Costa Rica-Summer 2010

Last summer I had the opportunity to go on a missions trip overseas to San Jose, Costa Rica. San Jose is the capital of Costa Rica, and it is a well-industrialized city! Our group from Go Tell Ministries stayed at the Score International Villa. We were lucky because we were provided with hot water, nice beds, electricity, and hot meals. I felt guilty because most of the people we witnessed to while we were there probably did not have most of these things. We stayed there for a week and it was a very eye-opening week!

The first few days there we were able to go into downtown San Jose and pass out tracks! It was an intimidating experience at first because most of the people in our group knew very little Spanish, and communicating with people was a challenge. We had a few translators that allowed us to share the Gospel to these people. Some were receptive, and some were not. We also made and gave bracelets to children. The bead on the bracelets represented the plan of salvation. The children loved them!

The first night of being there, we made food bags for the homeless. We went to downtown San Jose but it was the rough part of the town. When we pulled up to the location of where we were going to be passing the bags out, I was scared! That's when it became clear to me that sharing God's Word to other's is not about being comfortable. It's about stepping out of your comfort zone. When we got off of our bus, we had to put our backs to the wall for security reasons. As soon as we got off the bus, we were flocked with homeless people. They seemed to come from no where. Most where high or drunk, and they were begging for us to give them more than one bags. They were very thankful for what they got. It broke my heart to know there are people living in that kind of situation.

We got the opportunity to visit a village. I was stunned. I knew people lived in poor conditions, but to see it in person was a whole different view. Families of about 8 lived in a tin shack of about 50 square feet. We took them food, and spread the gospel with them. To see people with so little made me truly realize how blessed I am! The thing that shocked me most was that even though they had so little, they were happy! It opened my eyes to how materialistic we are as Americans!

One day we drove an hour to an orphanage. We got to spend two hours with the children at this orphanage. The children were ecstatic to see us. Even though communication was limited, we had so much fun with all of them! We danced, played chase, played a game of baseball (just for fun), and did a Bible story with them! I wish we could have stayed longer!

We also drove an hour to a church to reach out to the neighboring community to invite them to a movie night at the church. The movie was of the life of Christ! We also went to that same church on Sunday morning. God was definitely moving in that church!

I'm so glad I was able to go! My fear of flying was conquered, and I'm anxious to go again soon! Seeds were planted in San Jose, Costa Rica!!!

Back to Blogging

So I admit, I only got this account because I had to create a blog account for one of my classes last year. But, I do enjoy writing sometimes, so I'm going to try to get back into that. Since my last blog last year, a lot has gone on in my life.

First of all, I have had an amazing boyfriend for almost a year and a half now (which is my longest boyfriend ever). We have been through many up's and down's but we have definitely come a long way in our relationship. Seeking God in a relationship is one of the hardest things to do, but it gets easier and easier every single day! I thank God for him!

I finished my first year in college! I never thought that day would come. I only changed my major once (from psychology to education). I love the education program, and I am so excited about being able to work with children one day. My most recent excitement is qualifying for the education honor society. I'm so ready for graduation day, though!

This past summer, I had the opportunity of a lifetime. I got to work with Go Tell Ministries at a summer camp for four weeks. I worked with teenage students from all over the U.S. I even got the opportunity to lead some to Christ!!!!!! It was AWESOME! To make this whole experience even better, I went on my first missions trip over seas. The Go Tell Staff went to San Jose, Costa Rica. It was incredible and I'm dying to go back!

My sophomore year in college has flown by and now I'm almost a junior in college. God has been so good to me this year (and every year). I know he has amazing things in store for the next fews years in college!

My First Big Accident

When I was little my family took a trip to Gatlinburg, Tennessee. One of the days that we were there, we went to a place called Ober Gatlinburg which is mountain in Gatlinburg that has a lot of fun things to do. There is ice-skating, arcades, ski slopes, and so much more. Our family decided to go ice-skating. I had never been ice-skating before so it came as a challenge for me. I eased my way to the ice, stepped on, and began to glide very caustiosly while holding on to the hand rail on the side of the ice-skating rink. I went around the rink a couple of times, and felt I was getting descent at it. Mom let go and started to glide on her own so I was on my own. A few minutes later, I took a nasty fall onto the ice face-first. I got back up and felt fine. Mom glanced back at me and gave me a horrified look. She came up to me and put her hand under my chin and pulled it away covered in blood. She grabbed my hand and pulled my quickly off the ice. I began to feel my chin start to sting. I had busted my chin wide open. She took me to the emergency center they had there. They covered my chin in bandages and told me to go to the ER because I needed stitches. After we went to the ER, and they stitched me up I was fine again and ready to carry on with our vacation. It was the first big accident I had ever suffered!

Open Dorms

It's open dorm night, and I'm definately glad that our dorm is not coed! It is kind of frustrating because people are loud, and I know that if I were to be doing my homework, I wouldn't be able to focus! People have been screaming and acting crazy! I also don't like that anyone and everyone is able to come in. I like to have privacy and be able to have peace when I'm in my dorm. It feels like guys are invading my personal space! However, it would be nice if NGU allowed visiting hours for guys to come in girls dorms, just because it is easier if we wanted to watch a movie. Sometimes it's easier to just hang out in dorm rather than having to drive and waste money to hang out somewhere else! Overall, though, I'm glad dorms at NGU are not coed!

God vs. Satan

Over the summer at church camp a really bad storm came up one night! It honestly looked like a tornado was about to hit. The next morning, the guys told us that a tree had fallen on their lodge. Luckily, no one was hurt, but the boy's room that the tree fell on top of did lot of damage. He wasn't in his room at the time that the tree had fallen, but if he was he could've been seriously injured or even killed. Everyone that week was on a spiritual high, and we believe that Satan came in and pushed that tree down to shake us up and put a damper on that spiritual high. God, however, turned this situation 180 degrees in the opposite direction. Apparently, the boy was not saved and he said that he felt like God was after him to get saved. That night, after the tree had fallen he prayed to recieve Christ. God's power was displayed to me. He did all of that just for one person to come to Christ! It's amazing to see God's glory!

A Miracle

Psalm 77 is about comfort in trouble in recalling God's mighty deeds. God is definately a miracle worker. He has worked so many miracles in my life whether big or small. Some small miracles He's done for me being able to attend this college, having awesome family and friends, giving me breath every new day. One miracle that really astounded me last year was when my aunt had an MRI and they had found a mass in her brain that could've been cancerous. She was already a cancer survivor, so there was a possibility that the cancer could've came back. With all the cancer my family has had, I figured it was probably cancer. I was scared because I knew all the pain and heartache my family had already suffered, and I didn't want us to go through it again. My aunt went in for a biopsy to find out if it was cancerous. I remember that night before she found out the results, I was crying out to God. I asked Him to just let it not be cancer. I prayed really hard that night. My aunt found out the results the next day, and to my dismay, it wasn't cancer! All I could thing about was how God had answered my prayer! It was truely a miracle in my life. God is awesome!

Life is Changing

Since I've been at NGU for about 2 months now, many things are different in life. When I go home on occasional weekends, I'm bored most of the time and wish I was back at school. I love my friends and family to death, but its so different when I go back home now! I have so much more freedom here, and when I go back home I feel like I'm back in confinement again! However, I never really ask to do stuff anymore, I just do my own thing at home and she doesn't really care. I guess I just like the freedom of being here on my own and learning new things on my own. I also love my roomie and all the friends I've met here, and when I go home I miss hanging out with them. I usually end of texting them the whole weekend anyways. Life is so different since I've been in college and I love it!