it just spoke of God’s incredible love for myself, that He would even care about little things like that. It also showed me of how personal God is to each one of us. The way in which one person feels loved, is totally different from the next, because each of us is different and unique, just as God has created it to be!
Firstly a small testimony of God’s personal love...
It was during the week of learning about the Father Heart of God, which was obviously my last post. Throughout the lecture phase we are required to read and complete a book report on a few different books written by Loren Cunningham, the founder of YWAM. It was this particular week that we were receiving our second book to begin reading. Now being the procrastinator by nature that I am, for the first book I only started reading the book not too long before the book report was actually due. So this time as the books were being handed out I decided that I was going to start reading earlier, so that I wouldn’t be scrambling last minute. Sounded good in theory. The only problem I saw was that if I were to start reading the book early, and obviously reading it over a longer amount of time I easily forget main and important points in the book, which obviously makes writing the book report a little bit more of a challenge. As I received my book though, I open up the front cover, and on the inside cover is a page full of little sticky post-it tabs. Something to stick into the book at main and important points that stuck out to me. For myself, it just spoke of God’s incredible love for myself, that He would even care about little things like that. It also showed me of how personal God is to each one of us. The way in which one person feels loved, is totally different from the next, because each of us is different and unique, just as God has created it to be!
November 3, 2010
What if God came to your house...
This was a question that was posed to us in the beginning of our lectures with Jack Kody, who taught us about the Father Heart of God.
My response...
If God came to visit me at my house...the moment I would realize who it was I think I would fall to the ground out of reverence and a feeling of unworthiness. I don’t think I would even know where to leave myself. Honestly I think I would run through the house making sure everything was in its proper place, fit for a King. In my head I would be going over everything that happened in that day, and previous days, and make sure there was not anything that I needed to repent of.
I would probably try to scrounge together something to serve Him...at least some coffee or something :)...desiring to give him my best, and then when that is all said and done I would sit back in his presence as we visit. Excited to just sit there and listen to HIm.
After we were asked this question, and all wrote our responses, Jack, our lecturer, shared with us as to how this is a honest way of sharing who God is to each of us, and the image that we have of Him. This exercise totally wrecked the image I had of God. In a very good way though! Before this I saw God as someone that I had to clean up my life for before coming to him. I had to make sure everything was in the right place, both spiritually and physically. To me in a sense He was someone that was unreachable. Thank goodness, that’s not at all how it is though! God wants me, and each one of us, to come to him just as we are. Allow Him to do the work within us that needs to be done. He is not standing there in a police uniform, ready to reprimand us because of all that we have done, but rather He desires to be in relationship with us. He was us to come just as we are. After all, it is not by works that we are saved, but by God’s grace. (Ephesians 2:8)
This was only the start to an absolutely amazing week that lay before us. Not only did Jack share with us about the Father heart of God, but truly displayed the heart of a Father towards all 19 of us in dts. It was as if each one of us had permission for just one week to be little kids again. Evenings spent bowling, eating ice cream, watching movies...doesn’t get much better than that!
The rest of the week we talked about how our image of God is very influential in our lives. How God desires so deeply to be in relationship with each one of us. Each and every one of us is different. We are all created in God’s image, but God has made each one of us unique. Because each of us is different, each of our relationships with Him is different, which He absolutely loves! But this also means that God will interact and deal with each of us differently. We see this throughout the entire Bible, because the Bible is a book of relationships, not a formula. Throughout the Bible God does not change, but each relationship that He has with someone is different, and therefore will deal with them differently. So what God does for one person, may not work for the next! We have to remember that God’s ways, and His thoughts are way higher and better than ours! We need to expect that He has great things for each of us, and for each of us that will look different!
My revelation from God to all of you!
My response...
If God came to visit me at my house...the moment I would realize who it was I think I would fall to the ground out of reverence and a feeling of unworthiness. I don’t think I would even know where to leave myself. Honestly I think I would run through the house making sure everything was in its proper place, fit for a King. In my head I would be going over everything that happened in that day, and previous days, and make sure there was not anything that I needed to repent of.
I would probably try to scrounge together something to serve Him...at least some coffee or something :)...desiring to give him my best, and then when that is all said and done I would sit back in his presence as we visit. Excited to just sit there and listen to HIm.
After we were asked this question, and all wrote our responses, Jack, our lecturer, shared with us as to how this is a honest way of sharing who God is to each of us, and the image that we have of Him. This exercise totally wrecked the image I had of God. In a very good way though! Before this I saw God as someone that I had to clean up my life for before coming to him. I had to make sure everything was in the right place, both spiritually and physically. To me in a sense He was someone that was unreachable. Thank goodness, that’s not at all how it is though! God wants me, and each one of us, to come to him just as we are. Allow Him to do the work within us that needs to be done. He is not standing there in a police uniform, ready to reprimand us because of all that we have done, but rather He desires to be in relationship with us. He was us to come just as we are. After all, it is not by works that we are saved, but by God’s grace. (Ephesians 2:8)
This was only the start to an absolutely amazing week that lay before us. Not only did Jack share with us about the Father heart of God, but truly displayed the heart of a Father towards all 19 of us in dts. It was as if each one of us had permission for just one week to be little kids again. Evenings spent bowling, eating ice cream, watching movies...doesn’t get much better than that!
The rest of the week we talked about how our image of God is very influential in our lives. How God desires so deeply to be in relationship with each one of us. Each and every one of us is different. We are all created in God’s image, but God has made each one of us unique. Because each of us is different, each of our relationships with Him is different, which He absolutely loves! But this also means that God will interact and deal with each of us differently. We see this throughout the entire Bible, because the Bible is a book of relationships, not a formula. Throughout the Bible God does not change, but each relationship that He has with someone is different, and therefore will deal with them differently. So what God does for one person, may not work for the next! We have to remember that God’s ways, and His thoughts are way higher and better than ours! We need to expect that He has great things for each of us, and for each of us that will look different!
My revelation from God to all of you!
October 25, 2010
Living in the Light.
1 John 1:5-9
This is the message we heard from Jesus and now declare to you: God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all. So we are lying if we say we have fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness; we are not practicing the truth. But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then w have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin. If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth. But if we confess ours sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness. If we claim we have not sinned, we are calling God a liar and showing that his word has no place in our hearts.
Last week was all about shining the light into the dark areas of our lives, and “cleaning house”, so that we may have fellowship with one another, and fellowship with God.
The week was titled “Plumb Line, based on Amos 7:7-9, which says,
Then he showed me another vision. I saw the Lord standing beside a wall that had been built using a plumb line. he was using a plumb line to see if it was still straight. And the Lord said to me, “Amos, what do you see?”
I answered, “A plumb line.”
And the Lord replied. “I will test my people with this plumb line. I will no longer ignore all their sins. The pagan shrines of your ancestors will be ruined, and the temples of Israel will be destroyed; I will bring the dynasty of King Jeroboam to a sudden end.”
Either we are built by truth or we are built by lies. When we believe the lies that are spoken to us, or speak to ourselves it causes us to respond. Often the response causes us to sin, which can turn into iniquity, and possibly a stronghold in our lives. These things in life, move us from the truth. God wants us to return to his love though, and wants to align us with his truth once again. Which is what the week was all about. Aligning our lives to the word of God through laying down our pride and publicly confessing sins & iniquities of our past within the group. Overcoming unbelief through breaking lies that we have believed about ourselves. Completely emptying ourselves of the junk in our lives. Like I said earlier, according to 1 John 1, stepping out of the darkness and into the light.
Along with that we had a time of Forgiveness for those whom have wronged us, and those we have wronged, and also forgiveness for ourselves if necessary. If we want to be fully restored and free we must forgive those how have hurt us.
All in all it was an absolutely amazing week. You can’t help but walk away from a week like that recognizing how incredibly real God is, and the power He has. There are things that each of us have gone through in life and experienced that the only way we will be free from is by bringing it to the Lord, and allowing the Holy Spirit to work in our lives and do what needs to be done. Also you can’t walk away without feeling so incredibly free in Christ!
This is the message we heard from Jesus and now declare to you: God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all. So we are lying if we say we have fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness; we are not practicing the truth. But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then w have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin. If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth. But if we confess ours sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness. If we claim we have not sinned, we are calling God a liar and showing that his word has no place in our hearts.
Last week was all about shining the light into the dark areas of our lives, and “cleaning house”, so that we may have fellowship with one another, and fellowship with God.
The week was titled “Plumb Line, based on Amos 7:7-9, which says,
Then he showed me another vision. I saw the Lord standing beside a wall that had been built using a plumb line. he was using a plumb line to see if it was still straight. And the Lord said to me, “Amos, what do you see?”
I answered, “A plumb line.”
And the Lord replied. “I will test my people with this plumb line. I will no longer ignore all their sins. The pagan shrines of your ancestors will be ruined, and the temples of Israel will be destroyed; I will bring the dynasty of King Jeroboam to a sudden end.”
Either we are built by truth or we are built by lies. When we believe the lies that are spoken to us, or speak to ourselves it causes us to respond. Often the response causes us to sin, which can turn into iniquity, and possibly a stronghold in our lives. These things in life, move us from the truth. God wants us to return to his love though, and wants to align us with his truth once again. Which is what the week was all about. Aligning our lives to the word of God through laying down our pride and publicly confessing sins & iniquities of our past within the group. Overcoming unbelief through breaking lies that we have believed about ourselves. Completely emptying ourselves of the junk in our lives. Like I said earlier, according to 1 John 1, stepping out of the darkness and into the light.
Along with that we had a time of Forgiveness for those whom have wronged us, and those we have wronged, and also forgiveness for ourselves if necessary. If we want to be fully restored and free we must forgive those how have hurt us.
All in all it was an absolutely amazing week. You can’t help but walk away from a week like that recognizing how incredibly real God is, and the power He has. There are things that each of us have gone through in life and experienced that the only way we will be free from is by bringing it to the Lord, and allowing the Holy Spirit to work in our lives and do what needs to be done. Also you can’t walk away without feeling so incredibly free in Christ!
October 20, 2010
An Indescribable Love.
I promised this update to you all a long time ago, so to start I apologize how slack I have been. Going back to two weeks ago, we spent a week learning about Intimacy with God. It truly was an amazing and eye opening week for myself. There is another school going on here at the same time as the DTS, and we spent the week in classes with them. There were many highlights of the week, but I will take some time just to share a few specific experiences with you that I hold dear to my heart.
Going into the week we started talking about how deeply God desires to be in a relationship with us. So much that he sent his one and only Son to die on the cross in our place, so that this would be possible. To be able to feel this love that God has for me is something that I deeply desired, but I felt like I had come to a wall in my relationship with God time and time again. I don’t know if any of you ever feel this way, but I felt like I was doing everything that I could in my power to grow deeper in love with God, but felt like I had hit a wall. Little did I know, it’s not at all about my power and what I do.
Second day of lectures, we read the story of the Prodigal Son. Probably a story that many of us have heard over and over, and maybe even over again. This time when I heard it though, God caught my attention. The part where the father was waiting for his son really jumped out to me. He was just waiting for him to return. That’s exactly how God is with us. He is waiting for us to return to him! God desires so deeply to be in a relationship with us. All we have to do is say “yes”! Then to top it off when the prodigal son came home the father embraced him before he could even say anything. The son didn’t have to explain anything, he just has to return home and say yes to the father’s love!
I had heard this story so many times in my life, but never let it drop from my head to my heart, which they say is the longest 18”. As I was sitting in lectures learning about the love of God I realized how true this statement actually was. Through the work of the Holy Spirit through my heart began to be filled with the love that God has for me, and it blew me away. I had a complete revelation of God’s love for me.
Based on Ecclesiastes 3:11, we are created with eternity in our heart and are created with a God-size hole in our heart that only He can fill. There is nothing here on earth that can satisfy us. God created us not because he needed to, but because He chose to create us! He chose to create us and desires to be in relationship with us! Once again, all we have to do is say “yes”! WOW! What a good God we serve!
Like I said, I knew so much in my head, but did not really know it in my heart. I needed a revelation and transformation of God’s love in my life, which God did! From there on in I have been learning more and more about God’s amazing love for me, and how incredibly much he desires me. How much He desires each and everyone of us!
Going into the week we started talking about how deeply God desires to be in a relationship with us. So much that he sent his one and only Son to die on the cross in our place, so that this would be possible. To be able to feel this love that God has for me is something that I deeply desired, but I felt like I had come to a wall in my relationship with God time and time again. I don’t know if any of you ever feel this way, but I felt like I was doing everything that I could in my power to grow deeper in love with God, but felt like I had hit a wall. Little did I know, it’s not at all about my power and what I do.
Second day of lectures, we read the story of the Prodigal Son. Probably a story that many of us have heard over and over, and maybe even over again. This time when I heard it though, God caught my attention. The part where the father was waiting for his son really jumped out to me. He was just waiting for him to return. That’s exactly how God is with us. He is waiting for us to return to him! God desires so deeply to be in a relationship with us. All we have to do is say “yes”! Then to top it off when the prodigal son came home the father embraced him before he could even say anything. The son didn’t have to explain anything, he just has to return home and say yes to the father’s love!
I had heard this story so many times in my life, but never let it drop from my head to my heart, which they say is the longest 18”. As I was sitting in lectures learning about the love of God I realized how true this statement actually was. Through the work of the Holy Spirit through my heart began to be filled with the love that God has for me, and it blew me away. I had a complete revelation of God’s love for me.
Based on Ecclesiastes 3:11, we are created with eternity in our heart and are created with a God-size hole in our heart that only He can fill. There is nothing here on earth that can satisfy us. God created us not because he needed to, but because He chose to create us! He chose to create us and desires to be in relationship with us! Once again, all we have to do is say “yes”! WOW! What a good God we serve!
Like I said, I knew so much in my head, but did not really know it in my heart. I needed a revelation and transformation of God’s love in my life, which God did! From there on in I have been learning more and more about God’s amazing love for me, and how incredibly much he desires me. How much He desires each and everyone of us!
October 9, 2010
A Divine Appointment...
Every week we get the opportunity to go on a local outreach. Our YWAM base is right in the university district of San Pedro, and is one of 17 universities in the area. This past week during our lectures we learnt all about God’s love, and our outreach was our opportunity to put into practice what we had been learning. So we headed to one of the university campuses, where we were each given 500 colones, which is approximately equivalent to $1. We broke up into groups of three or four, and from there we were supposed to use the money to bless somebody. So I headed out with three other girls, making sure that I had at least one fluent Spanish speaker in my group, thinking that being in Costa Rica that would be very helpful.
So we set out. We began by praying and asking God to guide us and show us anything about the people we were to bless. Out of the four of us, one of the girls, Valerie got that it was going to be a person who had blue eyes, and brown hair. Another one of us, Carole and I got that it was going to be easy and that they would practically approach us. And lastly, Melanie (the fluent Spanish speaker) got that it was only going to be only girls.
We started out across the campus, and after about 15 minutes or so of walking and getting a little bit discouraged we came across two girls. We all kind of shyed away, but one of them had brown hair, and bright Bright BRIGHT blue eyes, so we had to follow them and talk to them. So that’s exactly what we did! We finally caught up to them, and we approached them, and after fumbling in Spanish for a few sentences they saved us and told us they spoke English. Bonus!! And I thought that I would need a Spanish speaker in my group...language is no barrier for God! It was amazing how open they were to sitting down and chatting for awhile. After talking we got to hear a little bit about them. We got to share with them what we were learning in school, and even got to pray with them.
The coolest thing about the whole experience was they shared with us that they usually don’t walk on campus to the area where we met them. They were actually skipping their class that afternoon, and said they were going to walk around and do something different today. Something they don’t normally do. Can you say divine appointment? God is a good God!
Till next time when I will share with you more about the week that was.
So we set out. We began by praying and asking God to guide us and show us anything about the people we were to bless. Out of the four of us, one of the girls, Valerie got that it was going to be a person who had blue eyes, and brown hair. Another one of us, Carole and I got that it was going to be easy and that they would practically approach us. And lastly, Melanie (the fluent Spanish speaker) got that it was only going to be only girls.
We started out across the campus, and after about 15 minutes or so of walking and getting a little bit discouraged we came across two girls. We all kind of shyed away, but one of them had brown hair, and bright Bright BRIGHT blue eyes, so we had to follow them and talk to them. So that’s exactly what we did! We finally caught up to them, and we approached them, and after fumbling in Spanish for a few sentences they saved us and told us they spoke English. Bonus!! And I thought that I would need a Spanish speaker in my group...language is no barrier for God! It was amazing how open they were to sitting down and chatting for awhile. After talking we got to hear a little bit about them. We got to share with them what we were learning in school, and even got to pray with them.
The coolest thing about the whole experience was they shared with us that they usually don’t walk on campus to the area where we met them. They were actually skipping their class that afternoon, and said they were going to walk around and do something different today. Something they don’t normally do. Can you say divine appointment? God is a good God!
Till next time when I will share with you more about the week that was.
October 5, 2010
A day with no rain...
To my surprise, we actually had a day with no rain. It did not rain yesterday nor has it rained today! ...yet... Costa Rica is beautiful, but it feels like it rains all the time! After being caught outside in the rain many too many times without an umbrella or rain jacket, as of yesterday, I have decided to make both of those a permanent fixture to me. Of course, both those days it didn’t rain! Like I already said though, it’s absolutely beautiful! On the days that there is no clouds or fog, and you can actually see something, all you see is GREEN rolling hills/mountains spotted with colorful homes. I’m definitely looking forward to seeing some of the sights of Costa Rica while out here.
I have only been here for 9 days, but in an absolutely wonderful way it feels like so much longer! There are 18 other people in my dts, ages ranging from 18-41, including one married couple. So it’s really neat to be apart of such a diverse group. Majority of the people come from North America. There are 4 people that are from within Central America though, and only speak Spanish, which is a great opportunity (crossing my fingers) to actually improve my Spanish skills. Depending on the teacher our classes are in either Spanish or English and then translated. So learning Spanish would definitely be a good skill to have.
My YWAM base is about a 20 minute bus ride from the downtown. At least it’s only 20 minutes in good traffic...and let me tell you the traffic here is an experience in itself. I am pretty sure that the cars speed up, as soon as you try crossing the street. The first weekend here we got the opportunity to head downtown as a group to check things out, which is one of my favorite things to do when in a new city. Being a coffee lover, I love to find a nice local coffee shop in the downtown, sit, relax and take everything in. Oh, and my second favorite thing to do is to find all the markets and see what kind of cheap treasures I can find. :)
Our first week of classes was on Hearing God’s Voice, and was taught by the base director here. It was definitely an amazing, and whirlwind of a week. There are many things that I learned and took out of the lectures, and I know that if I blogged all that I learned no one would keep reading my blogs. So one thing out of many things that stood out to me through our lectures last week was that God speaks to all of us. It’s just a matter of whether or not we are taking time to listen. God really challenged me to take time to listen to him. So often I get so busy just talking and talking with God, and I don’t take time to listen. God wants to have a dialogue with us, not a monologue. Another thing that we, as a group, were all really challenged on was dying to ourselves. Laying down our pride, and recognizing that this life has nothing to do about us. Everything is for eternity. It is to bring God glory.
Well that is a snippet of the first week here. There will be more to come!
Hasta luego
I have only been here for 9 days, but in an absolutely wonderful way it feels like so much longer! There are 18 other people in my dts, ages ranging from 18-41, including one married couple. So it’s really neat to be apart of such a diverse group. Majority of the people come from North America. There are 4 people that are from within Central America though, and only speak Spanish, which is a great opportunity (crossing my fingers) to actually improve my Spanish skills. Depending on the teacher our classes are in either Spanish or English and then translated. So learning Spanish would definitely be a good skill to have.
My YWAM base is about a 20 minute bus ride from the downtown. At least it’s only 20 minutes in good traffic...and let me tell you the traffic here is an experience in itself. I am pretty sure that the cars speed up, as soon as you try crossing the street. The first weekend here we got the opportunity to head downtown as a group to check things out, which is one of my favorite things to do when in a new city. Being a coffee lover, I love to find a nice local coffee shop in the downtown, sit, relax and take everything in. Oh, and my second favorite thing to do is to find all the markets and see what kind of cheap treasures I can find. :)
Our first week of classes was on Hearing God’s Voice, and was taught by the base director here. It was definitely an amazing, and whirlwind of a week. There are many things that I learned and took out of the lectures, and I know that if I blogged all that I learned no one would keep reading my blogs. So one thing out of many things that stood out to me through our lectures last week was that God speaks to all of us. It’s just a matter of whether or not we are taking time to listen. God really challenged me to take time to listen to him. So often I get so busy just talking and talking with God, and I don’t take time to listen. God wants to have a dialogue with us, not a monologue. Another thing that we, as a group, were all really challenged on was dying to ourselves. Laying down our pride, and recognizing that this life has nothing to do about us. Everything is for eternity. It is to bring God glory.
Well that is a snippet of the first week here. There will be more to come!
Hasta luego
September 29, 2010
Pura Vida.
A phrase that many Costa Rican’s live by. Whether you’re greeting someone, saying farewell, a response to difficulties, expressing satisfaction, or celebrating good fortunes of any size...all can be followed with “Pura Vida”.
Seeing as my last blog entry was 15 days ago by now, you can all tell that I am already not very good at this whole thing called blogging. But thank goodness for a good memory!
I arrived in Costa Rica last Friday already, and it’s absolutely beautiful here. It rains absolutely every day, and when I say rain, I don’t just mean that it drizzles everyday. It pours, and not just for half an hour, but a good 3-4 hours daily! It’s amazing here though. Before I share more about Costa Rica though, I want to share about my time in Mexico.
I was looking forward to Mexico being a time of rest. If you call playing card games 24/7, constantly connecting with wonderful people, taking in as many Mexican hotdogs as possible, celebrating birthdays (both mine and Ryan’s), celebrating Mexican Independence Day, experiencing yet another crazy rain storm (which thankfully was nothing too treacherous this year) rest, which I definitely do, then it was a wonderful time of rest!
Some highlights from my time in Mexico were definitely celebrating their Independence Day, which they begin to celebrate late on September 15th, and continue through to the next morning where different ceremonies and parades take place. Mexico’s Independence Day celebration is big to begin with, and this year was no different, especially since they celebrated their 200th year of Independence! Ryan and I headed into the downtown of a nearby city with a pastor couple, their kids and friends to take in the celebrations. Like I mentioned before other highlights were definitely the endless hours just relaxing, playing countless games, and taking in as much Mexican cuisine I could.
From Mexico I enjoyed a good 10 hour bus ride north to Phoenix during the night, and from there caught a flight to Houston. Spent the night in the airport, and the next morning caught a flight down to San Jose, Costa Rica. Needless to say it was a very long trip, but I made it, and I promise one day soon I will share more about my experiences here in Costa Rica!
Seeing as my last blog entry was 15 days ago by now, you can all tell that I am already not very good at this whole thing called blogging. But thank goodness for a good memory!
I arrived in Costa Rica last Friday already, and it’s absolutely beautiful here. It rains absolutely every day, and when I say rain, I don’t just mean that it drizzles everyday. It pours, and not just for half an hour, but a good 3-4 hours daily! It’s amazing here though. Before I share more about Costa Rica though, I want to share about my time in Mexico.
I was looking forward to Mexico being a time of rest. If you call playing card games 24/7, constantly connecting with wonderful people, taking in as many Mexican hotdogs as possible, celebrating birthdays (both mine and Ryan’s), celebrating Mexican Independence Day, experiencing yet another crazy rain storm (which thankfully was nothing too treacherous this year) rest, which I definitely do, then it was a wonderful time of rest!
Some highlights from my time in Mexico were definitely celebrating their Independence Day, which they begin to celebrate late on September 15th, and continue through to the next morning where different ceremonies and parades take place. Mexico’s Independence Day celebration is big to begin with, and this year was no different, especially since they celebrated their 200th year of Independence! Ryan and I headed into the downtown of a nearby city with a pastor couple, their kids and friends to take in the celebrations. Like I mentioned before other highlights were definitely the endless hours just relaxing, playing countless games, and taking in as much Mexican cuisine I could.
From Mexico I enjoyed a good 10 hour bus ride north to Phoenix during the night, and from there caught a flight to Houston. Spent the night in the airport, and the next morning caught a flight down to San Jose, Costa Rica. Needless to say it was a very long trip, but I made it, and I promise one day soon I will share more about my experiences here in Costa Rica!
Pura Vida.
A phrase that many Costa Rican’s live by. Whether you’re greeting someone, saying farewell, a response to difficulties, expressing satisfaction, or celebrating good fortunes of any size...all can be followed with “Pura Vida”.
Seeing as my last blog entry was 15 days ago by now, you can all tell that I am already not very good at this whole thing called blogging. But thank goodness for a good memory!
I arrived in Costa Rica last Friday already, and it’s absolutely beautiful here. It rains absolutely every day, and when I say rain, I don’t just mean that it drizzles everyday. It pours, and not just for half an hour, but a good 3-4 hours daily! It’s amazing here though. Before I share more about Costa Rica though, I want to share about my time in Mexico.
I was looking forward to Mexico being a time of rest. If you call playing card games 24/7, constantly connecting with wonderful people, taking in as many Mexican hotdogs as possible, celebrating birthdays (both mine and Ryan’s), celebrating Mexican Independence Day, experiencing yet another crazy rain storm (which thankfully was nothing too treacherous this year) rest, which I definitely do, then it was a wonderful time of rest!
Some highlights from my time in Mexico were definitely celebrating their Independence Day, which they begin to celebrate late on September 15th, and continue through to the next morning where different ceremonies and parades take place. Mexico’s Independence Day celebration is big to begin with, and this year was no different, especially since they celebrated their 200th year of Independence! Ryan and I headed into the downtown of a nearby city with a pastor couple, their kids and friends to take in the celebrations. Like I mentioned before other highlights were definitely the endless hours just relaxing, playing countless games, and taking in as much Mexican cuisine I could.
From Mexico I enjoyed a good 10 hour bus ride north to Phoenix during the night, and from there caught a flight to Houston. Spent the night in the airport, and the next morning caught a flight down to San Jose, Costa Rica. Needless to say it was a very long trip, but I made it, and I promise one day soon I will share more about my experiences here in Costa Rica!
Seeing as my last blog entry was 15 days ago by now, you can all tell that I am already not very good at this whole thing called blogging. But thank goodness for a good memory!
I arrived in Costa Rica last Friday already, and it’s absolutely beautiful here. It rains absolutely every day, and when I say rain, I don’t just mean that it drizzles everyday. It pours, and not just for half an hour, but a good 3-4 hours daily! It’s amazing here though. Before I share more about Costa Rica though, I want to share about my time in Mexico.
I was looking forward to Mexico being a time of rest. If you call playing card games 24/7, constantly connecting with wonderful people, taking in as many Mexican hotdogs as possible, celebrating birthdays (both mine and Ryan’s), celebrating Mexican Independence Day, experiencing yet another crazy rain storm (which thankfully was nothing too treacherous this year) rest, which I definitely do, then it was a wonderful time of rest!
Some highlights from my time in Mexico were definitely celebrating their Independence Day, which they begin to celebrate late on September 15th, and continue through to the next morning where different ceremonies and parades take place. Mexico’s Independence Day celebration is big to begin with, and this year was no different, especially since they celebrated their 200th year of Independence! Ryan and I headed into the downtown of a nearby city with a pastor couple, their kids and friends to take in the celebrations. Like I mentioned before other highlights were definitely the endless hours just relaxing, playing countless games, and taking in as much Mexican cuisine I could.
From Mexico I enjoyed a good 10 hour bus ride north to Phoenix during the night, and from there caught a flight to Houston. Spent the night in the airport, and the next morning caught a flight down to San Jose, Costa Rica. Needless to say it was a very long trip, but I made it, and I promise one day soon I will share more about my experiences here in Costa Rica!
September 14, 2010
A time of rest.
I’m very excited that before heading off to Costa Rica and beginning my school I get the opportunity to spend some time with my brother, Ryan, in San Carlos, Mexico at the mission centre where he works. After the hustle and bustle of getting ready for YWAM collecting last minute items, connecting with as many friends and family as I could, packing and unpacking numerous times because clearly I had way too much stuff, but I thought that maybe if I packed it differently into my bags or shuffled it around somehow it would lose weight. But seemingly no matter how many times I packed and repacked, took one item out, and probably put two more in my suitcase never seemed to come out lighter...Imagine that! The best part of it all though is that I went through all that packing and unpacking only to get to the airport in Grand Forks, and have the clerk wave my second bag (which I wasn’t planning on taking) through at NO charge! Such a blessing!
I really am not a huge fan of the seemingly rat race in preparing for a trip, the packing, and time spent in the airport before leaving, but I do love the feeling of finally making it onto the plane, and just sitting there at ease. Knowing there’s nothing I can do about the stuff that I left at home and wish I had packed, (yes, I will be the first to admit right here that I have a very bad case of the over-packer syndrome), but more importantly and in all seriousness just sitting there really looking forward to the time of rest and relaxation that is ahead of me in Mexico before heading off to Costa Rica. Like I mentioned earlier, after all the hustle and bustle of getting ready for YWAM it will be very good to just relax, and to be able to use this time as a transition time into the next phase of my life and adventure. Anyways, it’s not late here in Mexico, but my body is definitely still on Manitoba time, and according to that it’s bed time!
I really am not a huge fan of the seemingly rat race in preparing for a trip, the packing, and time spent in the airport before leaving, but I do love the feeling of finally making it onto the plane, and just sitting there at ease. Knowing there’s nothing I can do about the stuff that I left at home and wish I had packed, (yes, I will be the first to admit right here that I have a very bad case of the over-packer syndrome), but more importantly and in all seriousness just sitting there really looking forward to the time of rest and relaxation that is ahead of me in Mexico before heading off to Costa Rica. Like I mentioned earlier, after all the hustle and bustle of getting ready for YWAM it will be very good to just relax, and to be able to use this time as a transition time into the next phase of my life and adventure. Anyways, it’s not late here in Mexico, but my body is definitely still on Manitoba time, and according to that it’s bed time!
August 27, 2010
Blogging...an adventure in itself...
I will start by bringing you all up to speed on my first endeavor...the creation of this blog, and what compelled me to do so. I will give you the quick Reader's Digest version out of fear that if I babble on in my first post you may never return!
For the last number of years I have debated over and over whether or not to do a DTS, Discipleship Training School through YWAM, Youth With A Mission. Allow me to explain. DTS is approximately a 5-6 month course through YWAM that includes both a lecture phase, where one spends the majority of their time in classes, and an outreach phase, which can take one anywhere in the world. A DTS is designed to help one understand God more deeply, learn to live more like Jesus and to identify ones unique gifts and purpose. DTS helps to prepare one in answering the call to "Go into all the world and make disciples of all nations.” Matthew 28:19.
Like I said, I have debated doing a DTS for a number of years. For various reasons whenever I have previously planned on going its always proven to be the wrong time in my life. I am excited to share with all of you though that this coming September, on the 24th to be exact, I will finally be taking the plunge and heading out to Costa Rica YWAM for approximately 5 months to complete a DTS. Like I mentioned, I will be spending the first half of my time in a lecture phase in Costa Rica. I will be in a classroom setting, where I will be taught by various speakers from all over the world about God, and my relationship with Him and to The Word, and to the church, and so much more! Here also, I will have an opportunity to be involved in a wide range of ministry opportunities. From there I will move into the outreach phase, where I will have an opportunity to put into practice all that I will have learned. But I will share more about that as it comes nearer! For now, I'm excited to be able to share with you the opportunity that I have to embark on this adventure, and I ask that you keep me in your prayers as I do so. I am excited that you have joined me and hope that you continue to do so as I do my best to share with you all that I experience along the way!
For the last number of years I have debated over and over whether or not to do a DTS, Discipleship Training School through YWAM, Youth With A Mission. Allow me to explain. DTS is approximately a 5-6 month course through YWAM that includes both a lecture phase, where one spends the majority of their time in classes, and an outreach phase, which can take one anywhere in the world. A DTS is designed to help one understand God more deeply, learn to live more like Jesus and to identify ones unique gifts and purpose. DTS helps to prepare one in answering the call to "Go into all the world and make disciples of all nations.” Matthew 28:19.
Like I said, I have debated doing a DTS for a number of years. For various reasons whenever I have previously planned on going its always proven to be the wrong time in my life. I am excited to share with all of you though that this coming September, on the 24th to be exact, I will finally be taking the plunge and heading out to Costa Rica YWAM for approximately 5 months to complete a DTS. Like I mentioned, I will be spending the first half of my time in a lecture phase in Costa Rica. I will be in a classroom setting, where I will be taught by various speakers from all over the world about God, and my relationship with Him and to The Word, and to the church, and so much more! Here also, I will have an opportunity to be involved in a wide range of ministry opportunities. From there I will move into the outreach phase, where I will have an opportunity to put into practice all that I will have learned. But I will share more about that as it comes nearer! For now, I'm excited to be able to share with you the opportunity that I have to embark on this adventure, and I ask that you keep me in your prayers as I do so. I am excited that you have joined me and hope that you continue to do so as I do my best to share with you all that I experience along the way!
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