Guacimo!

This weekend I went with my friends, Morgan, JT, Arden, and an intern Kaylee to Guacimo. I had such a great time! The trip started with getting up super early Saturday morning, waiting on the guys, and getting on a public bus! I did not realize this before coming, but I had been there before! Back in 2011 with my youth group when we came to Costa Rica, we spent a whole day at the church in Guacimo! When we got there we were expecting to work with the Children's Ministry at the church but they had a missions conference this week. Which, in my opinion, was super fun anyway. We helped clean the church for the conference that night. Then we went to walk around downtown Guacimo and got smoothies before the service. That night me and JT helped with the kids by helping interpret and playing games. We were expecting it to be super hot, but when we got there was overcast and somewhat cool. Except Sunday. Sunday was so very hot. I woke up and sweat until we got to this side of the mountains. The church service for JT and I was the same as the night before, except more games, which made it a little more enjoyable. The Tico lady we stayed with, mamma Maria, is so wonderful! She is so hospitable and such a fantastic cook!! She certainly helped with my Spanish, especially since that's the only language she knows. She really helped make me feel at home and asked a lot of questions about where I live back in the States. We also got to meet Lauren, a past GAP student from 5 years ago. She came back with us from Guacimo to San Jose. Now, this is where the story gets funny. Sunday at 1 is when we needed to be at the bus station for the 2 o'clock bus. When we got to the station the people Lauren was staying with were dropping her off at the bus station as well. After a short exchange of hello's, somehow it was decided we would go with the pastor of the church and a doctor in the church back to San Jose. A little less than halfway back the van (the same one I was in) got a busted hose. So we pulled off the side of the road, on the side of a mountain, to see what the problem was exactly. When they found the hose, the two men took the good vehicle and went to the nearest mechanic shop (that was open on a Sunday). While they were gone, we were imagining ways we would be murdered on the side of the mountain. One theory was a random stranger would come kill us, another was one of us would go crazy and end up killing everyone. It took a long time for the two men to come get us... When they finally returned we were on our way back in no time! Except, the van was only going 2 MPH and still smoking. So we pulled off to the side of the road and Dr. Allen took Kaylee, Morgan, Arden and Lauren down to San Jose and was going to come back for the rest of us. Well, maybe an hour after they left, JT and I were hanging out in the backseat of the van when we notice a tow truck coming along beside us. At first we thought it was for the other people broke down in the same area, but no. It was for us. While I was freaking out at the thought of being towed, while in the car, going down a mountain the tow truck was pulling us up onto the truck bed. So I can now say I have ridden in a car that was being towed down a mountain. From there on out was smooth sailing, we made it back to San Jose, took a taxi and got home around 7 that night. Five hours of travel for a normal 2 hour bus ride. Moral of the story? Even when they insist on taking you back to San Jose, just take the bus.

Things God has been showing me!

It has been awhile since I've written anything, sorry about that, but so much has been happening! As most of y'all know part of my coming here was to figure out my next step in life. For a little while I was seriously considering interning here at GAP Year next year. I was super excited because all I could think about was coming back and living in Costa Rica, because I truly love it here. I can't imagine living anywhere else (Besides Texas, of course). So I really started talking to God about it and asking what He wants for my life. In Panama I started feeling God tell me no to internship, but I fought Him on it and really tested to make sure it was His voice I was hearing for my desire to even be an intern. One Sunday morning, before church, He told me no. This time I knew it was Him, but I asked Him to reconsider. He let me think for a few hours, but that night at church He gave me His final answer. No. That was hard to be okay with. I am a very imaginative person, and very determined. I had an idea of what would happen for next year and I loved my little plan. However, I know that He has something so much better out there for me. I'm fairly certain that that includes studying Global Missions at Christ For the Nations Institute next fall! When I come home at Christmas I am going to apply and hopefully be accepted! Please keep praying for God to keep showing me what He wants for my life. Also, keep me in your prayers as I go to a town called Guassimo this weekend. I'm super excited! Spanish is coming along nicely, I'm really learning a lot! Thank you all so much for your prayers and the love you send my way by posts on facebook, and cards!

Love you all,
Allysa

Panama!!

This week GAP Costa Rica went to Panama for three days because we have to be out of Costy for that long every 90 days because of the visas we have. So we got up at 1 in the morning and left for Panama to be there when the border opens up. Some of us stayed up and watched movies, others slept till 1. Looking back, I wish I had gone to bed because my plan of sleeping on the bus backfired when I couldn't get comfy enough to go to sleep, but the adventure continued anyway! We walked across the border on an extremely sketchy bridge that I was almost certain was going to fall. It is an old bridge that has been "fixed" by putting planks of wood over huge holes. However, we survived without damage so I suppose it wasn't too horrible. One more hour and two water taxis later, we were at the hostel! Although, it was more of a cheap resort than an actual hostel. It was practically right on the beach, from my room to the beach it was a short 5 min walk. What did we do as soon as we got there? Ran to the beach. I cannot tell you how much I absolutely LOVE the Caribbean. It wasn't all glitz and glam, though. We definitely roughed it with one backpack each, lots of carbs and starches for meals and showers weren't main priority. The next day we spent the morning at a nursing home. That was super interesting and new. One girl, Myra, made friends with a lady who is quite like her, an older man sat with us and told stories, he was fluent in English, we danced and sang praise songs in Spanish and English, and I'm pretty sure the guys were flashed by more old women than was desired but they were super happy we were there! That afternoon we went snorkeling. That was difficult due to the jellyfish that were around this week! I managed to not get stung, I even held one! I also found a conch shell but left it in Panama because it's illegal to take things out of the ocean and take it home. Which is totally dumb, what happened to finders keepers, losers weepers?! Oh well, I might live without it... Anyway, that night we played volleyball and had a weenie roast. For those of you who know my absolute hate and disgust of hot dogs will be proud to know I had 3. They really weren't horrible when roasted over the fire! We made s'mores with Chikeys as well! The next day we went to a village on the island we were staying on and played with the school kids! As we were walking up we heard drums and assumed that when the drums stopped that they would immediately jump us and eat us, but they were super civilized and sold us delicious bread for 50 cents! Such a pleasant surprise ;) there we danced and sang Spanish and English praise songs again! The kids loved the music and games we played with them. Another bizarre sight was walking up the seeing some of the boys cutting grass with machetes. That was another reason we thought they wanted to eat us, but you know, it happens. Some people shared testimonies in Spanish to all the kids before we left. When we left there we had the rest of the day at the hostel to have lunch then relax. At the beach, some of the island kids we had been playing with found us and swam in the ocean and played volleyball with us! However, there was a great loss on the beach that day. I have gone through my second pair of flip flops since I got here. I was exploring on rocks and the left one just ripped apart. Sorta ridiculous actually! That led me to walk through the jungle bear foot. Now THAT was awful. BUT I did see a monkey walking back from the beach that day, so that kinda makes up for it. My plan for next semester is to bring 5 pairs of old navy flip flops with me instead of just one. The next day we got up, had breakfast and headed back to Costa Rica! 6 hours on a bus with 43 other people was super fun *sarcasm*. Needless to say we were very much in need of showers and sleep when we got home that night. It was a fantastic three days filled with ministry and really awesome bonding time together as a GAP family. I love each and every one of them and I'm so happy God brought us all together for this amazing year!

Peace and Blessin's

Allysa

Me holding a jellyfish!! 

Me playing at the beach

That bridge I was telling you about...

The fire at the weenie roast

Me and my roomie Sarah at the beach <3

Other Ministries We are a Part of...

One thing I absolutely LOVE about SCORE International is the fact that they partner with other mission organizations. The GAP Program is associated with an organization called Light Force International. LFI directly works with women, children, and even men who are caught in the sex slave trade here in Costa Rica. Last week we had the opportunity and privilege to go and buy groceries for a young girl who decided to leave the life of prostitution for a relationship with Jesus. We gathered up money from among us students and went to the store and bought enough food for her for a week. We gathered up more money than we needed, so we can use it for more ministry opportunities in the future! Thursday night 3 representatives from LFI came to our house to talk to us about what their organization is all about. One way they fight the sex slave trade is by actually going to the red light districts after dark and witnessing to prostitutes. One way we are hoping to use our excess money is by baking cookies for LFI to give to the girls on the streets because when they go they usually take coffee and Chickeys (Costa Rica's equivalent of our Oreo). It means so much more if they can say that members from a local church care about them enough to bake them cookies! With my experience of street witnessing I'm chomping at the bit to get a chance to go out and witness to these women! 

Pray with me as I consider the idea of possibly studying this type of ministry and turning it into my vocation. I've been praying for God to break my heart for what breaks His. While LFI was here talking to us about what they do all I could do was sit, cry, and beg God to allow me to be used in this ministry. Please be in prayer for this fantastic organization, and these broken souls in such need of a savior. 

What A Blessing,

Allysa

The Orphanage

Hey, so I just realized I've not really mentioned much about the ministry I'm working with here in Costy! I'm working with a small orphanage that is a transition home for kids who are being abused either sexually or through neglect. It is a medium sized Costa Rican home with only about 10 kids at the moment ranging from the ages of 4 months old to 10. They are super sweet and full of energy and life! The little ones love to randomly hug on you and the older ones love playing tag! The first couple weeks we took them to the park but this last week we just stayed at their house playing board games and watched a Bible story movie. They loved that so much! It's so sweet watching the little boys look up to the guys who are on our team. A couple weeks ago the guys in our group took turns holding the 4 month old baby boy. It was funny watching them tell him in Spanglish how one day he will be a great soccer player and how in heaven there WILL be choco leche (chocolate milk, the guys are obsessed with it here). We stayed later than usual this week because some of the girls had a birthday this last week. We celebrated with a blue Smurf cake, sang Feliz Cumpleanos, had ice cream, and the kids got to beat up a piñata. It was a real good time! I love playing Candy Land with the kids, or at least their version of Candy Land... I never have a clue as to what game they are playing and I don't know enough Spanish to explain the game. Yay for language barriers!! I'm so excited about what God's gonna do through us with the kids! Keep praying that we can change their lives now so they will live for Christ later!

Forever and always,
Allysa

San Jose, Late Night Hair Cuts, and Costarican Malls

So not much happens around here, except fun field trips to downtown San Jose, late nights, and trips to the mall!! Last Friday my Spanish class went to San Jose to practice our Spanish with the Ticos! Apparently it was Costarican National Day of Peace, so there was a lot going on which meant lots of Ticos to help practice Spanish! While we were there my friends, Dallas and Josh, and I talked with an older lady when we were there. She was really nice and helped with our Spanish by asking simple questions and answered our simple questions. One other guy, Luke, lost a bet and had to get his face painted. (The boys 'round here have a real gambling problem, ha!)

 Luke's half cat half Spider-Man face paint job

Starbucks Te de Verde!!!! <3

The Weekends are super busy with ministry, youth group, and church most of the day on Sunday. Mondays are our favorites though because those are our days off! Here we love Mondays and dread Tuesdays. This last Monday consisted of sleeping in, tanning, and a trip to the mall! We were supposed to go to the beach, but this is tropical storm season, so it rained on the coast all day :( SO we ended up not going... BUT going to the mall was quite the trip. My friend Amy and I danced in the middle of the mall, got Starbucks and took fun pictures!

Also, that night one of the most fun things happened. While some of us were talking in one of the rooms, Juan, and something asked Geneva what the odds were of her cutting all her hair off. So that turned into Mary Ellen, Sarah (one of my roommates), and myself getting our hair cut (or for myself just getting bangs) by Savanna. It was quite the adventure that started around midnight and ended around 1:45 in the morning. Basically I didn't go running that next morning. HOWEVER. It was a great bonding time for us girls and I wouldn't have done it any different(:



So this was last weekend, I'll have something up about this weekend that's starting around Wednesday!

Peace and Hearts,
Allysa

Friday Nights

So basically weekends here are pretty crazy, except Friday nights. We are all so excited to be done with classes and boring routine that now it’s time for crazy fun! Except one problem. We are in a foreign country and at this point we don’t have any close friends outside of the house. So the interns try to get soccer fields reserved for us to play, but for those of us who are getting over being sick or are organized sport challenged, it still leaves our night open. So now everyone is just hanging out, with talk of ice cream and chick flicks floating in the air… I found out tonight that someone had the impression (before meeting me and by facebook picture alone) thought I was going to be short. Oh goodness.. I wish! Oh well, I had a good laugh. The staff bought us ice cream and we're sitting down to watch Pride and Prejudice, in English. So I guess I'll close my laptop for now.

Hugs && Kisses,
Allysa

19th Birthday-Second Full Week

We have reached our second week mark! Everything is going well, except lots of sickness. However, everyone's getting along great! We had a Bible Class about Conflict/Resolution so when conflict arises we can *hopefully* deal with it like Christians... Bible Class is going fantastic, it's my favorite. We have a fantastic teacher who is also the pastor at the English church we go to, Guadalupe Gathering Place (GGP). I have three wonderful roommates who were so sweet and helped me be a little less homesick by leaving me sweet notes and cards for my birthday! The two guy interns, Garrett and Ben led all the students in singing Happy Birthday to me. To top it all off, my church youth group gave me a cupcake and sang Happy Birthday to me in Spanish! I felt so super loved and getting to call home and Skype in the morning helped a lot too(: Spanish classes have been pretty fun, lots of review but they speak Spanish a little differently than what they teach in the States. I'm hoping to maybe be able to understand the Tico Church I go to soon. Oh, Ticos are the Costa Ricans, we Americans are the Gringos... But don't call yourself an American around them, they think they are Americans too... Anyway, the fruit here is FANTASTIC! I love the bananas. I think I eat about 5 a day... Speaking of food, I am gonna get so fat here. The cooks here are fantastic! I love the food... Except something has made about half our group sick. I'm hoping it's not a parasite, that would be rather unfortunate. I'm really excited to go to the orphanage this week! I can't wait to get to know the kids and love on them! Last week a guy lost a bet and had to shave his head and last night a guy decided to shave his head except a cross of hair on the top of his head.. Being here is like the Christian version of an MTV show or something. We feel like we have known each other for forever! I love being here and cannot wait to see what else God is gonna do!

Over and Out
Allysa

Days 3-5

Hey everyone! So not much has changed since the last blog, EXCEPT I am in Spanish 2 and my ministry is going to be at the orphanage! I am so super excited to see what God is going to do! We also found out who our church groups are and I am at a church called Camino. Yesterday (Saturday) we had our first youth group gathering. That was a humbling experience and slightly scary, no one in my group (besides our leader Garrett) had a clue as to what was happening. It was super fun though because some people there know about as much English as we know Spanish. Today we went to someone’s house with the rest of the youth group and had pizza! That was a really great way to start learning some Spanish. Friday evening we had the first annual GAP Olympics. My country, Atlantis, won second place. In the relay race I drank some sort of bubblegum flavored Tang concoction… I don’t think I can drink any kind of fruit punch ever again… But it was totally worth it! Saturday we went to the open air market and got so much fresh fruit and veggies!!!
Well, that’s kinda it for now.

Love&Rockets,
Allysa

Flying to Costy/First and Second Days

The flight went really well with a little bit of turbulence, and going through customs wasn’t too hard considering I had two other GAP students on the plane with me!  Making friends is not hard when you all have the same mind set.  I have three awesome roommates, Sarah, Paige, and LeAnn.  The hardest thing about being here is the language barrier!  Yesterday we went to downtown San Jose and the interns showed everyone around the shops and good places to eat.  Being down there was more on the confusing side because of the language barrier.  However, that will soon be changing because Spanish Class starts next week!  Last night we had a time of prayer and music, it’s so wonderful to not just connect with everyone on an emotional or physical level, but on a deep spiritual level.  We went around telling the story of how we heard about the GAP Program and how God got us here.  Apparently I’m not the only one God worked a total miracle to get here.  Some here didn’t even know they were coming until two weeks ago!  Getting to hear everyone’s stories of praise was so exciting and makes me eager to see what other miracles He has up His sleeves for this year!  This is a shorter update because nothing has really happened except orientation and Spanish placement testing.  I’m thinking that when I go home I’ll be a pro at board, card, and other down time games!  Ha, not to worry though, as soon as we get our schedules and assigned ministries we will be busy… At least more busy than right now… ;)

What every Christian needs to know about abortion.

Alright, I've had enough time to completely swallow the whole Kermit Gosnell house of horrors, time to say something about it. I'm looking at my screen and I honestly don't even know where to begin. So many emotions flooding all at once. Horror, anger, confusion, and so much sorrow I'm not even sure what to do with it. I've seen several pictures taken from that hell house, more than I ever want to see. Now those of you who know me may be wondering "how does this shock her? She's grown up around these kind of images her whole life." May God forbid and curse the day I ever look at a photograph of a murdered baby and shrug my shoulders! A dead person is NEVER something to be taken lightly! Especially an innocent MURDERED one!!! I watched Glen Beck's coverage of the story and just sat and cried. Cried for the baby boys and girls who's lives were snuffed out. Cried for the mother's lives who were forever changed. Cried for the workers who saw this and did nothing. I cried over the 50 million+ lives that have been taken by legal abortion for 40 years. The "House of horrors" is the REAL face of planned parenthood and the abortion industry. One thing that bothered me about this most is the church's response. It's awesome that this upset people! It's great all the shares and likes posts about it would get on Facebook. But why are we angry at this ONE abortionist? Why are we surprised that an abortionist would kill children that survive abortion? Why are we shocked and enraged at only ONE abortionist?! Why is it something like this has to come out to make us angry over abortion?! You might have heard this before, but would it bother us more if an abortionist used a gun? I mean, Kermit Gosnell used scissors, are we gonna outlaw those too?? And if you think this is the only abortionist that has ever drowned, sliced the neck, smashed with a hammer, or left a baby to die on a cold operating table; you my friend have been fooled by planned parenthood and the rest of the liberal media. Why has it taken the church 40 YEARS to give a care what happens to the least of these?! We need to wake up and see that there are Kermit Gosnell's in our states, our counties, our cities, and our neighborhood. It's time to be angry over the "issue" of abortion. It's time to say enough is enough and end this monstrosity. I don't know how this will move you to act, if it moves you to act at all, but seriously, we need to open our eyes to truth and end it.

My Thoughts on Homosexuality

Alright, apparently there was something going on all day today (Tuesday) about some sort of homosexual "marriage" rights? I didn't know and got on Facebook and about had a heart attack. Let me mention a little disclaimer before I get started. I, Allysa, in no way shape or form hate people who are homosexual. I have a few homosexual friends who I do find to be fun and I really do love them. I do not agree with their lifestyle choices, but I'm hoping I can be Jesus to them in someway. How? I'm not sure, I'm just being myself until something happens. So, moral of this half of my story: I do not hate homosexuals, I love them because they are people. Now, for the part that people are going to hate and call me a narrow minded hateful liar for, I hate homosexuality. Okay, I hate homosexuality, not homosexuals. Following me? Okay, great. And it's not because I've been "brainwashed by my parents/church/pastors/anyother human influences that would make me think this way" I've actually been taught by my parents to think for myself even if they don't agree. That being said, this is what I as a person believe to be true and what the Bible clearly says. Yes, in case you didn't know I'm a very much so Bible thumping Southern sweet tea drinkin Christian so I'm gonna look in my Bible and see what God says!

#1 God made one man and one woman to be together for life. Some people will come back with the argument that homosexuals have life partners and most heterosexual marriages end in divorce. Yes, that is true, but we live in a fallen world with fallen people who do sometimes make the mistake of marrying someone God didn't want them to so instead of living with their decision and working things out they break the relationship. So when we mess up God's original design for our lives, there's gonna be problems! All that to say marriage is between ONE man and ONE woman for LIFE (Genesis 2:24). Shout out to all Bible believing Christians, you can't pick and choose which parts of the Bible you want to believe! You either get all of it or none of it because if you rip out pages you don't like that's not real Christianity. If something in the
Bible is "politically incorrect" that could mean that God isn't "politically correct" nor does He care to be. If something in the Bible contradicts the way you are living your life, don't try to change the Bible to fit how you live. Center your life around the way the Bible tells you to live.

#2 I wanna take a look at a verse in the Bible that is over looked and never taken in context. Matthew 7:1. Let's look at that WHOLE passage. And let's put in context, please.
"Do not judge so that you will not be judged. For in the way you judge, you will be judged;" and that's where EVERYONE thinks that verse stops! But let's dig a little deeper, shall we? "and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you." Zing! There it is. When I "judge" someone by telling them what they are doing is wrong, I can't turn around and go commit the SAME sin. Let's keep reading... "Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' and behold, the log is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye." (Matthew 7:1-5 NASB) So, as you can see here, if I go over to my buddy Jerry and say "Jerry, I am concerned about you and your struggle with homosexuality. You seriously need to repent and get right with Jesus!" When in reality I myself am struggling with homosexuality I am in the wrong! That my friend is when I need to go get on my face before God and do some repenting of my own and get everything straight with Him before I even attempt helping my friend with his Christian walk! So Christians, if you are, in a loving Christ-like way, trying to witness to a homosexual friend and salvation becomes a topic of conversation, seriously! Tell them they need Jesus! Tell them to repent! Let's treat this like the sin problem it is and help them through it! No crack addict is clean in a day, it's going to be a daily battle for them; but by the power of Jesus, and the help of Godly influences, anyone can overcome homosexuality! That being said, I want to come to my third point...

#3 If you struggle with homosexuality, you are not sin. I say that now because I really want you to get this. This being the fact that you are not a "sexual orientation" I don't know you but you are a person made in the image of Almighty God who loves you but hates your sin because He is a perfect, holy, and just God who cannot condone sin. You are made for great and awesome things that even I can't imagine! But you have to let go of your sin. If I try explaining the psychology of how this works I know I will butcher it, so I'm going to point you in the direction of people who know this stuff inside out. livehope.org is where you can talk with someone about what I've been talking about.

So this is all I wanted to say. I hope I have a few friends left by the time this has got done circulating around my Facebook, Twitter, and other social media sites. But then I'm reminded that John the Baptist didn't have friends, and in the end neither did Jesus really... A wise woman once told me that leadership is lonely. I'm starting to realize she didn't entirely mean being a leader as in leading a group of people around, but simply taking a stand. Maybe if the Christians today were not so afraid of being alone our world would be very different.

All kinds of love, joy, happiness, and peace to you!
Allysa <3