Month 3 Recap
Country: Costa Rica Month: March Days in Country: 27
City: San Jose Ministry Host: Conexion Ministries
Donations received this month: $595
We were blessed to be put with our host family, the Tatums this month. They welcomed us into their home and really embraced us as their adopted daughters and sisters. As a result, we were blessed with their generosity and love and our team enjoyed a wonderful month with them. For full transparency, we had access to hot showers, TV, WiFi and DELICIOUS food(thanks to Papa Bryan!) every day. It seemed GREAT at first, but it quickly became a distraction for me. Instead of spending quality time with others or praying I was catching up on episodes of Chicago Fire and Scandal. This month was definitely a reminder of how life back in the USA is fast-paced and full of daily distractions. And even though it was rough, I am grateful for it because I now know just how hard I’ll have to fight for my quiet time with God and to stay focused on what really matters.
We were VERY BUSY this month; Jherson, the Director of Conexion Ministries, always had our days full of serving the community. Through all of our work, we became very close with Jherson’s family and the entire Conexion family of people who are so dedicated to serving Costa Rica. I am truly blessed and honored to say that I now have family in Costa Rica! Here’s a rundown of what we did. Check out a few photos below!
MEDICAL CLINIC
We spent a week in a town called Puerto Viejo, which is located in Northern Costa Rica. We set up in an almost finished clinic that was next to the local Methodist church and a short-term team from Dallas arrived to help do the clinic. We were able to help people with all sorts of needs and issues from malnourishment, anemia, pregnancy tests to eye exams, and everything in between. Since I have no medical experience, I was a translator! It was difficult but I definitely learned a lot of new Spanish words!
FIELD DAYS
We got to visit schools and facilitate fun days filled with sports and games and fun. These were opportunities to love on kids who may not always get to have fun. These were usually really long, really hot days, but they were so fulfilling! It’s great to serve kids who are so happy and excited to do something as simple as play volleyball or jump on a trampoline. I had a great experience doing this which I wrote about in a blog titled “the kid in the red shirt” that you can read here.
CLEANING/HOUSEKEEPING
One of the first things we did when we arrived was go through the ministry’s equipment and clean it. We also had to sort through hundreds of medications in preparation for the medical clinic and toss out the expired meds and organized the others. This was definitely NOT glamorous or even fun, but it was really meaningful. Once we got to the medical clinic and saw that the tables and chairs and tents we’d cleaned were being used to help those in need and that the meds we sorted through were helping sick people, the hours we spent in the sun, scrubbing dirty tables felt 100% worth it.
ESL LESSONS
I loved getting to be a teacher! It was fun to teach kids from about 1st thru 6th grade how to speak, read and write in English. We did lots of games; “I Spy” and”Head, Shoulders, Knees & Toes” were some of the favorites. I loved having the opportunity to work 1 on 1 with some students who were really struggling and help them improve and feel accomplished. The look on a kid’s face when something finally ‘clicks’ is priceless!
PRISON MINISTRY
As I described in my blog titled “I went to prison” (which you can read here), I was greatly impacted by my time in the prison. I loved being with those women and learning about their lives and seeing that some of them were not much different than me. Being able to talk and pray and cry with them was such an honor and prison ministry is something that I absolutely hope to continue doing in the USA when I return.
Our team with our friends who quickly became family!!!
Team Submerge with the Tatum family!
(From L to R:Drew, Kirsten, me, Megan, Leslie, Kiersten, Brittni, Mama Beth, Papa Bryan and Jessica)
Jessica and I with a few of our ESL favorites: Jack, Angel and Alejandro!
