It’s been five days since arriving in Costa Rica and I feel like so much has happened. We repainted classrooms and playground equipment for a school nearby. We’ve explored to places like a local grocery store and McDonald’s for internet. My team spent a day working with children at an orphanage and we’ve even taken a day to venture a few hours to a beach in Jaco. When I think about all we’ve done, I find it hard to believe we’ve only been in the country for five short days.
Painting the playground!
Us with the two women from the school.
By the way, our ministry host is INCREDIBLE! I cannot say enough about Pastor Marcos and his church. They genuinely care about us and are constantly checking in, even offering to take us to Wal-Mart! I would love it if you all could take just even one minute to pray for Pastor Marcos and his church here in Costa Rica.
If you want complete honesty, being here is much, much harder than I anticipated it would be – and by “being here” I mean the World Race. I think part of that comes from me not fully processing emotions back home before I left and part of it comes from me finally realizing I will not be home for 11 straight months. I cried like a little baby while face-timing my parents & the kids this morning for no reason other than I simply miss them. It’s tough stuff.
Don’t get me wrong, my team is great and they make awesome company. I love each of the five girls on my team so much but in different ways; and we’ve already started having hard conversations about what it looks like to fight for this team over the next 11 months. It’s just been a little harder than I think all of us anticipated. Five girls with different needs, different love languages, different pet peeves all sharing one bedroom and spending 99% of our time together comes at a cost. We’re all still figuring this out.
Our room, can you guess which mattress is mine?
One of the biggest blessings for me has been having one of our squad leaders here with us for the first month of ministry. Kate is bundle of joy with the gift of communication, even if the conversation is a difficult one. Kate has challenged us as a team and also individually. She sees the potential and calls us out in ways that make us grow closer to each other and to Jesus.
Beach Day with our squad leader, Kate! (Front left)
A couple of tidbits:
- I’ve already cried twice. Not like the cry you get while worshipping or praying, I mean like legitimately cried. Wipe-your-nose-with-your-sleeve-while-trying-to-catch-your-breath kind of cry. Thank you Jesus for good teammates and my squad leader.
- I’m stepping out of my identity as “peace keeper.” My whole life I’ve assumed this role where I feel like I have to keep people happy so much so that I avoid hard conversations and confrontation. Being a peace keeper does not mean you brush difficult situations aside to avoid conflict, it means you have hard conversations to create peace for future situations. (Thank you, Kate.)
- I’ve never been a person who gets “home sick” but I am definitely having a hard time adjusting to being away from my family; especially those cute little ones that call me “sister” who are currently living with my parents. Hence why I cried on the phone for like an hour today.
- The kids in our neighborhood are thee coolest. We play soccer and freeze tag with them. We hang out and share cookies as they ride their bikes and show us “tricks.” The language barrier makes it tough but my favorite memories in Costa Rica so far have been with them.
- Today I ate cookies, popcorn and guacamole for lunch.
Jesus time on the beach in Jaco.
PRAYER REQUESTS:
- My team. (Holley, Carolyn, Jessica, Jenna, Emily)
- Pastor Marcos and the influence his church has in Costa Rica
- Students, teachers and administration from the school we worked at this week.
FUNDING:
I am still not fully funded. I’ve met my $13,000 goal but my next financial deadline is to be fully funded by April. I know this is where the Lord wants me and I know He will provide but I’d like to invite you on this journey with me. If you’re interested in coming along on this journey with me all you have to do is hit the little “support me” button on the top of the page.
Thanks for everything, keep us in your prayers and know we are praying for you!
Con mucho amor,
Victoria
