Bible School
in Costa Rica
The Integrative Bible Course (IBC) is designed to immerse DTS graduates in the truth of God’s Word, to develop a mature Christian worldview, and to integrate the Bible into the whole of life. Societies can be transformed as students learn to personally apply God’s truth in every domain of life. IBC is an intensive, residential training course of 12 weeks at the YWAM base in Nicoya, Costa Rica. The course emphasizes cross-cultural exposure and global awareness, preparing students to answer the call to "Go into all the world and make disciples of all nations" Matthew 28:19.
Know the Word
Live the Word
Disciple Nations
The purpose of the Integrative Bible Course is to:
IMMERSE ourselves in God's Word
DEVELOP a life-long hunger for the Bible
COMMUNICATE biblical truth with clarity
INTEGRATE God’s truth into the whole of life
BUILD our Worldview according to the Bible
MAKE disciples of nations
“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.”
The IBC teachers come from several different nations. 12 weeks of lectures are centered around the core topics of:
Inspiration and Reliability of the Scriptures
Methods of Bible Study
Pentateuch
Historical Books of the Old Testament
Prophetical Books
Poetical Books
Expectation of Messiah
Life of Jesus
Early Church
Pauline Epistles
General Epistles
Yet-to-Come
Discipling Nations
The IBC fulfills the core Bible course requirement for associate degree programs in the University of the Nations. To effectively disciple nations requires the future generation of leaders to apply the Bible holistically, not compartmentalising their beliefs nor accommodating the spirit of the age. As such, the biblical worldview dimension will be injected into the whole of the school in order to prepare the student to integrate God’s truth as the reference point for every domain of life.
Upcoming Integrative Bible Course Dates:
April 5 to June 26, 2026
April 4 to June 25, 2027
April 9 to June 30, 2028
IBC Prices
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Australia
Austria
Barbados
Belgium
Canada
Czech Republic
Denmark
Faroe Islands
Finland
France
Germany
Greece
Guam
Hong Kong
Iceland
Ireland {Northern & Republic}
Israel
Italy
Japan
Korea, South
Netherlands
New Zealand
Norway
Portugal
Singapore
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
Taiwan
United Kingdom
United StatesUniversity of the Nations bases the costs of the Per Capita Income (PCI) of each nation. This allows us to cover school costs and make our schools more affordable to students from various countries with lower income levels. We use the following two sources of information to derive country categories:
The World Almanac and Book of Facts and The Internet CIA Fact book. -
American Samoa
Argentina
Botswana
Brazil
Bulgaria
Chile
Costa Rica
Croatia
Dominican Republic
Estonia
Hungary
Latvia
Lithuania
Malaysia
Mexico
Palau
Panama
Poland
Romania
Russia
Saudi Arabia
Slovakia
South Africa
Thailand
Trinidad/Tobago
Tunisia
Turkey
Uruguay
Venezuela
University of the Nations bases the costs of the Per Capita Income (PCI) of each nation. This allows us to cover school costs and make our schools more affordable to students from various countries with lower income levels. We use the following two sources of information to derive country categories:
The World Almanac and Book of Facts and The Internet CIA Fact book. -
Albania
Algeria
Angola
Armenia
Belize
Benin
Bolivia
Bosnia Herzegovina
Burkina Faso
Cambodia
Cameroon
China
Colombia
Congo
Cook Islands
Ecuador
Egypt
El Salvador
Ethiopia
Fiji
French Polynesia
Ghana
Guatemala
Haiti
Honduras
India
Indonesia
Ivory Coast
Jamaica
Jordan
Kiribati
Kenya
Lebanon
Liberia
Malawi
Marshall Islands
Micronesia
Mongolia
Mozambique
Nepal
Nicaragua
Nigeria
Niue
Papua New Guinea
Peru
Philippines
Rwanda
Samoa
Senegal
Sierra Leone
Solomon Islands
Sri Lanka
Tanzania
Togo
Tonga
Uganda
Ukraine
Vanuatu
Vietnam
Zambia
ZimbabweUniversity of the Nationsbases the costs of the Per Capita Income (PCI) of each nation. This allows us to cover school costs and make our schools more affordable to students from various countries with lower income levels. We use the following two sources of information to derive country categories:
The World Almanac and Book of Facts and The Internet CIA Fact book.
“The obedience to God and the Bible that the staff and base have is what was most important for me. Everyone had a strong base in the Word, and sought His will above all else.”
- YWAM Nicoya student
IBC FAQs
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Our schools fully bilingual (Spanish and English), meaning that everything is translated and there is no requirement for the students to be bilingual. It is enough if you speak English or Spanish fluent enough to understand text and speech, to communicate and to write assignments.
However, it is a great opportunity to learn Spanish and to further develop your fluency if you already speak it.
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Yes, the Integrative Bible Course is an accredited university course of the University of the Nations. You get 12 credits from completing an IBC.
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We receive 6-12 students per school.
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Most of our students are young adults (18-28 years old). We do welcome adult students as well.
Normally we have both local Costa Rican and international students from several different nationalities in each school. YWAM Nicoya schools are very much an intercultural experience!
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You cannot. IBC requires your full attention and it is an academically demanding course. IBC is a full-time residential course where full learning weeks often include activities in the evenings and weekends as well. An essential part of an IBC is to spend your limited free time doing the required homework and reading, connecting with the other community members and spending time with God.
Internet access will also be limited during the DTS, especially on outreach.
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YWAM Nicoya is located in a beautiful rural village in Guanacaste, Costa Rica. You will be surrounded by a lot of nature.
The base functions on two different properties a walking distance from each other. We have a main building where meals are prepared and served and where we have most of our community gatherings. The classroom is a separate building and our only room with A/C. The classroom is also a quiet study space for IBC students.
Students live in cabins and tiny homes, in shared rooms between 4 to 8 people. Each cabin and tiny home has its own bathroom. The rooms have bunkbeds, limited shelf/closet space for personal items and fans.
At the moment we have 50 bedspaces for students, staff, volunteers, visitors and outreach teams.
The porches, the yard and outdoors serve as spaces for studying and hanging out. Bring your own hammock to get the best out of it!
Student testimonies
