YWAM DP

Hola from Belize!!

I'm absolutely loving my time here. I have so much love for my new family members, and I find new reasons to love them every day. I know.. Cheesy.. But I'm already dreading the day I have to leave all of them!! Trips to visit have already been discussed! Haha.

(Photo Cred: someone sent it to me after stealing it from someone else?)

A little bit about what we do here:

Our week day mornings start at 6:45 for breakfast. We rotate between intercession and worship every morning at 8, then start class at 9. We attend class for four hours a day Monday through Friday, then have an event every afternoon or evening depending on the day of the week. Our days are full of learning in lectures, reading books for assignments, memorizing a map of the world, writing reports for oral presentations, and sand volleyball. Plus a few other things here and there. :) We also all have jobs we do on base, and we are assigned one night a week where we join a team to cook dinner for everyone. 

Even with so much going on here, I go to bed every night excited to wake up and do it all again. 

During the first week in lectures we re-learned the foundations of our faith. We studied truth, God, man, sin, and salvation. The topics seem broad, but even as a church-goer since birth, I was able to get a lot from the teachings. Much of what was said felt so personal to me and where I'm at with God. 

Last week we studied the seven spheres of society: family, religion, economics, education, media/communication, celebration, and government. We learned about cool ways to study the bible using these lenses and how our different passions and callings in regards to these spheres can be used to further the kingdom outside of just the church realm. It was such an inspiring week, and I can't wait to learn more about how God will use my talents and passions to fulfill some portion of the needs of the world in relation to missions whether it be local or international. 

The topic this week is freedom, and the leader of our base, Lynn Toney, is speaking. She is such a crazy/awesome lady, and we're all really enjoying what she has to say. 

Last week was a big week for all of us because on Monday we got to choose our outreach locations! The staff prayed about which countries they felt God calling us to, and on Monday they told us the three places they landed on: Ecuador, Costa Rica, and Japan. Then they gave us fifteen minutes to pray about it and see which location God placed on our hearts. After we wrote down our choices and handed the papers back, the staff went off to pray about the teams before coming back and revealing where we would be spending our two months after lecture phase is over. 

So God and I talked, and I felt like he kept bringing Costa Rica back to my mind. I don't know why yet, but I feel He is leading me there. So I'm going! Yet another step in the journey that God has planned out and I am clueless about! :)

Once again, I'm way excited for the next phase. Not at all ready to leave the other two teams yet, but happy to go where He wants me. Luckily, I still have two months with all these wonderful people. 

They don't have details on the trip yet, but I hope to have more information soon about where in Costa Rica our team will be going and what we'll be doing there. For now I'm totally cool with trusting that to God and spending my days learning and growing closer to my creator. 

Thank you guys for your continued support through prayers. You all are so valuable to me, and I wouldn't be on this amazing journey without you. I'm so excited to let you know that - thanks to all of my wonderful supporters - I am now fully funded!!! It is such a relief to be all paid up and ready to change some lives! :) Starting with mine. 

I miss you all at home!! Specifically my sweet family! Being a long way from them has been the hardest part of being here by far. 

Because how cute are they!! :)

I love you, friends!!! 

Don't Stop Belizin'

Hello, lovely readers!! 

Here is my first Belize update! Yay!!

I obviously made it here safely, but a little shaken after leaving the plane to find that my ears had popped so much I could hardly hear anything. I was in my own deaf world for the first night, but woke up with one working ear which was suuuuch great news!! They still pop when I swallow sometimes, but they feel very normal now. Makes me appreciate the gift of hearing even more. 

Belize was a little different than I expected, but I like it a lot. We have geckos and iguanas running around everywhere - including in our rooms. Mosquitos attempt to kill us every day. And we've seen scorpions, tarantulas, and snakes around base. We have no air conditioning where we sleep and no hot water for showers (which is really fine since we're so hot already when we shower. Most of us actually enjoy the cold showers). But it's such a beautiful place, and I really really love the people I'm getting to know here.

I feel so blessed to be able to spend three months in this place with these people learning about our God who absolutely blows my mind and rocks my world every time I ask him to. 

We had the opportunity to go on a snorkeling trip for free the other day, which was so so cool. We saw sharks (who don't eat people here!!), stingrays (who also don't kill us), and a cute little sea turtle. :) I also learned how to sail!! 

Mostly our days are made up of classroom time in the mornings, a group event at some point in the afternoon or evening, and chill time for the rest of the day - which often includes reading books for our book reports or preparing an oral presentation of some sort. 

I am enjoying this week as we're going back to the basics and learning about our faith again from the bottom up. As a group, we've experienced a lot of healing so far. 

I'll try to update more often, but our internet isn't consistent at all, so no promises.

Love, Alyssa :)

Merica

Hey everyone! Here is my last update from The States for awhile seeing as I'm ON the plane headed to Belize.

What a whirlwind this last week has been. Quick updates:

I spoke in Plevna Community Bible Church a week ago last Sunday and was INCREDIBLY blessed. I hadn't met many of the attenders, but they were so welcoming and encouraging, and many of them told me they would be praying for me on my journey.

I soaked up time with my family this past week. It seemed to flee so quickly, but I loved having quality time with them at the corn maze and at the football game. There were lots of extra hugs involved, and some of them squeezed tears right out of me!

My mom and Aunt Laraine drove me (along with two baby sisters) to Lawrence to meet my oldest younger brother. We ate dinner in Lawrence before they headed back home and I went to brother Brett's house for a few hours. He drove me to the airport at 3 o'clock this morning. Like a champ. He's such a sweet brother!!!

A prayer request right now would be for health for me. I developed a cold in the last 24 hours, and I'm struggling today. TERRIBLE timing!!!

Thank you all so much for your support and prayers. I would not be on this plane right now if it weren't for your generosity. I know I will be blessed by your kindness, and I believe God will bless you as well.

I'll talk to you in Belize!!! Adios!