Outreach is over!

I can’t believe it but outreach is over and so is graduation! Our students are now going home and it is a very strange feeling. I am in the middle of a transition at this point: saying goodbye to this DTS and preparing for the next DTS in January. I apologize that I wasn’t able to update this blog much on outreach, but Internet access and time was difficult to come by! From Guanacaste with Bible distribution, we went to Tegucigalpa, Honduras and spent two weeks in a church there. We did so many ministries there, it was a great time! The ministries there ranged from ministering to the homeless, drug addicts, prostitutes, children’s ministry, youth ministry, school assemblies, and church services. One of my favorite experiences I shared in the last blog in which we worked at a local Christian highschool and had a chance to have small groups there with the students. One amazing thing from Honduras was one night our students went downtown to minister to the addicts living on the streets of Tegucigalpa. They encountered a teenager named Glenn who was 14 years old, living on the streets to support his drug addiction. The team prayed for him and he was delivered of drug addiction that very night. He came back to the church with our group and for the next 3 days that we were there, he came with us to do ministry. It was so incredible to see the change in this guy’s life! He is now off of the streets and sober and free of drug addiction…already sharing his testimony with others!

From Honduras, we took a bus to San Salvador, El Salvador and did some church ministry there. However, part of our goal of going to El Salvador was to take some time for our team to reconnect and debrief this whole outreach. We ended up staying in Sonsonate for 5 days and doing a highschool assembly, Bible studies, and spoke at the Wednesday church service. One of the most special things that happened in El Salvador was that 2 of the girls from our DTS (Laura and Veronica) were from this town that we stayed in and we were able to meet thier families. One of the girls’ parents (Laura) are not Christians and didn’t really understand what their daughter was doing with Christianity or YWAM. We were able to spend quite a bit of time with her family there and she was able to share her testimony with her parents and in front of the church there. This made such an impact on her parents that we know seeds were definitely planted in her parents. We were able to pray for her mom at the end and her mom cried and expressed to us how thankful with the change in Laura that she now is so supportive of whatever she wants to do in ministry!

After 5 eventful days in El Salvador, we left for Antigua, Guatemala where another student (Debbie) from our DTS is from. Debbie’s parents are directors of an orphanage there and her mom is a missionary and her dad is a pastor, however, Debbie was not living her life for Christ before she came to DTS. Coming to the DTS with YWAM was her last attempt to see if God is real. She shared with our group that the night before she came to DTS she hit such a low point that she wanted to kill herself, but she told God that she would come to DTS and if her life changed ok, but if not, she would kill herself when she got home. The DTS transformed her so much that it was so awesome be able to come home with her and watch her parents and family witness her transformation. We were able to have a Thanksgiving feast with her parents’ orphanage in Guatemala City to celebrate what God has done this last year in the lives of the orphanage and we were also able to celebrate what God has done in all of our students’ lives.

After Guatemala, we took another bus back to El Salvador and we were blessed to stay in a beach house for 2 days so that our team could debrief our whole outreach. This proved to be such an incredible time for our group-they really united as a team and were able to process what God had done over the last 2 months in 6 countries (Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador). I realized that I hadn’t had much time to really process myself what God was teaching me during the last 2 months. Being a leader of a group of 14 students definitely has its challenges, but I have also realized that I love it! God is definitely challenging me to step up more as a leader and be bold…not to be afraid of what people think, but focus more on what God thinks. I also realized my absolute need and dependence on God during this time. So many times we can rely on what we know or the talents/gifts that we have and not call upon the Holy Spirit for help. I saw the results of what would happen when I would rely on myself to fix situations (we had MANY situations!), and it never ended well. As a leader and a Christian it is so imperative that we have our quiet times alone with God every day so that we can hear Him daily and receive our strength for the day to face whatever we encounter. One scripture that God constantly reminded me of during this DTS was James “Be slow to speak, be quick to listen.” I wanted my words to matter so much and not just be empty to the person who needs advice and it was so hard because many times I had to literally hold my tongue and listen until I heard from the Lord what to say. This has not been an easy lesson for me to learn especially because I love to talk! One of the best compliments I have received during the DTS was that I am a great listener and that I always have great advice! This was great confirmation for me that I am growing in this area, thank you God!

This outreach has been so transformational in all 14 students’ lives and in my life as a leader! I am sad to say goodbye to all of the students, but I know that they are moving on to incredible things! I am going to be finsihing up logistical things here in San Jose and then I will be going to Denver, CO on December 9th to visit my family for Christmas. I will be returning to Costa Rica on December 30th to start preparing for the next DTS which will start on January 7th, where I will serve as a leader again. Thank you so much for your continued support and prayers over these last 6 months. It has been such a wild, amazing journey for me and I am excited to start it over again in January!