Panamania!

I couldn't think of a better title. Sorry, guys.

This week was mostly uneventful, save one service project and a wedding before our weekend in Panama. We helped the Pavely’s do some construction on their house they’re building. I guess some people decided to bless Spencer and Vanessa with an architect and some funding for a house near the YWAM base. They wanted to use the spare bedrooms for missionaries coming through San Jose. Whoever gave them the money also paid contractors to help build the house. It’s a huge gift, for sure, because they are volunteers just like the rest of us. We helped them do some sanding and dry-walling. We also moved around a bunch of cement bags and toilet bowls to their proper places. This project was labeled as “local outreach”, which I thought was kind of strange, because it was our friends we were helping. Someone told me, however, that this is a good tool for when we go back home. It’s a really easy way to show your friends or your neighbors the love of God, simply by helping them out with big projects like moving or renovation etc.

Our topic for lecture this week was Spiritual Warfare, with our speaker Terry Keith. We talked about the realities of the spiritual world that parallels our own physical realm. These two planes are not independent of one another, but completely interactive. What happens in the physical world has a spiritual counterpart. The biggest thing that stuck out to me was our study of the devil. It was important to know our enemy, and know who we are in Christ. Satan is the ruler of this world. This authority was initially and continually given by us, men and women. It all started in the Garden, when Adam and Eve were tempted into rebellion. The simple act of disobedience was like treason; they didn’t realize it, but they turned themselves over to a new allegiance. One of brokenness and error. We gave the world to him, and it should be us who takes it back, with God’s help.

Ultimately, Satan is a liar and deceiver. That’s really all he is. He blinds people to the truth of God, therefore robbing them of their destiny and inheritance. He tells us lies about ourselves and our situations. He doesn’t want us to know who God is. He doesn’t want us to know God is with us, and God wants to best for us. If we really knew, if we really understood all this…we’d be unstoppable. We need to cling to these truths, and he cannot touch us.

Juan and Amanda got married on Friday. They’re two of our staff, who met on outreach in Nicaragua. Amanda is from the States and Juan is from Mexico. The whole base got dressed up and celebrated the marriage of our two friends on the basketball court. Both of their parents watched via skype. They were all so excited.

Everyone’s visas were running out, so we all had to leave Costa Rica for the weekend. Half of us went to Nicaragua, and the rest went to Panama. I went to Panama. We took a bus to Puerto Viejo, a little town on the Caribbean coast of Cost Rica, to stay the night. We arrived pretty late in the evening and got some ice cream before turning in for the night at our hostel. The next day we took a bus to the Panamanian border, which was quite an adventure. After getting our exit stamp on our passports, we had to walk across this sketchy railroad bridge over the river separating the two countries.

Upon arriving in Panama, we had to buy a bus ticket out of Panama to prove to immigration we weren’t staying. After that, we had to purchase a sticker before we could get our entry stamp. Val and Julia were quite dismayed, because they never had to purchase anything to get into Panama before. We also had to show them all of our money in the immigration office, which was another strange formality our leaders had never experienced. When we finally figured out all that we had to do, we got into a large fifteen passenger taxi and were shuttled to the Caribbean cost of Panama, where we would take a boat to an island called Bocas del Toro. It was huge tourist town, so we hoped to find some backpackers to bless while we were there.

Panama had such a different vibe than Costa Rica. People were really desperate for money, much more than in San Jose. It was really obvious, just looking around, that this was a poorer nation. Little kids would come up to you and offer to clean your shoes or carry you bags to make some cash. At the border, some guy was offering us our immigration papers (which were free) for four dollars apiece. Later, when we were at a beach on the island, more little kids would come up to us with these crazy looking red frogs concealed in leaves and offer to show them to us for some money in return. When we would go to shops, the vendors would get really upset if we left without buy anything. Every other local was trying to sell us drugs, and would also get offended if we declined.

In the taxi on the way to the boat, I met this guy from Spain named Miguel. He was twenty-six and traveling alone for his first time through Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama. His Spanish was really hard to understand, and I think he was getting impatient with my limited abilities, because at one point he simply stopped talking to me. Miguel found some Spanish speakers to hang out with when we got onto the boat, while the rest of us enjoyed the marvelous ride to the island. The breeze was so refreshing, and it was so beautiful to watch the mainland shrink in the distance over the clear blue water.

After settling in our waterfront hostel, we took a bus to the other side of the island to go to Starfish Beach. I’m sure you’ve ever seen those picturesque advertisements for tropical islands…white sand, calm clear waters, palm trees…this was exactly that. It was honestly one of the most beautiful, tranquil places I’ve ever been to. The clouds swirled in the sun above us and the water was as smooth as glass. Sitting in the sand in the shallow waters were about a dozen red starfish. In case you missed it from my previous posts, my camera was ruined in Montezuma in a freak rainstorm. Luckily, my friend’s brought theirs…so there is some evidence on Facebook of this heavenly sight.

Sometime after we arrived at the beach, we ran into Miguel again. He decided to stay and hang out with us. This is where I was able to talk to him more and hear more about his life, with the help of my Venezuelan friend Alisabel. He was a really nice guy, actually. He had also spent the night in Puerto Viejo, but he helped a bunch of baby sea turtles find their way to the sea. We invited him to come eat dinner with us at the hostel, but after he accepted, he ended up disappearing again. We saw him the next day walking down the street, but he didn’t stop to talk to us. Bummer.

For the first time in a long time, I got to see stars at night. San Jose has such horrible light pollution. Saturday night I got to lie on the deck at night and see a couple shooting stars.

Sunday, we left early to go snorkeling with these two German ladies we met at the hostel. The older one, Renate, was the owner of a budget hotel in Alajuela and she was also renewing her visa with her college-aged intern Lisa. Only Lisa spoke English, but Renate thankfully spoke Spanish so I was able to talk with her as well. Our hostel provided daily snorkeling tours through the islands to see the lovely reefs near the shore and the dolphins in the bay. We left really early in the morning from the dock outside the hostel and sped over to see the magnificent dolphins. The bay’s waters were so still, due to the protective barrier of islands circled around us. There were families of dolphins, with their babies, swimming around the boat. We stopped at two reefs to snorkel. Our Panamanian guide tied the boat to a buoy, threw us some masks and told us to jump in. The water was really warm, and pristinely clear. There’s a whole other world beneath the surface. So much color, so many textures and shapes. The fish were almost alien-looking. I felt like I was in Finding Nemo. We even swam next to wild jellyfish.

Between the two reefs, we stopped at a smaller island to hang out Red Frog Beach for a couple hours. Curiously, there were quite a few children emerging from the jungle with leaves folded in their hands. They would approach you and tell you that you may see inside their leaves in exchange for money or food. Inside were the infamous Red Frogs. We would give them food, because we brought a bunch of snacks with us from the hostel, but they were not interested in any further conversation with us. It was very difficult to be intentional with these kids, because they undoubtedly had an objective to make some cash. They would leave us immediately after they got what they wanted, leaving mid conversation. It was such a different dynamic in this country than it is in Costa Rica.

Anyways, my Canadian friend Aryk rented a skim-board and some of us tried doing it for the first time. Most of us fell on our butts, but it was a lot of fun. Lisa joined us playing in the waves. A little before we left for the second reef, I got to sit and talk with Renate, who was lounging under the palm trees watching everyone’s stuff. She had been talking to our German staff worker, Julia, throughout the day and told me she was very impressed with the goals and values of YWAM. She wanted us to come by her hotel sometime, because there were a lot of homeless people and prostitutes in her neighborhood. Renate was not a Christian, but she seemed very interested in what God was calling His people to. Hopefully we can come by her hotel sometime before outreach to bless her neighborhood.

Aryk and I went to look for somewhere to eat for the group while everyone showered. As we walked down the busy main street of Bocas, we saw this man in a wheelchair trying to get over a bump in the road. Some female tourist was trying to help him, but to no avail. She asked us if we could help him, so we did. We got him over his bump, and wheeled him over to the place he stayed. He was obviously very tired, and new to life in a wheelchair. His name was Luis, he was from Nicaragua and he had just moved to Panama. He spoke English, but he might as well have been speaking Spanish; his accent was unbelievably heavy, and his voice was so hoarse from I’m assuming decades of smoking. He owned a boat somewhere in town, but some enemy of his pushed him off of it and he broke his leg on the dock, which was why he was in the wheelchair. He was really thankful for our assistance, expressing it wearily in a couple of fist bumps. He got to pray for him, asking God to heal him. Not sure if He did, because we had to get back for dinner, but believing in faith Luis is no longer in his wheelchair.

Some of us went to this “Mediterranean” restaurant for dinner, inviting Lisa to join us. We got to know her more over our quasi-Greek meal. Sorry, I’m down-playing it because it was basically Latin food with cucumbers and olives. This shouldn’t suggest it wasn’t delicious; it just wasn’t authentic by any stretch of the mind. I mean come on, our waitress was from New Zealand. Anyway, our new friend Lisa…she was a student at a university in Germany studying international business. She was interning in Costa Rica to get “work experience” before she graduated. Even though she was working at a hotel, she had no intention of working in the hospitality business. She wanted to work in Human Resources for car manufacturers, due to lots of problems with working conditions. Lisa thought her internship more of a vacation than work, she said. She was very excited for her parents to visit her this coming week, so she could show them around the country.

Lisa treated us for ice cream, in return for the dinner. We walked up and down the main strip, talking about life and God before returning to the hostel to listen to some live music. Some random French guy had formed a Bob Marley cover band, and were playing until like eleven at night. How random. Lisa gave us her email, and told she wanted to hang out with us again before we left for Peru. I’m really, really hoping we can go to Alajuela to bless our new German friends. Anyway, Monday morning we headed back for Costa Rica. We sped back to the mainland, took a van back to the border, got on a bus and arrived back in San Jose in time for dinner. If only it were that simple and fast. Oh, Latin America.

Praise Reports
- New revelation of the truth of God, and the lies of the Devil. I’ve got to embrace the truth of God’s presence and power in my life.
- We had a very restful and relaxing weekend, enjoying the Lord’s creation and His people.
- We got to bless Luis, the man in the wheelchair, by helping him get home. We made some new friends, who we might have the opportunity to bless in the near future.
- PCC promised me $800 in support for my outreach! My aunt also donated $100. Getting closer and closer! God is so good. Thank you so much, my church and my family, for supporting me. Two third of the way there.

Prayer Requests
- A thankful heart for the daily blessings the Lord gives.
- Wisdom for our leaders as they finish planning our outreach to Peru and Bolivia.
- Unity among our team. Pray that we could have God’s eyes and hearts for one another.
- Finances. As always.
- Rest. Rest. Rest.

The Father of the Homeless and the Prostitutes

I think I can speak for my whole team when I say that this was a very loving and affectionate week for us. Our topic this week was on God’s fatherly heart for his children. What an amazing week. Jack Kody, our speaker from the States, was a kindly old father of four who really put into perspective how God feels about us. It’s kind of indescribable, really. You’d honestly just have to hear him speak for yourself. This man has such an irresistible passion for his wife and kids. He simply lights up when he talks about them. Basically, he told us all about his relationship with his family, and how much he loved his four grown kids. He talked about how their joy was his joy, and their pain was his pain. His kids were his treasures; he knew them all so well and was delighted in seeing them grow. Jack had hopes and dreams for them, especially his two unmarried daughters.

He kept reminding us that God calls us His sons and daughters. God delights in us He delights in us the way Jack does with his kids. More, actually. If Jack, who is imperfect and a sinner, could feel such a strong affection and appreciation for his kids, how much more could our perfect and holy God feel love for us!

One thing that really stuck out to me from his message was this one story he told. Jack told us this story about how he took his oldest child to work with him when she was twelve. He had a painting business, and decided to invite his daughter to come with him to pain this fence. This was a huge honor, for his daughter, because it was the first time he had brought any of his kids with him to work. Jack showed her how to properly hold the brush and stroke with it. He had his daughter paint a head of him, and he would trail behind her finishing it off. The two of them talked and laughed and hung out for hours while painting the fence until it was finished.

This outing of theirs, Jack said, was not about painting a fence. The fence has to be painted, of course, but that’s not why he took his daughter with him. Jack knew how to paint a much better than his twelve year old daughter. He could do it much neater, much faster than she could. He had to fix all the mistakes she made along the way; she’d put too little paint here, a little too much there, she’d miss a spot, or sometimes a few. If Jack cared about the fence, he would have just done it by himself. Jack didn’t care as much about the fence as he did spending time with his baby girl. He wanted to show her what he did every day before coming home for dinner. It’s the same with God. He has work for us to do, both inside and outside of ourselves. But that’s not His main concern, Jack argued. God isn’t about the tasks; He’s about doing those tasks with us. If all He cared about was the work, He’d use His omnipotence and omniscience to get cranking without us. But He cares more about spending time with us.

Doesn't that take off a lot of pressure?

In a very paternal fashion, Jack took me and my friends out twice this week; once to his favorite ice cream shop in San Jose, and then the next day to go bowling. I must say, bowling with a group of Europeans and Latinos was one of the more hilarious experiences of my life.

Friday was the cleaning day for the whole base. In the morning, my German friend Robin and I helped clean up the carpentry shed next to our hut. The shed is for YWAM’s ministry Casas de Esperanza (Homes of Hope) which is an effort to build new homes for poor families in Costa Rica through donations from various outside supporters. They’re currently working on making the furniture for the last house they built. We have yet to be involved with them, as a DTS, but it was cool helping one of the Costa Rican contractors, Giovanny, clean up the work space. We tossed out all the extra unusable pieces of wood that lie scattered around the shed. After that, we swept up all the saw dust and picked up garbage. When we were done with that, I went into the dinning room to help sweep and mop for a couple hours. I was with my Australian friend Scott, and Costa Rican friend Luis. We plugged in Scotts iPod and listened to this sweet reggae band from New Zealand. Fat Freddy’s Drop. Check it out. You’ll love it. Eventually, I ended up washing off and drying tables outside with my Bolivian friend Phillip. Long day. But really enjoyable. I got paired up with fun people.

So that evening was the beginning of a crazy weekend. To begin, let me educate you guys on some contextual stuff. First of all, prostitution is legal in Costa Rica, for adults over the age of 18. Because of this, it’s completely out in the open. You can walk downtown and see women (and men) working at almost every corner. Many of them choose it, but some are coerced. Just because it’s legal doesn’t meant that every prostitute is “self-employed”; there is a significant number of people who have been forced into it through economic leverage. However, due to the legality of prostitution, it deters much of the crime that we associate with it in the States. If force is used, it is largely financial and not violent.

YWAM has a ministry called Freedom Street, which builds friendships with the prostitutes of San Jose. It is not an aggressive initiative; their main objective is actually not to fight against the sex industry. Its purpose is to show love to prostitutes by forming relationships with them that highlight their value outside the ability to have sex. Tuesday and Saturday nights, a team goes downtown to hand out free coffee to the prostitutes and hang out with them during their down time between clients. Before any students can be involved, however, we have to come to several trainings and participate in some prayer nights on behalf of the men and women Freedom Street serves.

Friday night, we went downtown to pray outside the largest brothel in Costa Rica. It is the Hotel Del Rey, located in the heart of the city. It is known around the western world as prime real estate for getting beautiful women for a decent price. There is evidence so suggest that one could even pay for a child prostitute at this hotel. Like I said before, human trafficking is still a very real problem here. Many Americans and Europeans come to this place to get laid. The clientele is, curiously, composed mostly older married men in their fifties and sixties. Although, I did see a father take his teenage son into the hotel and come out with two young women. It was such a strange sight to see. Many of them would walk up, briskly, like a dog with its tail between its legs and their eyes downcast. They knew it was strange. What would some rich old gringos like them possibly be doing in such dangerous part of town? They knew they were being sketchy. We were hoping to get into some conversations with them. I never did, but others were able to.

So there we were, praying on the corner of this intersection. In front of us was Del Rey, with its throngs of lovely young ladies and perverted old men. To our left were the drug dealers, and to the right were the mobsters and the pimps. Here and there were cops roaming around, not really doing anything useful. We were praying for the women in the hotel, and the men coming for their services. We were praying that the women would know that their value is not in their bodies, and that they’re worth more than a one night stand. We prayed for the men, that they would be satisfied with what they had. We prayed for their marriages. We prayed they wouldn’t require this kind of thrill. It was dark, you guys. Really dark. Darker than when we went to feed the homeless at the park.

Watching all this was such a thought provoking experience. There’s a huge supply of women to meet a demand of hungry men. Why, though? Why is there such a high demand? Why is it necessary to have this kind of business available? Why is the supply so bountiful? There’s so much brokenness to behold. Women thinking that their only option is to sell their bodies. Men not valuing their marriages, and men seeing these women as objects. Something is seriously wrong with this picture, wouldn’t you say? I was praying specifically that God would fill these voids with Himself. Satisfaction and wholeness in the name of Jesus!

Now, as we waged silent war on the perversion and corruption of downtown San Jose, we in turn received some quiet retaliation. Our bodies were safe, but our minds and hearts were being attacked with vengeance of the spiritual forces surrounding the practices in front of us. A lot of people were feeling extremely depressed afterwards. After a couple hours of praying, I started to get a panic attack. My chest tightened up and I felt like I couldn’t breathe. I was getting light headed and even nauseas. It was just so strange; I wasn’t worried about my safety, I wasn’t freaked out by what I was seeing…I just started feeling horribly afraid and my body was spiraling into terror. I’m really sensitive to the spiritual. It can be extremely overwhelming.

Unlike other similar experiences, I decided to turn to my friends around me and ask them for prayer. They laid hands on me, and I’d feel fine. Completely fine. When they stopped, I would be swept back into the panic attack. So I would go back to them, over and over again to try and pull myself out of it. They’d lay hands on me, and I would feel okay again, but as soon as they stopped my chest tightened and I couldn’t breathe anymore. Jenny, from Germany, told me just to call on the name of Jesus. What? I thought that’s what I’ve been doing. She told me just to say His name, because it is powerful. He’s already with me, so just acknowledge that truth. So I did. I closed my eyes to pray, and I just said His name. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. JESUS!

The cool thing about being sensitive to the spiritual is that I can not only feel the presence of demons, but I can feel the presence of God, too. When I feel His presence, I get chills. Excitement washes over me. Every hair on my body stands on end. I feel alive. When I called on the name of Jesus on the corner, I felt His presence just like that. It was a like sunshine through the clouds. There He was! There He was! My chest loosened up and I could breathe easily. My stomach stopped churning. I felt like God took my face in His hands and just told me “I’m right here. I didn’t go anywhere.” Cool. I guess we can carry on, then, can’t we?

I wish I were that casual about it. I actually started crying and reciting spoken word as we prayed for the streets. God is so cool. Even though I didn’t see His light shine on the corner, I was able to see it shine on me. I’m looking forward to seeing Him in action.

Saturday I caught up on some homework for lecture. I also got to chat with lots of people back home, which was incredible. That night we received training for identifying human trafficking. We were given various questions to work in to our conversations to see if anything sketchy is going on. This would be a helpful tool when we go out to hang out with the prostitutes, in case we run in to anyone who is not choosing to sell themselves.

Sunday night was pretty wild. We went downtown, again, but this time to wash the feet of the homeless and provide basic first aid for any wounds they might have. YWAM got a donation from the Salvation Army of fifty pairs of shoes and socks to give to the people we would come in contact with, too. We split up into three teams and went to some of the most dangerous parts of San Jose. My team went somewhere near the Red Light district, as the bottom of a little hill where a few men were sitting on the sidewalk. Our Costa Rican leader and driver, Paola, asked them if we could wash their feet from the driver’s seat. They were surprisingly receptive. We got out of our van with our buckets and sponges and got to work.

I thought this would be more awkward, but it felt so natural. I started with a man named Carlos, who was from Cartago. Obviously our similar names were an instant connection. He was really nice, and kept thanking us for coming to the street. I told him that my Spanish was limited, but I wanted him to know that God loved him. Amen, he replied. Carlos had the most delightful smile on his face as we chatted and got his feet scrubbed. When I asked how I could pray for him, he told me very plainly that he had a drug problem. After drying his feet, I put my hands on his shoulders and prayed for him. He held his hands out palms facing up, clearly longing for the Lord to meet him. His face was so peaceful; he just took in what was going on with such thankfulness. Of all the beautiful things I’ve seen in this country…the mountains, the trees, the ocean, the birds, the sunsets…this man’s grateful smile was perhaps one of the most breathtaking.

Someone brought over some new shoes and socks for Carlos, and dressed some wounds on his arms. Apparently, he had a job collecting garbage and that’s how he got the cuts. I’m assuming his drug problem kept him on the streets, though. While they took care of him, I went to another man to wash his feet. He was older, and had a thicker accent I couldn’t understand very well. I started washing his feet, and my other Danish friend Peter was planning on doing some first aid when all of the sudden I heard some commotion to my left. We looked over and saw two of the homeless guys rolling around on the ground and beating each other up about one hundred feet away.

Paralyzed with a homeless man’s feet in my hands, we started to pray aloud. The other homeless guys, who we already cleaned up and gave shoes to, started breaking up the fight and shielding those students who were too close to the brawl. One of the guys fighting pulled out a knife, and Paola immediately yelled at us to get in the van. We had to abandon our stuff and get away from the fight. I reluctantly left my new friend with his soapy wet feet on the sidewalk.

How discouraging! We were having such a cool time, and these two had to ruin it with some silly argument. I sat in the car and watched, feeling slightly defeated. The other homeless men broke up the fight and sent the two belligerent drunkards away. As they yelled out profanities and threw bottles at one another across the street, the remaining people came to our car window and began apologizing. Carlos and another man gathered our stuff we left on the sidewalk and handed it to us.

The guys talking to Paola affirmed our visit to them, saying that they knew why we had come. They knew we were from God, they said. Carlos told Paola that he could see the love in our eyes, and was so thankful for our help. Another man said that the reason why this happened was because the devil knew God wanted to bless them tonight, and he wanted us to leave. They were not discouraged, though. They praised God that He sent us to them with shoes and socks and soap and water and bandages. It was too dangerous to stay any longer, they said, but they assured us that we had done what God called us to do.

The other teams had pretty crazy experiences, too. Some debriefing and prayer were most definitely required when we got home.

Praise Reports
-God kept us safe this weekend, despite the craziness that ensued around us.
-I feel like my eyes are being opened to some really harsh realities, and I feel like God is stirring a new passion in me for the brokenness of the world.
-I got to spend some time catching up with friends and family, which was really refreshing. I got to see my brother on skype, who I haven’t seen in two months.
-I’m up to $800 in support for Peru and Bolivia. $1550 more to go!

Prayer Requests
-Please pray for protection both physically and spiritually. Obviously, there are some risks in ministering to the people we are seeking to bless. There are also, clearly, forces that want to stop us from what we’re doing.
-Pray for this coming weekend, when we go backpacking to Panama. Pray for divine appointments and for opportunities to bless the travelers and backpackers.
-Pray for God to provide the rest of my finances.

Please send me and email, or call me on skype! I miss you!

Trying to be Grateful, and Trying to See with His Eyes

Spencer Paveley, one of our base administrators, spoke this week about worship. We usually think of worship as singing songs, eyes closed with hands raised, and within the four walls of our sanctuaries. Spencer challenged us with the idea that worship is actually meant to be a lifestyle. He described worship as a "response to the revelation of who God is." This could look different depending on the situation, because we respond appropriately to things provided our understanding of something.

Worship is an expression of appreciation and admiration. Although God did not create man solely for the purpose of worship…He actually doesn’t need our validation, or anything really, because He is self-sustaining…it is actually beneficial for us to do so. When we direct our attention on who God is, it changes our perspective. This is because we’re choosing to focus on the best thing there is; the most faithful, the most lovely, the most excellent thing in existence. When we fill our mind with God, we find in Him the peace and freedom we are searching for. It’s good. It’s healthy. To emphasize the benefits, we worshiped significantly more this week through music. It was awesome.

Our responses can vary so much. Some sing their praises. Some dance. Others serve the poor. Others teach or preach about their revelations. You can respond to God by using your gifts. I love to sing in church. I love to write poetry. Perhaps what is truly worshipful is the reason behind our actions. The response is born from a thankful heart.

A thankful heart. Interesting, huh? Spencer challenged us with the idea that we come before God in one of two conditions: gratitude or complaint. He said that there’s no middle ground. Either you are satisfied or you are not. Wow. You know what I realized this week? I am not a grateful person. I always seem to be thinking about what I don't have, or what I could have, or am not, or could be or whatever. It's not very like me to focus on what God has blessed me with. Maybe this is the key to my dissatisfaction; I’ve been struggling a lot with boredom. Lecture has been too basic for me. Our schedule is getting kind of dull. Feeling like what we’re doing has no value. These thoughts are coming from a heart filled with complaint!

But is not God the giver of good gifts, like it says in the book of James? Does He not lavish His love on us continuously, every second of every day, like it says in Romans? Every breathe I take, every beat my heart makes is all because of His grace and love. He has abundance for us. He said, in John, that He came to bring us life to full. This word from Spencer was very, very convicting. Something to pray about, for sure. Something to

Wednesday night we had a really fun time. These are designated as our Family Nights. We had a team of high school students from Colorado with us this week, so we had a full house. We had music going on and dancing. There was a spontaneous jump rope competition, after an intense limbo session. People were playing hacky sack and foosball. Lots of laughs.

Vanessa, Spencer’s wife, invited us over to their house to hang out one afternoon. It was really relaxing. She had tea and bread for us, and we all just kind of hung out for a couple hours. We watched youtube videos and played hacky sack.

After that, we had lunch and had a bonfire at the base. Why, you might ask? In the middle of the day? We were burning our “soul ties.” Vanessa introduced to us, back when she spoke in week three, the idea of “soul ties.” As cheesy as I think it sounds, it’s actually a really heavy topic. A soul tie is an intimate connection human beings make with others. They can be healthy or unhealthy, but either way they are influential in our lives. Healthy soul ties occur between loving parents and their children, or loyal friendships. An example of an unhealthy soul tie would be a negligent or abusive parent or even a cheating lover. The fire was open to anyone who wanted to proclaim freedom from their past; any abuses, heartbreaks or regrets that plagued us. It was really cool to see people write these things down and throw them in the fire. Some people even threw out clothing. We got to pray for them, and exalt healing and freedom in Jesus. I’ll say that I even made a step in that direction…but that’s between me and God. Hallelujah.

I got a new backpack after the fire. Isaac, the guy who runs the kitchen, took me downtown to buy a good backpack for traveling. We took the bus to the main shopping strip, and we bought this sweet, black high sierra 75-liter backpack at a gun shop. Kind of a random place to buy it, but I finally got it! It made this weekend so much more enjoyable.

We went downtown again to feed the homeless, this time to the red light district. It was a little more sketchy than the first time…just because of our location…but it went so much better. I prayed beforehand that God would reign and the enemy would be silenced. I proceeded with caution, nonetheless, but ended up having a cool encounter with an older Nicaraguan man named Victor. Carole, one of my leaders, and I chatted with him while one of my friends Luis translated. For a while, he was trying to teach Carole Spanish, and pointed out to us that we were gringos...but then all of the sudden he started asking about Jesus. He said he didn't know Him, but he wanted to.

Victor started crying and hitting himself in the chest, because his "heart was empty and longing." We asked him if we could pray for him, and if he wanted to accept Jesus into his heart. He said yes, so we laid hands on him. Luis led him in a prayer in Spanish while Carole and I held his hands. At some point during the prayer, as Luis and Victor called on the Holy Spirit, I felt something descend on us. Something so contrastingly opposite of what I felt the last time we went to the streets; light. Every hair on my body stood on end, a chill of excitement ran up my spine, my hands tingled and I couldn't help but smile. I really think Victor met Jesus that night. Before he left us to go find somewhere to sleep, Victor asked us to pray for his asthma. I prayed for healing, while Luis translated, and declared wholeness and peace in his life. He thanked us with some sincere fist-bumps, and told us he believed he would be okay. He was exhausted; Luis walked him to the shelter around the corner where he could sleep. Highlight for sure.
Eight of us went backpacking this weekend to this little town called Montezuma. We took a bus to the coast, and then a ferry across the peninsula to another bus, finally to arrive at our destination. I think I liked the traveling aspect more than anything this weekend. I got to spend some time with Merlin, our non-English-speaking friend from El Salvador for two hours on the bus entirely in Spanish. I loved the boat ride, too. It was simply gorgeous. The sun was setting and the clouds were ablaze with color.

We spent most of the weekend just walking around and exploring the beach. We played in the waves for a little while, before coming back to the hostel to make lunch. I think a lot of us were pretty tired, so we didn’t end up doing very much. Nonetheless, it was very nice. I must say, it was kind of strange, too. I’ve never been to a place like this before. Montezuma is a party town on the beach. The downtown is about as big as our YWAM base, full of souvenir shops, vendors, restaurants and hostels. You can do pretty much anything during the day. You can go for a hike to the waterfalls, rent motorcycles, go snorkeling, go horseback riding, go zip-lining, learn to surf or even take a yoga class. At night, everything shuts down except for one bar in the center of the town. Everyone goes to the bar at night. Everyone. Alcohol is cheap. Drugs are cheap. Prostitutes are cheap. It’s really hot in Montezuma, so most people walk around in their bathing suits. There are a lot of young singles with gorgeous bodies running around in the jungle and the beaches. Our first night there, I actually saw two people having sex on the beach right outside our hostel. We were offered marijuana and cocaine like three times in one hour when we went downtown to check out the vendors.

Someone said that Montezuma has a population of under one hundred, and the rest are all tourists and backpackers. We met a lot of Canadians and a lot of Europeans. They were all either on vacation for the weekend, or fleeing their home countries to do something different than what they have been doing. Some were in Costa Rica for volunteer work, and taking the weekend off to party. We got to talk with some people here and there about it and it was very interesting. There was such a vibe of waywardness to this place. Not a lot of people knew what was next for them.

After exploring the beach, dinner and a worship session, we went downtown for the evening to “practice” loving on the travelers. Like I said before, everyone was at the bar. If not inside it, they flooded the street outside. Loud reggae music was playing across the street, combating the hip hop and r&b blasting from inside the bar. We prayed and split up into pairs, hoping God would cross our paths with someone to bless. Julia and Val, our leaders, told us to look for opportunities to get to know people and look for opportunities to share God’s love with them. They suggested buying someone a drink or dinner, or inviting them to hang out with us tomorrow when we went hiking. Bold moves, huh? A little intimidating, I would say. Val and I bought some guy a beer, but it didn’t go anywhere. We ended up sitting on the sidewalk with all these other people drinking and smoking. Val said sometimes it’s best just to pray for the others. We could see our friends talking with people, so we just prayed that they would be able to share God’s love with them. My friend Aryk, from Canada, was on fire this weekend! He was so bold, and got into so many rich conversations with the travelers.

It was a strange experience. I had never been to a place like this before. At first, I found myself judging the people around me. I would never do any of this. Why would I leave my home to come all the way down here to get wasted and hook up with random people? Why would anyone want to invest in such a journey? As I sat there on the sidewalk with Val, the clouds started to part in my mind. They’re looking for pleasure; they’re looking for satisfaction. They want to experience something more than what their normal lives offer. Some want to see something beautiful; human beings, mountains, rivers, the ocean. Others want to feel significant, like they’re doing something matters; volunteer work, language school. They want to feel joy, unspeakable joy; cheap alcohol, plentiful drugs. What can placate these thirsty and hungry people? God. They’re looking for God. They don’t know it, and maybe I don’t either, but I think that’s what they’re ultimately searching for; the love of God.

I felt God speak to me as I looked around at the partiers. Luke 15 came to mind, where Jesus tells parables of the lost sheep, coin and prodigal son. The shepherd leaves the ninety nine to find the one lost sheep, and the widow sweeps here entire house until she finds her coin. The Father rejoices and throws a party when His son returns to Him. God reminded me that these people before me were His lost treasures. They were His sheep and His coins. They were His sons and daughters. He wanted them back. He didn’t want them to numb their pain with substances. He didn’t want them to give away their bodies for validation. He wanted them to know that He loved them.

Pray that God would give me His eyes and His heart for the backpacker community.

The next day, we were going to go see the infamous waterfalls of Montezuma. You could get to them by walking upstream along this little river by the hostel. It was beautiful. Chris and I never made it all the way there, unfortunately. We only saw a little one, but there were supposedly bigger and better ones further up. We walked along the riverside trail for a good while until out of nowhere it started pouring rain. You guys, this was what I envisioned the Great Flood to have been. I was drenched from head to toe within seconds. I got water in places I never knew I had! Chris didn’t feel like trekking through the storm, and I had my camera with me, so I thought it better to just go back as well. We walked through the shower for like twenty minutes and got back to the hostel to dry out our clothes.

I thought my daypack was waterproof, which is why I brought it, but it apparently is not. My camera got soaking wet, and no longer works. Of course.

Praise Report
-God is speaking to me. Very clearly. I’ve been receiving so much revelation.
-Great time with the homeless this week.
-We got to experience God’s glorious creation on the beach this weekend.

Prayer Requests
-Pray for Victor, wherever he is. Pray for God to lead him, and to heal him.
-Pray for a thankful heart. I want to be grateful for every breathe.
-Pray that I would have God’s eyes and heart for the backpackers.
-Finances, as always. Please pray for provision.
-PRAY FOR REST.

View From Above

Our speaker this week was the founder of the base, Giacomo Coghi. He talked about having a Biblical worldview, or as PCC refers to it, a kingdom perspective. As Christ-Followers, we need to see ourselves as citizens of Heaven. When we come into the family of God, we also enter in to a new system of society. In light of our “naturalization” to this new kingdom, we inevitably have to adopt new standards to live by. This week we talked about what God values, in contrast to what the world values. We can see what God values through looking at what He commands of us; His heart is revealed in the things He wants us to do.

Why does He tell us not to covet our neighbor’s wife (or his other stuff)? Because He wants us to be content with what we have. Why does He say not to lie? Because God values authenticity. Why did Jesus tell Peter he would be a fisher of men? Because people matter to God, and that’s what He wants us to focus on. It’s so interesting looking at the core of what God tells us. There’s so much more going on that just what we read with our eyes. These commands are the fruits of something deeper inside God’s heart. In addition to our studies of the Bible, we tried to analyze various social problems through the lens of a biblical worldview. Worldview drives societies. For example, human trafficking is a fruit of the belief that people are commodities, rather than individuals created in God’s image. Racism and segregation are fruits of the idea that some people are better than others. It was a very interesting, thought provoking week. The idea that “a tree is known by its fruit” makes me want to discover what other roots lie beneath the surface of society.

Giacomo presented us with a very striking, but simple, question at the beginning of the week: why are we here? After showing us this awesome slideshow which documented 50 years of YWAM adventures happening all over the world, our base leader challenged us to think about what God might have for us here in San Jose. Good question, don’t you think? God obviously brought me here. He confirmed it time and again that I was supposed to come; everything worked out as it was supposed to; He paved the way and provided everything as needed. But…why? Why did He go to such lengths to bring me to this little country? How will these few months away from home shape the rest of my life? What treasures has God hidden for me? What new adventures is He beckoning me towards? Exciting to ponder, isn’t it?

Perfect timing, I thought, to bring this up. I was certainly feeling sucked into the routine of our quasi-monastic lifestyle. A lot of us have been kind of bored, even jaded with what we’ve been doing. But that’s not what God brought me here for, is it? No way. God is a God of abundant life. There’s always something new to discover, always something profound or amazing to experience.

On Wednesday, a DTS from Korea made us dinner. It was a nice change, to have something other than beans and rice. Don’t get me wrong; I love Costa Rican food. But I also love Korean food, and I didn’t think I’d get the chance to have that until I got home!

The whole DTS went northeast to Monte Verde this Thursday and Friday. We stayed at this crazy hostel up in the mountains. Everything was painted with these really vibrant murals, and there was a pool table. They spoiled us for breakfast, lunch and dinner…but that’s another story. We came to hear the testimony of this one of the guys who managed it. Ricardo was a Christ-follower, formally gay and formally a Quaker, and was married with three kids. He told us his story…which was so unbelievably long and complicated…and the history of the Quaker community his parents founded. Basically, a bunch of pacifists from Alabama fled the United States during the Korean War, and started a village in the mountains of Costa Rica. The story was supposed to be related to the ideas of worldview and how it impacted the community of Monte Verde. I’m still trying to figure out how it did, but it was interesting nonetheless.

Quakers in Monte Verde have evolved into a modern hippy movement. They are peacefully on the search for truth, and they’ll look for it however they can, whether it’s in drugs, music, art, extreme sports or whatever. Monte Verde is like the Santa Cruz of Costa Rica; very eclectic, very earthy, very alternative. Ricardo wanted to show his parents Christ’s love so badly, because they had lost sight of Him over the years. His parents were very old and feeble, but still had this huge farm up in the mountains. We were given the odd task of re-blazing trails around his parent’s farm. His dad was the original blazer of these amazing trails, but could no longer wield his machetes and hacksaws the same way he once did. So we went into the rainforest surrounding the farm and cleared the paths. We walked along, hacking away at overgrown bushes and sawing in half fallen trees that blocked the path. Eventually, everyone was split up in pairs all over the forest. Lennart and I sawed two trees and moved them from the trails, but then we just walked around since the people before us already removed other trees and stumps. We followed the trail really far, kept slipping in the mud and swatting these monster bugs off of each other. We almost got lost, but we found some of our other friends and then we found Ricardo, who led us back to the hotel.

And of course, once again, I did not have my camera for this. I know. I know. You all want your money back. You never want me to come home. I know. I know. It was raining, okay? It was raining! I didn’t want to ruin my camera! Anyways, other people took pictures, so I’ll direct you guys via Facebook to those images when they’re uploaded. The rain forest is something else, you guys. It’s so dense. It’s so full of life. There are so many different kinds of plants, so many animals and birds. God made such a beautiful world; He is truly an artist. The colors are so vibrant, the textures are so diverse. You really can’t help but feel close to God in His creation. He continuously keeps reminding me how big and complex He is. I encourage you to go be with God outside. Go for a hike at Edgewood Park. Go to the beach this weekend (God willing the weather is good.) Let God reveal himself to you through His glorious works.

For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.
Romans 1:20

Friday was quite a day. After breakfast, we went zip-lining! Supposedly, these were the longest, highest and fastest zip-lines in Costa Rica. Obviously, I was quite nervous at first. I hate heights. I hate speed. I opted to be one of the last people to go, but when I finally did, I loved it! We took a “sky tram” (6-person ski lift) to the top of the mountain after our practice run. We could basically see the entire country of Costa Rica, the Pacific and Caribbean coasts lay bare at the bottom of either side of the mountain. Right below us was the rainforest. This was such a unique experience, because I got to enjoy God’s creation from above…at 50 miles per hour, no less. How weird! We went on nine zip-lines all the way back down to where we started. I got to see that same rainforest I was hiking through the day before from over two hundred feet above the canopy. You really feel like you’re flying. I would recommend zip-lining to anyone. Let’s go when I come back home, okay? We’re gonna have a blast.

On our way back to the base, we found out there was a 6.0 Earthquake in Cartago. All the staff on the base said they felt it, but there was no damage anywhere in the country and no casualties. Crazy stuff. We had a gnarly thunderstorm Saturday afternoon. It doesn’t rain in Redwood City like it rains here. Nor do the thunder and lightning come with such force. It literally makes you jump when it strikes.

I was feeling extremely overwhelmed on Saturday night. My Canadian friend Aryk was organizing a neighborhood worship session in this little park next to the grocery store. He wanted to establish a presence of YWAM in the neighborhood, especially because there were so many college students around. At the same time, YWAM’s prostitution ministry was having a prayer and worship gathering, and was planning on going out to the streets that night. I wanted to do both. But then again, I had stuff I had to finish like our weekly journals and book reports (which I still haven’t finished.) Even more, Giacomo’s question for us this week still haunted me and demanded more meditation and prayer. I just didn’t know what to do. I finally decided I wanted to go to the prostitution thing, because I figured I wouldn’t have this opportunity in the states (prostitution is legal here, and therefore decreases the risks involved.) In my hurry, I forgot about the rain and slipped off my porch and landed on my tailbone. Ouch. I decided not to go, and I ended up not doing anything productive that evening. This kind of depressed me for a few days, but I'm doing much better now.

Kind of a crappy end to the week, but it was a good one overall.

Praise Report:
-I’m continuing to conquer my fears, and live in the freedom of Jesus.
-God has stirred a renewed excitement for my time here, thanks to Giacomo’s question.
-One of our friends was blessed a great deal, financially. I’m gonna post a separate blog about that.

Prayer Requests:
-Finances, as always. I’m about to write an official update about that.
-Self-discipline for my quiet times, still. I’m hopeless.
-Healing for my tailbone.
-Intentionality and deliberation as I try to embrace every day I have here. Pray against apathy and complacency, and against falling into the routine.