Hello once again. The time has passed by and sadly we leave Costa Rica today but Joy comes with it because we get to serve alongside new ministry hosts. I want to share some amazing highlights of the month, Jesus is such a wonderful friend who desires that we press into him more deeply every day and see the world through his eyes. So, let me tell you what my friend has done.
Let’s begin with how the lord speaks to us in such wonderfully different ways. During a quiet time one morning, our group had an intentional listening time with Jesus and boy did he speak.
Here are a few thoughts that may be of some encouragement to you as it was me.
May my spirit reside in you in such a way that is evident…what does that look like? He answered, “You are light. That is your identity, now walk in it.
Yes we have genes from our earthly family but our ultimate gene pool came directly from the image of God and how restoring our souls through Jesus creates a way to the Father, allowing us to move into the qualities that he intended us to have from the beginning. That is who I am, the Lord’s masterpiece, I am precious in His sight, every breath I breathe is from the Lord and for the Lord. May His will be done and not my own.
Digging deeper into prayer has been hard for me this past month through other distractions, I hadn’t even noticed until the Lord laid it on my heart how unintentional I was being to connect with him at all times. Something I read recently, “We look upon prayer simply as a means of getting things for ourselves, but the biblical purpose of prayer is that we may get to know God himself.” This sunk in deep into my heart, I continued reading “God’s training ground, where the missionary weapons are found, is the hidden, personal, worshipping life of the saint.” God is so GOOD, he loves, convicts, and deeply forgives. We prayed over an older lady who has a severe illness and she said, “The lord hears the cries of those suffering, but to be persistent in prayer at all times not just the times you need something.” She went on to say that we tend to complain and talk to the lord about our problems a lot, yet Christ suffered so much more and was SILENT.
“He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth.”
– Isaiah 53:7
A day later we did some prayer walking in the streets of La Carpio, and that’s when it hit me that God’s hand of protection has been with us this entire month. We have lived in and walked the streets of La Carpio for a whole month with no incidents; yet we stick out like sore thumbs. We are the only white Americans walking around there and nothing has happened to us, not even a single thing stolen. Praise God on high. This is the neighborhood that even local Costa Ricans don’t want anything to do with it and tell us to guard ourselves with weapons when we go there, yet they don’t realize we have the best coverage of protection and spirit and that’s the lord. From the beginning of the month my heart was turning and I couldn’t quite pinpoint why until one day during a prayer walk.
Walking the streets of La Carpio and really anywhere, a lot of men tend to have a watchful eye on women. They always have something to say to you as you walk by in a degrading manner and to be honest it tops off my anger gauge. I start thinking to myself how rude of them or who do they think they are talking to women in that manner. Then the Lord hit me with grace. He revealed to me his heart, each man standing on that street corner is his lost son who can be so much more, which God had intended them to be. Are they ready to move from being punks to sons? May we lift up those men in prayer that they can understand who Christ is to them and find their identity in Christ alone. I realized God is preparing my heart to start learning that Christ’s love can be shared to those men, they are the Unnoticed ministry. May God place Godly men to interact with those unnoticed on the street corners. There’s darkness and a heaviness that you can feel in La Carpio but there is light. That light is his spirit which is inside every Christian and may that light shine bright and transform that place. God’s will will be done and not of our own knowledge and understanding.
“and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the spirit and of power, so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.”
– 1 Corinthians 2: 4-5
Prayer requests:
– We arrive safely to Nicaragua
– For our teams health
– Being intentional with sharing the Gospel
– For our new ministry hosts
– For long term help with our previous hosts (GiveDignity, Seth & Andrea Sears)
If you want a good read about what ministry we just came from (GiveDignity) Take a look at this blog that my teammate Drew wrote.
http://drewdahlsten.theworldrace.org/?filename=im-in-costa-rica
Princess Club on Wednesday nights with these wonderful youngsters. Learning about their identity in Christ.
Thanks everyone for your help and prayer so far. It has been incredible, there’s so many stories to share maybe I’ll be able to share them all one day. Please feel free to send me your prayer requests. Until next time Costa Rica.
Much Love,
Tiffany
