God's Love is at Work

I can't believe how fast my trip has gone. I only have a week left in Shiroles and I'll be home in less than two weeks. I have loved living here and experiencing a slower paced way of life; working hard and spending lots of time with friends and family. I have loved living in a culture where the main priority is relationships, rather than busyness or tasks that need to be completed as the main priority. 

I have enjoyed getting to know my host family and being absolutely blessed by their friendship and how they take care of us. 

I've very much enjoyed living life with them. Going to church with them, going to a birthday party, a funeral, their bible school classes, swimming in the river with them and just hanging out at home, playing Uno, chatting and watching tv together. 

I have learned so much while being here, but I've also been wondering if we have made any lasting impact on the people around us. I've been wrestling with this question during the past week or so. 

In a letter that I got from home from my grampa, there was something he said that was really encouraging. He said, "Plant the seed. You might never see the fruit, but the seed is planted. The Holy Spirit will do the rest." This was a huge comfort to me. 

As I thought about what my grampa wrote, I was reminded of 1 Corinthians 3:6-8 where Paul says,

"I planted, Apollos watered, but God gives the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor." 

Sometimes we plant the seed and other times we water the seed. This does not guarantee us that we will see the fruit of this seed. There is much growth that happens under ground before the seed sprouts, matures and bears fruit. This is true for people as well. God could be doing a great work in a person's heart, but we may not see the fruit of it. This doesn't mean that nothing is happening, but rather that growth is happening under the surface, in the heart and soul. 

This is comforting to remember, especially on short term missions trip, where we aren't necessarily going to see what impact we have on the people around us. This is something that I've been thinking a lot about recently and has become a great comfort to me. Because even though I may not see how we are impacting the community around us, I know that I can trust God.

Psalm 71:5 says,

"For you, O Lord, are my hope,

my trust, O LORD, from my youth."

I can trust Him that He is at work. And I know He is at work in me. As well as hearing the stories of the families that have been hosting us, I know without a doubt that God is very active in this community. It has been such an honour to be able to see a little glimpse of what God has been doing in these people's lives. Many lives have been changed by God's grace and power. And I know that we've made a difference in our host families. The relationships that we have them make that evident. 

Even though there is a difference in culture, language and world view, God is the same God and His love transcends all of these differences. Because we are all His children, and He loves us all with a furious, jealous love. And it's God's love that is at work in all of us, if we allow Him. 

A Thankful Heart is a Happy Heart

(I am thankful for the rain and how it cools everything off... Even if it floods like crazy! Haha) 

I've been thinking a lot about thankfulness over the past week or so. What I think it incredible is that something so simple could be so powerful. 

I looked up the word "thanksgiving" in a concordance and there were a whole pile of verses, but these were some of the ones that stood out to me: 

Ephesians 5:4, "Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving."

Philippians 4:6, "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God."

Colossians 2:6-7, "Therefore as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving."

It is clear that living with a thankful heart is very important. It's important in what we say, and in how we pray and in how we walk as a Christian. I think it's safe to say that in everything that we do, whether word, thought or deed, we should do so out of thanksgiving. When we give thanks to God, we put our attention on God and all that He has done for us and is doing for us. It helps to give us a right perspective. Once we start looking for what we can be thankful for, we start to see more of how God is providing for us in the day to day things. Things that if we're not looking for them, can be easily over looked. 

I also looked up the word "thanks" in the concordance and was given many reasons throughout the Bible to give thanks to God. Here are a few: 

1 Chronicles 16:34, "Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever!"

1 Corinthians 15:57, "But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."

Ephesians 5:20, "Giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ"

Colossians 3:17, "And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him."

Sometimes I catch my thoughts drifting to worries or to things that have made me upset and it is so easy to just sit in that place. But what lifts our eyes from our inconvenient or uncomfortable situation is thankfulness. Fixing our eyes on Jesus with a thankful heart produces in us joy. That's what I want in my heart! Joy in abundance. 

Vida Abundante

"Still waiting for anything but now." This is a lyric from a Stellar Kart song that has come to mind this week. I think that this kind of thinking can plague our minds if we're not careful. Always waiting, always striving for what comes next. Always trying to get to the side that has the greener grass. "Always waiting for tomorrow" as the songs goes. Unfortunately I find that I am guilty of this a lot of the time. In the months leading up to this trip, I couldn't wait for it. I thought about it a lot and just wanted to fast forward those months so I could go to Costa Rica. I found it hard to be content where I was and hard to live in the moment. Now that I am here, in Costa Rica, I find that when I have time to think, my thoughts often drift to the future. I think about what it's going to be like when I get home, I think about seeing my friends again and finding a job and starting school. I think about all the good things that I get to go back home to. 

Thinking about the future in and of itself is not bad, but when it consumes your thoughts and mentally takes you out of the present, then I think it can be bad. 

And so, I am faced with a choice. Everyday I need to choose to be in the moment. It comes back to choosing to be intentional; I need to chose to live in the present and keep my mind in the present. The time for me to go home will come soon enough and living here is a once in a life time deal. And honestly, I love it here in Shiroles. I love the way of life and the people. I love the food and the community. So why is it so hard to live in the present? I think because from a very early age we (in North America) are conditioned to never be satisfied. Just watch tv for a few minutes and you will see commercial after commercial of products that claim to make your life better, more fun or easier if only you buy the product. We live in a nation of materialism and consumerism. Where abundance and extravagance is always better. (I am speaking in general terms, I know not everyone thinks like this, but this is what I see that is largely portrayed through media) This is where North America largely differs from rural Costa Rica. 

I have learned so much through living here. I've gained a new perspective on what it means to live in abundance and to live in the moment. 

At first glance you probably wouldn't say that the people in Shiroles live in abundance. Most houses are small and simple, built out of cement or wood, with a tin roof. The main street is very small with only a police office, a grocery story, a book store (that has no books... I'm not sure what they sell) and a small restaurant.

Yet once you spend time here, in the community and with a family, you will see that they aren't lacking. Rather that they do live in abundance, just not how North America would define abundance. There is not an abundance of money, or stores, or shopping, or electronics, etc. There is an abundance of something much greater. Here in Shiroles the people live in an abundance of genuine relationships and community. There is also an abundance of joy and faith. They may have less things, but they have an abundance of what truly matters. They live with intentionality. They're not in a rush, constantly running and busy, so they take the time to stop to talk to friends when they're walking somewhere. Time spent with family is a high priority. I have also seen an abundance in faith here among the Christians in Shiroles. God has been working here in great ways and it is incredible to see how He has been working in individual lives as well as in the community as a whole. I know I have a lot to learn from this community. To be content with what I have and where I am at. To be intentional in my friendships and to not allow busyness to drive me.

Living here has given me a lot to think about. 

Let My Life Be the Proof

(This is my little 8 year old host brother)

I think now I'm starting to understand more about the idea of "living your mission." It made sense to me when we talked about it in training and I understood it on an intellectual level, but I hadn't experienced it before, so I didn't know how it felt or what it looked like practically. 

Earlier this week I was thinking about our time here and what we've done and it didn't seem like we were doing a whole lot. We had just been living with host families and helping at the school with yard work and in the kitchen and the chocolate factory with cleaning the foyer because the factory part was closed all week. We haven't done kids programs or building projects, which are activities you would normally associate with missions trips. So, I found myself asking the question, what is the purpose of our group being here? And, what is my purpose in being here? 

In one of my previous blog posts I ended with this statement: 

"So instead of asking "What will I do?" now I'm asking "How will I live?"" 

I was reminded that we are here to live. And the "what" that we are doing is not as important as "how" we are doing it. 

As Paul says, 

"If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don't love, I'm nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate. If I speak God's Word with power, revealing all His mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, "Jump," and it jumps, but I don't love, I'm nothing. If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don't love, I've gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I'm bankrupt without love." (1 Corinthians 13:1-7 The Message) 

God continues to bring this passage to my attention again and again and again. The more I read it, the more it sinks in. Love is the lifeline of Christianity. Without love, our churches, our organizations, our bible studies are nothing. Without love I am bankrupt, no matter what I do, what I say, or what I believe. 

This is why we need God to work in us and through us, because He is love (1Jn 4:8) and apart from Christ we can do nothing. (Jn15:5) We need Him working in us and through us to complete that which He has called us to, because apart from Him I can do nothing. 

So, Why is my group here? 

To allow God to work in us and through us; to love others, to listen, to learn and to be open to His work. 

We are here to share and experience life with the people in Shiroles. To experience God in the daily things like doing chores, helping our host mom make supper, and playing with our host siblings. We are here to love and to learn. We are here to live our mission. 

Living Intentionally

(This is my house in Shiroles. I love it!) 

I wasn't really sure what to expect with living in host family in Shiroles. 

It's not as "remote" and "poor" as I thought it was going to be in Shiroles. They live simply, but are not poor. They know how to live with what they have. The contrast between here and home is huge, though. While they live simply, largely in North America we live excessively. I have been enjoying living more simply. 

We are staying with one of the pastor's sons and his family. (Dad, mom, 8 year old son, and 14 year old sister of the mom). It has been so good living with them. Any expectations that I had have been completely blown out of the water. Their house is nice and clean and simple. I'm sharing a room with a girl from my team named Kelsey. Much to our surprise, our host family set up bug nets around the beds for us! Which was a relief because I wasn't sure how I was going to set up my big net since it didn't come with anything useful for hanging it. 

They are so welcoming to us and have told us that if we need anything we can just ask and they have really emphasized that we are a part of their family. 

We have been living with them for 5 days now and it's been interesting and a little challenging finding our place in the family. Slowly it's been becoming better, I think as we all become more accustomed to each other. Since we haven't started our volunteer work yet, we've been home all day just hanging out. Throughout the day I ask our mom if she needs help with anything and I've been able to help with cleaning the house and preparing meals with her. I also just ask her questions about she's making it about other things. Sometimes it can be a little awkward with the language barrier, but it keeps things interesting! 

We've gone on little adventures with our family, like visiting the school, going swimming in the river, and picking mamóns which are a type of fruit. 

(This is a mamón. Once you peel it, it looks and tastes like a large peeled grape.) 

On Saturday they brought us to a house where there were a lot of different families and kids. We were there for close to four hours. We ate lots of food and talked and laughed. Kelsey and I thought they were just hanging out, having some good community time. It wasn't until about a half hour before we left, they started singing "happy birthday". Then we realized we had been at a birthday party the whole time. Me and Kelsey had a good laugh about that, because it took us almost 4 hours to figure out why we were there! 

The other day our family told us that they were going to the church and we could come if we wanted to. So we went expecting a Bible study or something of the sort. We arrived at the church to find out that they had come to do yard work at the pastor's house. It turns out they are missionary pastors and we had the privilege of speaking English with white people who weren't on our team. I was very excited about this! While our host family helped them with their yard work, Kelsey helped the missionary daughter with her geometry and I helped Kathy (her mom) with frosting cupcakes. I was very happy with this arrangement since I am absolutely terrible with math! It was really good to spend the afternoon with them and to hear how God had called Kathy to be a missionary. 

These last 5 days with our host family have been really nice and relaxing, but I'm looking forward to starting our volunteer work! We will be helping at the public school, working in the kitchen and doing some gardening as well as helping at the local chocolate factory called "La Casa de Mujeres". 

Since we have had a lot of free time, I've also been able to do quite a bit of Bible ready and praying. God has been teaching me a lot! One of the big things that he has been teaching me is about being intentional. I've found that this is really important when you live with a family who doesn't speak the same language. It is true that my actions speak louder than my words and I am learning more about the importance of loving others with my actions. 

James 2:18 says, "But someone may well say 'You have faith and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works.'" 

If I believe that we need to love our neighbour as ourselves, then that should be seen through my actions. I want to reflect God's love through my actions and right now that means being ready and willing to help with anything, whether it's pulling chicken meat off the bones, cutting up vegetables or sweeping and mopping the floors. It's not always easy for me to have a ready and willing heart to serve others. I've had to ask God to help me with that, because often times I want to be selfish and don't want to help. But I know that this is important and it's something that I want to grow in. So it's a good thing that our Father is the ultimate teacher and he is just waiting for us to ask him to teach us. 

In short, the jungle is great and in learning lots! 

As always, thank you for reading and thank you for your prayers! 

The Beginnings of Jungle Life

(This the where have been staying at the church in Shiroles and where we will be staying on the weekends for debriefing and team time.) 

Our time in San Jose has come to a close. I was so blessed by our host family! Our host mom made sure that we felt like we were at home. She always asked us if we needed anything or if we needed a change with something. She had a true servant heart. 

On Saturday we travelled by bus to the jungle. There were a number of hiccups along the way, but God never ceased to amaze me in how He provided for us all the way to Shiroles. 

Our journey started off with our group being dropped off at the wrong bus depot. We ended up asking a series of very helpful people along the way for directions. We eventually made it through a very sketchy part of town to the correct bus station. I was so relieved. It was a lot easier to find the other bus station than I thought it was going to be! We then went to buy our tickets, only to discover that the bus we needed to take to Bribri was already full! Thankfully there was another option! We ended up buying the last 7 tickets for a bus that went to Puerto Viejo first and then to Bribri. Although this was a minor set back, Puerto Viejo was right on the beach, so we got to have some beach time! It all turned out great; we were all so excited to go to the beach that it didn't even matter that we had to wait an extra hour! The beach and the ocean were beautiful. It was a really nice time to just be able to relax and marvel at all the beauty. 

After about an hour in Puerto Viejo, we took a bus to Bribri where we waited for two taxis to happen to drive by so we could make it to our final destination, the church in Shiroles. It seemed more likely that one group would have to go ahead of the other, while the second group waited for another taxi. This would have been interesting because only our leader knew where the church was. But much to our delight a taxi truck stopped for us and agreed to take all 7 of us at the same time! We all made it to the church together, safe and sound. It was really awesome and reassuring to see that all day God was providing for us. 

Yesterday we went to church and I was absolutely blown away. The little congregation is filled with a passionate love for Christ. It was amazing for me to see this and to be a part of the body of Christ in the little village in the jungle. I am among people who know God and are being romanced by His great love for them. 

Tomorrow we will be moving in with our host families! I am very excited to start living with them and getting to know them! I am looking looking forward to all that God will be doing in me, in my team and in the people in the community!! 

Pura Vida!

With this being my first post from Costa Rica, I have so much to tell! First, the country is just as beautiful as I remember. Everything is lush and green with mountains in the distance in seemingly all directions. 

Second, I am loving the Spanish. Even though my brain feels over loaded at times. We have been taking Spanish classes at the Costa Rican Language Academy and it has been excellent! I have a great teacher and I have been learning a lot as well as taking fun classes like dance and cooking! We have three weeks of Spanish classes in total and next week is our last week. But before I get ahead of myself, let's go back to the beginning of my time in CR:

 

We started our Costa Rica experience by being picked up by our team leader and promptly going to McDonalds. Once our hunger was satisfied, we went to a hostel where we stayed for two nights. Shortly after arriving at the hostel, we realized that all 7 of us would be staying in the same room... there's no better way to get to know your new team than that! Our first full day in CR we explored the downtown area of San Jose. It definitely feels good to be back! In the beginning I couldn't believe that I was actually back in Costa Rica. Even today I was thinking about it as we were riding the bus to the language academy. I had the whisper of a dream tucked in my heart that I might return to Costa Rica. And now I am living in the reality of that dream. What I had hoped would one pass, is actually happening right now. Because God is a good Father who loves to give good gifts to His children. 

As I have been reading my Bible and spending time with God over the past few weeks, I have seen lots of patterns and connections. (Please read John 15 and Romans 15:1-7) 

God has been teaching more about the importance of loving one another as Jesus loved us as well as the importance of accenting one another. I think to have a unified community it is essential to love one another as well as accept on another. This frees everyone to be who God created them to be, instead of constantly feeling like they need to justify themselves. By loving and accepting others, we affirm the truth that they have value and worth and that who they are and what they like matters. When we love one another well, we are also looking out for their best interests and putting their needs ahead of our own. I love Romans 15:2. "Let each one of us make it a practise to please (make happy) his neighbour for this is good and for his true welfare, to edify him [to strengthen him and build him up spiritually]." 

It is my prayer that God will teach me how to love well. It is also my prayer that Psalm 63:1 will be the posture of my heart. 

"O God, You are my God; I shall seek You earnestly; my soul thirsts for You, my flesh yearns for You, in a dry and weary land where there is no water." 

Feel free to email (jayda.hooge@gmail.com) or message me in Facebook! 

God bless you and thanks for reading! 

Jayda 

How Will I Live?

Our training time in Fort Wayne has challenged us to consider our pictures of God, ourselves, others and nature. Something that has stuck with me is the importance of hope and dignity and how we show those to others. 

In one of our sessions, we were asked how we would define poverty. Many of us said something like: when you don't have enough resources to meet your basic needs. Then we read a small excerpt from the book, "When Helping Hurts" by Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkart. In this excerpt, the WorldBank did a study where they asked the question "what is poverty" to more than sixty thousand poor people from sixty low income countries. They did this as an effort to better understand the nature of poverty and how to combat it in a way that is beneficial to those who are poor. These are a few of the quotes that were recorded: 

"For a poor person everything is terrible--illness, humiliation, shame. We are cripples; we are afraid of everything; we depend on everyone. No one needs us. We are like garbage that everyone wants to get rid of." -Moldova 

"When one is poor, she has no say in public, she feels inferior. She has no food, so there is famine in her house; no clothing, and no progress in her family." -Uganda 

"If you are hungry, you will always be hungry; if you are poor, you will always be poor." -Vietnam 

After reading these and other quotes, my eyes were open to the extensiveness of poverty and how people feel who are impoverished. Once I started to understand more about the nature of poverty, I started to understand how hope and dignity play a huge role in all this. 

We are driven by our hope. If you want to run a marathon, it's the hope of winning that makes you train for it. Hope is what keeps us going, even when everything around us seems to be falling apart. Without hope, life can be depressing and well, hopeless. 

Dignity. When we treat someone with dignity, we are communicting to them that they have value; that they are worth our time and energy. When we show people dignity, it takes interacting with them in a personal, relational way. 

So instead of asking "What will I do?" now I'm asking "How will I live?" 

Here we go!

Well, I'm off! After two years of dreaming and six months of planning and preparations, I am finally on my. I am writing this in the air as I fly to Chicago to transfer to Fort Wayne, Indiana. I will be picked up from the Fort Wayne airport and taken to the Experience Mission centre. 

As you can imagine, people have been asking me if I am excited for my trip. Truthfully, before last night I was not very excited. I was nervous and a little stressed and dare I say it, scared. For some reason this trip has been harder to leave for than my other trips, going to Costa Rica for Bible school or Thetis Island for Bible school. It got to the point that when I thought of leaving, my eyes started welling up with tears. It was a mixture of sadness and I think fear, but I didn't want to acknowledge to fear. Because why should I be afraid? I've traveled by myself before, I've been to Costa Rica before and I am familiar with the culture and food. And I love the language and staying with host families. So where was the fear coming from? Well, with the help of my Auntie Kim, Uncle Darrel and my mom, we came to the conclusion that it was the enemy. He was trying to mess this up for me, and what better way then to make me fearful. So that evening, they all came around me and prayed for me and spoke truth and life back into my head and my heart. After that prayer time, I felt so much better. Gone was the anxiety and uneasiness about going on this trip. They reminded me who my Father is and who I am. Christ is victorious and I can walk in that victory. I know that I am a child; a daughter of my Heavenly Father. I am not an orphan. I am loved, accepted and valued. I have a place; I belong. He provides for me and is my safety and security; He is my refuge. 

As people have been praying for me and speaking words and pictures over me there have been similar themes. Such as, this trip is not going to be what I expect; God will be surprising me. I also know that this will be a very spiritually important trip for me and Jesus. So, I guess I don't necessarily know what to expect, but I am eagerly anticipating whatever God has planned for me! 

Thank you all for your words of encouragement and your prayers! I would greatly appreciate both as the next three months go on. The best way to get a hold of me is by Facebook messaging me or emailing me jayda.hooge@gmail.com

Thank you!!! 

One Month Away!

Hello! =)

It's crazy to think that I will be leaving for Costa Rica in one month. Especially considering I first started praying about this trip about 5 months ago. Then it was only a hope and a prayer, now it is a reality; my reality. As the days go by, I am getting more and more excited (as you probably can imagine). But I have been tempted to doubt that I will have the money in time to pay for my trip cost. In times of doubting, I need to remember who my God is. That He is a good God and He will provide for and equip me for what He has called me to. So I choose instead to believe the truth, rather than the doubts that try to creep in and cause me to worry about whether or not I will have enough money in time. This is one of the things that you can be praying about. =)

Over the past few months it has been some what of a struggle for me to be disciplined in reading my  Bible and spending time with God. But God continues to call us to Himself which I am very thankful for. Through encouragement from friends and other things, God has been speaking to me, teaching me and growing me and I have found it easier and easier to sit down and make time for Hm. Please pray that I will continue to do so and that I will become more disciplined in this area. 

One of the things that He has been rooting into my heart is that I am safe and secure in His arms. A verse that emphasizes this is Deuteronomy 33:12, "May the beloved of the Lord dwell in the security by Him, who shields him all the day, and he dwells between His shoulders." This verse really resonated with my heart because we (as His children) are His beloved, therefore I have security in Him. Which means no matter my circumstances, no matter if I feel hurt or lost or abandoned or broken, He is always there for me. He will always love me with an undying love. He also shields me, as the verse says, and I dwell between His shoulders. I love the last line, because what comes to mind is a shepherd carrying his little lost lamb across his shoulders, taking the little lamb back home. And the safest place that little lost lamb could be is on the shoulders of his protector. This is a beautiful image of how our Daddy takes care of us. And it speaks straight to my heart: I have a place. I am safe and secure in my Daddy's arms.

As a final prayer request, please pray that my heart will be open to what God wants to teach me. Please pray that He will be strengthening and equipping me for what He will have me doing on my trip. 

Thanks for reading and thanks for your prayers!! 

God Talk

My trip is approaching faster and faster. I can't believe I only have 3 and a half months until I get on the plane.
Since I've been praying about this trip, God has shown me so much. First about the heart attitude that I am to have. That I am going to proclaim God's love and His Father heart for His children. This is a life changing truth to know and believe; that God is a good Father who delights to give good gifts to His children. This is something that God has been teaching me over the past year and has recently sunk deep into my heart. Which leads me to the second thing that God has shown me about this trip. This is a gift from my good Father. This trip is filled with the things that I love: Spanish, Costa Rica, and missions. I wasn't looking for this opportunity, but God simply gave it me. He knows me heart and He knows what my dreams, desires and interests are. My Father likes what I like and He is interested in what I am interested in. I have known these things, but through this trip, God has made these truths very personal and dear to my heart.

If you have not yet read my support letter, then please let me know that you would like to! If you have, then I want to encourage you in asking God how He would like you to support me. Prayer, encouragement and monetary donations are just a few ways that I could use your support.

Thanks for reading!

The Journey Begins!

Hello!

If you are reading this, then you have heard about the great opportunity that God has given me to go back to Costa Rica! I am overjoyed with this opportunity to partner with a missions organization that focuses on building relationships with the people that we will be staying with in Costa Rica. Relationship is what is emphasized most in the immersion program that I will be a part of. They have purposefully not jam packed our days with events and activities so that we will have many opportunities to grow in our relationships with the family that we will be living with. Essentially, they want to give us the space to just do life with the locals and be ambassadors of God's love that way. During our time there, we will also be helping with local schools and churches and various other outreach opportunities. I definitely agree with their approach to missions and am very excited to be a part of something like this. When I happened upon Experience Mission's website, this was one of the things that caught my eye. The other thing was that not only did they offer an immersion trip to a Spanish speaking country, but that it was Costa Rica. If you don't know, Costa Rica has a very special place in my heart as I spent a year of Torchbearers Bible school there. Costa Rica, the people and the language have a very special place in my heart.

After discovering these things on the Experience Mission website, I was very excited and wanted to apply right away for this trip. But I decided to to wait and pray about. I didn't want to jump on board right away, without asking God if that's what He wanted me to do. I prayed about it for about a month, and during that time, I felt peace from God about this trip. I felt peace that He was a good Father who delights to give good gifts to His children. And this was one of those gifts that He was giving me. So I applied and got accepted. Through this process, I have started to understand a little more that God does delight in me and my hopes and dreams are important to Him. He also made it clear that the path that He has for each of us is tailored specifically to our hearts; to our hopes, dreams, and desires.

Now I am taking the next step of stepping out into my community and asking for support. If you are willing, I would love for you the be a part of this journey, before I go to Costa Rica and while I am there. So I just want to encourage you to pray about this and ask God how He would like you to go about it.

You are more than welcome to pray for me. In my blog posts I will list prayer requests as they come up. Specific prayer requests right now are that:
-God will be preparing my heart and my mind for this trip and
-that God will provide the funds for this trip.

If you feel called, you can also support my financially. Please contact me if this is something that is on your heart. And if you have any questions or just want to talk to me about the trip, please feel free!
My email is jayda.hooge@gmail.com