Wednesday, July 27, 2011
New exciting news!
I have some exciting news that I would like to share with everyone! I have been praying for God’s next step for me ever since leaving Costa Rica. Before I left for Costa Rica in the summer of 2010, I felt like I was only supposed to be in Costa Rica for one year. It was strange, because I didn’t have direction for my next step at all, but I decided to just wait on the Lord and listen for His next step for me. One verse I repeated and trusted in was Isaiah 30:21 “Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.” As I obeyed without knowing the next step, an incredible door opened for me at my old university, Vanguard. There was an opening for the position of Coordinator of Local/Global Outreach, which truly was my dream job while I was working at Vanguard (responsible for all mission trips for the university). So I followed that open door and applied to the position and I found out this last week that I have the job! I will be moving back to Southern California, starting my drive from Washington state the weekend of August 5th to be at work on Monday, August 8th. I am very excited about this new opportunity, but also a little scared of the unknown ahead! My heart really wants to go back to Costa Rica, and so hopefully at the end of this one year contract position (the job is a 12 month contracted position) I can return to Costa Rica again. Please keep me in your prayers as I start this new journey in southern California in this new position. I have been so blessed by all of you this past year as you prayed and financially gave towards the vision that God gave me. Thank you for your faithfulness to me and to the Lord. If you are in California, I will see you very soon! J
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Last post in Costa Rica... :(
I am excited to tell you of all the things that God did in and through our team in Ecuador! I apologize that I was not able to communicate more while I was in Ecuador, but we had very limited Internet connections, so this might be a little long!
To start our trip, we flew into Quito, which is the capital of Ecuador and did ministry there in the south part of the city. We worked alongside a pastor who is working in a little, poor community that needed help rebuilding their community center. We helped with the painting of the building and we did some physical labor in order to help the building with flooding. In the afternoons we ran a children's program for the local children. The first day we went around inviting kids from the community not sure of what the response would be. After that, we never found ourselves without kids around us! It was an awesome time of ministry! The kids were very receptive and it was an incredible first place of ministry for our team. On the last day we did a program for the kids and invited the parents. The pastor talked with the parents (most of whom do not attend church or know Christ) while we talked with their kids. The local people cooked us a huge meal in thanks of the work we had done and one of the local men who rarely spoke but worked alongside of us during the week sang a song to us and wept as he spoke about how we had impacted his life by our hard work.
The next part of our trip was to the Amazon (Sangay area, or Chinimpi). We lived in a church among an Indigenous community called the Shuar people. Everyone there speaks Shuar and most everyone speak Spanish (the church was translated into both). We went to this community with a desire to learn from the people of their culture, and that we did! Everyday the people with great excitement taught us Shuar lessons (their language). Many people from the community got together and dressed us up in their traditional outfits and taught us their traditional dance as well. That was definitely a highlight for us and I think for them as well. In this community, they have not had any North Americans come and stay and so we were the first! During this time, our hope was to build relationships and share with them the love that Christ has for them. Despite their very simple lives, there are some people in this community who love Jesus very much and that was so encouraging for us to see. They talk a lot about their past and where they come from and have tried to keep many of their culture's good roots. We were so blessed in this community by the people's generosity towards us. They had a couple who would cook every meal for us without any expectation of being paid. In fact, the day before we left, they cooked us a huge traditional meal in their home for us which cost them a lot of money that they don't have. We were never left alone as everyone wanted to meet us and talk with us. On the last night, we prepared a special something for the people who had blessed us so much in this community. A couple of our girls made some dessert crepes (not me!) while the rest of us washed the feet of the people in the community, wishing to serve them. It was my favorite time in this community! The minute we started washing feet people would break down and cry and were so moved by the act. We explained the reason we were doing it was because Jesus first showed us how (John 13) and we were here just as He was on this earth to serve, and not be served. We then prayed for every individual person as we washed their feet. I was translating for one of the guys, so we were working together. We started praying for this 12 year old girl there Ilary. As I prayed for her, I felt such a compassion for her. She was sobbing as I held her and told her that God had never left her alone and that God wanted to restore her joy. Ilary was a girl that always had a smile on her face, but was hurting deep down. Her mom left her and her brothers/sisters and dad when she was only 1 year old. Ever since then her dad had to take care of all 4 brothers/sisters and her on his own, but he did and with God's help raised them in a home that loves Jesus. We also prayed for another woman who immediately as we started washing her feet said, "No, stop, I am not worthy of this! I don't deserve God's love, I am a sinner." This was so moving for me and Joel. To see such humility moved us both. We shared how Christ came to this earth for sinners and just started praying for her. She embraced us and cried as we told her how much God loved her and that if it was only for her, He still would have come to this earth and died. I don't think there was a dry eye in the house by the end of the night. We were so thankful for the way God's presence showed up that night!
The next place that we went was to Riobamba and worked with an orphanage called the Ark. It is run by a Canadian family who felt the call to Ecuador 15 years ago. They have about 60 children in this orphanage, with ages ranging from 1 month old to 18 years old. In the mornings our group would help out with things around the orphanage (like yardwork or cleaning) and then a couple of us would help out with the babies or toddlers (everyone under 5 years old since the rest were in school). Since I was the only one who was not sick, I got to work in the babies room (all those from newborn to 1 year old). There were about 8 babies of that age. During this time, God was really reminding me of Matthew 25:40 which says whatever you do for the least of these you do unto me. As I held these babies, I realized that everything I do for them, I am doing unto Christ. That really impacted me and the way that I treated every child at this orphanage. Even though they don't have parents, God says that He is the father of the fatherless and so they truly are His children. The orphans all have different stories, but the reality of most of their situations is they come from abuse (were taken away from their parents because of abuse or neglect), or that they were simply abandoned (babies). One day I would love to start an orphanage so it was really cool to hear the stories from the owner's son himself of how it all works. If Ecuador allowed foreign adoptions, I would now have a child with me, but they do not!
During this point of our outreach, our group started having a hard time. We had 9 people total on our team (7 students and me and Pablo as staff) and 5 of them were sick enough that they all had to go to the hospital one day. Each day someone would stay behind because of sickness and even our translator lost his voice during this time! Fortunately we were staying in a motel during this time and so it was the best conditions that we had so far! I think I am the only person, thanks to God, who really didn't get the stomach illnesses the rest of the team got (though I did get an ear/throat infection).
Each afternoon once the kids arrived from school, we would eat lunch with them, play with them, and then do a program with them sharing songs and stories from the Bible. On the last day, we did our normal program and spent time praying over each child and encouraging them in what God has for them. One of the kids there named Daniel spoke perfect English (learned it from the missionaries since he has lived there since he was a baby). His parents are both schizophrenic and actally met each other in a psychiatric hospital. Daniel and his siblings have all grown up in the orphanage. These are the types of stories from the children there. The great part is that they are all truly taken care of by loving workers in the orphanage and by our loving God who has not forgotten them!
The last place we went was perhaps the place in most need. We returned back to Quito in the Central Historic district and went to an orphanage called Ganas, which houses children of parents who are in prison. There were 22 children from the ages of 7 months old up to 15 years old. Many of the kids have been abused and sold by their parents for drugs or other things while they are in prison. As a result, many kids have experienced trauma and pee their beds every night. The orphanage did not have a lot of funding. It relies on support from a local supermarket for their food, which donates food once a week, but the food that is going bad and no one wants. When we got there, we were amazed at the difference between both orphanages (the Ark and this one). The children only had one pair of clothes each, 2 if lucky, and barely enough food. When we arrived, we slept on the floor in a building and agreed to buy them food in place of paying for anything else. We ate with the kids and lived among them for 5 days. As I said one of their greatest needs is food so we went and bought some seeds and fixed up their broken down greenhouse. We planted seeds of different types of vegetables and food so that they can grow some of their own food and not rely so much on these grocery stores’ donations. Many of the students in our group enjoying cleaning and cooking and so besides planting in the garden, we would help prepare meals and help clean up around the orphanage. They do not have enough staff in this place and so just loving the kids and giving them attention was all that they wanted. There was only one person who stayed with the kids overnight and cooked every meal for them. It was a lot of work, but such a blessing for us! One child’s story in particular impacted me a lot. His name is Christopher and he is 10 years old, a child definitely in need of attention and love. We found out that he comes from an abusive home. One day he lifted his shirt and I saw burn marks all across his stomach and chest. The director told us that the step-dad used to pour acid on him and simply beat him whenever he wanted to. This organization is taking these kids in and giving them not only safety but adults around them who are safe and loving.
One of my favorite nights at this orphanage was when we did a program for them presenting the kids the Gospel. We did some dramas and at the end of the evening one of the girls wanted us to give them time to just pray and talk to God, to emphasize that all He wants from us is a relationship. We really didn’t know how this prayer time was going to go since these kids can be very wild without a structure and constant entertainment. The time was so incredible though! The kids took it very seriously and at the end one girl wanted to close us in prayer. As she prayed out loud, she started crying as thanksgiving flowed from her heart. She started thanking God for His constant provision for them and how He has never left them. It was powerful!
Well, sorry this is so long! If you would like to see pictures of all of this, please go to my Facebook page where pictures are posted. I want to thank you all so much for your prayers for me and the team. Even though we had some sickness, our team was overwhelmingly united and being used by God in various places in Ecuador and for that I am so greatful. As I have said before, those who have partnered with me in prayer and financially these successes are only because of your support and you are part of what has happened in Ecuador.
Many of you are wondering what my next step is…well, so am I! J I am praying about a couple of options including language school for more Spanish (possibly in Guatemala or Mexico), coming back to Costa Rica in September and staffing another DTS, or staying in the U.S. and working in a position related to missions and youth. Please keep me in prayer as I pursue these options. I am very excited to return to the U.S. (Los Angeles) on June 8th and sometime later going to Seattle to live with my family while I figure out my next step. Thanks again to all of you who have followed my adventures…I will keep you updated when I find out what is next for me! If you are in CA or WA state, I would love to visit with you when I come back and share with you more of what God did over this last year. God bless and Ciao Costa Rica!
To start our trip, we flew into Quito, which is the capital of Ecuador and did ministry there in the south part of the city. We worked alongside a pastor who is working in a little, poor community that needed help rebuilding their community center. We helped with the painting of the building and we did some physical labor in order to help the building with flooding. In the afternoons we ran a children's program for the local children. The first day we went around inviting kids from the community not sure of what the response would be. After that, we never found ourselves without kids around us! It was an awesome time of ministry! The kids were very receptive and it was an incredible first place of ministry for our team. On the last day we did a program for the kids and invited the parents. The pastor talked with the parents (most of whom do not attend church or know Christ) while we talked with their kids. The local people cooked us a huge meal in thanks of the work we had done and one of the local men who rarely spoke but worked alongside of us during the week sang a song to us and wept as he spoke about how we had impacted his life by our hard work.
The next part of our trip was to the Amazon (Sangay area, or Chinimpi). We lived in a church among an Indigenous community called the Shuar people. Everyone there speaks Shuar and most everyone speak Spanish (the church was translated into both). We went to this community with a desire to learn from the people of their culture, and that we did! Everyday the people with great excitement taught us Shuar lessons (their language). Many people from the community got together and dressed us up in their traditional outfits and taught us their traditional dance as well. That was definitely a highlight for us and I think for them as well. In this community, they have not had any North Americans come and stay and so we were the first! During this time, our hope was to build relationships and share with them the love that Christ has for them. Despite their very simple lives, there are some people in this community who love Jesus very much and that was so encouraging for us to see. They talk a lot about their past and where they come from and have tried to keep many of their culture's good roots. We were so blessed in this community by the people's generosity towards us. They had a couple who would cook every meal for us without any expectation of being paid. In fact, the day before we left, they cooked us a huge traditional meal in their home for us which cost them a lot of money that they don't have. We were never left alone as everyone wanted to meet us and talk with us. On the last night, we prepared a special something for the people who had blessed us so much in this community. A couple of our girls made some dessert crepes (not me!) while the rest of us washed the feet of the people in the community, wishing to serve them. It was my favorite time in this community! The minute we started washing feet people would break down and cry and were so moved by the act. We explained the reason we were doing it was because Jesus first showed us how (John 13) and we were here just as He was on this earth to serve, and not be served. We then prayed for every individual person as we washed their feet. I was translating for one of the guys, so we were working together. We started praying for this 12 year old girl there Ilary. As I prayed for her, I felt such a compassion for her. She was sobbing as I held her and told her that God had never left her alone and that God wanted to restore her joy. Ilary was a girl that always had a smile on her face, but was hurting deep down. Her mom left her and her brothers/sisters and dad when she was only 1 year old. Ever since then her dad had to take care of all 4 brothers/sisters and her on his own, but he did and with God's help raised them in a home that loves Jesus. We also prayed for another woman who immediately as we started washing her feet said, "No, stop, I am not worthy of this! I don't deserve God's love, I am a sinner." This was so moving for me and Joel. To see such humility moved us both. We shared how Christ came to this earth for sinners and just started praying for her. She embraced us and cried as we told her how much God loved her and that if it was only for her, He still would have come to this earth and died. I don't think there was a dry eye in the house by the end of the night. We were so thankful for the way God's presence showed up that night!
The next place that we went was to Riobamba and worked with an orphanage called the Ark. It is run by a Canadian family who felt the call to Ecuador 15 years ago. They have about 60 children in this orphanage, with ages ranging from 1 month old to 18 years old. In the mornings our group would help out with things around the orphanage (like yardwork or cleaning) and then a couple of us would help out with the babies or toddlers (everyone under 5 years old since the rest were in school). Since I was the only one who was not sick, I got to work in the babies room (all those from newborn to 1 year old). There were about 8 babies of that age. During this time, God was really reminding me of Matthew 25:40 which says whatever you do for the least of these you do unto me. As I held these babies, I realized that everything I do for them, I am doing unto Christ. That really impacted me and the way that I treated every child at this orphanage. Even though they don't have parents, God says that He is the father of the fatherless and so they truly are His children. The orphans all have different stories, but the reality of most of their situations is they come from abuse (were taken away from their parents because of abuse or neglect), or that they were simply abandoned (babies). One day I would love to start an orphanage so it was really cool to hear the stories from the owner's son himself of how it all works. If Ecuador allowed foreign adoptions, I would now have a child with me, but they do not!
During this point of our outreach, our group started having a hard time. We had 9 people total on our team (7 students and me and Pablo as staff) and 5 of them were sick enough that they all had to go to the hospital one day. Each day someone would stay behind because of sickness and even our translator lost his voice during this time! Fortunately we were staying in a motel during this time and so it was the best conditions that we had so far! I think I am the only person, thanks to God, who really didn't get the stomach illnesses the rest of the team got (though I did get an ear/throat infection).
Each afternoon once the kids arrived from school, we would eat lunch with them, play with them, and then do a program with them sharing songs and stories from the Bible. On the last day, we did our normal program and spent time praying over each child and encouraging them in what God has for them. One of the kids there named Daniel spoke perfect English (learned it from the missionaries since he has lived there since he was a baby). His parents are both schizophrenic and actally met each other in a psychiatric hospital. Daniel and his siblings have all grown up in the orphanage. These are the types of stories from the children there. The great part is that they are all truly taken care of by loving workers in the orphanage and by our loving God who has not forgotten them!
The last place we went was perhaps the place in most need. We returned back to Quito in the Central Historic district and went to an orphanage called Ganas, which houses children of parents who are in prison. There were 22 children from the ages of 7 months old up to 15 years old. Many of the kids have been abused and sold by their parents for drugs or other things while they are in prison. As a result, many kids have experienced trauma and pee their beds every night. The orphanage did not have a lot of funding. It relies on support from a local supermarket for their food, which donates food once a week, but the food that is going bad and no one wants. When we got there, we were amazed at the difference between both orphanages (the Ark and this one). The children only had one pair of clothes each, 2 if lucky, and barely enough food. When we arrived, we slept on the floor in a building and agreed to buy them food in place of paying for anything else. We ate with the kids and lived among them for 5 days. As I said one of their greatest needs is food so we went and bought some seeds and fixed up their broken down greenhouse. We planted seeds of different types of vegetables and food so that they can grow some of their own food and not rely so much on these grocery stores’ donations. Many of the students in our group enjoying cleaning and cooking and so besides planting in the garden, we would help prepare meals and help clean up around the orphanage. They do not have enough staff in this place and so just loving the kids and giving them attention was all that they wanted. There was only one person who stayed with the kids overnight and cooked every meal for them. It was a lot of work, but such a blessing for us! One child’s story in particular impacted me a lot. His name is Christopher and he is 10 years old, a child definitely in need of attention and love. We found out that he comes from an abusive home. One day he lifted his shirt and I saw burn marks all across his stomach and chest. The director told us that the step-dad used to pour acid on him and simply beat him whenever he wanted to. This organization is taking these kids in and giving them not only safety but adults around them who are safe and loving.
One of my favorite nights at this orphanage was when we did a program for them presenting the kids the Gospel. We did some dramas and at the end of the evening one of the girls wanted us to give them time to just pray and talk to God, to emphasize that all He wants from us is a relationship. We really didn’t know how this prayer time was going to go since these kids can be very wild without a structure and constant entertainment. The time was so incredible though! The kids took it very seriously and at the end one girl wanted to close us in prayer. As she prayed out loud, she started crying as thanksgiving flowed from her heart. She started thanking God for His constant provision for them and how He has never left them. It was powerful!
Well, sorry this is so long! If you would like to see pictures of all of this, please go to my Facebook page where pictures are posted. I want to thank you all so much for your prayers for me and the team. Even though we had some sickness, our team was overwhelmingly united and being used by God in various places in Ecuador and for that I am so greatful. As I have said before, those who have partnered with me in prayer and financially these successes are only because of your support and you are part of what has happened in Ecuador.
Many of you are wondering what my next step is…well, so am I! J I am praying about a couple of options including language school for more Spanish (possibly in Guatemala or Mexico), coming back to Costa Rica in September and staffing another DTS, or staying in the U.S. and working in a position related to missions and youth. Please keep me in prayer as I pursue these options. I am very excited to return to the U.S. (Los Angeles) on June 8th and sometime later going to Seattle to live with my family while I figure out my next step. Thanks again to all of you who have followed my adventures…I will keep you updated when I find out what is next for me! If you are in CA or WA state, I would love to visit with you when I come back and share with you more of what God did over this last year. God bless and Ciao Costa Rica!
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
in the Amazon
Our time in Ecuador so far has been amazing! Ecuador is a beautiful country with so many mountains and volcanos, but surprisingly very cold! It rains a lot and the weather is consistenly about 50 to 60 degrees fereingheit. The people here are incredible as well...there are about 12 different Indigenous groups still living around Ecuador with the biggest group called the Quichua. Almost 40 percent of people living in Ecuador are from an indigenous background and their customs are beautiful.
We hit the ground running the first week in Quito. We worked outside of Quito in a little village where they needed help fixing up their community center. It was a pretty poor community, just outside of south Quito. The whole week in the mornings we would help with the painting of the inside and outside of the building. Also, it rains a lot in Quito so we helped dig some ditches to irrigate the water so that it would not flood the fields, but flow away from properties. Next to the community center is a little building where we held children´s ministry. The first day we went around the community inviting children to the program for the week and from then on we had quite a few children constantly from the community with us. We did a sort of Vacation Bible school every afternoon after working in the mornings on painting and other projects fixing the area. The people there were incredibly hospitable and brought us food every day or drinks and were very thankful to us for our work. We invited the parents to come the last day of our Vacation Bible School and quite a few mothers came. We worked with a pastor from Campus Crusade who was working in this particular community and he shared the gospel with the parents that day. It was such a blessing to be in this community!
Well, I have finally made it to the Amazon (I realized how blessed I am to say that)! It is incredible here and we are learning so much from the Shuar people (the indigenous group we are living with and working with). We are learning a lot about thier customs as well as their language (we have language classes everyday). The village we are living in has about 500 people including men, women, children. We are staying in a church parsionage in the village and everyday we have some local people cooking for us. The food has been great and the people are so welcoming and kind there. We are the first North Americans to actually stay in their village...they have had others come and visit, but not actually stay so they are excited to have us. We constantly have visitors and we have become especially close to the youth there and many of the children. So far we have had chances to teach English in the school every day (my class is high school kids). We have made a lot of relationships with the people, visited many homes and are learning so much about this group´s past and their way of life. Their church services are both in Spanish and Shuar (their language) and it is so cool. I have so much to update, but not much time (we don´t have Internet where we are staying!).
We will be leaving this community in another week on the 11th of May and heading to Riobamba, where we will be working with an orphanage for one week. We are very excited to head there and work with the kids, but we know it will be so hard to leave this community.
A couple prayer requests=please pray for my health. I had a cold and it turned into an ear infection and so I had to go to the doctor and I now have medication for a throat and ear infection. Luckily here healthcare is free and pretty good in the big town nearby (20 minutes away from where we are staying). I have to go back this weekend to make sure it is gone, so please pray for that. Also, please pray for the ministry we are doing in this town...most of the people are open to the gospel, but the language barrier has been an issue (we only have one person fluent in Spanish and so I have had to do a lot of translating, so please pray for more Spanish!). God bless you all and can´t wait to talk with you soon again!
We hit the ground running the first week in Quito. We worked outside of Quito in a little village where they needed help fixing up their community center. It was a pretty poor community, just outside of south Quito. The whole week in the mornings we would help with the painting of the inside and outside of the building. Also, it rains a lot in Quito so we helped dig some ditches to irrigate the water so that it would not flood the fields, but flow away from properties. Next to the community center is a little building where we held children´s ministry. The first day we went around the community inviting children to the program for the week and from then on we had quite a few children constantly from the community with us. We did a sort of Vacation Bible school every afternoon after working in the mornings on painting and other projects fixing the area. The people there were incredibly hospitable and brought us food every day or drinks and were very thankful to us for our work. We invited the parents to come the last day of our Vacation Bible School and quite a few mothers came. We worked with a pastor from Campus Crusade who was working in this particular community and he shared the gospel with the parents that day. It was such a blessing to be in this community!
Well, I have finally made it to the Amazon (I realized how blessed I am to say that)! It is incredible here and we are learning so much from the Shuar people (the indigenous group we are living with and working with). We are learning a lot about thier customs as well as their language (we have language classes everyday). The village we are living in has about 500 people including men, women, children. We are staying in a church parsionage in the village and everyday we have some local people cooking for us. The food has been great and the people are so welcoming and kind there. We are the first North Americans to actually stay in their village...they have had others come and visit, but not actually stay so they are excited to have us. We constantly have visitors and we have become especially close to the youth there and many of the children. So far we have had chances to teach English in the school every day (my class is high school kids). We have made a lot of relationships with the people, visited many homes and are learning so much about this group´s past and their way of life. Their church services are both in Spanish and Shuar (their language) and it is so cool. I have so much to update, but not much time (we don´t have Internet where we are staying!).
We will be leaving this community in another week on the 11th of May and heading to Riobamba, where we will be working with an orphanage for one week. We are very excited to head there and work with the kids, but we know it will be so hard to leave this community.
A couple prayer requests=please pray for my health. I had a cold and it turned into an ear infection and so I had to go to the doctor and I now have medication for a throat and ear infection. Luckily here healthcare is free and pretty good in the big town nearby (20 minutes away from where we are staying). I have to go back this weekend to make sure it is gone, so please pray for that. Also, please pray for the ministry we are doing in this town...most of the people are open to the gospel, but the language barrier has been an issue (we only have one person fluent in Spanish and so I have had to do a lot of translating, so please pray for more Spanish!). God bless you all and can´t wait to talk with you soon again!
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Next stop...outreach!!!
NIKO update
I just got back from the jungle and the NIKO camp. It was a very fulfilling trip and God definitely taught me a lot during this time. I was reminded of how as Christians we have the bread for a hungry world. However, if we aren't eating this bread daily also then all we can offer is stale bread. God has been reminding me that I need a fresh encounter with Him daily or all that I have is from leftovers from past years which can't sustain me. God gave the Israelites Manna from heaven every single day. I can't rely on leftovers, but I need God's word daily in me!
One question that I was asked is: what is the way the world sees me and how does God see me? We are made in His image and so we are representing God to this world since He lives within us. Who is the world seeing in me? We are meant to be open books read by the world, so what are they reading (2 Corinthians 3:2-4)? I have realized that my prayer lately has been "Less of myself and my strength/talents, more of You!" John the Baptist said in John 3:30 "He must become greater; I must become less.”
The NIKO camp is meant to be a place where students are put in difficult situations out of their comfort zones and asked to lead in places where they may not feel comfortable. It is a place where many students find hidden abilities in themselves, not only in leadership but in other areas. Many people are challenged in areas of character and God uses those moments to teach them and change them.
God's protection was with us too...One exciting thing that happened was during one of our activities we had to walk in a field and we came across an angry bull. Luckily he was behind a fence and couldn’t get to us, but we had to wait until he moved out of the way in order to pass which took 20 minutes for him to leave! It was physically, emotionally, and spiritually challenging, but we all overcame!
Unfortunately I think I drank some bad water or something because now my stomach is a little sick. Please pray for me as we are leaving tomorrow (Monday) until April 21st for our first part of outreach in Guanacaste, Costa Rica. We will be going door to door and handing out Bibles to homes in this area. The goal here is to get a Bible into every home in the country of Costa Rica and I am so excited to be a part of this project again! We have had so many incredible stories of God working in people's lives in this ministry and we are expecting to have MANY more this time around!
Thanks so much for your prayers! I will update you all when I can, probably won't be until after April 21st since I won't have Internet most likely. God bless you all!
I just got back from the jungle and the NIKO camp. It was a very fulfilling trip and God definitely taught me a lot during this time. I was reminded of how as Christians we have the bread for a hungry world. However, if we aren't eating this bread daily also then all we can offer is stale bread. God has been reminding me that I need a fresh encounter with Him daily or all that I have is from leftovers from past years which can't sustain me. God gave the Israelites Manna from heaven every single day. I can't rely on leftovers, but I need God's word daily in me!
One question that I was asked is: what is the way the world sees me and how does God see me? We are made in His image and so we are representing God to this world since He lives within us. Who is the world seeing in me? We are meant to be open books read by the world, so what are they reading (2 Corinthians 3:2-4)? I have realized that my prayer lately has been "Less of myself and my strength/talents, more of You!" John the Baptist said in John 3:30 "He must become greater; I must become less.”
The NIKO camp is meant to be a place where students are put in difficult situations out of their comfort zones and asked to lead in places where they may not feel comfortable. It is a place where many students find hidden abilities in themselves, not only in leadership but in other areas. Many people are challenged in areas of character and God uses those moments to teach them and change them.
God's protection was with us too...One exciting thing that happened was during one of our activities we had to walk in a field and we came across an angry bull. Luckily he was behind a fence and couldn’t get to us, but we had to wait until he moved out of the way in order to pass which took 20 minutes for him to leave! It was physically, emotionally, and spiritually challenging, but we all overcame!
Unfortunately I think I drank some bad water or something because now my stomach is a little sick. Please pray for me as we are leaving tomorrow (Monday) until April 21st for our first part of outreach in Guanacaste, Costa Rica. We will be going door to door and handing out Bibles to homes in this area. The goal here is to get a Bible into every home in the country of Costa Rica and I am so excited to be a part of this project again! We have had so many incredible stories of God working in people's lives in this ministry and we are expecting to have MANY more this time around!
Thanks so much for your prayers! I will update you all when I can, probably won't be until after April 21st since I won't have Internet most likely. God bless you all!
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
latest update on my life
I can’t believe I am leaving tomorrow for NIKO, the 4-day jungle survival camp! Unfortunately I am sworn to secrecy on what happens at this camp, but I can tell you it is a challenge for everyone involved, but something that everyone grows so much in. As a leader it is a little more challenging to do the NIKO, so please pray for me this next week. The camp starts on Monday, April 4-8, but we as the leaders have to start our training tomorrow before the students arrive.
Time has absolutely flown by in the last 2 weeks. Our last 2 weeks of classes have been spiritual warfare and then this week is on worship. Last week’s teaching on worship was great teaching, but also a challenge because it was done via Skype (our teacher was in Los Angeles, CA). One of the biggest teachings of the week was to get our thoughts under God’s reign. Proverbs 23:7 says ‘For as a man thinks, so is He.” We need to have our minds renewed by Christ (Romans 12:1-2) when we are living under His kingdom. Another weapon that we have in spiritual warfare against the enemy is being thankful in all circumstances and moments of our lives. The enemy wants us to be consumed by our bad circumstances and focus on those, instead of focusing on all of the things that God has done for us in the past and will do through each circumstance (Romans 8:28 which says, “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose”). Knowing scripture is not enough, but we need to memorize it so that it goes from our head to our hearts, which is where real transformation takes place in our lives. The mind can be a real battlefield of the enemy and we need to make sure our thoughts are controlled by the Holy Spirit.
One of the other areas that God was challenging me in during spiritual warfare week was to fast. Isaiah 58:6-8 talks about how we can see breakthroughs in the area of fasting in our lives (also 2 Chronicles 20:1-20). There is something supernatural that occurs when we practice fasting, denying ourselves so that we can focus especially on God during that time. Today as a team we fasted and we are seeing God move in awesome ways already!
My next couple of weeks are going to go by fast and my time in San Jose is almost done! I am leaving tomorrow for the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica for NIKO and then I will be back on April 8th for 2 days and then I will be heading to Nicoya/Guanacaste, Costa Rica to do Bible distribution with the team of now 28 students for almost 2 weeks. We will be coming back to San Jose on April 21st and then leaving on Easter Sunday, April 24th for Ecuador for one month! Before I leave tomorrow I have to pack up my entire room and be ready for outreach…ready or not!
A couple things that you could pray about:
Finances: we need about $600 for our outreach to Ecuador (praise God He has provided around $900 already towards this!)
That our teams would be led by the Holy Spirit in everything we do or where we go.
That my strength would be found in God during this time, and I wouldn’t rely on my own strength (especially during NIKO).
That God would make me the leader that He wants me to be.
My future plans after this DTS, I am asking God for direction so please pray with me on this that He would lead me to where He wants me to go!
God bless all of you! Let me know of any prayer needs that you have that I can pray with you also. I won’t have any Internet until about April 9th…. J so until then be blessed!
Time has absolutely flown by in the last 2 weeks. Our last 2 weeks of classes have been spiritual warfare and then this week is on worship. Last week’s teaching on worship was great teaching, but also a challenge because it was done via Skype (our teacher was in Los Angeles, CA). One of the biggest teachings of the week was to get our thoughts under God’s reign. Proverbs 23:7 says ‘For as a man thinks, so is He.” We need to have our minds renewed by Christ (Romans 12:1-2) when we are living under His kingdom. Another weapon that we have in spiritual warfare against the enemy is being thankful in all circumstances and moments of our lives. The enemy wants us to be consumed by our bad circumstances and focus on those, instead of focusing on all of the things that God has done for us in the past and will do through each circumstance (Romans 8:28 which says, “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose”). Knowing scripture is not enough, but we need to memorize it so that it goes from our head to our hearts, which is where real transformation takes place in our lives. The mind can be a real battlefield of the enemy and we need to make sure our thoughts are controlled by the Holy Spirit.
One of the other areas that God was challenging me in during spiritual warfare week was to fast. Isaiah 58:6-8 talks about how we can see breakthroughs in the area of fasting in our lives (also 2 Chronicles 20:1-20). There is something supernatural that occurs when we practice fasting, denying ourselves so that we can focus especially on God during that time. Today as a team we fasted and we are seeing God move in awesome ways already!
My next couple of weeks are going to go by fast and my time in San Jose is almost done! I am leaving tomorrow for the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica for NIKO and then I will be back on April 8th for 2 days and then I will be heading to Nicoya/Guanacaste, Costa Rica to do Bible distribution with the team of now 28 students for almost 2 weeks. We will be coming back to San Jose on April 21st and then leaving on Easter Sunday, April 24th for Ecuador for one month! Before I leave tomorrow I have to pack up my entire room and be ready for outreach…ready or not!
A couple things that you could pray about:
Finances: we need about $600 for our outreach to Ecuador (praise God He has provided around $900 already towards this!)
That our teams would be led by the Holy Spirit in everything we do or where we go.
That my strength would be found in God during this time, and I wouldn’t rely on my own strength (especially during NIKO).
That God would make me the leader that He wants me to be.
My future plans after this DTS, I am asking God for direction so please pray with me on this that He would lead me to where He wants me to go!
God bless all of you! Let me know of any prayer needs that you have that I can pray with you also. I won’t have any Internet until about April 9th…. J so until then be blessed!
Sunday, March 20, 2011
God is in control!
These last couple of months have been a rollercoaster ride…some days have been really amazing and some have not been so great. I have been really challenged both as a leader but also in my own spiritual walk with God. A consistent theme for me lately has been I cannot do anything for God in my own strength, it must be through Him. This week our theme for classes was leadership. One important thing the teacher said was that if we fail in something with God, it is many times because we have done things in our own strength and not relied on God to do the task. 2 Corinthians 12:9 says, “And He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” My desire is to do everything in His strength and through the Holy Spirit and not in my own wisdom or giftings. I realized that I have been trying to do everything in my own strength and have not depended upon Him for His strength. I have felt very stressed and tired by all of the challenges in leadership and realized that He wants to take these burdens and they are not mine to carry. I guess the students saw my stress because on our last giving day I received a massage certificate, lots of chocolate, and ice cream! Thank God for the students He has put in this school!
One of the biggest reasons for my stress and request for prayer is that one of my students who I personally mentor is being asked to leave the school this next Tuesday. This will be the third student to leave the DTS and not complete the school or outreach. It has been an incredibly difficult decision for me because this student has so much potential, but just isn’t ready to complete the DTS emotionally. She has some deep emotional and spiritual issues that we are not equipped to handle and therefore, she cannot go on outreach since she is not ready. Please keep this student in your prayers as this will have an impact on her life, but also on our team of students. It is hard to go through this for the third time, but our team of students are incredibly mature and are trusting in God for what He is doing through all of these decisions.
Last week we went to Bocas del Toro, Panama for one week for our mini-outreach. In Bocas we also had a week of teaching on evangelism and spent the week doing evangelism in this town. This experience was amazing! We took 39 people and took over this small island in Panama sharing the Gospel! We did children’s ministry with Indigenous children, dug a road from mud in the river, and ministered in a home for the elderly. Along with these ministries, we also spent a couple of days praying and asking the Holy Spirit how we could creatively share the Gospel with people and to lead us to certain people that He wanted us to speak to and then doing whatever we heard. I personally participated in what we called “make a friend” where we prayed for the Holy Spirit to lead us to someone and then make friends with them and hear their stories and share about our faith with them. I went with one of the students in the DTS and we prayed and asked for the Holy Spirit to lead us to the right person. Then I prayed that God would make it so clear who we were to talk to that He would send the person up to us to talk to us first. No later than 2 minutes a man came up to us and asked us a question. The student and I looked at each other and agreed that this man was the one we were supposed to talk with. We started talking with him and asked him after a while if he would like to join us for lunch and he agreed. At lunch we talked with him about his life and he shared that he had just come into a relationship with God in December. His parents are pastors of a church in Bocas del Toro! We spent a couple of hours just sharing with him about God and encouraging him to grow more in his faith. He was so impacted by our meeting that he met up with our group the rest of the week and helped do evangelism with us. We both realized that this was truly a divine encounter! He really needed encouragement and wanted to know how to really live this relationship with God and so we were able to share with him about this.
One praise report that I have is that God healed my back! About 3 weeks ago I started having back pain again like I used to have 5 years ago before I got minor back surgery with pain going down my leg like sciatica. I asked the students to pray for me a couple of times during the week in Bocas and then the day we returned from Bocas I realized that my back wasn’t hurting anymore when it had been hurting constantly and I was walking a lot! I praise God as I realize that I haven’t had any pain since then! J God truly is a healing God!
As for prayer requests, I would really appreciate your prayers for what God has for me after this school. I commited to one year of serving with YWAM which ends in June with this school and now I need to know what God has for me! Please join me in praying for His direction as time is going so fast and I know June will be right around the corner! Also, please pray for the extra finances we need for Ecuador and all of the planning still needing to be done. The last prayer need is for boldness for me. One thing that God is showing me is that I am still struggling with fear of man, or caring about what others think too much. I realized that through my reluctance to speak Spanish because I am afraid of what people will think and this is hindering my ministry.
Thank you so much my friends! I am so appreciate of all of your support and prayers! Much love and blessing!
I'm sorry that I haven't added any pictures, but my camera was stolen! :(
One of the biggest reasons for my stress and request for prayer is that one of my students who I personally mentor is being asked to leave the school this next Tuesday. This will be the third student to leave the DTS and not complete the school or outreach. It has been an incredibly difficult decision for me because this student has so much potential, but just isn’t ready to complete the DTS emotionally. She has some deep emotional and spiritual issues that we are not equipped to handle and therefore, she cannot go on outreach since she is not ready. Please keep this student in your prayers as this will have an impact on her life, but also on our team of students. It is hard to go through this for the third time, but our team of students are incredibly mature and are trusting in God for what He is doing through all of these decisions.
Last week we went to Bocas del Toro, Panama for one week for our mini-outreach. In Bocas we also had a week of teaching on evangelism and spent the week doing evangelism in this town. This experience was amazing! We took 39 people and took over this small island in Panama sharing the Gospel! We did children’s ministry with Indigenous children, dug a road from mud in the river, and ministered in a home for the elderly. Along with these ministries, we also spent a couple of days praying and asking the Holy Spirit how we could creatively share the Gospel with people and to lead us to certain people that He wanted us to speak to and then doing whatever we heard. I personally participated in what we called “make a friend” where we prayed for the Holy Spirit to lead us to someone and then make friends with them and hear their stories and share about our faith with them. I went with one of the students in the DTS and we prayed and asked for the Holy Spirit to lead us to the right person. Then I prayed that God would make it so clear who we were to talk to that He would send the person up to us to talk to us first. No later than 2 minutes a man came up to us and asked us a question. The student and I looked at each other and agreed that this man was the one we were supposed to talk with. We started talking with him and asked him after a while if he would like to join us for lunch and he agreed. At lunch we talked with him about his life and he shared that he had just come into a relationship with God in December. His parents are pastors of a church in Bocas del Toro! We spent a couple of hours just sharing with him about God and encouraging him to grow more in his faith. He was so impacted by our meeting that he met up with our group the rest of the week and helped do evangelism with us. We both realized that this was truly a divine encounter! He really needed encouragement and wanted to know how to really live this relationship with God and so we were able to share with him about this.
One praise report that I have is that God healed my back! About 3 weeks ago I started having back pain again like I used to have 5 years ago before I got minor back surgery with pain going down my leg like sciatica. I asked the students to pray for me a couple of times during the week in Bocas and then the day we returned from Bocas I realized that my back wasn’t hurting anymore when it had been hurting constantly and I was walking a lot! I praise God as I realize that I haven’t had any pain since then! J God truly is a healing God!
As for prayer requests, I would really appreciate your prayers for what God has for me after this school. I commited to one year of serving with YWAM which ends in June with this school and now I need to know what God has for me! Please join me in praying for His direction as time is going so fast and I know June will be right around the corner! Also, please pray for the extra finances we need for Ecuador and all of the planning still needing to be done. The last prayer need is for boldness for me. One thing that God is showing me is that I am still struggling with fear of man, or caring about what others think too much. I realized that through my reluctance to speak Spanish because I am afraid of what people will think and this is hindering my ministry.
Thank you so much my friends! I am so appreciate of all of your support and prayers! Much love and blessing!
I'm sorry that I haven't added any pictures, but my camera was stolen! :(
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
crazy weeks!
Wow, what a week this has been so far! Very overwhelming at times, but I am learning a lot about leadership through this trial. The last week (Feb. 14-18) our topic appropriately was relationships taught by the director of the base, Marjolein. In this DTS, we have two students who were starting to flirt with one another since week 2 and we had warned them continuously about crossing the lines especially because they both have significant others at home. Unfortunately they physically crossed the line this last weekend and were caught by base staff. We had to confront the students and reevaluate why they are doing this school and what they truly want from this experience. Through this evaluation and recognizing their motivation, the leadership made a decision to send the guy student home and the girl student could stay (she is one of my one-on-one students). So I had to be a part of the all day meetings between base staff and school leadership in determining her future here at the school. It was so difficult and exhausting because we all love both of these students and I think even more difficult was seeing them hurting and making a bad decision that led to this kind of hurt. The male student left the base today and the students are now in the process of healing and letting go of one of their friends. One thing I know is that God is using this situation for His good though as Romans 8:28 says “And we know that ALL things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.”
In addition to this issue, one of our students had stomach pain on Sunday night and so I had to take her to the emergency room to find out what was going on. The doctors did some tests and found out that she had an inflamed gall bladder and this could only mean surgery if not resolved. This brought another level of stress on the school because her mom said that if she indeed needed surgery then she not complete the school, but come home to the U.S. for this operation. God is our healer though, and I took her back to the hospital on Tuesday to run some more tests and the doctors were surprised and confused because there was no longer any swelling of the gall bladder! We have no answers as to the cause or anything, but we know that God has healed her as we all prayed for the last 2 days. J
I unfortunately was unable to really attend the classes during relationships week or Father heart of God as I have been now working towards preparing for our team’s outreach to Ecuador. I am very excited, but a little overwhelmed at the task as well. I will be leading a team (along with another guy Pablo) of 7 incredible students! I am being challenged in so many ways, first as the main leader of the outreach, but also God is challenging me in that along with Pablo we are the only people who speak any Spanish going to Ecuador! The Lord is opening so many doors for us already in Ecuador in Quito (the capital of the country), working in an orphanage in the Andes, and working with an Indigenous group in the Amazon region. Please pray with me that God would lead us to be a group led and directed by His Holy Spirit. We want Exodus 33:15-16 to be our heart beat for this trip: “If Your presence does not go wtih us, do not bring us up from here. For how then will it be known that Your people and I have found grace in Your sign, except You go with us? So we shall be separate, Your people and I, from all the people who are upon the face of the earth.”
Through all of these trials, God is teaching me much about leadership! I have realized that through these last couple of weeks I have tried to do things in my own strength and power. This week I was broken and realized that I cannot continue on in my own strength, but need to rely on Him for EVERYTHING! I have no answers, nothing to offer except what He gives me and what He does through me! In these last weeks, I have doubted my abilities as a leader and felt very discouraged, but God has been using so many people to encourage me in the gifts that He has given me for leadership and He Himself is showing me my gifts as well. I know God does not give me more than I can handle, and so in this place I am trusting Him with every issue and concern knowing He is in control, NOT me! I know more struggles are coming, but I am ready and learning how to leave my burdens on Him because His burden is easy and His yoke is light (Matthew 11:28-30)! And thank God for His rest…this weekend the leadership is taking a couple of us to Manuel Antonio, a beach city, to get away and rest! This week’s teachings are at the perfect time as well. The theme this week is Destiny by Design, learning how God has created us with a perfect purpose and how to discover what those are in our lives. Please continue to keep me and the group in your prayers as we discover how God has uniquely created each one and our unique purpose!
I now have a phone in Costa Rica! My phone number is: (506) 8603-8948 (they have 8 digit phone numbers). I can also receive text messages!
In addition to this issue, one of our students had stomach pain on Sunday night and so I had to take her to the emergency room to find out what was going on. The doctors did some tests and found out that she had an inflamed gall bladder and this could only mean surgery if not resolved. This brought another level of stress on the school because her mom said that if she indeed needed surgery then she not complete the school, but come home to the U.S. for this operation. God is our healer though, and I took her back to the hospital on Tuesday to run some more tests and the doctors were surprised and confused because there was no longer any swelling of the gall bladder! We have no answers as to the cause or anything, but we know that God has healed her as we all prayed for the last 2 days. J
I unfortunately was unable to really attend the classes during relationships week or Father heart of God as I have been now working towards preparing for our team’s outreach to Ecuador. I am very excited, but a little overwhelmed at the task as well. I will be leading a team (along with another guy Pablo) of 7 incredible students! I am being challenged in so many ways, first as the main leader of the outreach, but also God is challenging me in that along with Pablo we are the only people who speak any Spanish going to Ecuador! The Lord is opening so many doors for us already in Ecuador in Quito (the capital of the country), working in an orphanage in the Andes, and working with an Indigenous group in the Amazon region. Please pray with me that God would lead us to be a group led and directed by His Holy Spirit. We want Exodus 33:15-16 to be our heart beat for this trip: “If Your presence does not go wtih us, do not bring us up from here. For how then will it be known that Your people and I have found grace in Your sign, except You go with us? So we shall be separate, Your people and I, from all the people who are upon the face of the earth.”
Through all of these trials, God is teaching me much about leadership! I have realized that through these last couple of weeks I have tried to do things in my own strength and power. This week I was broken and realized that I cannot continue on in my own strength, but need to rely on Him for EVERYTHING! I have no answers, nothing to offer except what He gives me and what He does through me! In these last weeks, I have doubted my abilities as a leader and felt very discouraged, but God has been using so many people to encourage me in the gifts that He has given me for leadership and He Himself is showing me my gifts as well. I know God does not give me more than I can handle, and so in this place I am trusting Him with every issue and concern knowing He is in control, NOT me! I know more struggles are coming, but I am ready and learning how to leave my burdens on Him because His burden is easy and His yoke is light (Matthew 11:28-30)! And thank God for His rest…this weekend the leadership is taking a couple of us to Manuel Antonio, a beach city, to get away and rest! This week’s teachings are at the perfect time as well. The theme this week is Destiny by Design, learning how God has created us with a perfect purpose and how to discover what those are in our lives. Please continue to keep me and the group in your prayers as we discover how God has uniquely created each one and our unique purpose!
I now have a phone in Costa Rica! My phone number is: (506) 8603-8948 (they have 8 digit phone numbers). I can also receive text messages!
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Awesome week!
God has been speaking to me SO MUCH this week it has been amazing! After such a crazy week last week, this week has been a refreshing change. J This week’s topic was Kingdom Living with our speaker Kenny Peavy.
One thing God has been speaking to me this week is found in Psalm 100:4 which talks about the key to enter the presence of God which is thanksgiving. The way that we need to enter into God’s presence is through a choice of how to position our hearts, which is a heart that is greatful and remembers what God has done for us and who He is. Psalm 22:3 says that He inhabits (dwells) the praises of His people. One way to overcome unbelief and fear in our life is to thank Him for the things He has done. Last week we learned that repentance is no longer defending what the enemy is trying to do in our lives (the lies that we have believed). So many leave the church because they have never truly encontered God…they have discovered religion which just has a bunch of rules and rituals, but not a revelation of who God is. Church, we must encounter and experience the love of Christ and that is what we tell people about, not religion!
I was so encouraged this week! I feel like God used this week so much for me, even though so many of our students were blessed also, I felt like this week was for me!!! We had an activity on Tuesday morning to encourage one another with words we felt like God was giving us for each other. One thing Kenny keeps repeating is that we need to esteem each other as God sees us (our destiny, calling, etc.). Many words were affirming me as a leader, which is an area I was really struggling with this week. I have just felt inadequate and just a big spirit of comparison with other leaders and their abilities and giftings. These words came right in time which was awesome!
Then we had a night of worship on Tuesday night and I felt like the Lord gave me a song in my heart and an image of me and God dancing together. It was so beautiful and I was so happy and at peace! Then another staff member came over and starting praying for me and affirming me further as an important leader in this group and how God wants to use this time to refresh me, give me a new identity and love me.
Thursday of this week we went to the beach near Jaco to do baptisms. We had over 24 students get baptized (21 of the DTS students). It was such a great time of renewal and we had an awesome time of praying over them at the end.
He wants to bind up my broken heart and my wounds. I have prayed that He will reveal what is written over me for my life. I have asked Him to reveal to me my value in Him and His love for me. It’s only in glimpses in prayer that we can feel His stare. He heals you by convincing you that you are His favorite and by convicing you of His love for you. I now strive to read the Bible as his love letter to me. I want fresh revelation of who I am to Him and who He is!
The Lord revealed to me this week that my focus has been on so many other things other than Him. So many times it is on my future, what I will be doing in the future, etc. Matthew 6:33 says “Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness and all these things will be added to you.” I have struggled with focusing so much on my desire to get married and have a family, but my real focus needs to be on drawing closer to the Lord.
Our outreach locations have been announced for our DTS- there will be 3 different groups: Africa, Colombia, and Ecuador. I am leading the Ecuador team with another leader and am very excited about it! Please keep our groups in prayer that we find the correct contacts in each location and that God leads each outreach! Thanks so much for your prayers! God bless you all!
One thing God has been speaking to me this week is found in Psalm 100:4 which talks about the key to enter the presence of God which is thanksgiving. The way that we need to enter into God’s presence is through a choice of how to position our hearts, which is a heart that is greatful and remembers what God has done for us and who He is. Psalm 22:3 says that He inhabits (dwells) the praises of His people. One way to overcome unbelief and fear in our life is to thank Him for the things He has done. Last week we learned that repentance is no longer defending what the enemy is trying to do in our lives (the lies that we have believed). So many leave the church because they have never truly encontered God…they have discovered religion which just has a bunch of rules and rituals, but not a revelation of who God is. Church, we must encounter and experience the love of Christ and that is what we tell people about, not religion!
I was so encouraged this week! I feel like God used this week so much for me, even though so many of our students were blessed also, I felt like this week was for me!!! We had an activity on Tuesday morning to encourage one another with words we felt like God was giving us for each other. One thing Kenny keeps repeating is that we need to esteem each other as God sees us (our destiny, calling, etc.). Many words were affirming me as a leader, which is an area I was really struggling with this week. I have just felt inadequate and just a big spirit of comparison with other leaders and their abilities and giftings. These words came right in time which was awesome!
Then we had a night of worship on Tuesday night and I felt like the Lord gave me a song in my heart and an image of me and God dancing together. It was so beautiful and I was so happy and at peace! Then another staff member came over and starting praying for me and affirming me further as an important leader in this group and how God wants to use this time to refresh me, give me a new identity and love me.
Thursday of this week we went to the beach near Jaco to do baptisms. We had over 24 students get baptized (21 of the DTS students). It was such a great time of renewal and we had an awesome time of praying over them at the end.
He wants to bind up my broken heart and my wounds. I have prayed that He will reveal what is written over me for my life. I have asked Him to reveal to me my value in Him and His love for me. It’s only in glimpses in prayer that we can feel His stare. He heals you by convincing you that you are His favorite and by convicing you of His love for you. I now strive to read the Bible as his love letter to me. I want fresh revelation of who I am to Him and who He is!
The Lord revealed to me this week that my focus has been on so many other things other than Him. So many times it is on my future, what I will be doing in the future, etc. Matthew 6:33 says “Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness and all these things will be added to you.” I have struggled with focusing so much on my desire to get married and have a family, but my real focus needs to be on drawing closer to the Lord.
Our outreach locations have been announced for our DTS- there will be 3 different groups: Africa, Colombia, and Ecuador. I am leading the Ecuador team with another leader and am very excited about it! Please keep our groups in prayer that we find the correct contacts in each location and that God leads each outreach! Thanks so much for your prayers! God bless you all!
Saturday, January 29, 2011
FREEDOM!
Sorry that it has been a while since I have written to you! We just finished our week called the Divine Plumbline which is basically a week on inner healing, but let me first start with the teaching 2 weeks ago on the character and nature of God. Unfortunately I was unable to be in class too much, but one thing that really touched me was the fact that how we act is a result of the way we think about God. In other words, if we constantly walk around in defeat then we must not have faith to believe God is bigger than our circumstances. Our thoughts eventually dictate what we will do. I don’t want to limit God and what He can do because I know that in Luke 1:37 it says “For with God nothing will be impossible.” Our God is omnipotent (all powerful), omniscient (knows everything), the beginning and the end, and sovereign (in control of everything). We also took one day to go to the park and ask God to speak to us through nature. I learned so much from what other people heard God say to them. I really heard God remind me of Matthew 6:26 “Look at the birds. They don't plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren't you far more valuable to him than they are?” God is our provider and as we look at His creation all around us we forget how He takes care of all of it and we don’t have to worry since we are so much more valuable to Him than they are!
So this last week was CRAZY! First, to start off unfortunately as I was writing this blog update on Monday one of the girls from the DTS approached me and told me that she wanted to leave the DTS, that she just really wanted to go home. I had dealt with this in the last DTS unfortunately as one of the girls decided to leave early as well. With mixed emotions, but eventually a great peace, we wished her well and she was on an airplane back to the United States on Wednesday morning. This week is already an emotional week for both students and staff, but it made it a little more emotional with this girls departure. However, God turned this whole event around for the whole group as usual His greater purpose was accomplished through this. During the teachings of the divine plumbline we are called to focus on God’s sacrifice for us on the cross and how we have received freedom because of this sacrifice. We watched the movie “The Passion of the Christ” and had an amazing time of worship and communion together as a group on Tuesday night. Then Wednesday night we had an incredible time of teaching and worship as a base where the Holy Spirit fell and ministered to all of us…He brought us so much joy that night for hours! I haven’t experienced that kind of joy and the presence of the Holy Spirit in a while and it was so refreshing! Then students have a time where they can confess as a group to one another and we pray over each student after their confessions and claim God’s truth over each one. It is sad that each time we do this we find so many lies that Satan has fed to people that they end up believing about themselves and so we have to break those. God was showing me so much about myself as students were confessing, how I still am working on healing in areas. I have realized that healing is a process and does not happen immediately many times, God wants to walk out His freedom with us each day. All 24 girls (and 7 guys separately with the guy staff) confessed their sins to one another and the girl staff and received so much freedom this week! We had a girl delivered from a bondage of fear and suicide that she had for a long time and she now has an incredible freedom like she has never had before! After we had this incredible week of God’s power and freedom, we had a bonfire for the students to burn the things that represented their old lives since they are now free as John 8:36 says “He who the Son sets free is free indeed.” We are really excited to see how this freedom will now be walked out in the lives of all of the students now and what God has for us next as a school.
This next week we will have a special speaker Kenny Peavy who will speak about Kingdom Living. Please keep our school in prayer for finances, for protection against fear, and for direction on where God wants us to go on outreach. Thanks all of you for your prayers this last week, it has really meant a lot to me! God bless all of you and I hope to hear from you soon!
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Back in Costa Rica!
Back in Costa Rica!
I didn’t know how much I missed the United States until I went home for 3 weeks between schools. I missed the food, the shopping, throwing toilet paper in the toilet (and not in the trashcan), and most of all my friends and family! But, now I am back in Costa Rica and readjusting again to life here. We started the new DTS (Discipleship Training School) January 7th where I am serving as a leader. The new school has 32 students (25 girls and 7 boys) with 10 staff members! This is the biggest school that San Jose base has ever had, but God has given us an incredible group of students!
I have a lot of responsibiliites with this school. I am leading a small group every Friday, I have 4 girls of which I am serving as a one-on-one (kind of like a mentor), I am responsible for snacks everyday in class, a driver of one of the vans whenever we need to go somewhere, help cook lunch every Thursday, leading a Bible study every Thursday night, a local outreach group leader, and in charge of all media for the classroom. As you can see, I am keeping VERY busy! I got here and really hit the ground running and didn’t have a break until last Thursday, but things are finally getting into a routine for me. This last weekend we took the whole group of students to Jaco Beach for their first beach experience in Costa Rica too which was fun.
The last week’s teachings were on Intimacy with God. One thing that God has reminded me of with this teaching was about hearing His voice. John 10: 2-4 talks about the sheep knowing His voice and obeying (“But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the doorkeeper opens and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.”). One thing that the speaker said was that the more time we spend with God in His presence, the more we will recognize His voice when he speaks to us. I have been wanting to hear His voice more and more lately. A relationship with God is not a monologue, but a dialogue. This is such an important reminder for me because many times I come to God and just speak and speak and forget to listen to Him. I don’t want to have a one sided conversation with God, because I know He wants to speak to me. I am learning to practice the art of listening and being silent when I pray so I can hear Him speak.
One other incredible thing for me was learning my spiritual temperament. There is a book called “Sacred Pathways” and the author talks about that there are 9 different spiritual temperaments or ways that each person is inspired most or feels closest to God. One of my temperaments is naturalist. This means that I am most inspired by God in nature. I love going to the beach and just experiencing God through the outdoors and His creation. I have a hard time having my quiet times indoors or in a room…I love to be outside and I feel so close to God there. Knowing this has really helped my worship times and my quiet alone times with God.
God is taking me on a journey with Him. This next part of the journey has been compared with the Israelites crossing the Jordan River in Joshua 4. Joshua commanded the people to pick up a stone as they crossed the river in order to remember what God had done in their lives. As we started this school, each of us picked up a stone as a reminder that we are crossing our own Jordan Rivers, but God is going to do incredible things during this time and to not forget what He has done and what He will do! I am very excited to start on this new journey with Him!
We are now on our second week of teaching which is about the Character and Nature of God. The students are starting to adjust a little more and we are getting into the flow of things more. Thank you again for all of your support over this time! It is the only way that I can stay here and do what I am doing. Some prayer needs: please pray for finances for a couple of the students who are still missing the total amount of their money, please pray for me that I would hear His voice more everyday! Let me know if you have any prayer needs, because I would love to pray for all of you! I love you all and miss you!
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