6:8 Ministries, Costa Rica
Costa Rica isn’t at all what I envisioned. Mostly because I
saw myself in the sand with an ocean view and tropical temperatures… Instead my
team (along with one other World Race team) is located just outside San Jose,
Costa, in the second largest city in the country- and its amazing J
For the last two months, we have been living down at the end of a dirt road
somewhere, not very close to a store and in more rural areas. It’s a total
transformation now to live in a big city, to hear traffic all around, have
access to a bus, and know that a mall is nearby. Its definitely a welcomed
change though as we’ve gotten involved with 6:8 Ministries and all the areas it
encompasses.
The ministry basically includes a Feeding Center, a Youth
Group, English Class, Tattoo ministry, a Thrift Store, a Skate Park, Bario
ministry, a Men’s Center, etc. We go to the Feeding Center about three times a
week and it has been awesome. I met a guy named Rafael this week, who thinks he
speaks a little French and is very sweet. I guess I only understand half of
what he says because of the language barrier and his level of alcohol, but we
struggle along in conversation and smile to fill the gaps. A lot of the guys at
the program come drunk or are struggling with the effects of drugs and
homelessness. Many are sick, injured, or just struggling. It has been awesome
to connect with and pray for their different needs. The first person I ever met
there was a young guy with a clear drug addiction, who we prayed for because he
isn’t allowed to see his children.
We haven’t been to the skate park or the thrift store yet,
but they are both awesome ministries offering jobs to people who are
struggling. I know that some of the rehabilitated men work at the skate park
and there are ex-prostitutes and young girls, who work at the thrift store. It
was crazy the other night at church, hearing that three young boys, two of whom
are 14 and 9 (brothers), had threatened to rob the stores… I had a weird flash
back to the dream I had had just two nights before and wondered if it meant
anything,
The Men’s Center is basically a house for guys who are
trying to get away from drug and alcohol addiction. An awesome Californian guy
named Anton (who is only 20 years old), was on a surf trip through Central
America with a friend, when he happened upon the ministry the day that the Head
of the Men’s Center was let go. He’s been here just over 4 months now, running
the center, and living with 3 of the guys, who are now in stage 3 (the final
stage) of rehabilitation.
English class has come to be a favorite activity of our
team. Since the Americans who run it will be out of town for the next few
weeks, we have asked to keep it going so that we can continue some of the
relationships we’ve started, and have some more fun. The first night we did it,
I tutored a young man named Pablo, who was very sweet and ended up bringing us
all tamales wrapped in plantains for the next class. Janee and I also worked
with an older woman named Anna who is very eager to learn. One of the men who
lives at the Men’s Center (Shaggy), is also hilarious and fun to work with,
along with some of the younger skater kids and my new friend Damye.
Going down into some of the local barrios to witness, bring
food and medicine, and play with the kids, has also been awesome. We went down
to one specific ministry by “the River” the other day and had some great
experiences. (One of our teammates started a conversation with a local lady on
the bus on the way, who told us we are very brave for going down there and
warned us to be very careful. Evidently its very dangerous…) As we started
walking down the long dirt road the first time to the community, Anton waved at
a man named Carlos, as he drove by on a moped with a joint in his mouth, and explained
that this was the local drug dealer. Carlos has promised security for those
involved in the ministry, while they are visiting and working in the barrio. We
passed another man that Anton nodded to as well, and said that he is demon
possessed. Sometimes when they have been praying for him, the man will start
doing weird things like barking like a dog. On the way down we also passed a
crack hut that was occupied and some prostitution shacks. One of the
relationships I am hoping to form is with a 12 year-old girl named Maria, who
was kicked out of her house and is now living with a 40 year-old man and
prostituting herself.
Bringing food down into the area and playing with the kids
was awesome. However, you could just sense a feeling of darkness down there and
my heart was very heavy. At one of the houses, we met an old woman named
Claudia (just about the cutest old lady I have ever seen), who is about 4 ft
tall. She had really bad arthritis in her hands and you could see the pain she
had as she worked around her little house. Her knuckles were gnarled and
swollen, and as we talked with her we noticed that she wasn’t able to move and
bend them much. We gathered a group and sat and prayed with her. After the
first prayer she was able to stretch her fingers a bit more. We prayed two more
times and watched as the swelling went away, and the ability to move and bend
her fingers came back. With tears in her eyes she told us that the pain had
gone away and she stretched her fingers out, explaining that she was never able
to do that without a lot of pain. It was incredible and it was such a cool
testament to God’s power and His desire to heal the sick.
Our time here has already been so incredible and I look
forward to new ministry opportunities every day. The relationships we have
begun to form are very special and we are excited to see what God has for us
this month.
Please keep our team’s safety in prayer along with the
stores that are being threatened by robbers. The men at the Men’s Center were
robbed at gun-point and tied up not too long ago, and all of their valuables
were taken. There are very real threats here and there is so much poverty,
people will do almost anything for as little as $40 or even a cell phone.
In addition, many of my teammates are still struggling to
meet our support deadline, which is December 31. Their names are Janee Doshier,
Amber Hoey, and Christina Palmer, if you would like to check out their blogs or
pray for them specifically. I am also still about $2,000 away from my deadline.
Please pray that God will provide and I praise Him for what He is already doing
to keep us out on the field.
