Today as I reflected back on what we got to experience, the words beauty for ashes came racing through my mind.
We went to a city outside San Jose called La Carpio. We learned that this city is labeled by the media and people as being very dangerous and full of brokenness. As we heard the way people talked about it, it felt as though it was called the “forgotten city”.
As we got off the bus, an overwhelming smell of garbage struck you. All we saw when we walked through this town was tin houses, stray dogs and garbage.
Then through the darkness we saw a gate opened and it enters into a place called Christ for the city. I entered the gate and I felt a rush of hope, this feeling of light all around me.
Christ for the city is a safe haven for these kids in a broken city. It is located at the only patches of grass in the city. There are soccer fields, flowers, playgrounds, and a skate park. All you see and feel is love and joy.
When we first got there I noticed that there was mostly just boys. We asked one of the volunteers if girls also come. She explained to us that La Carpio is a micro culture of San Jose that experiences extreme sexism. The girls aren’t allowed to attend the ministry until they have finished their housework and chores for the day if they are allowed to come at all.
All that flashes through my head is everything that I take for granted. The fact that I don’t even think twice about whether or not I was allowed to go to soccer practice or even if I wanted to go play outside. For some of the kids we met today the breakfast and lunch we served may have been their only meals for the day.
I spoke with a teenage girl named Paulo who has been coming to Christ for the city for the past 2 years. La Carpio doesn’t have a high school nearby so kids either have to travel to another city by bus which most can’t afford or don’t go at all. But here Paulo gets to be a kid. I watched Paulo as she skateboarded fearlessly with the boys. I saw her playing soccer with so much joy.
I was able to talk about my connection to soccer with her and how looking back I was able to realize that I experienced God through that. Paulo responded by saying, “I have finally found peace since coming here.”
Throughout this experience so far I have been praying for God to open my eyes and ears to see as He does. In that moment, I experienced God through Paulo. I got to look at her and see that she is not forgotten but a beloved child of God. I got to see myself in her and see that sometimes it’s hard to recognize how deeply loved we are by our Father due to the brokenness around us.
Christ for the city is such a fruitful place. Now When I think of the fruits of the spirit I will think of that place in La Carpio, Costa Rica. Not the brokenness or the overwhelming garbage stench but those beautiful smiles that found a place of hope and love in a dark place.
I want to challenge you to find beauty in the brokenness around you. Just because you may not be on a mission trip or out of the country doesn’t mean there may not be a kid in your neighborhood in need of a mentor in a broken home or a community around you that needs your gifts to bring a safe haven and God’s love to them.
Love you all,
Ashley
Isaiah 61
61 The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me,
because the Lord has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for the prisoners,[a]
2 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor
and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn,
3 and provide for those who grieve in Zion—
to bestow on them a crown of beauty
instead of ashes,
the oil of joy
instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise
instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
a planting of the Lord
for the display of his splendor.
4 They will rebuild the ancient ruins
and restore the places long devastated;
they will renew the ruined cities
that have been devastated for generations.
5 Strangers will shepherd your flocks;
foreigners will work your fields and vineyards.
6 And you will be called priests of the Lord,
you will be named ministers of our God.
You will feed on the wealth of nations,
and in their riches you will boast.
7 Instead of your shame
you will receive a double portion,
and instead of disgrace
you will rejoice in your inheritance.
And so you will inherit a double portion in your land,
and everlasting joy will be yours.
8 “For I, the Lord, love justice;
I hate robbery and wrongdoing.
In my faithfulness I will reward my people
and make an everlasting covenant with them.
9 Their descendants will be known among the nations
and their offspring among the peoples.
All who see them will acknowledge
that they are a people the Lord has blessed.”
10 I delight greatly in the Lord;
my soul rejoices in my God.
For he has clothed me with garments of salvation
and arrayed me in a robe of his righteousness,
as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest,
and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
11 For as the soil makes the sprout come up
and a garden causes seeds to grow,
so the Sovereign Lord will make righteousness
and praise spring up before all nations.
