So outreach is finally here. Lecture phase is over and done; and we conquered NIKO camp. That’s right—Kicked butt for 5 days in Cartago—I would love to go into detail the things and situations we experienced, but for the sake of future DTS students, we are sworn to secrecy so that God can work in them just like he worked in us. But let me tell you, NIKO was nothing short of a learning and bonding experience not only with our team, but with God as well. One thing that I can share is that God protects and I am a living witness to that..
We were hiking up the mountain; I was leading and then we stopped to catch a breather. Pedro, one of the guys I was with took the front after our short breather and took maybe 3 steps and stopped. “I feel that we need to pray for protection right now”. So of course we willingly stopped and prayed. It couldn’t of been 5 steps and there was a huge snake just waiting in our path up the hill. Pedro immediately was backing up and putting his arms out so we wouldn’t take a step further; but simultaneously Pedro’s first language is Spanish so as he was yelling things, I had no idea what was going on because my Spanish is not that good—so on top of the commotion I had no idea what was going on—Thank the heavens that God has given people the gift of being bilingual!
But for reals--This snake was so camouflaged that I was staring at it for 20 seconds and didn’t even realize that it was there. So being with Giovanni (NIKO staff) he whipped out his machete and went to the front—the snake got away, but it wasn’t long until it appeared again. We didn’t want to kill, just wanted it to be far from us but it was too close to the path and not worth it to just “pass it” so ultimately the machete did its job. And let me add that this is one of the most poisonous snakes found in the country of Costa Rica and it was about 5 ft long. If it wasn’t for Pedro listening to God’s voice to stop and pray for protection, taking the lead and seeing the snake, I know I would of for sure 1. Stepped on it or 2. Would have gotten bit. We were all so thankful for God’s protection after that; it was such an experience that could have been so much worse. We were so far into the jungle that it would have been a really scary situation if something really did happen to us. Thank you Jesus for protecting us!
NIKO was such a great time to learn how we work together as a team, through rain, tiredness, sleeplessness, little food and just being around each other 24/7. Not only did I learn vital communication skills, but I learned a lot about myself. My strengths, my weakness’s, what I need to work on, and how I can lead if need be. I have always been thankful for the things that I have, but after NIKO, you learn to be grateful for the things that we have in luxury. Everyday we take for granted the simple necessities in life—well the ‘simple’ necessities in America. Running water, toilets, showers, technology, unlimited excess of food. I thought living in community was a humbling experience, but NIKO really opened my eyes and my heart to real life realities of the world today. People sleep on dirt floors, walk miles for water that probably isn’t even drinkable, and survive on very little. I can only pray that when I get back to the states (and for the rest of my life) I don’t take things for granted and I don’t spend in excess the things that I don’t need. It really just puts things into perspective of even having a computer, an ipod—even a cell phone.. Just some things to think about when leaving back to the states; how to apply what I learned in my time in Costa Rica back to my real life in the states.
SO. NIKO has been conquered, lecture phase is over and now it is time for Outreach. WHAT?!?! We are already on the second half of the DTS?!?! I seriously cant believe it. I cant even believe its almost October! Now it is time to put into practice what we have learned the past 3 months. We are going to hit every province of Costa Rica—All 7 of them-whoop! I am so excited—but unfortunately I know it is going to go by so fast since we are moving like every 6 days. We received the schedule for this week and Melissa and I are in charge of prayer ministry on top of a volcano in Cartago—and it went sooo good! I absolutely love praying with my peeps!
So when I started writing this post it was a couple of days ago before outreach and now we are 5 days into it and I could not be more content with my life and where it is going as of right now. The first week of ministries has been such a blessing not only to the people of Cartago, Heredia and San Jose, but for me personally. Going out and stepping out of my comfort zone has been a challenge that I have graciously accepted from God. To solely rely on him for confidence, strength and supernatural understanding of Spanish has been a wonderful experience. I finally feel that I am doing what I was created to do and that is to build relationships with people, specifically (well for this week) the lost. Our first ministry was homeless ministry and I enjoyed every minute of it. There is just something about talking to someone one, a stranger, and finding that common ground between the two that just changes you. You learn that loneliness, heartache, joy, fears; every human emotion—is the same no matter who you are or where you go. That everyone feels the same emotions one way or another despite all the differences that may be. It was such an experience to just go out there and take a leap of faith that God will direct you on what words to say and who to talk to—not to mention that I had a one on one with a man named Kelly Anthony Leo Garcia in 100% spanish---Talk about God providing supernatural spanish speaking abilities! YES!
The next day we did a Rehabilitation ministry with men whose ages ranged from 18-60. It was humbling to hear everything that these men struggled with, where they are now with their addictions and how God has been playing a role in their lives. While they were each talking we were interceding for them with words of encouragement and verses to help them get through this process. After, we split up and did some one on ones. As I was looking around the room at everyone I just had that feeling of a proud parent. To see my DTS loving on people and just simply listening to these men was such a sight to see. We have all come so far together and to see us applying what God has given us and taught us into real life was truly amazing.
Last night we did another homeless ministry at Salvation Army and let me tell you it was a little intimidating at first. The facility was set up like a dormitory with a common area. The people that were staying there over night had to wear blue jumpers, so it looked similar to a jail or prison suit. The majority of the people were men so I’m not gonna lie, there was a little fear in me when I first got there, but that quickly went away after we started helping out. We served them food, washed the dishes, Brayan shared his testimony and then after we got to spend some time with them. Kristen and I went up to three ladies and luckily 2 of them spoke English so it was easier to engage in conversation. I love hearing stories of their lives and getting to know them more on a personal level. This one woman group up in Costa Rica, has 3 kids and has been living on the streets for years, yet she was so strong in her faith. She kept referring to “My God loves me and I love my God.” Here we are going there to show Jesus’s love to his people and his people are showing his love back to us. This woman was so strong in believing that she hears God’s voice that she increased my faith.
Beautiful isn’t it?
Ps. We cant bring our laptops on Outreach for security issues and that we need to focus on God and the computer can be a huge distraction—SO with that being said, I may or may not be blogging for awhile...but please keep me and my DTS in your prayers! Pray that God has prepared a way and is continuing to prepare the hearts of the people that we are going to be meeting in our ministries—that we would be so transparent, that when the people see us, they cant help but see Jesus and his love for his people! Thank you so much for all the support, it is greatly appreciated in this time J
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