DTS is over!

Hola! Today is graduation! The last day of DTS! I can’t believe how time has gone by so quickly. I will back track to the start of November and catch you up on what I have been up to. On November first we left San Jose to continue our outreach phase in the southern province of Costa Rica, Talamanca. Our team had already been to this area before while completing our NIKO. For the first week we stayed in a church in a small town named Margarita. While there we planned lead services and clean the local community. For one day we went to the big city, Bribri and helped out in Red Cross location. We ended the week by taking the day off and going to a beautiful beach on the Caribbean side. From there we went to the YWAM Talamanca base, in the town of Bambu. We lead church and then packed up again and went to for three days to a really remote town. To get there we had to drive an hour to get to the river location where we would get in canoes and go up stream for 45 minutes to then get in another bus (that drove through the river) to finally get there. While there we mostly did physical labour helping build a house for a school teacher. Our last day, back in Bambu, we helped make a fence for a community cow to live in. This past week was a YWAM conference hosted by our base, with over 300 people coming and the founder of YWAM, Loren Cummingham, was the lead speaker. It was a really excited time. God was really moving a lot. It was so awesome to be a part of. My job at the conference was to babysit the kids in the evening. I had such an awesome time, all together. It was a great way to end off my DTS experience. That brings us to today! Grad! It has been a great experience, I cant believe it’s over. But it is definitely time to go home! I miss home a lot. My flight to Toronto leaves on Monday around 2. Unfortunately I won’t arrive home until Tuesday morning after a night in Calgary. Please keep me in your prayers. Only 3 days and I will be home!

Panama

Hola! Sorry, it has been a while since I have written, but things have been busy and time is just flying by. My time in Panama has already come to end. After our time in the Embrera tribe we spent two weeks in a village in the mountains. To get there we had to hike for 45 minutes with all of our stuff for the 2 week stay. But thanks to NIKO, we were well prepared for the hike. While there, we did a combination of physical work and ministry, with a lot of walking in-between. For me personal, it was time of a lot of spiritual struggle, but I am happy to say God brought me through it all. I was even able to share a short meditation on James 1:22 -25 during ministry. It felt really awesome! Unfortunately, one of my team members, Melissa broke her arm and had to be taken to the hospital (45 minute walk plus a 45 minute car ride away) where she had to undergo surgery. But things have been going well for her since. Our last week in Panama, we spend it in the city mostly doing street evangelism. Our last Sunday in Panama we attended an English church. It was so nice to fully understand a full church service. And I was able to share my testimony for the first time on outreach. On our last day we visited the Panama Canal. I loved it and totally recommend everyone to visit it. Now I am back in Costa Rica and will not be going to Nicaragua anymore but instead finishing off the outreach in the southern coast of Costa Rica. There is only 3 more weeks until I arrive home.

Panama!

Hola! Outreach has started! We arrived in Panama on Sept 30 around 3:30am local time (which is 1 hour a head of both Costa Rica and Saskatoon). Our first two days in Panama, we spend at the YWAM base in the small town of Chilebe (which is about 45 minutes from Panama City). We did local ministry in a park, where I was able to share with some kids the story of my Lisa Bear. On Oct 2 we left our comfort zones to live with the Embera tribe. It was quite the experience. We lived in huts with birk floors and washed in the river. Most of the week we did small physical tasks, such as helping collecting sand for a water cleaning system, finishing the roof on a hut, and widing the path that leads to the river. We did get some ever awesome experiences to share with the people about our faith. The tribe has had many missionaries over the past few years come and share with them, over 400 missionaries! But we were the first team to stay for more than 2 nights! Because of that we really were blessed to be able to build relationships with the people. One afternoon Paola and I spend 2 or more hours just taking to a woman in her hut. Most of the girls in the tribe are married off at the age of 13 or 14! This woman we were talking to was 22 years old and had a 7 years old daughter. All the people in the tribe know Spanish, and luckily for me some people even know english. God really blessed me with this little girl named Ester. She was six years all and the only kid in the tribe that knows english. Esters know is only 19 years! We really grew close to people and it was really sad when it was time to live. But on to the next adventure! Tomorrow we will be going to a village high up in the mountains. We will be there for 10 days, mostly helping with more physical work. Please pray for us as we continue working in Panama.

Survived NIKO!

Hola! This past week was our team was in the south east coast of Costa Rica completing NIKO. NIKO is a camp designed to stretch people so that you can no longer rely on yourself alone, and you have to rely on God and your team. We are asked to keep the details of NIKO a secret in order to keep future participants from knowing what is to come. I can tell you how it affected me. It was difficult physical very difficult for me. God really blessed me with a supportive and helpful team and leaders. God also helped me push much farther than I thought was possible. I was very proud of myself because I felt that through it all I kept a very positive attitude. It felt really good, because that is something I have been working on with the Lord. Over all it was a very tiring week but I had Saturday and Sunday to recover before leaving for outreach! Tomorrow, early in the morning we will be leaving for Panama for a month! It is very exciting! We don’t know all the details yet because of the last moment planning. I will try and keep you update as possible. Please continue to pray for my team!

END OF LECTURE PHASE! START OF PHASE TWO: NIKO and OUTREACH!

Hola! Oh my gosh, lecture phase is over! I have already completed twelve weeks here in Costa Rica! This past week was a fun one! On Monday it was Central American Independence Day so we went downtown to watch parades and practice evangelising. It was so much fun! The whole San Jose showed up to watch the numerous parades. One of the coolest things was that almost all the kids under four were dressed up in typical Costa Rican outfits. On Tuesday we drive out to the bench to baptize people! It’s about a 3 hour drive and most of the drive is through the mountains! It was beautiful! It was really special witness the baptisms of 8 of my class mates. Some people were getting baptized for the first time and others were being re baptized. On Wednesday and Thursday we had our last days of class. Our topic was Unity in God. It was a really important topic for us as a team, especially being that we will soon be leaving for outreach! Today we had the day to pack up all of our stuff. Tomorrow we are leaving for a week in the bottom corner of Costa Rica where we will be camping in the rain forest (NIKO)! Before we leave tomorrow we have to be moved out of our rooms. There is a new school starting next week, that will be taking over our rooms! It feels weird to be moving out, this has been home for the past 3 months. On September 29, we will be leaving for Panama! Where we will be for the first month of outreach. From this point on I am not sure how often I will have access to the computer. I will try to write on my blog and keep everyone up to date. Please pray for me and my team as we go on NIKO and outreach.

Change of Plans!

Hola! There is only one week few of lecture phase! Time has been flying by here in Costa Rica. This past week was a very difficult week for the team. We had so much going on, that people became very worn out and some even sick (which includes me, I have a sore throat). We had outreach planning, homework from class, packing and fundraising all to do in the little amount of time we have to ourselves. On Wednesday we lead a fundraiser Coffee House. We had everyone from the team cook traditional food from their country. I cooked nanaimo bars, and they were a hit! There was not that many people there, but it was a fun night. Thursday morning though, was a real low point for most of the team. We woke up to realize that there was only 24 hours to get $13000. As the hours went by we realized that something was going to have to change, because we could not afford to send the whole team to Mexico. Our staff set praying and asking God what He wanted of us. Friday morning and we still need that $13000, so we came together as a team to discussion what was the next step. In no way did any of us lose faith that God could provide, and so we had to look at ourselves did we do what was asked of us? As a team we failed, some people did not do their parts in helping fundraising and instead of encouraging people to keep working, the other people just took on more work. And that is not how God wanted us to work as a team. God was us to be united and work as one. As we prayed we felt God telling us, the location is not important, unity is. And so we made a discussion as a team, learning from our mistakes, that we need to go on outreach all together, and that means not to Mexico! But that’s okay, because now we get to go to Panama and Nicaragua! I am very excited! Some people may not know this but while I was deciding to my DTS, I had originally picked to do it in Panama! I feel God has really give me a heart for the country and the people! In both countries we will be working with indigenous tribes. I know to most people this would seem crazy to change everything and try and plan an outreach only 2 week from when it is. But here in Latin American, this is how everything is planned, and also we are in God’s will, and God will provide! Please pray for the countries that we are going to, that God prepares the hearts of the people, and pray for our team that God prepares our hearts as well!

The End of Week 10!

Hola! Week ten has come and pasted, and now there is only two more weeks of lecture phase left. This week our topic was World Missions, we focused on other religions and how to mission to them. We studied Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, and tribes. It was really interested to learn more about other religions and how they are different or simpler to Christianity. Our teacher was a missionary in the Middle East for many years. He taught Spanish in the Middle East and through friendship with his students he showed them the compassion of Jesus. We have become really busy with planning for outreach and raising the funds so that everyone can come. Everyday we have been writing testimonies, practising dramas, doing car washes and selling cookies all to prepare for our outreach in Mexico! We don’t live for Mexico until September 29, but the week before we leave we will be in the rain forest. For four days we will be completing an adventure camp, called NIKO, where we will live in the jungle and learn to work as a team and trust in God. We leave for NIKO on September 20 and turn to the base on September 26, leaving only two days to pack for outreach! Please keep us in your prayers as we plan and prepare for outreach, and pray that all the money needed will come in.

Our DTS Team!

Ariana (my small group leader) and Me!

Our first local outreach!

Our first Friday Fun Night!

The end of week eight!

In our class room!

Tour of the base!

Tour of house 1
Our dinning room!

The living room!

Our candy store, located on the base!

The deck in the backyard.

The door to the girls room. Yes there are seven girls in one room!

Inside the girls bedroom!

The one closet that is shared between all seven girls!

My bed!

A tour of our base!

This is house 2, where outreach teams stay and also where we attend class.

This is our class room!

Week Nine!

Hola! What an amazing week last week was! The topic last week was the Kingdom. We spent the week drawing closer to God. Our teacher was awesome. His name is Kenny Peavy. He is a worship leader at his church in LA, and the leader of the School of Worship in the LA YWAM base. Kenny got through to almost everyone, even our staff, and helped us draw closer to God. I really feel I am building a stronger relationship with the Lord with each day. Most of this week we spent the afternoons working on outreach prep. We have found out the location of we will be in Mexico. For our first week (we leave for Mexico September 29) in a city named Pachuca. There we will be doing a lot of construction. Our next three weeks will be located in Mexico City. We are not sure what we will all be doing there but it is clear that for one week we will be working with street kids. Our last three weeks in Mexico will be a city named Uruapan. One of the DTS staff members is from Uruapan. We will be working with her church and also tribes in the surrounding area. We return to Costa Rica on November 15 and will spend our last week serving at a YWAM conformance here in Costa Rica. Things are really moving quickly now. In ten days it is the half way point. Before I know it I will be back in Saskatoon in the cold of winter. I hope everyone had an awesome summer, I’d love to hear about it, email me at bousquetd@hotmail.com

Hola! This past week was our eighth week here. As of Friday I have now been here for over 2 months! It’s almost half way done! It is going by so fast. This week our topic was Destiny by Design (Dreams, Experience, Soulprint, Identity, Gifts, Network). Our teacher was a new staff member named Ryan Bedenkop. We learned a lot about ourselves and how God designed us. And from what we learned about ourselves we came to understand what calling God had put on our lives. It was a really awesome week for me. I learnt that surprisingly enough, I am an inward person. Even though I am a really social person to recharge I need time and space alone. I also learned a lot about the areas that God has gifted me in, such as planning, organizing, giving and mercy. At the end of the week we closed the week with a ten year reunion, where each of us had to share with our class what we had done in the first ten years after our DTS. This week has really helped me understand myself better and my calling from God better as well. God has given me a lot of direction as to what I am to after DTS. This won’t be surprising to most people, but God has called me to a missionary life! I have even got very direct directions of the location and the ministry but I am not going to tell you guys yet until God has given me more guidance. It is very exciting to start looking into the future with a clear path of where God wants me!
On Friday this week instead of our usual Friday Fun Night, the whole base came together for a Prayer Night. Before the Prayer Night started a lot of were unsure about how praying for four hours straight would go. We spend the first 2 hours just praying individually. It was so powerful. Even though there was over twenty people in the room praying as well, it felt like it was just God and me. Than for the last 2 hours we prayed as a base. People would just share a prayer request and everyone would pray for it as a team. It was so awesome. Through the whole four hours I was never once bored or had a wondering mind. I was totally focused on God. At the end I was so drained! Praying with such passion takes a lot of energy.
On Saturday our base was invited to a BBQ at another YWAM base about an hour drive from base. This base is located on the side of the mountain. It is so pretty! It is set up like a camp (for anyone who has been to camp Kadesh, that is very similar to how this base was set up). Also the director of this base, Terry our teacher from week seven, is a farm and so there is a ton of farm animals on the base. Almost all the food on the base is grown or raised there. It is a very environmentally friendly base. We just spent the day chilling there. The guys played a game of soccer, but it started to rain and they got extremely muddy. We had a really good time there.
This coming up week the topic is The Kingdom, and it will be taught by Kenny Peavy who is from L.A. Including next week there are only 4 more weeks of classes.

Baby List!

Dear family and friends,
God has blessed me so much! Not only in the way had He given me given the opportunity to complete a DTS here in Costa Rica, but also because He has placed amazing people like Chris and Grace on my path. Chris and Grace are a young missionary couple from Kenya. They came to Costa Rica at the beginning of 2008, in order to gain more knowledge in the area of Community Development. Chris feels called to pioneer Community Development Schools opening in Africa. Through these Community Development Schools, Chris plans on raising up Africans to take leadership roles and to minister to areas in a direct way that gets to the source of the problem. Chris and Grace are amazing examples of living in faith. They felt God calling them to Costa Rica and so they went. Even though they could from a poor country that needs a lot of missionary work and they didn’t have to money to leave, they trusted in God that He had a plan for they lives. God does have big plans of their lives! In late November, Chris and Grace will be welcoming in to the world a new baby boy! Everyone on the base is so excited for them! They both has such a heart for God and will be awesome parents. But as many parents already know, babies cost a lot! Chris and Grace are still living by faith, trust in God that He will provide. I suggested that they make a list of all they would need for the baby, in hopes that I could help in some way. I am asking all of you who read my blog, please help me help them! I have never met a more faithful couple. Please help me bless them as they have blessed everyone they have met. If you feel called to helping, please leave a comment on my blog or email me at bousquetd@hotmail.com. If you have objects you would like to send, we could organize a box of stuff that is all sent at once. Or if yoou sent money I could purchase most of the things here in Costa Rica. Please keep Chris and Grace and their unborn baby boy in your prays.
Baby List
Clothes
· Outfit to wear hoe from hospital
· 6 to 7 “onesies”
· One- piece pajamas
· Sweaters, mittens and hats
· Pairs of booties or cotton socks
· Miscellaneous other newborn outfits
Crib Supplies
· Receiving blankets
· Contoured crib sheets
· Absorbent rubber crib lining pads
· Wedge for sleeping baby
· Night light
Diaper Changing
* Diapers and wipes
· Packages of diaper pail liners
· Cloth diapers and diaper pins
· Nail scissors with a blunt edge
· Diaper rash ointment
· Rubber pants
Feeding Paraphernalia
· Bibs
· Bottles with nipples
· Breast pump
· Bottle washing brush
· Burp cloths
Grooming
· Towels and washcloths
· Cotton balls and cotton swabs
· Baby shampoo
· Baby lotion
· Baby soap
· Baby comb and brush
· Infant bath tub
Miscellaneous Accessories
· Ear thermometer
· Nasal aspirator
· Pacifiers
· “snugly” or baby sling
· Car seat
Money
· Birth fee $2000

End of Week Seven!

Hola! Week seven has come and gone! Only 5 more weeks of classes left! On September 29 our team will be flying out to Mexico, where we will stay for 8 weeks. There is not a lot of details of our outreach that we know yet. When I know the names of cities we will be working in I will let you know. This past week our topic was Spiritual Warfare. It was taught by Terry Keith, an American rancher. Terry has been living in Costa Rica for the past three years. He is the director of another YWAM only an hour drive from our base. Two students on our base are connected to the base Terry works at. Mario’s parents and two older sisters are staff members on the base and Mario living on the base before coming to our base. Paola lives very close to the other YWAM base and her brother is a staff member there. It was cool to have someone from here in Costa Rica but not a staff member of our base. The topic of Spiritual Warfare was very intense. We learned about the power we are given through being a believer and also about the differences between angels and demons. Another interesting thing we learned this week is about the nature of the enemy. Usually people shy away from talking about Satan but we learnt that it is good to know who are enemy is so we can better protect ourselves from his attacks. This week for local outreach we planned on painting at a community center in our neighbourhood but when we got there we realized there was no paint yet and the walls still needed to be sanded. So for almost three hours we sanded the uneven walls of the community center. We managed to keep ourselves entertained by playing ‘guess that song’. Hopefully next week everything will work out for us to paint!
Another exciting part of the week was Friday night when I got to teach Chris, who is from Kenya, to cook pizza. Our head chef went home early for the weekend, so that left Chris in charge of the kitchen and that’s when I suggested pizza. Chris had never cooked pizza but was very excited to learn. We made the dough from scratch and had fresh pineapple. I was unsure at first how it would turn out but in the end it was a great success! It was the perfect ending to a great week!

Half way done phase one!

Hola! The lecture phase is now half done! We only have 6 weeks of classes remaining. This week we did not really have a set topic. Everyday we had a new speaker and a new topic. All the speakers were from here in Costa Rica. On Monday our topic was our tongues and the good or the poison that comes out of it. On Tuesday we studied the character and nature of God. On Wednesday we looked at group worship, mostly worship in song. On Thursday we studied prayer. And on Friday our topic was the Holy Spirit. This week was the deadline for money and we still had three students missing money. So they extended the deadline to the end of next week and we spent most of the week working on fundraising. We baked cookies, cup cakes, and bread to sell. Also we organized a fundraising concert for Friday night. Mario’s (a student from here in San Jose) father song at the concert. There was a large turnout but not a lot of money was raised. Today we also held a car wash. With all of our efforts this week we raised about $350 to $400 dollars. We are still missing $4328. It is difficult fundraising here in Costa Rica because it is not a cultural thing to donate money. They only give when they get something for it. Please continue to pray for our team. We trust that God will provide the money that we need.

Hola! Week five has come and gone! Soon I will be starting week six, which marks the half way point of the lecture phase! Exciting! Before I know it I will be heading out to Mexico! This week was an amazing one! Our topic was the Divine Plumb Line. Our first three classes we learned about things that hold us back from God, such as rejection. We study the attitudes and behaviours of each area. Then on Wednesday afternoon we begin freeing ourselves. We took turns shares things from our past that have held us back from God. Stuff such as sins we committed, things done to us by others, or mind sets we were stuck in. Most people shared for area an hour (it took three days to get through all of us). After they shared we spent about half an hour to an hour praying for them and helping them forgive and let out. I shared about my struggles with self esteem, and how words I had heard as a child from people at school had really impacted me. In my life the enemy continued building on my self esteem issues, continuously telling me I didn’t belong. It was amazing how free it felt after people had prayed for me and shared words God had given them to tell me. I still have a lot of work to do with my beliefs of myself but for the first time that I can remember I am just happy with me. It really was supernatural how God freed us all. We now have a new found freedom to seek God in ways we never could before. It was also amazing be a witness to other being freed. The compassion we felt for other as their shared with us. And several times as we were praying for the person God spoke to me, giving me words to share with them. One time as I was sharing what God had spoken to me, four other people said God had spoken the same thing to them! It was so amazing! It was such a time of growth in faith in God. When we finished on Friday at 7pm we all felt emotional drained. We have just been spending the weekend relaxing and recharging. There is even talk about spending Sunday at the beach! I have been out of San Jose yet, so it would be great to see more of Costa Rica. As we enter into our sixth week please pray for us because all money is due by the end of this week. We are still missing a lot of moneyL but we have faith that God will provide what is still needed.

Start of Week 5

Hola! It’s the first day of week five! I have already been gone for a whole month! This past week has been an eventful one for me. Our topic this week was Worldview. It was an interesting topic. On Tuesday our whole team fasted so we could focus on praying about where God wanted us for outreach. Unfortunately, it was Melissa’s birthday, so we decided to celebrate by waking her up at 12 Am to break our fast with a ton of junk food. On Wednesday when we came together as a team, we realized everyone but one had heard from God we were to go to Mexico. So that’s were our team will be going! Also we will be spending the whole 9 weeks of outreach located in Mexico!! This is a very excited time for our team as we plan for our outreach. Please pray for us that the funds we need to complete this outreach will come and that God can guide us every step of the way.
This week was very difficult for me. I struggled with a lot of emotional things. It is so hard to deal with emotions while sharing a room with seven other girls! It was a struggle for me but God brought people to my side to help me through it. And on the positive side I feel I have come out of it with a stronger relationship with God. Please pray for me and my whole team, that as we face struggles we don’t turn and run but face them head on with the strength of the Lord.
God blessed us with a joyful end to the week! This weekend we held TWO BBQ in celebration of the BBQ donated to the base by the last short term team. On Saturday afternoon, our DTS class decided to christened the new BBQ and to have some meat (we eat very like meat here on the base). So we all put in $4 and bought speaks, potatoes, chips and dip and threw a great summer event! On Sunday afternoon the whole base, staff and students, came together to have another BBQ lunch with the money donated by the team. There was hamburgers and chicken! It was just like back home. It was awesome to have a meal that was not made up of rice and beans! But I am becoming a real fan of the rice and beans!
Another thing to note is that there is still three people waiting for their money. It is due by the end of week six. That only gives two weeks! Please pray for Mario, Alex and Alejandro that God will provide their money.
I miss home a lot but things are really good here. I really miss everyone.

Support Letter

Dear family and friends,God’s will has brought thirteen strangers; Paola (Costa Rica), Maria (El Salvador), Ashley (U.S.A.), Donna (Canada), Melissa (U.S.A.), Alejandro (Costa Rica), Erika (U.S.A.), Mario (Costa Rica), Morgan (U.S.A.), John (New Zealand/ England), William (U.S.A.), Andy (Guatemala) and Alexander (Costa Rica), from all over the world together to share in a roller coast ride that will shake their lives forever. In many different ways, God has called us to come together in San Jose, Costa Rica to learn and grow in Him. For five month we will live together as we all attend a DTS (Discipleship Training School) through YWAM (Youth With A Mission). The purpose of DTS is to get to know God, in deeper relationship, and spread His love to others. The DTS is designed to encourage students in personal character development, cultivating a living relationship with God and identifying their unique individual gifts and callings in God. Cross- cultural exposure and global awareness are special emphases throughout the course, preparing the students to reach current and future generations and answer the call to “go into all the world and disciple all nations” (Matthew 29:19). For the first twelve weeks, we participate in the Lecture/ teaching phase, studying a new topic of God’s world every week. The last twelve weeks are spent doing God’s will by reaching out to His people around the world. Part of the outreach phase is done locally in communities around San Jose and the other part is done internationally. After completing a DTS the door is opened to attend other opportunities such as other YWAM schools or to become a long term staff member. This is an amazing opportunity to grow in God and we all feel so blessed to be called by God to attend.
To enable this experience funds are still needed for some of our team. As a team we have come together to fundraise for the money still needed. We believe that it’s important that all of us stay and experience all God has for us. The money we still required is $6300 American dollars. All this money is due by the second week in August. This may seem like a big task but with God nothing is impossible. God has brought all of us here with a purpose.
Here is a little interdiction of the team members you will be helping.
Hola! My name is Paola Arce Vindas and I am from Costa Rica.After almost two years of the director(Giacomo) asking me to do a DTS. God began to speak to me and I decided to give up my job that I had been at for almost two years to get to know what God wants from me. In the past few days of DTS God has been waking feeling in my heart for me to better understand the love of God.
Hola! I’m Mario Sibaja from here in Costa Rica. I have a passion for music and sports. I have been working with YWAM for two years and I have a special calling for missions work.
Hi! My name is Alexander Salazar Granados. I grow up in Costa Rica. Since I was a kid I wanted to be a missionary. After going through the worst struggles of my life, I got a call from God telling me to get prepared. This is the time to do it cause everyday we waste the world dies. My hobbies are music, evangelism, adventures, food, traveling, diving and pretty much surviving.
Buenos dias! I’m Alejandro. I come from Costa Rica. There is a lot of concidences that brought me here. My mom saw a phone number on the tv and now I am here. I am passionate about extreme sports like soccer and swimming. I really feel comfortable helping others and enjoy the wonders of God’s creation.
Please keep our team in your prays. If you feel God telling you to support us financially you can do so by sending cost or checks in the mail. For those paying with checks, you can write it out to CIMEC. There is also the option of an international bank exchange, if this works best for you please email asking for more information on how to complete that. If you have an questions feel free to email or call the bases. Thank you for your time. God bless.
Sincerely,
San Jose DTS ‘08



Contact Info
Mailing address: YWAM San Jose, Interlink 828, P.O. Box 025635, Miami, Fl. 33102
Phone number: office -(506) 2227 4435 lounge- (506) 2227 6805
Email: info@ywamsj.org , anabell.martinez@ywamsj.org
Website: www.ywamsj.org

End of Week Three!

Hola! Week three as come and gone! This week our teacher was Jack Kody. He is an amazing teaching and has a gift from God to touch people’s hearts with every word. He taught on the Father Heart of God. Unfortunately, Jack could not stay the whole week so we had to jam a week’s worth of lessons into three days. To do so we had afternoon class. Also Jack entertained us for two evenings as well. On Monday night, Jack showed us Finding Nemo, to make us think about how far God, our Father, would go for us. On Wednesday night Jack took all of us to the movies! He paid for all of us to see Kung Fu Panda and bought us a popcorn combo on top of that. Jack took the time to get to know us and show us love as a father would their children, and as God would His children. It was a very powerful shift to start thinking of God as the loving Father He is. On Thursday, we went back to the same location as last week to continue our work in local outreach. We continued digging and moving dirt and also moved bricks. It was quite the work out but with God as my strength nothing is too hard. On Friday we ended the week with our first memorization quiz. We had to memorize Philippians 3: 7 -14. It was hard but I managed to do it! I was very proud of myself. Back tracking a bit on Tuesday for our pray time the theme was giving. We were asking to ask God who and what we should give. Some people gave bible verses or words of advice. God told me to give internet minutes to Andy, one of my class mates who has been very homesick. Ashley gave Paola all the money she needed to pay for her lecture phase. It was wonderful to see God move in all of us. I was given a gold necklace from Lucy, who is from El Salvador. She was given it for Christmas. She said God told her to give it to me but she didn’t know why. I don’t know why either, but I am sure that soon enough the meaning of the necklace will unveil itself. So, one person down and still three more to go! I have written a support letter for them. Please keep them in your prays. I will attach the support letter. It still has the amount including Paola’s money needed, so the amount needed is around $1200 less than that listed. If you have any questions feel free to email me at bousquetd@hotmail.com. Thank you

Second week coming to a close

Hola! Second week of school is already done! Only 10 more weeks of classes! It’s going by quickly! This week the topic we studied was relationships. On Tuesday we discussed that God made men and women equal. God made the genders different but that is so they can complaint each other. One of the guys ask if all the girls would stand in the middle with all the guys surrounding us, as they song of our beauty and ask God for forgiveness for anytime they may have mistreated a woman. It was a powerful moment. We were reminded that as women, God has may us beautiful and worthy of love and we need to allow guys to treat us with respect. Our relationship study started with studying the beginning to understand the purpose of relationships. As a side note we learnt a tiny bit about the fall of man. One part that didn’t relate to the relationship theme but was really interesting to learn was about Genesis 3: 14- 15. Adam and Eve have just eaten from the tree and God is confronting the serpent. God tells the serpent that he will be cursed to crawl on his belly. Then God goes on to say, “ And I will put enmity between you and the women and between your offspring and hers: he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.” God is telling the serpent that an offspring of the women (note nothing is said about the man being involved) will crush him. God is foretelling of the coming of Jesus! Exciting hey! At the fall of man, God already promised to give His own son for us. Class has really been going well. But something that became of a concern on Wednesday was that not only Paola but three other people still need all their money for DTS. And the money is due by the sixth week of class. In that moment I felt called by God to help. I listened to the call of God and started a fundraising committee. We have decided to write a team support letter for all the team to send home, even those who have their money, because we are all in this together. Also we have made a power point to take to local churches and are in the middle of planning a Fun Day type event. We are planning on having a ‘football’ tournament lead by our own British football expert, along with a local band playing music and an ice cream sale. Planning is difficult because most of the team is not use to planning anything. But I am enjoying it anyways. It’s keeping me really busy! Also this week on Thursday we had our first local outreach. It was in this very poor area in San Jose that is filled with drugs. We had to dig and move sand from a dirty river bank to a near by church to level the ground to protect from flooding. The work was hard but we got a lot done. While we were working, drug deals were going on right in front of us. In this community people are not shy about flashing drugs around. I did feel safe at all times but it was scary seeing little kids playing in the same area as people dealing drugs. Please pray for this community and the young kids growing up there. On Friday we did a pray walk through the community around our house. We prayed for people we saw and anything else God put on our heart. The community is a middle class community, not too much poverty and fairly safe. After our local outreach the day before we all feel very blessed to be in such a good community. This weekend I have a lot of work to do with fundraising and schoolwork so I am spending my time work on all of that. Please pray for me that I don’t get distracted by other social events, and that I stay focused and get my work done. Also please pray for my parents who are in Europe for the next few weeks celebrating their 30th anniversary. Ask God to keep them safe and away from pick-pocket –ers.

WATER!!!!

July 7Hola! Water has finally returned! Yah! After four days without water it returned this morning right after breakfast. Flushes the toilet is such a blessing. And right at this moment my clothes are getting clean!!! How exciting hey! It really is an eye opener to live without water, even just for a few days. I had to shower with face wipes and a bottle of water I bought. I feel God is humbling me. And right after the water turned back on, I took a moment to pray and thank God for how blessed I am. And I prayed for those who live without water or have very little water every day. Over the weekend, to avoid our outhouse smelling home (16 people with two toilets and no flushing can get smell very quickly) we went out shopping! Ariana, one of the DTS staff, took us to the Costa Rican Dollarram. But the big differences was this store has a ton of clothes! Cheap clothes, for only $1 to $5 American. After finishing our discount shopping we headed to the closest mall to our house. I was surprised to find a huge mall with loads of expensive stores. We spent most of the afternoon just hanging out in the food court. All the restaurants, except one, were American ones. There was Taco Bell, KFC, McDonalds, Burger King and Pizza Hut. The best part of the weekends is there is no work duties! Don’t get me wrong I enjoy working in the kitchen, it just gets so hot and I end up so tired! Cooking for two hours straight everyday can be tiring. The best part (other than the fact I am gaining Costa Rican recipes) is a YWAM staff member named Chris. Him and his wife, Grace (who is expecting their first child in November) came from Kenya to work in the Community Development School. I feel a real connection to community development and loving talking to Chris about it. Chris also has been sharing with me a lot about the living conditions in Kenya. It makes me feel so blessed and at the same time inspired. This young couple with nothing under their name feel called to help people, most of whom have more than they do. I feel like already I have learnt so much and it has only been 9 days! My cooking has even improved! I am the master chef of Costa Rican salads! I will share with you all, my secret recipe that only me and all Costa Rican people know. You cut up lettuce (into small pieces), add cut up tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots, peppers and pineapple (optional, I like it better without. And this is the kicker. You may think all this is just a usual toss salad but instead of dressing you squeeze limes over it and add salt! Its yummy! Also the coffee is amazing, but I don’t have a recipe for that, sorry! Everyone drinks coffee around the clock here. During we have a fifteen minute break and all that is available to drink is coffee! Class is going well! This week our topic is Relationships. So far its been a fun topic! I am looking forward to the rest of the lessons.
On a more serious note, Paola, the girl from her in San Jose, does not have any of her money yet. She said God called her to DTS and told her to trust in Him that the money would come. But as of now it has not. We are not doubting God we are just asking for fellow Christians to pray and ask God what He wants of them. If Paola does not raise enough money she won’t be allow to come on the outreach, which is a vital part of the DTS. Please pray for her. Ericka’s sister in the States has said she would fundraise in their local community. Pray that in whatever way necessary that God will provide the money that is needed. Thank you.

You lucky people with all your water!

July 5So we are having a bit of water problem here. The first nights we were here, the water was turned off at night. Then on Thursday in the morning the water turned off. It came back on in the afternoon but only for a few hours. Luckily I was able to get a shower in that time! And also in that time I realized there is hot water here! Just a very small amount! So timing of showers is key. But then the water shut off again. It has been off since. Apparently there is something the city is fixing and that is why the water is off. But there was no warning ahead of time. And they haven’t given us water to use for the time being. The only water we have is the rain water that was collected in the backyard and the water in our water chiller. It is difficult make that much water last for all the people living here on the base and for so many days. Also we all smell bad! We are finding it difficult to be patient. On a happier note, we have finished our first week of school. There are only eleven more weeks of school. The first week was very good. It was focused on God’s love. It’s amazing when you start thinking about it. God made us so that He could share with us His love. He made us so we could experience love. God gave us the gift of marriage, this special and unique love so that we could understand the relationship He wants with us. One the lessons that I really like and I think is important for everyone to know is the one about “The parable of the Lost Sheep (Luke 15).’ The message that was shared about this story is that when we are lost, like the father watched by the window waiting for his son, God always watches for us to return. And as we come in sight, all break and ready to bag God for forgiveness, God comes running to us and embraces us before we have a chance to ask for forgiveness. We sometimes think that once falling from God to return we have to complete a long list of things (like reading our bible more, going to church, getting our messy life back in order) before we can come before God. It becomes so difficult just to get back on the path that we give up before we even go before God. God seeks us because He loves us, He wants us and we need to not fear coming before Him when things have been tuff. It was a powerful week and I am excited to learn more about God. Friday night we went to our leader Scott’s house for fun night. We played a how bunch of silly games. It was a good bonding experience. Now for the weekend we have homework to complete and house work to do. Other than that it’s a free weekend to just recharge. There has been talk about going to the mall to pick up the things we still need and going to visit a local volcano. The time is going by quickly! Before I know it we will be leaving for our outreach! We still don’t know where we will be going for our international outreach, but I will let you know when we do. Please pray for us to have patients while waiting for the water.

First Week

June 30-First of all I want to start by saying Happy Birthday to Evan! Yesterday night was our first church service. We don’t go to church as a class, we are told to find one that commits to us individual. I along with a few other girls went to church with Paola. It was all in Spanish and I didn’t understand much but near the end of the singing I was able to sing a lot! I was very proud of myself. I am the worst of the class at Spanish, but all the Americans had to learn Spanish in school. But I have faith that I will learn soon enough. In the past three days I have picked up on a tiny bite. This morning was our first bible class. I guess before I tell you about class I should first explain what I am exactly doing here. I am attending a DST (Discipleship Training School) through YWAM (Youth With A Mission). There are several YWAM bases all over the world including one in Winnipeg and a few in Alberta. For the first twelve weeks here I will be attending bible classes in the mornings and working on the base in the afternoon with the local missionaries. Every week of we will have a different teacher with a different topic. Some of the teachers will be flew in from other YWAM bases all over the world and some are from the area. After the first twelve weeks are over we will have a four day adventure camp in the jungles of Costa Rica, followed by three weeks in of outreach in Costa Rica but outside of San Jose. Finally for our last six weeks we will be doing an international outreach. We have not been told to where but I should know soon. For our first week of class we were schedule to have our DTS leader’s wife teach us. But in DTS there are flexible and so a YWAM staff from another base who was visiting Costa Rica spoke to us today. Her name is Suzanne and she is from Germany. She missions to people through pictures she has taken all over the world. Her talk was mostly based on her life experiences and how it is important to have faith in God and allow God to work through our talents. It moved me a lot because I am a planner and always have every step planned out. Lately I have been confused of exactly what I am going to do with my life and where. But Suzanne reminded me that I don’t have to know every move before I make it, I just have to have faith in God and He will lead me.
I don’t remember if I told you already but here in Costa Rica there is no hot water and toilet paper doesn’t go in the toilet but instead in the trash can. I will have to get use to these changes. But on the positive side there is rootbeer and peanut butter here!!!!!

July 2
I hope everyone had an awesome Canada Day! Spencer (my DTS leader and the only other Canadian on the base) and I celebrated with a high five. Also Spencer used a quote from the ‘Great One’ in his teaching. Oh also I bought myself a rootbeer! But that’s as far as the party went. Yesterday we learnt about ‘intercession’ . Which is basically when you pray to God, asking Him what you should pray for and then God answers. It is like we want to pray for others and there problems but first we ask God to inform us of who the people are and what their problems are. I have heard of intercession before but have never practised it. It going to take time for me to begin to recognize God’s voice but I will be patient and practice. It seems to be more difficult for the people from North America, most likely because it is not something we are taught in our churchs. Most of the Central Americans have learnt it and practised it in church. With cultures we experience God in different ways. This trip is about opening our eyes to new ways to experience God. After class most afternoons are free to do as we like, but everyday everyone of us has work duties to complete. I was lucky enough to have my work dutie being supper preparation. Every week day I have to help out in the kitchen from 4 to 6 o’clock, making supper. I really enjoy it because the people in the kitchen are fun and I get to learn to cook Costa Rican food. But it is really hot in the kitchen and I have a fear that one of these days I am going to cut myself or something bad like that. Please pray for my safety while I work in the kitchen and for my coworker, Paola, safety as well. She cut her finger open today. Luckily it wasn’t that bad. Today in class we learnt about the love of God. Class has been very interesting, and I enjoy it a lot. After class today we had our first small group meeting. I am a group with the English speaking girls. It is a great group and I am really excited to spend time with them. Today we were each able to share a little about ourselves. All of the girls are so awesome! I feel connect to each one. I am so excited to get to know them better and build strong friendships with them. Every other Wednesday night, the base holds a family night. So that wasn’t tonight but next Wednesday we will be having our first family night. Thursday is our busiest day. We have worship followed by class, then lunch, followed by local outreach, followed by work duties followed by dinner and then an evening class. Thursday is the only day we are scheduled to have class in the evening. On Friday is more of the normal day with class in the morning and work duties in the afternoon. But in the evening we have a “fun night!” So my days are busy and I have a lot to do. But I feel I still have enough time to do things right, like doing my homework and reading my bible. It’s a good schedule. I am really enjoying it here and it makes me so happy to hear from you guys back at home, making me feel supported in my quest to know God better. Thank you for all the comments. I enjoy reading them. Please remember me and my team in your prays. Pray that we may find God in ways we never imagined.

Safely in Costa Rica

Hola! I have arrived safely in Costa Rica! It is beautiful and warm here! Both of my flights left and arrived on time. I didn’t get to the airport in Toronto until 12:30 am and had to be in the lobby by 5:55 am to catch my shuttle to the airport. I didn’t get much sleep, but the bed was the so comfortable. It made it even better knowing that the bill was being paid for the hotel by AirCanada! When I arrived in Costa Rica I expected to the airport would be similar to the airport in Belize. Small with little technology and an old school luggage claim area. But to my surprise the airport was bigger than the one in Saskatoon and stuffed to the brim with tourist. I was told that I would met at the airport by YWAM staff with a sign with my name. Just as easy as that. In truth not easy at all! There was at least a 150 people outside holding signs with tourist names, and to add to that I had four bags and the carts couldn’t be taken outside the airport doors. So I stood in one place and hoped for them to find me and of course they did. I was greeted by two YWAM staff members both from the US. They informed me that other than our teacher Spencer, I was the only Canadian in my DTS class! There are five Americans (four of them from California), three people from right here in Costa Rica, a girl from El Salvador, a girl from Guatemala and a guy from New Zealand (although he lived most of his life in England). There is always a guy from India who is still awaiting his visa so he can come, so please pray for him (his name is Livingston Joseph). When I first arrived I was greeted by my whole class who has all arrived the day before (because of my grad I chose to be a day late). Their showed me to my room, which is a tight squeeze. There are all seven of us girls in one room! We all have half the space under the bed, one shelf and a lot of closet room( but there are only five hangers, so that doesn’t really count). It means we are going to have to be clean! Something which I am not always good at. After a little unpacking the group headed over to the other house (which is about 3 or 4 blocks away) where our class room teaching will be done. We spent the afternoon playing ice breaker games. It really help me to get to know my class mates. For supper the staff put together a fabulous welcoming meal. Surprisingly it wasn’t rice and beans! It was actually lasagne and salad! It was delicious, but not as good as my mom’s! After supper we all went out to the park to play “football” or in Canadian “soccer”. I joined in even thoughI was still tired from traveling and am not very good at the sport. John , our English/ New Zealand boy was amazing. Everyone ran away from him once he got the ball. Also everyone talked in Spanish while playing. Almost everyone speaks both English and Spanish, except Melissa and myself who only speak English and Andy who only speaks Spanish. Most of the social talk is all in Spanish, but in class it has been mostly in English and translated to Spanish. For my first full day we are free to do what we want. There has been talk about going to a locate swimming pool, touring the locate area looking for post offices and other stuff and going to church with Paola ( a girl in my class who is from San Jose). There are no locate English churchs but Paola said her church is lead by an American pastor so it will be easier for English speakers to understand. Hopefully soon I will be good enough at spanish that it won't matter. Talk to you all later.

Leaving For Costa Rica

Hello family and friends, the day is here! Today I am leaving for Costa Rica! I will be staying over night in Toronto but tomorrow at noon I will be there! Please pray for a safe journey there for me and my fellow classmates. Once down there I will try and leave posting as much as possible, but my scheldule looks to be busy while there. I would love to hear from all of you as well! Keep in contact

Welcome to my blog!

Hello family and friends! I have set up this blog to keep you informed well I am away! I leave for Costa Rica in 15 days! It hasn't set in yet but I have a feeling that in the next two weeks the fact that I am leaving for 5 months will be me hard! Hopefully well I am gone I can find time to blog you all and give you the D.L. (for the older generation that means down low) on my time in Costa Rica. Please keep me in your prayers in the next few weeks while I prepare and also while I am away.
God Bless,
Donna

P.S. Please pray for my mom too, she seems a little scaried about me leaving.