Hey!
2 months in! I'm honestly in shock at how quickly time has gone by! I just want to thank everyone who has been so supportive of me, and for all of those who are praying for me during this time!
Class:
Classes during week 7 were about inner healing. (I know it sounds very hippie, but just bear with me!) The purpose of the week was to identify moments in our lives where we had believed and held onto lies about God, and to instead replace them with truths from his Word. For some people this was a difficult process to go back and work through past events or trauma, but it was a week where God brought a lot of peace and freedom to a lot of people's lives. We also worked through a lot of the sin that we deal with - such as pride, unbelief, rebellion etc and we also worked through the topic of forgiveness. We were all able to identify many parts of our lives and different sins, that the Lord wants us to work on and deal with, and there was a lot of peace and freedom in beginning that process!
Classes during week 8 turned to learning about contextual evangelism. We were taught by Brian Herbert, who was an incredible teacher who had so much wisdom and experiences to share with us. He taught us about different backgrounds to cultures and worldviews, such as fear-power, shame-honour and guilt-innocence based cultures. We are used to sharing the gospel with people in a guilt-innocence culture, which is our own, but as Brian explained to us, it is so important to understand someone's cultural background and worldviews in order to make the Gospel relevant and relatable for them. And the incredible thing about the Gospel, and the Bible, is that it is big enough to embrace all of these different cultures!
We also learnt some tools in order to share our story and testimony with someone in a slightly different way. We used more of a circular storytelling method - we brought together our story and experience, with a story from the Bible, inviting others to the truths of the Gospel in a relatable and informal way. It sounds really simple, but it was so so good and refreshing to think about our testimonies in a different, less linear way. It was also a really cool time to hear what God has done in my classmates' lives!!
At the end of week 6 our group unfortunately were in close contact with a covid-positive case, so we haven't been able to go out on any local outreach for the past little bit, to make sure we aren't putting anyone at risk. But thankfully everyone on the team is healthy and well.
However, we've started more preparation for our outreach - half of us are working on creative performances that we'll be able to share while we are there, and the other half are currently working through a STEM course with robotics, to be able to reach kids during outreach. The STEM group will be gaining a certificate at the end of the course, which will make access to countries easier when travelling as a group. I'm really excited for the creative dance performance that we're working on at the moment, and the conversations that will hopefully stem from it!
Life on base:
I thought I would share a little bit about the people here! Life with these guys has been really great. I am so thankful that our DTS group has bonded together really well, and we haven't got into any major fights just yet! It's been really great to walk alongside these incredible people, both students and staff, during this time and to hear their stories and what God is doing in their lives. God has placed so many different hopes and dreams in each person's heart, and he is doing incredible things in people's lives here! For most, if not all of us, this time has been a really special time of restoration in our relationships with God. For drawing nearer to him and discovering more about who he truly is, and discovering our calling and what he has in store for us. That's not an easy process, and a lot of us have ended up with more questions than we started with! But it is a beautiful process, and one that I'm thankful to be going through with such fantastic people!
Life with these guys is also never boring, and in between everything else going on and the difficult moments, it's been great to just have fun with them and do life together. From watching the sunset, to dancing to Taylor Swift (girls and guys included!), I'm thankful for the friendships that God has blessed us with here. We were able to go to a nearby waterfall last weekend, which was a lot of fun!
I also quickly want to mention how wonderful the staff that are leading us are, and I want to ask you to be praying for them! Evelin is the leader of the DTS and this is the 3rd DTS she has led. She is nothing short of incredible - she has so much wisdom, and she has such a beautiful heart! Diego and Majo are the other staff with us - they are both from Costa Rica and have a background in dance and have a heart for reaching people through this. Majo is my one-on-one, which means we meet once a week to discuss how I am and to process the week together. So I've been able to get to know her, and she's been an incredible blessing and source of wisdom during this time. And finally, Alissa and Mando (and their adorable 11 month old Emma!) are support staff for the DTS - they lead us in weekly worship and are around on the base to help out.
Outreach:
As lecture phase comes near to a close, we should be finalising soon where we are going to be for our outreach phase. Once I know where exactly we will be, I'll be sure to let you know so that you can be praying in particular for the people there. We should be leaving Costa Rica at the end of March/beginning of April, which isn't too far away! We'll then be on outreach for about 11 weeks, before coming back to Costa Rica for debrief and graduation. That time will be spent serving, and will look quite different to the first half of DTS which has been focused on learning more about and seeking God. Instead, we'll be putting into practice everything that we have learnt!
I would like to set up a WhatsApp group, specifically for prayer requests during outreach. It would just be a quick message from me every few days with some specific prayer requests. This isn't to replace this blog, it's simply for a more regular way to ask for prayer. If there's one thing that I've learnt during this time, it's that prayer is a powerful weapon! If you would like to be a part of this group, please send me a WhatApp/Email and I'll add you in!
Also, If you feel led to financially support this time of outreach, I would be extremely appreciative - please just get in contact with me!
Prayer points:
- Upcoming classes and teachers
- Open and receptive hearts to hear what God wants to speak to us
- Energy, as we are all feeling really quite tired!
- Wisdom regarding outreach and location
- Local outreach and bible distribution in the upcoming weeks
- That God would provide the finances needed for outreach
Thank you for your support and prayers!
Blessings,
Amy