Wow, time flies here, I see I haven written for about a week... which means I've been really busy and learning a lot! I love it here. It's great. I'm so glad I have had the opportunity to come on Project... and especially in Costa Rica! God is good and He is doing amazing things in a lot of people's lives this summer.

This weekend we went up to Monteverde (a small town/cloud forest way up in the mountains in Costa Rica) to refresh ourselves, enjoy Costa Rica, and just relax to prepare for the second half of Project. Our team went horseback riding through the mountains and ziplining through the rain forest, it was SO amazing!

I had a lot of time to reflect on the first half of Project... it has been so good. I am learning a lot about making the decision to let the Holy Spirit guide me through eachday completely and not depend on my own strength b/c full time ministry is exhausting!! but let me tell you, the Holy Spirit provides.

Last Thursday morning I led a devotional for our team. At first I was really nervous, because I had never led anything like that at Project yet and everyone here is so wise... but it was good, I enjoyed it and learned a lot. I led the team through making the decision each day to love the way God wants us to love. I chose to speak about love because I read something earlier in the week that said.... (more to come, I have to go eat supper :) I'll return soon... thanks for reading!!)

Well today is Thursday and it's almost the end of the week... which means it is our mid-Project retreat, I can't believe Project is almost half over!!! Time is flying! But at the same time, it is going to be so good to refresh and refill ourselves so we can go back out on campus next week in full force spreading God's word.

I never imagined how exhausting full time ministry is, I know I'm only getting a few weeks glimpse at full time ministry, but it is amazing and eye opening. I love it down here and I love being able to spread God's love and word. Not going to lie... it is really tiring and exhausting, but I am learning so much from it and how important it is to depend on the Holy Spirit and not myself. Loving it!! It's not always easy, but it is good, and I am learning and growing. I feel like I am also becoming more bold with being able to share and I pray that God continues to grow me in that way. I am excited to go back to my campus this fall... even though I am going to have a really hard time leaving here. I love everything about my time down here and being able to just love on the students at the University of Costa Rica.

One of my roommates had to go to the ER last night down here because she is really sick. Thankfully so was able to return after a few hours at the hospital and after receiving some IV's to make her feel better for the time so she could sleep comfortably. But please pray for her and our team. Sickness is never fun and she just wants to go back out on campus and get out of bed. It has been 5 days now, so we pray for a fast recovery from here on out. And just pray as well that we as a team can stay healthy and continue to fight on God's battlefield down here in Costa Rica :)

I again just want to thank all of you so much for your support. It is amazing to see God working in our team and in Costa Rica this summer (and myself) I love it!!

Last night we had to say good bye to Tatiana and Carlos, the national directors for Campus Crusade in Costa Rica because they are heading off to CM2007 in South Korea and then staff training in Colorado. It was sad to say good bye to them!! They are just amazing and have a huge heart for the students at UCR and I've loved working with them. Our team went up to their house to have a goodbye dinner. We also were able to meet the couple who will be joining staff this next coming year with Tatiana and Carlos as national directors. They are all aware of my heart for Costa Rica and praying for me to return for Stint for a year after I graduate. I will just keep praying, but it was awesome being able to build relationships with the staff here in Costa Rica because I would be serving God with them if I do Stint. So that was neat. Either way, I am really excited for what God has in store here on the University of Costa Rica's campus.

Today I met with one girl that my sharing buddy and I have already met with 2 times before this. Her name is Jessica and she is just full of questions and seeking the Lord, but still full of questions. We ran out of time with her today, but we asked if she would like more time to ask us questions and learn more about how she can recieve Jesus into her heart and have a personal relationship with God. She replied with a big nod and a smile... we are meeting again on Monday. She wanted to spend the weekend with us, but we will be gone on our mid-Project retreat in the mountains. So I am excited and encouraged to meet with her on Monday to answer more questions she has. Pray that a) she comes on Monday and and b) that God can speak through Jodi (my sharing buddy) and I as we attempt to answer Jessica's questions and further explain the Gospel. I pray that Jessica can receive Christ into her heart before Project is over because I can just see she her heart and hunger for the Lord in her life. After today I was encouraged and I love meeting with her and getting to know her more and more!

After that Jodi and I shared with a few other students on campus. One of the students we were talking to has a relationship with God and was just so encouraged to be able to meet other Christians and get to spend time with them because he says that it's hard to talk about God with peers and he wants a community of friends to be able to grow with. So that was awesome because we invited him to our Friday night fiestas that we are holding for Cruzada Estudiantil (Campus Crusade) in hopes to build up the community of students involved with Crusade here. We had our first fiesta last Friday and it went really well. About 20 students came and we were able to share the Gospel through a testimony with them and just spend time together. It was fun! Our next fiesta is july 6th... the last day of exams for the students, so I hope a lot are able to come.

Which reminds me, this is the last week of classes here and next week are exams for the students. So it has been hard sometimes to pour into the students because they are so busy with exams... however, it's awesome to see how God just places students in our paths to meet and be able to spend time with. It's teaching me a lot that it's not about me, it's God who is working in these students... we are just allowing God to work through us, and I love that! But still, pray that the students are able to meet with us and balance their wnd of the year obligations as well.

Today I had a hard time leaving campus at the end of the day because I was just so encouraged to share with the students... so I look forward to tomorrow to go out again on campus. I also am meeting with the two girls that just recently accepted Christ on Friday. So that will be awesome and I really pray that God can speak through me and guide them on the beginning of their journey with the Lord.

God is Awesome! (first week in review)

Wow, after just a little bit more than a week here on Project in Costa Rica... I can totally see how God wants to use me here and I am learning a lot about His awesomeness! As I said in my last post, I wrote two full and detailed e-mails about my time so far on Project and what God has been teaching me... but sadly, they deleted as I tried to save them, so I will try again.

I met up with my Project team of 16 other college students and 2 Project leaders from Oregon on Thursday night at the Hostel. It is awesome because the team is made up of students from all over the United States, so we all have very different backgrounds and it is so cool to all come together to serve God here in Costa Rica! I have really also learned a lot about God and His faithfulness through growing closer with my Project teammates and learning about how God is working in their lives. It has been amazing to get to know each of them and serve with them.

Each week day we wake up and meet as a Project from 9 til about lunchtime. During that time we do worship, devotionals, Bible studies, discussions, and just grow together in our relationship with God. After that, we all walk to the campus of the University of Costa Rica to spend 11:30 til 4pm each day just loving on the students and sharing the Gospel. God has blessed me with the ability to speak some Spanish and the desire to learn more... so it has been amazing to be able to communicate with the students in their native language and not have to worry about language barriers because God breaks those. Each day has looked very different. But the most encouraging day was just this past Friday - and it leaves me very excited to go back out on campus tomorrow morning and share some more.


On Friday, I was sharing with my normal sharing buddy, Jodi. But we met up with another pair from our team and decided to switch it up for the day to get experience sharing with another person. Kate and I went out and shared the Gospel with two girls who were studying in the common area. The Lord just blessed our conversation and spoke through us as we shared the Gospel. However, the girls then needed to leave, so we left our contact info with them and hope to meet up with them again another day.


But then we were lead to two other girls sitting near by in the court yard. We approached them and asked if they spoke English... "nope, none at all" they replied laughing. So Kate and I looked at each other and knew we could try this in Spanish. So the girls were excited to talk with us and were very patient with our Spanish. However, I look back on it and see how God just was able to allow me to understand everything they were saying and respond back without much trouble. So that was awesome, because the discussion we had was really an important one for those girls and something important for them to hear. I can see how God just brought me to them because I was able to relate with where they were at because it is exactly where I was at 3 or 4 years ago. The girls had mentioned that they believe in God... but don't agree with or understand religion... and that their families are Catholic, but they don't believe in the religion of it and just believe in God. So Kate and I were able to walk them through the Gospel and explain how they can have a personal relationship with God and receive Christ in their hearts. It was neat, I was so encouraged and excited the whole time!! I could just see God working in them. After about an hour, the two girls individually prayed right then and there to ask Jesus into their hearts. They explained to us how they understood how this will change their lives and that the pray they prayed are not just words... but truly explaining what change is happening in their heart and their true desire to want a personal relationship with God - can I say how awesome is that!!! God was truly there that day with the four of us and I know He talked through me and lead us to these girls. We meet up again on Wednesday to walk them through the foundations and discuss further how they can get to know God personally and start their new journey with Him. Yay! But please pray for that time we have together with them that we can just be filled with the Holy Spirit and have the words to speak to them and guide them. Also just pray for them as they experience this awesome change in their lives!

Wow, this post is getting long. That probably reflects how much God has been teaching me these weeks. The thing most on my heart currently is Stint... yes, for those of you who know what that is, that's right, I said Stint :) Um, so I just found out about a week ago that they are starting to send Stinter's (through Campus Crusade, it refers to people who spend a year serving God on a specific campus) to Costa Rica!! So to further elaborate... right now I feel God tugging on my heart to just pray about the possibility to come spend a year in Costa Rica on Stint. I would be doing about exactly what I'm doing now on campus, getting to know the students, love on them, and pour into them. Share the Gospel with those who haven't heard, and just build into the ministry here. I would be working with two amazing people named Carlos and Tatiana - the two national directors who I have been getting to know during my time down here. They are amazing and on staff with Crusade. They are already aware of God tugging on my heart to pray about the possibility of serving here in Costa Rica with Stint. So they are excited and praying as well that He can further guide me. But wow! What an adventure... I would love it! But I am for sure just praying a lot about that, but at the same time just really trying to take advantage of every minute I have while I'm here during these 5 weeks. I know the time will fly!

Thanks for reading all of this if you made it to this point, that means a lot to me that you care so much to hear about how awesome God has been in just one short week here on Project. Thanks for your prayers and support!!! I thank God for each of you everyday. Miss you and hope all is well back in the States!!

First Post =)

Well, after attempting to send out two e-mails... both attempts failing due to e-mail errors... I decided it would be easier to start a blog and keep my updates about how amazing God has been here in Costa Rica this summer. Already after a week I have learned so much, grown closer to God, and been able to get to know some students on the campus and lead them closer to Christ. Just yesterday actually, I prayed with two girls as they accepted Jesus into their hearts and lives for the first time! It was an amazing experience. I am excited to meet with them again on Wednesday to help guide them through their first few steps towards a personal relationship with God. Anyway, it is time for bed after a long night online trying to e-mail out my stories of Project so far. I will post them on here tomorrow, but until then, thanks for reading! And even more thanks to all of my supporters who made it possible for me to come on this trip and for all of your prayers! I thank God everyday for all of you! Thanks so much. God is good, and I am so glad he has brought me to Costa Rica this summer on Project =) Good night and God Bless!

In Him,

Lisa