Pictures from CCO/NST (YL Training in Colorado)

The whole international Young Life crew at our commissioning service at the end of Cross-Cultural Orientation in Colorado Springs.  We are heading to Africa, Asia, Europe, and Latin America--all over the world.

This is the main lodge at Crooked Creek Ranch in Fraser, Colorado where we were for the second 2 weeks of training--New Staff Training with a total of about 175 new staff from the U.S. and internationally.

The beautiful mountain view from Crooked Creek.  I got to look at this during breaks--it kept me going with 10-12 hours of class and lectures every day!

And when I was feeling REALLY tired in the mornings--sunrises like this got me up and reminded me of the beauty of creation all around me!  

It wasn't ALL work :)  Here is a group of my new international friends (and Devin, who does YL in Florida)--from the left:  Meagan (going to Germany), Bonnie (Belgium), Sarah (England), Emily (Dominican Republic), Sarah (Tanzania), me, Devin, Denae (Singapore), and Ariel (Portugal).  At every Young Life camp they hold a carnival for this kids--this was my first time experiencing the carnival as a "camper."  We had fair food (cotton candy, popcorn, corn dogs, funnel cakes!), games, and lots of laughter!

I just wanted you to get a quick snapshot of my few weeks in Colorado!

Three weeks of training in snowy Colorado

Hi friends!  I hope you have had a lovely January.  I just returned from three weeks of training in snowy Colorado!  Colorado in the winter is absolutely breathtaking--the mountains, the snow, the wide open spaces.  It was the perfect backdrop to three weeks of intense cross-cultural and new staff training.  During the first week in Colorado Springs, I had the chance to meet about 20 other amazing people who will be doing Young Life all over the world (Africa, Singapore, Europe, Latin America, etc.)  I was inspired by each person's story--how they got involved with Young Life and their passion to serve kids who desperately need love and guidance.  We met at the Young Life Service Center (YL headquarters) every day for sessions on culture shock/cultural integration, adapting the Young Life model in an international context, and hearing from the experiences of several long-term international staff.  It was a challenging, hard, encouraging and uplifting week!

The next two weeks we joined about 160 more U.S. Young Life staff who are all in their first year on staff.  While the first week was emotionally challenging, these next two weeks were physically and mentally challenging.  We met every day for 10-12 hours of intense training, including taking two seminary classes on adolescent culture and development and the Gospels.  We learned a lot about the history of Young Life, the principles behind the Young Life model and how to effectively run Young Life programming in our areas.  The highlight of the week was hearing from Bob Mitchell, who was one of the first kids to become involved in Young Life.  He shared so many stories about the early days of Young Life and Jim Rayburn, YL's founder.  It was such a treat to hear from this man who has been involved with Young Life since the 1940s and to know I am going to be part of an organization that has been impacting the lives of kids for 50 years!

I want to thank all of you for your prayers and financial support that helped me to receive this awesome training.  I feel more equipped than ever to join the Young Life work in Costa Rica....which I hope to be doing in the next few months!  Stay tuned for more updates...

Pura Vida Newsletter: December 2009

Hi friends!  It's that time again--newsletter time!  Please see my December newsletter below where I'm happy to announce that I've reached 65% of my budget.  I'm currently at the first week of Young Life training (Cross Cultural Orientation) in Colorado Springs, CO (which explains the delay in this post.)  I'm thoroughly enjoying this opportunity to meet and build relationships with other future Young Life international staff, learn how to deal with the transition to another culture and spend some much needed time reflecting on the exciting journey that lays before me in Costa Rica.

Would you please pray that I would be able to soak up as much knowledge and wisdom as possible over the next two weeks, that I would form friendships that will help keep me going when the going gets tough overseas, and for good health (I've been dealing with some stomach issues :( ?  Thanks for your prayers!

Enjoy the newsletter!