#bringaplate

As a team, we are SO EXCITED to start this! We have been praying, meeting, asking, and re-thinking the most effective ways to reach kids where they are at here in Costa Rica. Because of their crazy schedules and intense academic lifestyle, we're excited to try something new this semester that we're calling "Bring A Plate"! Knowing that kids will always make time to eat, we're planning our events around meal-time. Every Friday night we will gather for a meal together and to have an intentional conversation over a specific theme. Kids are invited to come early to help us prepare food, to simply eat and leave, or to stick around after to dig deeper into questions and spend more time with leaders.

Please join my team and I in praying for Bring A Plate - The first one is scheduled for January 31!! For this to work we need parents who are willing to host and others who are willing to provide food/money for groceries. That, in itself, I see as an exciting opportunity to invite others in and minister to the community. We are hoping that this will also be an opportunity for parents and community members to better understand YL and what we do, to create a stable foundation for YL International Schools ministry (i.e. establish a YL Committee), and to create momentum for future growth.

flourish

This is what the Lord says:

“Cursed are those who put their trust in mere humans,

who rely on human strength

and turn their hearts away from the Lord.

They are like stunted shrubs in the desert, 

with no hope for the future.

They will live in the barren wilderness,

in an uninhabited salty land.

“But blessed are those who trust in the Lord

and have made the Lord their hope and confidence.

They are like trees plated along a riverbank,

with roots that reach deep into the water.

Such trees are not bothered by the heat

or worried by long months of drought.

Their leaves stay green,

and they never stop producing fruit.

Even in the midst of the desert, the tree will flourish!

What encouragement!  We’ve been talking about the desert, being in the desert, walking through the desert, seeking the Lord in the desert in the women’s group at my language school and also at our church.  And what a great reminder this Scripture is!  That the Lord is with us, wherever we find ourselves, desert or flourishing land!  So this gives me a refreshed perspective:  To stop looking around at what isn’t and to start seeing what is right in front of me - The Lord! 

Be teachable and seek the Teacher.

Voy cruzando el desierto / I’m crossing the desert

Hacia el lugar que has preparado / To the place You have prepared

Voy caminando y me sostiene Tu amor por mí / I'm walking am I’m holding your love for me

Ya no hay oscuridad / There is no darkness

Danos fuerza y danos paz / Give us strength and give us peace

Veo tu luz alumbrar mis pasos, mis pasos / I see your light illuminating my steps

Listen HERE to this song by Fuego, who leads worship at our church.

three of my favorite words

Sometimes Dove knows best...Powerful words for this semester.

ENGAGE.

EMBRACE.

ENJOY.

Or as my friend Luke Davis reminds me, SAVOR THE EXPERIENCE.

work crew

I hit the ground running in Costa Rica! Two days after returning to the country I left to serve as part of the Work Crew at Vida Joven camp! Vida Joven is the local YL ministry...local Tico leaders leading Tico kids in the various neighborhoods around the country.

It's the middle of summer here, weird, but it means local kids are out of school and the summer camping season is in full swing! I had the best time at camp and it was so incredible to work alongside other young adults who are lights for Jesus in their communities! We washed dishes, prepared meals, cleaned bathrooms, and helped execute programmed events. It was 4 days straight of Spanish, which was exhausting but great!

The 4 day camp was another way I was able to experience the grandness of the Kingdom of God. That it's huge! That He is Lord of all the nations and relates individually to all people.

Hardest working Work Crew I ever did see!  But seriously, they were the best!

My teammates and I participating in “Pleito de Pelos”!  That’s Spanish for hair
fight if you’re wondering...But basically, it’s a big, surprise, water fight for the campers!!
(Here, they call misty-rain “pelo de gato” or “cat hair”, hence the hair-fight/water-fight
translation.)  We got SOAKED but it was so fun!!

language school

View from the stairwell...Pretty great!

Woohoo, language school!! I am SO excited about this opportunity! I came back to Costa Rica and started class the very next day at the Instituto de Lengua Española (ILE). Because of my Spanish background, I was able to start in the second of three trimesters. So, for the rest of my time here, I will be in class from 7:30am to noon, Monday thru Friday! This is a huge commitment, but I am grateful for the opportunity to improve my language skills with the goal of fluency! I am also excited about effectively communicating with kids in their primary language!

Admissions Building at ILE.

I have class on the second floor of this building!

fun fact friday!

DID YOU KNOW???

It rains “cat hair” here.  Yep, cat hair.  Pelo de gato.  They use it to describe the gross, misty, annoying rain.  Like the rain just annoying enough for you to get out your umbrella, but you’re not really sure if it’s raining actual drops.  So move over, “It’s raining cats and dogs,” cause it’s raining “pelo de gato” here!

You can’t buy return bus tickets before leaving for your trip.  Nope.  You’ve just got to go to your destination and hope you can get a ticket back!  It’ll give you a taste of “Tico Time” real quick, haha.  It’s usually not an issue, it’s just the first thing you do when you get to your destination.  But there is virtually always room, at least standing, on the buses.  (Yes, you might have to stand the 4-6 hour ride back from the beach).  Pura vida.

GOOOOOLs and ELLAbrations!!!

Today, I went to my first ever Costa Rican soccer game!!  And it lived up to all my expectations!  A cultural experience to say the least!  Ticos are passionate about their soccer and it was SO MUCH FUN!!!

We went to the Saprissa vs. Liga game, two of the biggest rivals in the country.  Rachel and I awkwardly lingered behind a group of people wearing Saprissa jerseys down Avenida Central downtown until we built up enough courage to ask them if they were going to the game/could tell us how to get to the bus...

Most of the game was zero-zero, and we were just hoping that someone, we didn’t even care who, would score so we could hear them yell GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL!!!!!!  And our dreams came true late in the second half when Saprissa scored and the stadium absolutely erupted!!  It was a home game for Saprissa, so the crowd was absolutely going crazy!  So fun to watch!!

Saprissa Stadium in Tibas

L to R:  Rachel, Me, Bonnie, Laura, Elizabeth (front).
Laura and Elizabeth are two girls from the States,
student teaching here, and being hosted by Bonnie’s family, too!

Later that evening we had an ELLAbration!!  We went out to dinner (to the only “Mexican” restaurant you will find in this country) to celebrate our sweet friend Ella who is finishing up her last trimester of language school here, and will be moving to Managua, Nicaragua next semester.  I am so sad to see her leave, although so excited for what the Lord has for her in Nica.  Ella is so full of joy and life.  Always smiling and laughing.  She cares for people deeply and has invested in her time here in Costa Rica.  Not letting it pass as simply “space inbetween”.  Our team will not be the same without her next semester, but the Lord is going to do awesome things in and through her as she joins the YL Staff team in Nicaragua!

In her own great words, “slightly awkward pic of a
super fun group of people...”  Els, you’re the best!
L to R:  Bradyn, Jason, Bonnie, Jessie, ELLA,
Grace, Me, Alex, Rachel.