Hola amigos! It is day 5 here in the beautiful city of Jaco, Costa Rica! I have been so overwhelmed by the beauty of this whole country and especially this city! There are so many colors around us: from the bright exotic fruits, to the blue ocean, to the green lush of the jungle, and the colorful buildings. Jaco on the outside seems like paradise, but among the beauty of our surroundings there is a stark contrast of poverty, addictions, and brokeness of it’s people.
When we arrived in Jaco on Wednesday, I was impressed by the beauty of the town, but I immediately felt a dark presence around us. My stomach was turning by my feeling. Right next to the beautiful beaches and mountains, there were strip clubs, run down houses, and bars scattered around the city. I could tell that we had entered into a party town. It is a paradise for sufers, tourists, and partiers, but Jaco is also a trap to enter into addictions, brokeness, and sin.
After we drove around the city in our taxi for a couple minutes, we finally came to our ministry site, which is in the heart of Jaco. We came across a big iorn fence with a giant purple sign that read “Christian Surfers” in neon pink. As we entered into the gate, we saw a big building with colorful murals of the ocean covering the whole building. There were palm trees, a skateboard ramp in the front, surf boards hanging on walls, macaws flying overhead, and palm trees all around us. I was IN LOVE with the ministry already. From the darkness I felt driving around the city, this place felt joyful and alive. Our host Hannah greeted us with a big smile and excitement. She went on to explain the purpose of our ministry and about the city of Jaco.
Hannah described Jaco as a town where you can get “sucked into”. Tourists come in to party and they never want to leave. Locals become addicted to drugs and can fall into poverty or homelessness. The darkness of the town sucks you in. I realized then why I felt so uncomfortable while driving around the town. I felt the darkness calling my name to leave my life behind and come live the “pura vida”; a temptation I won’t give into, but just eerie feeling in my soul.
Hannah went on to explain how Christian Surfers is a part of the ministry Ocean’s Edge which started to be a light for those who are in the darkness of the city. They have a children’s ministry, a trafficking ministry, a homeless ministry, and Christian Surfers. The point of Christian Surfers is to reach the young community in the area, primarily the young adults who come to Jaco to surf and party. They have a group on Thursday nights where kids and adults can come and worship, skateboard, and listen to God’s word.
So, my team, Sculptor’s Seven, and another team from our squad named Unsilenced are both living at the Christian Surfer’s ministry site for this month. We are sleeping in our tents, showering outdoors, and eating lots of strange but yummy fruit. It is awesome! Our job for the next month is to help clean up and improve the ministry property and help out in the children’s, homeless, and trafficking ministrys around the city. So far, I have helped lead a children’s group where my team put on a skit about the lost sheep parable and helped the kids create cottonball sheep. I have helped out in a nursery so that the parents can go to church. We have also helped clean and organize the Christian surfer property. While being busy with these projects, my team and I have been learning to balance out time with ministry, our personal time with God, and our time with each other. It is busy and can be tiring, BUT IT IS AWESOME!
Even though Jaco has a dark presence, I now walk around the town with joy in my heart because I have hope for this city. I am not searching for anything in this city fill a void in my soul because I already have a loving and accepting God and I want to help others realize that too. God gives me the energy to talk to other people and get to know their stories. He gives me the feelings of who to talk to and what to say. Even though I only know a little bit of Spanish, the words and phrases that I learned in college have been coming back to me and I can speak to the locals (which is definately a God thing because I am terrible with languages.. Spanish was my lowest grade in all of college). I have hope in the town of Jaco because the ministries in the area are doing an amazing job at providing joy, hope, restoration and the love of Christ to everyone who they come in contact with. I have high hopes for the city of Jaco, and I am so excited to continue working for these ministries and showing my joy in Christ to everyone I meet. God is doing amazing things for the city of Jaco.
