Nicole's CR adventure: Shouldn't there be snow?

I’m going to admit it: I started playing Christmas music last night already… I couldn’t help it! One of my roommates strung up Christmas lights around her bed, and so I pulled out the Michael Buble Christmas tunes! It was great, but also slightly weird/sad because there’s no snow outside, so it feels like summer. The nights are actually fairly fresh these days though because we’re in the rainy season, so that makes it nice to sleep.

So I feel like I have a fair amount to share because I haven’t blogged in a bit. Two weeks ago we had a speaker, Jack Kody, who spoke on the topic of the Father Heart of God. This was an amazing week because Jack demonstrated so clearly what the Father’s love for us is like. I feel so blessed because I have an amazing earthly dad, who sets a great example for me and for what a father figure should be like. So for me, seeing God as a Father wasn’t a huge struggle for me, but of course I still learned so much. For others though, that week was a life changing experience because many didn’t have good father figures, or even fathers at all. Jack definitely started a healing process for their hearts which is awesome!

Last week was a highly anticipated week among the DTS and staff because it was Inner Healing Week. That basically means that all of the issues in your life that you are holding onto or haven’t forgiven yourself/others for, you get out in the open and receive healing from God! It was definitely an emotional week for a lot of people, and God did amazing work in everyone’s heart. The first three days of the week we had teaching on what causes roots of different issues such as: rejection, shame, rebellion, unbelief (etc). With these issues one thing leads to another which leads to another…but the basis of all of them is a deficit of love. As humans, our biggest desire is to be loved. When that isn’t fulfilled, roots start to grow in our hearts which lead to big problems if we don’t deal with them.

The last two days of the week were reserved for sharing with one another, breaking soul ties, forgiving people in our lives, and most importantly forgiving ourselves. It was such a powerful time because many people had never told anyone about the things that had happened in their life, so we prayed for courage and boldness. I’m proud of everyone, and it’s amazing to see how getting issues out in the open can help a person begin to heal, and also to help unite a group. It was also a time for me to give up my chocolate addiction, so for the whole week I went without chocolate and sweets. Looking back, it was poor timing because that was probably the week I could have used chocolate the most!

Besides classes though, there’s been a lot going on at the base. I’ve decided I love Sundays because it’s a day where everybody on base is literally just hanging out together. We have church in the morning (which is in Spanish so it really tests your language abilities), and then after that the day is free to hang out, do homework, or play sports. You will literally watch at least one soccer game on Sunday if not more! A lot of the time someone is making tacos or BBQ-ing, so I like to steal some and go chat with someone. It’s such a great time of building community, which I love.

On Saturdays we have local outreach sometimes, and last Saturday we did something really cool! We went around to different womens’ homes who are apart of a women’s group at one of our DTS leader’s (Vanessa) church. We went in groups of two, one English speaker and one Spanish speaker and just talked with them and prayed for them. Most of them come from really poor areas of San Jose, so going to their homes was a shock for a lot of us. For me, the woman whose house I visited, lives with fourteen other people in a tiny little shack. It was heart breaking, but so awesome too because she was so hopeful and on fire for God and ready for change. We prayed a lot for her and her family, and it was such a blessing to spend the afternoon with her.

Saturdays are often free though, and one weekend I went down town with a local Costa Rican and got shown around! It was cool because I saw the Central Market with all the neat food, clothes, and knick knacks and then we walked to a beautiful park. It was a blessing because I feel like I haven’t seen that much nature in awhile, plus it was a sunny day! Basically weekends are an awesome time for exploring and doing new things!

The most exciting thing around the base right now though is the announcement of outreach locations for the last two months of DTS. This morning the staff let us know we would be split into two teams, one is going to two Central American countries (Guatemala and El Salvador) and the other team is going to Brazil. They’re both really exciting locations and we’re all praying about where God wants us to go. The Brazil location is double the cost of the Central American one, which is hard to swallow but we’re trying to not worry about cost because God can provide for us in any situation if that’s where He wants us! Prayer for decision making would be appreciated!

This week we have a speaker in from Arkansaw, John Ray. He’s speaking on the topic of finding our identity in Christ. He is such an incredible speaker and is really challenging us! Class is a mixture of him speaking and us discussing as a group which is perfect because it keeps you engaged which is essential for absorbing ideas. I’m excited for the rest of the week, and what he has to teach us. He’s an outdoorsy, crazy, adrenaline- seeking guy, so for tomorrow’s class we’re going to the beach for class which I’m stoked about! Enjoy your week!

-Luke 11: 1-13