Well, I first want to apologize for it being so long since I last wrote! We have spent the last week in Talamanca, Costa Rica in which we did not have access to the Internet or much civilization! We first had the opportunity to minister to an Indiginous group near Talmanca (near Bribri). In order to get to these people, we had to take a canoe ride for about 15 minutes up a river and from there we walked about half a mile to the church. We spent from Thursday through Sunday ministering in this little village. We stayed in an unfinished government house for the three days. While we were there we did a lot of physical labor helping out with a building project for the church (building the foundation for a kitchen for their church). We also did a couple church services for them and on the last night we were there we did a church vigil where we prayed all night at the church. As a group we were definitely challenged, but we saw a lot of breakthrough in this community during this time.
From Bribri, we went to Talamanca to one of the three YWAM bases in Costa Rica and stayed there. Again, we did a lot of physical labor helping out with landscaping and mostly helping out with a local elementary school painting, landscaping and doing ministry there. The school was very open with us coming and allowed us to come in and take over classes for the day. We taught the kids Bible stories, songs, some English, and played games with them. One thing that I have been amazed at here is the openness of the people to hear about God. Across the street from the school was a man who lost his house in the flood. We were able to help him rebuild his home as well and at the end of the week he asked us to pray for him. God really opened a lot of doors for us to minister which was so great. While we were in Talamanca, they were having a festival for the whole city and they asked us to do a presentation on the stage in the middle of town. There were probably about 500 people there and we presented a couple dramas and then shared the gospel message with the crowd. It was pretty awesome that we could share with so many people without restriction and the people were very open to listen.
This week we are in Puerto Viejo which is on the Caribbean side of Costa Rica. Please pray for us as we just got here and start our ministry tomorrow. I dont know for sure what we are doing, but we are excited for the doors that God will open for us here on our last week of outreach!
I will update more when I get the chance...sorry for the quickness but I was just told that it is quiet hours and I need to be in my room!
Monday, May 25, 2009
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Leaving for Talamanca, Costa Rica tomorrow!
Pictures:
Pic 1: Our group at the canopy adventures ziplining (most of our group went and was so blessed to get it for free-normal cost is $40, but the community we were ministering in was so thankful for all we had done that they gave it to us all for free!).
Pic 2: Rayme, Carla, and me
Pic 3: Tony (our leader and translator), me, and Krista presenting the dollar bill illustration based on our value to God.
Outreach Part 1:
We returned back from our first part of our outreach on Sunday night (May 10th) for a 3 day break in San Jose at our base. It is good to be back in San Jose which now feels like home to all of us, even though we were only be here for three days. For the last 2 weeks we ministered in Tilaran, Costa Rica! God really opened doors so much for us there. The school board asked us to come in and speak at the local highschool and we were allowed to share whatever we wanted to. Every day for one week we went into tthe highschool and shared our hearts with the teenagers and we got such an amazing response. So many kids came up wiht us after every presentation/assembly to talk with us about what we spoke about. They liked the hour and a half presentations so much that we had a lot of kids come every day in between classes and during class breaks to listen again and talk with us afterwards. Everyday I had the opporutnity to present something for about 5-10 minutes in the assemblies about people’s worth being like a dollar bill and how God gives you value no matter what happens to you. On Wednesday I was asked to present the gospel message to the teens and so I did. After that day, the pastor’s daughter who is a senior at the hgihschool, shared with our group some encouraging words. She said that she had been talking with some students at the school and one girl rededicated her life to Christ after she left the assembly and that one girl is really seeking after God now. It was so encouraging for us as we worked to know that what we were doing was not in vain, but was impacting so many students’ lives. In the assembly we did various dramas which I was directing most of, testimonies, and illustrations geared to reach teens related to relationships, value and identity. At the end of every presentation, we would always end by presenting the gospel message to clarify the purpose of why we were there. At the end of the week, we had a time to share with the teachers fo the highschool and the principle. The principle spoke with us and thanked us for coming and sharing with thier students. They told us that the door is always open for us to come again and share and that they would love us to come again. We were amazed at the openness of this school and its staff!
Along with the high-school ministry, we worked with a local church in Tilaran. The first night we were there we had a youth service with about 7 youth. Because of the park outreaches and spending time at the high school and developing so many relationships, this last night’s youth service had over 30 youth attneding. It was pretty amaazing to see the seeds that God has planted in Tilaran! That same night we had the opportunity as a team to go and minister at an all night youth prayer service. One of our leaders Tony shared about God’s call for missions and the call to somehting more. After the service, one of the girls Rebekah came up to talk with us. She started to cry as she told us about how everything that Tony shared was what she has been feeling. She realized that God has something more for her and how us coming was such an answer to her prayers. It was incredible to see God working immediately through us being obedient to sharing and going! Rebekah is now applying for the next DTS at YWAM and her dream is to be a nurse in Africa.
Prayer requests: We are leaving tomorrow morning for Talamanca and staying for the next 2 1/2 weeks on the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica. Please pray for the ministry that we will be doing there. Also please pray for me as I prepare to go back to California (in one month, June 14th). I want to know God’s will for me as I return and what He wants me to do specifically. I don’t have a place to live yet when I return so I need a place to live. Please pray for His direction for my life and that I can relax and enjoy the rest of this time trusting Him to clearly show me the next step.
Monday, May 4, 2009
on outreach!
It is amazing to think we are on our third week of outreach already! We are right now in Tilaran, Costa Rica. We have been here for one week already, but God has really opened doors for us here. The director/principal of the local highschool here has asked that we come and share with all 850 students anything we want! It is pretty incredible and we are so honored by their openness! Today was our first day of sharing and it was pretty great. We are sharing about sexual purity, their value and purpose in life and who God is and how He wants a personal relationship with us.
Please pray with us that God continues to use us since we will be at the highschool all week speaking to the students.
The week before we were in Monteverde, Costa Rica which is a huge tourist area. It is beautiful place located in the mountains/rainforest. The church there in Monteverde was so open to us and welcoming. They have a great youth group...the youth there are so open and so in love with God. It was such a great way to start our outreach...we were probably more encouraged by them than they were by us!
We held a major outreach for the community for two nights on the weekend and we saw young people dedicate their lives to Christ. We also saw the youth re-energized and encouraged to keep serving God! Some wanted to find out about YWAM and some of them are definitely thinking about doing a DTS which is exciting for all of us!
The last day before we left I was personally excited because I definitely had a divine appointment. We went to an internet cafe and one of the guys inside had seen us around the city and started asking me what we were doing there. It was funny because just a couple days before I prayed that God would make us unlike the other tourists there...that we would stand out as people who had something different to offer and that people could see the love of God in us. Anyway, the guy started talking to us, but no one spoke Spanish except me so i started talking with him and sharing with him about my life. I asked him about himself and he told me that he used to attend the church we were with, but that he couldn´t go back. I started sharing with him about how God has changed my life and wants to change his. He was so interested and then I asked him if he had a Bible and he said no so I asked my group if we could get him a BIble and we did. I was able to write some scriptures in it and bring it to him and he was so excited. I felt like a seed was definitely planted and that God is doing something in his life (his name is Daniel if you want to pray for him!).
Anyway, thanks so much for your prayers...sorry for the lack of updates! It is hard to get internet here...but here is the latest update on what God is doing! I will be coming home in almost one month! Time has gone by so fast!
I miss you and love you all!
Please pray with us that God continues to use us since we will be at the highschool all week speaking to the students.
The week before we were in Monteverde, Costa Rica which is a huge tourist area. It is beautiful place located in the mountains/rainforest. The church there in Monteverde was so open to us and welcoming. They have a great youth group...the youth there are so open and so in love with God. It was such a great way to start our outreach...we were probably more encouraged by them than they were by us!
We held a major outreach for the community for two nights on the weekend and we saw young people dedicate their lives to Christ. We also saw the youth re-energized and encouraged to keep serving God! Some wanted to find out about YWAM and some of them are definitely thinking about doing a DTS which is exciting for all of us!
The last day before we left I was personally excited because I definitely had a divine appointment. We went to an internet cafe and one of the guys inside had seen us around the city and started asking me what we were doing there. It was funny because just a couple days before I prayed that God would make us unlike the other tourists there...that we would stand out as people who had something different to offer and that people could see the love of God in us. Anyway, the guy started talking to us, but no one spoke Spanish except me so i started talking with him and sharing with him about my life. I asked him about himself and he told me that he used to attend the church we were with, but that he couldn´t go back. I started sharing with him about how God has changed my life and wants to change his. He was so interested and then I asked him if he had a Bible and he said no so I asked my group if we could get him a BIble and we did. I was able to write some scriptures in it and bring it to him and he was so excited. I felt like a seed was definitely planted and that God is doing something in his life (his name is Daniel if you want to pray for him!).
Anyway, thanks so much for your prayers...sorry for the lack of updates! It is hard to get internet here...but here is the latest update on what God is doing! I will be coming home in almost one month! Time has gone by so fast!
I miss you and love you all!
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