This past month has been busy! Continued with lots of English classes, youth group, and I have started practice for a skit for camp! The first picture is a sweet group of kids, they completed all their work so to celebrate Ainara's birthday (girl in the pink pants) we made cookies together! They all really enjoyed this activity and was fun to see them all so happy! 

To give you an idea I have 6 classes a week of 4-6, 2 classes a week of 1-3rd, and 3 classes a week for high school. I also teach online about 8 hours in the week and have an adult class with 2 of my co-workers for 4 hours out of the week.  All that to say, my schedule is very busy! 

I have still been battling sickness. So I'd really appreciate prayers for good health! 

My International church also came to the ministry to help with our high school English students. They had conversation in English and played board games. Alejandro (the leader of the group) also shared about God and got to continue to pour into and teach the kiddos about Jesus. The kids were talking with me after about how much they enjoyed the time and I could tell it was really meaningful to many of them as they all walked away with smiles on their faces! 

I have been able to enjoy a few fun things in the month of August as well! My friend Kimberly came to visit for a week and we got to see some incredible waterfalls. And I went on a hike with Beto and some of his family! The nature of Costa Rica is truly breath taking and I am so blessed to live here. 

Hello all! I can't believe over half the year is gone already! Also, yesterday marked my 1 year of living in Costa Rica!! YAY!! I still remember the day a year ago when I quit my job, sold my stuff, and got on an airplane to move to a foreign place. I remember going back and forth with "I'M SO EXCITED!!" and "Oh my gosh, what have I done?!" haha But I knew that God had something for me here and really He did. My co-workers were my first friends and truly they were so amazing and welcoming that very seldom did I feel alone. Soon after I got involved in both of my churches and started developing more friendships. 

Wow, really so much of my life has changed, I have a new apartment, new co-workings, new students, 2 new churches, a boyfriend, new friends, i've tried new foods, been to new places, experienced new cultural things, and yet the one constant is God, He still remains the same through all of the changes and different experiences. He knows no bounds to culture, country, or people. He is the same God yesterday today and forever. 

In the beginning of July a group of missionaries came down from Idaho to do VBS camps and minister to us. It was really an encouraging time, but also a great time with the kids where we were able to foster more relationship building and share more about Jesus. We did songs, games, stories, crafts, and spent time together.  We also took the high schoolers to the park and did several really fun activities!  I also had an incredible intern that came from Honduras to help me with English classes for a whole month! 

On top of all that, my parents also came for a week in the middle of July and it was fun spending time with them but also they were able to help for a day in my classes! 

URGENT PRAYER: I am very much in need of more support. I currently only receive $360 monthly per donations. I have 2 other online jobs that I earn about another $400 per month. But that leaves me still short about $400. I know God is a faithful provider as recently some co-workers are going to pay me for some private English classes which will help. But to continue in the ministry working with these kids I need more support. I have the ability to make my own money, I just don't have the time. I can't work 2 full time jobs. Please consider supporting me as you can. Truly i'm in need of consistent monthly supporters. 

"His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness." – 2 Peter 1:3

​Thank you all for your consistent love and support, please reach out with prayer requests! 

Hello all! So sorry for the delay in posting! I have had a lot going on in the months of May and June! 
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For most of the month of May I was sick. I didn't get over my sickness for 3.5 weeks so it was brutal. But in all of that my job and students were very understanding as I had to cancel several classes while I was recovering. 

Classes have been great for the month of June, my students are making great progress and I am also building great relationships with them. Recently too, one of my most advanced high school students, Siany has helped in the 1-3rd grade classes helping to teach the younger kids. I really love that the ministry encourages the kids to give back to the ministry as they can!

I also got to go back to Texas for 4 days and surprise my parents!! Here are some videos of JuJu and I surprising them! It was a great time to see my friends and spend some time with my family. 

Please continue to pray for me and the ministry. I am still in need of an additonal $400 per month to continue to stay here and work for the ministry! I continue to trust God in this and that He will provide! Thank you for all of your continued support!! 

SO much has happened and I have just been trying to keep up with everything in life. Thank you guys all so much for your continued support. April was a very full month, I had more friends come to visit, classes are in full course and I have been able to work on building relationships more with my students as I become more involved in youth group.  

It's the little things in class sometimes. The little hugs that my students give, hand picked flowers, small candies, and compliments. My students may not have much to give materially, but they have so much talent, love, and care for others and for their teachers. And I absolutely love the thought that they put into the gifts they give me.

Youth group has been so much fun! I enjoy getting to know my students outside of classes and get to invest in them on a personal level. It is also fun to see their personalities come alive! We did skits a few weeks ago and it was so fun to see really quiet students be dramatic. My students have so many sides to their personalities and you don't always get to see those other aspects outside of class. I am so blessed to have this opportunity to invest in these teens. Please continue to pray God works in their hearts. <3

God has been really teaching me to be more selfless and to think of others more than myself. It really brings to mind the scripture: "Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends." John 15:13 I have really been learning to lay down my life for others and for my friends. To think of what is best for the other person and to rid myself of my own selfish desires. This is a continual process but God has been highlighting this to me. 

I have been teaching my students different songs to learn English, this is a video of the song we worked on for the month of April. My students worked to memorize this song and the verse that goes with it is, “In everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. ” 1 Thessalonians 5:18. 

Something else new in my life is I have a boyfriend named Beto and he is truly such a selfless individual and demonstrates what it is to truly love someone and to put aside your own desires for the other person. I would also appreciate prayers in the direction of our relationship but I am very happy and can't wait to see what God has in store. 

Classes started up again in March and it has been great, but also really challening. Creating the student's schedules has proved to be very difficult and time consuming. But now I have my classes set and I am excited for this next year with my students. I am already seeing progress from last year and can see so many of them motivated and working hard. 

My schedule is very full with three classes of 4-6th, four classes of 1-3rd, and 2 high school classes. All of these classes meet multiple times a week and we have been able to accept more students into the English program than ever before! Thanks to all of you for your support to allow me to continue to do the job God has placed before me. 

I also had some friends come and visit! It was great to see Esther, Malitnay, and Amanda! 

Please continue to pray for God to provide and for each of my students that they would know God in a deeper way. Our youth group started small groups that meet once a month to build deeper relationships with the teenagers. Please pray God gives me wisdom with Spanish and that He will work in the hearts of the teens in my group. Many of these kids are also in my English classes. 

Please contact me with any questions or ways you can help! I am still looking for monthly supports so I can stay here and continue to serve these kids! Happy Resurrection Sunday! 

I can't believe a month has already flown by and we are only 2 weeks out from starting up classes again. In the month of December we had vacation Bible school for the kids and teenagers. This was a fun time to get to do more than just academics with the kids and spend time with them outside of school. We did crafts, games, and stories! 

I was also able to do a number of fun this in January such as celebrating my birthday, spending time with friends, and I also attended a young adults retreat through my international church! 

Please continue to pray for me in this next year as I continue to build relationships with the kids and teach English. I am really excited for what God has in store for this next year! 

Happy New Year!! During the month of December I was able to travel back to Texas and see my family and now I am back in Costa Rica. Here are some photos to recap December! 

I have been living in Costa Rica for almost 5 months now and time has really flown and yet passed so slowly at the same time. I am loving every minute with my precious kiddos and also at times overwhelmed by the amount of prep work and lesson planning that goes into the classes. But through it all God is faithful and I have seen His provision and guidance all along the way!

​​​I have gotten to know the young adults at my church more and it has been such a blessing to have their support and encouragement. I have continued to help with youth group once a month, which has been really fun!

Recently, our English pre-intensive and intensive classes recieved the opportunity to go to a Christmas performance at my International church! It was great for them to practice their English and a big blessing as the church paid for the transportation from La Carpio. 

Classes finished for the year at the end of November and so for most of December I am back in Texas visiting my family for Christmas and working to bring back some supplies to Costa Rica for the next school year. 

I have also been working with Perception Funding as a web designer to earn a little extra money and I also teach online 2 hours a week which also helps. I also really love these jobs and they provide a lot of flexiblity around my teaching. 

My Fundraising progress has been going really well. Out of my needed $1,200 per month, I have $830 raised so far and I am just in need of an additional $370 per month!! Please pray about partnering with me and let me know if you have any questions. ​Thank you for all your support! Please keep me updated how I can be praying for you! 

How would you define the value of a pencil? To most North Americans they would probably say it is worth very little if next to nothing. There is no value in the pencil because it is cheap to replace and espeicially in public schools there seeems to be a never ending flow of pencils. People and children do not value pencils because they are not taught to value or take care of their supplies.

But here I can see that the children and people very much value even the smallest of materials, aka pencils. The life of a pencil in Costa Rica is longer than i've ever seen before. I saw the tinniest pencil the other day and it blew my mind that students would continue to use such a tiny pencil, when pencil's in the U.S. sometimes barely last a day before they are snapped in half or lost. Here Give Dignity uses 200 pencils in a year for all students and all classes. I went through over 500 pencils in a year for only 25 students in the U.S. 

When we are taught to value the little things, in turn we value the big things more. A pencil may seem insigificant to Americans who have so much, but to those who have little, they value their one pencil and take such great care of it until it is no longer usable. Do you take for granted the little things? Or do you value them and teach your children to also value those things?

It brings to mind the Bible verse, Luke 16:10, “One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much.” 

This month has been filled with creating new English classes, helping with youth group, learning Spanish, building relationships, and a boarder run to Ecuador. I am currently helping to develop 4-6th grade and have taken these classes over, and I have also been creating a pre-intensive program and curriculum along with continuing to teach 1-3rd, and 7-8th grades. Youth group has been a blast and it has been fun to see the teenagers in a fun capacity as well as in the classroom. I have been working to develop my Spanish and while it isn't perfect, it is improving! Finally, I took a boarder run to Ecuador to refresh my tourist visa. 

God is constantly faithful and I am overwhelmed by how He is providing for me and I am also so thankful for all my friends and family who have supported me in so many ways. Community is so important. God is constant and faithful in even the little things.

Time truly flies! I can't believe it is already October and i've been in Costa Rica for 2 months! God has been so faithful to provide for me in every way and I love living life here. My co-workers are amazing and care so much about the children. They are also incredibly helpful to me and have guided me along this journey the past 2 months. 

Last Saturday October 7th, my church IBC (International Baptist Church) came to GiveDignity to do a kids program! It was so much fun and such a sweet time to talk about God and have some conversations with the children about Salvation. I am so very thankful for the amazing young adults group from IBC that I am apart of. They have also been a source of support and encouragement!

Classes have been busy, but also so much fun. One of the biggest blessings here is not dealing with difficult behavior in comparison to public schools in the U.S. My 1-3rd grade students have been showing progress in learning the alphabet and they are so curious and love playing and exploring with interactive activities. I have continued to work with my kids at Puente Educativo in 7-8th, as well as helping to develop the 7-8th grade and High School English programs at GiveDignity. It has been so fun getting to know the students and developing relationships with them. ​

Along with teaching classes in Costa Rica, I teach online classes a few days a week to children all over the world and I also work for Perception Funding online as an assistant to the web designer. These jobs are only a small part of my time, but I find great enjoyment in them and feel blessed God has provided me with some small ways to make some money.

As I go along in this journey it has just made me see what is important in life and really sacrifice everything to God. I count it a small cost that God has asked me to give up merely physical things moving here when Jesus sacrificed His LIFE so that we MIGHT have the opportunity to live. Jesus gives this gift, but we can still reject it. Imagine, he died without knowing if anyone would even accept His gift. He died to give merely the opportunity for salvation, the opportunity to live with Him forever in Heaven, the opportunity to escape death and hell. Yet, many reject it. What would you be willing to die for? Would you die for your house, car, money, phone…etc. Of course not. If I asked, “would you die for your phone if it was about to sink deep into the ocean?” Any rational person would without a doubt say no. However, ask a parent if they would die for their children and most would say yes. Do we have this same burden for the unsaved? Do we feel they are worth sacrificing ourselves, not necessarily physically, but being willing to sacrifice our time, money, resources, and comforts? Matthew 6:21 says, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Are we burdened enough with the fact that the unsaved will face hell if not for those who are willing to share the gospel and be the hands and feet of Jesus. He commands us to “Go into all the world and share the gospel” He doesn’t command us to change hearts, but rather to simply share. “If anyone wishes to come after Me,” he said, “he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it” (Matthew 16:24-25). I don’t say all these things to say physical comforts and possessions are wrong. But rather to ask, where is your heart? Is it connected to the physical or is it connected to the eternal? What are you willing to die for?