God’s creativity rocked me
These were the four words I used to describe my time in Costa Rica. We worked with an organization called Zoe Future Leaders which has a school called Glory Christian School, a church called Zoe church, a bible school and is a conduit for many missionary teachers in Costa Rica. We lived on the 2nd floor of the school and helped with Bible, Devotion and Art classes. We had the opportunity to work closely with Melissa and Micah, the school’s principal and her missionary husband. We also hung out quite a bit with the director of the bible school, Andrew. We also did some very creative park evangelism. Micah and Melissa are professional dancers. Micah does “popping”. He got some of his friends together, another who does popping and one who does “crumping” to dance in a park in San Jose. Their dance drew crowds and we got a chance to move through and have conversations with the people who gathered. After the dance, they shared a short message that said, “We hope you enjoyed the dance. We’re not here asking for money. We just here to tell you that Jesus loves you”.
We also did a scavenger hunt in the park and enlisted the help of random strangers to get photos such as awkward family photos.
On Saturdays we worked with another missionary, Christine, who teaches at the school. She has a ministry called Cinco Esquinas (Five Corners) where she goes into a community and teaches bible stories to kids and plays games. She has been diligently doing this every Saturday for almost three years.
We spent Easter in Costa Rica. We sang and shared testimonies and then were invited to a potluck lunch with about 50 other missionaries. It was awesome to hear all their stories about how they came to be in Costa Rica.
I got to love on a beautiful group of kindergartners and first graders and also got to pour into a teenage girl who attended Glory Christian School. My heart is so full from being given the opportunity to work with kids.
One thing that struck me in all these interactions was how much creativity and variety was involved in reaching the lost in Costa Rica. Everyone we met was using the gifts and talents that God had given them, whether that was in business, working with kids, dancing etc. to grow God’s kingdom. They were all blooming where they were planted. There was no cookie cutter mold for the missionaries, from the way they looked and dressed to the way they interacted with others, their personalities were as varied as their approach to ministry.
Pastor Arellano had us over for dinner before we left and told us that the door is always open and they would love for us to return and work with them in Costa Rica. Made me think … hmmm.
