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!
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