Sunday, August 26, 2012

The Journey to Costa Rica.....

Over the last couple of months, people have been asking how this journey to Costa Rica has started. I could give you the short version, but I will give you the LONG version but in multiple blog post. I  want you to understand my heart and my passion and how God has lead me to this journey. If you missed the first post, here is the link for it.

Here is a blog post the I wrote in September of 2011. It explains my heart for Latin American people and it is one of the first blog post of my journey to moving to Costa Rica from my other blog


Heading back to Costa Rica.....


About 2 years ago, my church, The Well  was going through the book of Nehemiah. The message that night was talking about Holy Discontent. As I was sitting there at the table with my high school students, I began to write in my journal a prayer. It was simple. "Lord show me what my holy discontent is" Little did I know the journey that God was going to take me on. 


You see I have always had a heart for Latin American people. Maybe that is because it is my culture. I have seen how the culture treats women, how Americans treat them and how faith is a religion and not a relationship. I just didn’t know what or where I fit in, or what I was supposed to do.
At the beginning of 2010, I found out that WSM was going to take some high school students to Costa Rica. Now let me explain some things. 1. I heart mission trips! 2. I heart high school students. 3 It has been a dream of mine to take students on mission trips again. OK now that you know that, you can see how excited I was that they were going. 
 
After praying about it, I felt as though I was supposed to go. And I did :) I feel in love with Costa Rica. With the culture, the language, the people. While I was there, I got the chance to talk to the director. I explained to him what had been on my heart. He asked if I thought about CR and honestly at the time, I didn’t. I asked that he give me a year to pray about it. I had never thought about going there and I felt as though I needed more time to process that thought and be in prayer.

So I prayed about it when I got back. I wrote in my journal then put it on the shelf for a few months. I didn’t want to be consume by it, but I wanted to pray and let God do his work. In the spring of 2011, we started to plan for another trip to CR. I knew that I was supposed to go on this trip again. This time I was going to be able to co-lead the team and with that I was going to be able to go to each site. 


I started to pray again. I knew that God was doing something, but I wasn’t sure. It had been a year since I had been in the country and I wasn’t sure if I was going to have the same heart or passion for it. I told just a hand full of my closets friends about what I felt God doing in my life, in my heart. 

 
So July came and we left to CR. We (the team) were gone for 14 days. During the last week we were there, I met with the CR director and his wife. We talked about a lot of things, but mainly we talked about me possibly moving to CR and being apart of the SI staff.  I told them that I needed a few more months to pray and that I wanted to come back. 
Well it has been 2 months, since I have been back home.  I am currently in LA and by 2:25 am, my plane will leave for Costa Rica. See I have filled out my application for SI. I am currently getting ready to head back and live life there for a week, have my interview and  see what God is wanting me to do. I am nervous, excited, and scared. Nervous because I am traveling alone internationally for the first time, excited because I am going back to a place I love and get to do some mission work there. Scared that I will go there and God would have changed my heart. It is hard to believe that 2 years ago, I prayed a simple prayer and the journey he has walked me through. 
Here is what I ask from you::
     Prayer, Prayer, Prayer
     Pray that God will give me travel mercies. 
     Pray that He will continue to guide me in this process. That HIS will be done.
     Pray that God will open doors for me or close them. All I want to do is HIS will.

Sunday, August 19, 2012

San Jose.....

Over the last couple of months, people have been asking how this journey to Costa Rica has started. I could give you the short version, but I will give you the LONG version but in multiple blog post. I  want you to understand my heart and my passion and how God has lead me to this journey. If you missed the first post, here is the link for it.

San Jose....

After Romania, I came home and felt kind of lost. I wasnt really sure what the next step was or how long God was going to take before he would tell me where he wanted me to go. So I went back to work and back to routine. 



Around 2006, I was ready for a change.  I was ready to MOVE. But where was I going to go, I had no idea. So I started to pray.  I prayed that God would guide me, show me where he wanted me to go. I wanted to make sure that I was going to be in His will and not my own. I looked at Santa Barbara, LA, San Francisco, Seattle, and San Jose as possible choices to move. I had prayed that God would open the door for the place he wanted me to move to and close the doors to the other places. So he did, and the only option that was left was San Jose or Fresno. I felt God was giving me the option to either stay or move. He had provided me a place to move into, a job in San Jose,  so I took the step of faith and moved.


I moved to San Jose in August of 2007 and lived there for 2 years. During that time, I met some amazing people there who help shaped my life and my time there. Friends that I  hold dear to my heart. Friends that I still keep in contact with and that I see as often as possible. 


San Jose was good for me. I learned a lot about myself there and lot about my relationship with God. But it wasnt till I moved back to Fresno that I saw the reason why God had moved me there. You see, I knew that if God wanted to move me from Fresno again, that I could do it. I had already done it once. I just didnt know where and if he wanted me to move. 



 It wasn't till the following year that He will start to show me HIS plan for my life.




 

Sunday, August 12, 2012

Romania

Over the last couple of months, people have been asking how this journey to Costa Rica has started. I could give you the short version, but I will give you the LONG version but in multiple blog post. I  want you to understand my heart and my passion and how God has lead me to this journey. If you missed the first post, here is the link for it.


Romania...

 In 2003, the church that I was at took 16 students and 4 leaders to Romania for a 2 week mission trip. It was my first time in eastern Europe and my first time in that country. For the 2 weeks that we were there, we got to stay with host families, we did VBS at a church and got to go to the capital for a few days. It was a great trip and while I was there I felt God calling me back.

The following year, I decided to spend my summer there. I would be going back to Romania with 2 of my friends for the whole summer. My last day of work was in a Friday and the next day I was on the van heading to LAX to catch a flight.

The first month there, we stayed in the same city. We all lived together with the pastor and his family. It did take some time to get used to living in a city and being in a country that I didnt know the language. They spoke Hungarian and I didn't. They had mineral water, which I didnt like but they had vanilla coke which was amazing.While we were there, we got to do VBS with the kids, did an outreach ministry with the Gypsys and put on a camp for a nearby village.

The second month we traveled every week to a different village. The first week we join another team and did a camp for the Gypsy's in a nearby town. Then we went to another village for a week and did a VBS day camp for nearby villages. This was the first time that I had visit villages that had never heard the gospel and I felt like there was more I should be doing but couldn't.
You see during this trip we kept seeing children and young adults place their faith in Christ but I wanted to know what the next step was. Who was going to disciple them, mentor them, continue to teach them who Christ is. My director said that it would be the local church that we worked with, but for me that wasn't enough. At the time, there was 15-20 small churches that 1 pastor would over see. Meaning that there was 15-20 small churches that he was in charge of disciplining, training and leading. And I couldn't see how any one person could do that. I felt as though there had to be more that we could do, more that I could do but I wasn't sure what more was or how I fit in to that. So I prayed, prayed that God would show me where he wanted me. Was it here in Romania, was it now?

Our last stop was at one of our translators home. We got to teach English to young adults and then was able to give our testimonies to those who wanted to stay and hear it. By the end of our time we had about 30 people staying after class. We did a bible study, sang worship songs and shared the gospel. We saw lives being changed.

At the end of our 2 month there, we met up with our 2 week team and headed to Budapest, Hungary to debrief and process everything that we have learned over the last 2 months. During this time, one of my dearest friend, Susan was there. She had came with the 2 week team. It was great to have her there, she helped me process everything, prayed with me and encouraged me. It was during that time that I heard God tell me not here, not yet. See those where the questions that I needed answered. He told me that I was not called to Romania and it wasn't my time to go yet. So I came back to Fresno, I came back to work, doing youth ministry and trying to figured out where God wanted me to go.

5 years later, God started to let me know where that was.....

Monday, August 6, 2012

Mission Trip to Mexico.....

Over the last couple of months, people have been asking how this journey to Costa Rica has started. I could give you the short version, but I will give you the LONG version but in multiple blog post. I  want you to understand my heart and my passion and how God has lead me to this journey. If you missed the first post, here is the link for it.


Mission trip to Mexico...

When I was in high school, I went on my first mission trip. Where was it, MEXICO! Now keep in mind I have grown up going to visit family in Mexico, so for me this was not that big of a culture shock. But it was different then what I was used to. I  was used to going and hanging out with family, playing soccer and eating good food that my Tia's (Aunt) made. This trip I slept on a sleeping bag, was lucky if I could take a shower and the food was ok. But what I did love, was playing with the kids, telling them about Jesus and just showing them Christ love. I also saw a lot of little girls that looked like the one I met so many years ago with my dad. At the time, it was just a fun trip for me to go and spend a week with my friends in Mexico. I kept going every year and then one year God changed my mindset and my heart.

It wasnt anything special, just another trip to Mexico, but this time my Mom came with me. I was working for a church in their youth department and we need another translator. So after many nights of praying, my mom agreed to come with me. For me it was amazing to see my mom there. leading a women's study and loving on the pastors wife. On this trip, God showed me that there was more to be done here. That there was still people there that didnt understand that it is a relationship with him that he wanted. I was overwhelmed with the feeling of helplessness when I came home. There was so many people in Mexico, back home and all over the world that didn't know God, that didnt have a relationship with him. I didnt know what God wanted me to do. I prayed and remember feeling as though this was just the beginning of something bigger that God was stirring in my life.

Sunday, August 5, 2012

How is started....

Over the last couple of months, people have been asking how this journey to Costa Rica has started. I could give you the short version, but I will give you the LONG version but in multiple blog post. I  want you to understand my heart and my passion and how God has lead me to this journey.

How it started...

I am a first generation American from my dad's side of the family. So I grew up going to Mexico on a regular basis. I have pictures of me when I was little but honestly i dont really remember it that much. My first real memory was when I was 10 or 11. I had went with my dad to visit family. I remember going to the flea market and being amazed by sight, smells and things. There were people there asking for money or food but that didnt brother me. I was just in awe be how big it was. I also remember going to the pyramids ruins and taking pictures with the mummy's. But for me it was one night that my dad took me to el centro (center of town) that sticks out in my mind.


You see it had been a long day and we would be going home in 2 days. So my dad took me to get a fruit cup. He knew that I loved them and had to have at least one everyday. We sat there and watch the people talk and some dance to the music in the background. My dad asked me if I was having fun with my cousins and if I liked it there. Before I could reply, this little girl came to us. She was about 4 years old. Her hair was down but had tangles in it, she had a dress that was brown from the dirt. She didnt have shoes and she looked like she hadnt taken a shower in weeks. She asked my dad in the sweetest voice if he had any pesos. My dad looked at me and then gave her 5.00 worth of them. She was so excited, she ran to her mom and showed her and she told my father gracias. I asked my father why that little girl looked liked she did. He told me that, there are people here that are less fortunate then us and it was our responsibility to help them when we can. That we are blessed and shouldnt take that for granted.

I knew right there and then that I wanted to help people. I wanted to help that little girl. How I was going to do that i didnt know but I felt as though God had placed that desire to help those who need it.

This blog...

 (sunrise: on the way to CR last year)

for those who dont know, i have been planning to move to costa rica for the last 8 months to be apart of the Student International team.  i do have another blog that i have been updating on a regular basis on my journey, but i have been thinking about starting another blog that is just focused on my journey before and during my time in costa rica. so here it is. 

this blog will be about my journey to costa rica and the work that i will be doing there. It will be about my day to day life, prayer request and the many lessons that god will teach me. I hope you enjoy reading about my life and time in cr but mainly i hope that you see why god has called me there. 

love 
R