Life seems surreal when reflecting back. How is it possible that I'm at the end of my second five month adventure with YWAM? Is this where I'd imagined myself in May of my 25th year? Absolutely not. My imaginations were far more ordinary. One can never really predict where life will lead; certainly not where God will lead. My feeling however, is that a big chapter is ending and an even bigger one is about to begin. I've seen and experienced a little more, discovered more of my identity, and I'm eager to approach this next part of my journey. Where is the path leading? If I try, I can see some signs, some obvious possibilities. But in my heart, I know my God has a plan. A perfect plan, at that. And I intend to wait on Him. What a special time this has been. Difficult and challenging at many moments, but rich with growth and purpose. I will leave Costa Rica with a full and satisfied heart. And the knowledge that I'm protected, valued, and LOVED.

Guatemala was a very special way to end our outreach. The YWAM base is beautiful, situated a few miles outside of Antigua. Beautiful mountains and volcanoes surround the city, and if you wake up early, it's clear enough to see the scenery in all directions. Because it was our last week, we did a little less ministry and left more time to meet as a team for debrief. Debrief is really crucial because when we leave to return home, it's often challenging. You're suddenly out of this bubble that's been your life for 5 months. It's impossible to process everything during the 5 months, or even in the debrief times, because so much happens every single day of a program like DTS. So we had a really solid time as a team during our meetings, and talked about everything from lecture phase, favorite moments, NIKO camp, and of course the 4 countries we visited for outreach.


Debriefing on the roof...


Typical clothing for Guatemalans...

Besides debrief, we had such a privilege of volunteering at a hospital all week. (Pictures weren't allowed at the hospital.) We got to hang out with kids ages 2-18 who have severe handicaps, mostly cerebral palsy. Most are found on the streets and brought in, and most have no family, no visitors. It was a little overwhelming at first, for many of us, but we quickly fell in love with the kids and were always amazed at how fast the time passed. All of them are in wheelchairs and so we would often just push them around (sometimes fast to get them to laugh) and talk to them, sing to them, hold them. Very few could speak, and so we communicated in other ways. One day, I took a little girl out of her wheelchair and just sat down outside, cradling her. She whimpered a little at first, I think due to her not knowing me well yet, but as I stroked her hair and sang to her, she eventually fell asleep. After an hour, my arm was asleep and my back hurt, but I wouldn't have wanted to be in any other place in the world.

One of my favorites was Mimi. She was a little different looking, and I had a feeling that the other "normal" looking kids might usually get more attention from volunteers, so I decided to hang out with her starting the first day. She was crying a lot when I first noticed her, but as soon as I started pushing her around the courtyard she calmed down and seemed more content. When I would hold her hands and talk to her, she would always smile. She began to recognize me more each time we went. The last day was so cute- I had a little plastic lego piece that I was playing with on the bars of her wheelchair and every now and then I'd touch it to her nose and make a silly sound. She thought this was hilarious, and broke out laughing every time. The sound of her laugh was one of the best things I've ever heard. I was thinking about that a lot...how one of the most beautiful things God ever hears is the joy and laughter of His children, especially ones who are often neglected.

The hospital was the hardest place to leave. It was difficult to walk away for the last time from those kids, especially as some would cry and wail when we'd say goodbye. But I'm so glad we were able to do that ministry, and I know God is looking after them.


Walking in Antigua to the hospital...


Hermano Pedro Hospital...

We had a bit of a stressful trip home, due to a volcano eruption followed by a hurricane. (You've probably seen it in the news.)


Sweeping ash off the sidewalks...




Our travel plans had to be changed and we flew out of El Salvador rather than Guatemala, but it ended up being just fine. It's great to be back in San Jose reuniting with the rest of our team, and graduation is on Thursday!


Airport in El Salvador...

It's been a little while since I've updated, and so much has happened!! I'll try to catch up...

Nicaragua: A great time again. It was special to return to a place where we had already spent some time. We were greeted by familiar faces, so happy at our return. This time we stayed at the YWAM base and got to know the staff there a little better. During the week we did ministry at the local church and library (as we did last time), and many times at the preschool/elementary school at the YWAM base. It's called Mi Pequena Luz, and it's an incredible opportunity for the kids in the barrio (neighborhood) to attend a school where they receive a Christian education and are given so much love and encouragement.

We also taught in two English classes again, so fun! During the class I instructed a section about dreams. Beforehand, I asked the English teacher, Arlene, if she thought it'd be a good activity. She said oh yes, definitely. It would be great to do with them because dreaming isn't a normal thing for people from this community. To dream or use your imagination isn't encouraged or believed in by most. How sad is that? She told me one time she was teaching in a fifth grade class and she asked the students to imagine a machine that would make the world better. The only thing they came up with, Arlene said, was a machine to kill all the bad people.

So we taught them the sentence "My dream is..." and they had to think of the rest. The group is a mixture of ages, from 8-30 years old. It took a few minutes, but their dreams emerged and we got to hear them. Teacher, doctor, pilot, singer, president, translator, missionary- lots of meaningful and honest answers. After each one spoke, we clapped and encouraged them- of course more for sharing their hearts than saying the words correctly.

El Salvador:
We've been here a week so far, and have participated in some really awesome ministries. The first night we went out and brought food and talked with prostitutes and transvestites on the streets. My group talked with about 10 transvestites. Very interesting, and sad. I had a conversation with one in particular and found out he'd been working on the street for 10 years. He's 24 years old. It was an eye opening night.

The second day we visited a Remar orphanage and held programs for the kids, and on a couple other days we were able to visit some high schools. It was really powerful, performing dramas and sharing with the students afterwards. On Thursday we were invited to a community dance competition, where we were able to watch some local groups of youth perform. There was some talent, some really great break dancing! After the groups went, we performed a drama and talked with a bunch of the youth who were interested in knowing who we were. Our last night of ministry, we loaded up in the back of a pickup with 180 bags of food we had prepared. We drove around town and gave out the food to the homeless. It was heartbreaking to see them sit up suddenly from their cardboard boxes and run hurriedly towards us as soon as they heard "Comida!!" (food). Many of those running towards our truck were kids.

Today we're moving on to a different part of El Salvador. We have only 2 more weeks of ministry left, it's hard to believe. What a journey it's been.

Church, Latino style.

A Youth service we were involved with in Guanacaste...they get a little crazy during worship.

Our past 8 days were spent in the Guanacaste province of Costa Rica, near Nicoya. We had a great week, once again! Nicoya is mostly farmland, VERY hot, and about one hour from the Pacific. The week was full with ministry opportunities, including a project to hand out a bible to every home in the province. The Nicoya YWAM base took on this commitment not long ago, to distribute bibles, and every team that comes to help is involved in this project. It’s not just simply dropping a bible at the doorstep- most families invite you inside (typical for Latin culture). You explain why you’re there, gift them the bible, and ask if you can pray for them. Spending 20-30 minutes per house is easy. I was reminded of how hospitable the culture here is- so many families offered us cold drinks, picked bagfuls of fruit from their mango or starfruit trees for us to take home, some groups even got lunch and ice cream! Even though we were strangers, we were treated like family. I was definitely taking some notes about hospitality from this community. It was such a blessing to get to know people and to give them a gift as powerful as the bible. Most were very open about their needs and asking for prayer.

A favorite visit: one elderly woman asked where we were all from and as we each said our places (California, Virginia, Alaska, Columbia, England) she would gasp and cover her mouth with her hands and express how excited she was that we’d come so far. She kept telling us how thankful she was that we were there and what a blessing it was to have us. When we asked for a picture before we left, her husband went into his room and combed his hair first…maybe the cutest thing I’ve ever seen. They were probably in their 80’s. (After leaving her house, she stood at her window and waved at us each time we passed, so adorable!)

Several houses said that we were an answer to prayer, that they had heard of someone in the community who received a bible and they prayed for us to come visit them. As we drove off the last day, we saw several people sitting on their porches reading their new bibles. Our team gave out 410 bibles in the 4 days we did it. It was such an honor to be part of this ministry.

After bible distribution each day we played soccer, and at night a lot of teenagers would come and hang out at the base until bedtime. This meant for a really full day, each day. To top it off, it was an average temp of 100-105 F plus humidity, and we were walking house to house during the hottest parts of the day. As difficult as it is to fall asleep when you’re sweating, I think we all slept soundly due to how tired we were! But by the end of the week, we were all a bit more adjusted to the heat and mosquitos and packed schedule, and I know everyone had an awesome time. (Except 2 scorpion bites!)

And on Sunday, we had such a treat: we went to an English speaking church service near the Pacific, Beach Community Church. The pastor is originally from California (San Clemente), and it was so fun to fully understand the message and to meet a bunch of Americans. (Made me miss home a little bit though)

Worship!

After service the pastor invited our whole group over to his house- which is right on the beach! We made lunch and spent the next couple hours relaxing either in the ocean 50 feet away from his sliding door, or on the grass in front of the sand. So nice.

Now we are back in San Jose until early Saturday morning. We will be doing some ministry here this week, but mostly preparation for the month of May. Our DTS is splitting into the 3 teams and our Central American team is the first to take off. We’ll arrive in Nicaragua on Saturday afternoon, May 1^st. From there we’ll go to El Salvador, and finally to Guatemala. Our flight back to San Jose is May 30^th, so this is our last chance to be at the base and pack all that we need for a month. As exciting as it is to be leaving for Nicaragua soon, it’s bittersweet because that means our time to do ministry all together as one DTS is over. But I know God has so much in store for this next month!

Recap

So much to catch up on….where do I begin? I’ll start with NIKO. Ha. Even just saying the word makes me chuckle in a “glad it’s over, but loved it” sort of way. One of the main parts of NIKO is going into it without knowing what’s to come, so I can’t really describe what it is. But here are the basics: It’s a 5 day camp in the jungle in Talamanca, Costa Rica. You are giving a packing list that includes things like hiking boots, a knife, bug spray, and waterproof bags for your belongings…and that DOESN’T include things like soap, deodorant, toothpaste, etc. :) It’s a tough week. I did it in my DTS, and had the chance to staff it for this DTS. Our students did great, amidst many difficult challenges.

Drinking some refreshing water from a tree branch we cut:

Max caught and killed this boa in the middle of the night when he heard it attacking his chickens...then leashed it and dragged it to our house in the morning to show us. (You can see a chicken not digested yet if you look closely)

Moving on…

After NIKO we went to Puerto Viejo for a week. This is a very small, touristy town right on the Caribbean. Beautiful place, beautiful people. We slept at a local church- here is a picture of all of our stuff strewn about:

Besides being involved in a few church services where we did dramas and gave testimonies, we did some other awesome and different ministries.

Twice, we headed to a basketball court to play soccer/basketball on the beach with the locals. We got to know several of them and continued hanging out with them through the week. We brought ice tea to give out and also paused the games a couple times to do dramas and give testimonies. The students really took charge and were so open in sharing and listening to the people they met.

One of the basketball players watching a drama:

Also, there is a coffee/chocolate/ice cream shop called Caribeans, owned by a couple from the states. They run the shop and build relationships with the locals and tourists, providing a friendly and community focused environment. It was cool to hear their story and to be involved in their ministry. On the last day of our time there, we set up a free bike wash/ free prayer/ free hugs booth in front of the coffee shop. So much fun! Afterwards we had an acoustic concert right on the beach, where many of the people we had met during the week came to enjoy.

At Caribeans:

Free Hugs!

Free bike wash!

One day we created little gifts with some snacks and an encouraging bible verse and went around to about 25 shops to distribute them. It’s so funny to see the reaction on people’s faces when you tell them, “Hey we have a gift for you”. They’re like “Huh?” Totally confused. And we just told them we wanted to thank them for having a place for the tourists and locals, for working hard for the community, etc. That we wanted to just give them a small token of thanks and bless them with prayer. Each business owner was so surprised and thankful.

Another ministry we did was at a bar one night. The whole town is a huge, drunken party basically, each night after 10 pm. So about 8 of us girls went to “Ladies Night” at one of the bars. Not to throw bibles at the girls, just to talk and encourage them. We were able to have conversations with several girls and hear some of their stories. I know God was working in even those simple conversations. I chatted with the bartender for a bit, which was interesting. He laughed in confusion when I turned down his offer for free tequila shots. I told him “No thanks, we’re just here to dance.” And it was interesting: as I sat at the bar and observed the guys working, I saw something cool. A few of our girls were salsa dancing with each other and having fun…and the guys watching had such funny looks on their faces. They weren’t looking the girls up and down, they were just watching with intent curiosity. Like they had never seen such innocence and genuine fun in a girl dancing. I think all they’ve ever seen is drunken girls dancing super seductively, “dropping it like it’s hot” and such. I truly believe God was speaking something to their hearts in those few minutes. Seeing how we were still having fun without being wasted and feeding off the attention of guys.

There is also a place in Puerto Viejo called the Concrete Jungle. It’s a skate park run by a couple missionaries from the states. It’s a beautiful skate park literally surrounded by the jungle. Some of us girls went to a women’s bible study/gathering one night. We hung out with the women and their kids and tie dyed shirts. Very fun. It’s so encouraging to see committed ministries already taking place and get to know the stories of how they came to be.

The water turned off a few days during our stay at the church- so here is our handy dandy "Tippy Tap." It's a hand washing station, soap and all (Pull the strings to tilt the jug, water comes out the carved holes):

And here's me, safely inside my Bug Bivy (thanks to Mistylena). LOTS of mosquitos here, I was very thankful to at least escape them while sleeping:

Overall, a very successful week. I’m loving outreach so far! We are in San Jose til Monday morning when we head North to Nicoya, Costa Rica. We’ll be there til the end of the month. Thanks for your prayers!!

Opening my eyes

This week was about Human Trafficking. (Sexual exploitation, forced labor, child soldiers, organ trafficking, etc). I’ve learned so much about how/where it happens, how many are involved, how to investigate suspicious situations, etc. My heart is broken for this…there are no words to describe.

We took a trip downtown late last night to walk the streets and observe. Some of us talked to prostitutes, transvestites, taxi drivers, and locals to learn more about what happens 15 minutes away from us every night. Sex tourism is huge in Costa Rica, unfortunately.

I’m still unsure how to process some of what I saw. There’s an anger, a desperation to fight. There is also a sense of betrayal. That one surprises me. I’ve never been prostituted/trafficked/exploited like that. Why am I taking offense in such a personal way? I wanted to run up to those men and demand an explanation. How can you be so disgusting? Selfish? Blind to the repercussions this will bring? How can you treat a human being, somebody’s daughter, like a disposable object? But I’m reminded of God’s heart for them too. For the abusers, the participants of this monstrosity. He loves them like he loves me. I can’t understand how God still views them as his precious children. That’s hard for me to swallow. Because last night, all I saw was filth. I saw countless, COUNTLESS, white, middle aged men walk in and out of this hotel 20 feet away from me. On vacation, looking to have some fun, some instant gratification to fill their empty lives. How many are married, I wonder? Probably more than half. How many have daughters themselves? They’re far from home and this secret part of their lives is displayed in front of me to see. $100 for an hour, the taxi driver informed us. They can do whatever they want with the girls. Are some of the girls trafficked, we asked? Forced sexual exploitation? Oh yeah, he replied. Tons of them.

Perhaps the most unsettling part of the night happened with a few guys that came with us. They decided to investigate in a bit of a different way, a way that men would have an easier time doing. Pose as the consumer. At one of the bars, they asked around where they could find a place to have sex with children. Under 16, they requested. Sure, was the reply. There’s a place close by. $100 for an hour with as many kids as you’d like. Except it’s not safe to bring the kids to the bar, so we’ll bring you to them. Well, our guys weren’t prepared for this next step just yet, so they told the local that they didn’t have the money right then, but maybe tomorrow. They left with a card, a phone number, to get in touch with connections that would take them to the kids when they’re ready. I’m not sure what will happen with this, but I think they’re planning on finding out more information, a location, and getting the police involved.

Prostitution is legal in Costa Rica, but human trafficking is not. How much easier though, for trafficking to exist in a place where prostitution is all over the streets. How do you know which of the girls are being trafficked, and which have chosen prostitution? And how much easier for a brothel to exist, with a room of little girls and boys down in the basement.

These things might seem far away, or only in the movies, or only in 3^rd world countries where there’s corruption. But the truth is that it’s happening everywhere. Some places in greater amounts, but it’s everywhere. Why does it exist? There’s a HUGE demand for it. More often than not, the demand comes from foreigners, westerners. My eyes were opened this week, in a way that begs for action. It’s one thing to briefly hear about this thing that exists, it’s another to hear the staggering statistics and that it’s happening in your very own city. And it’s an entirely different thing to see it with your own eyes. To investigate for one hour one night, and discover how easy it is to take part in this awful injustice.

There’s so much more I want to share. But for now, I just wanted to process some of my thoughts from what I experienced last night. I recommend watching Human Trafficking, a made for TV movie. It’s really interesting. Hard to watch, but interesting. It gives different situations of human trafficking in different countries, and how people often get trapped into it. Or type in Human Trafficking to google and see what comes up. There’s a lot of information out there. But get ready to learn some heavy stuff. I believe it’s our responsibility to do something. What’s my part, exactly? That’s my question today.