DTS- Costa Rica: September 2008

Sunday, September 28, 2008

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!

Friday, September 19, 2008

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.

Saturday, September 13, 2008

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!

Sunday, September 7, 2008

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.