Contrary to popular believe, adios doesn’t mean goodbye. This word stems from the original “A Dios” which means “to God.” When you pass believers on the streets in Central America, they say “adios!” as a greeting. This isn’t because they’re just saying “bye;” it’s because they’re handing you over to God’s care and protection.
Entonces, a Dios, Centro America. Congratulations! You stole more of my heart than ever before, more than I wanted or even thought possible. Thank you, Jesus! I prayed daily since our first debrief at the advice of my beautiful friend, Stacy, that He would grow my heart even bigger. I was struggling and not-so-affectionately referred to my emotions as “my big, stupid heart.” This journey so far has been about me embracing the very emotional creature that God designed me to be and learning that “my big, stupid heart” is actually incredibly BEAUTIFUL to the Father, but that’s not what this blog is about…
This blog is about the beautiful people and places of Central America.
This blog is about Costa Rica.
A people who call themselves ticos and love learning English.
A place where we drank water from the tap without getting sick.
Children who believe adding “-ation” to the end of any word makes it English.
We worked with Zoe Future Leaders and were blessed to be exposed to many diverse ministries and be trained up more before going out to the nations. It was a month of figuring out The World Race and our team. I learned that finding a cathedral and park meant you were in the center of town and that everything you needed was nearby – a theme that continued throughout Central America. We worked with an incredible group of selfless, servant-hearted translators who will not be soon forgotten. My hardest goodbyes were to Dalila and Sebastian, a 13-year-old drug dealer I met at Gloriosa Dia, a home for at-risk boys.
This blog is about Nicaragua.
A people who call themselves nicas and fit a family of 4 on one bicycle.
A place where our church was literally a light on a hill.
Children who delight in teaching their new gringo friends how to properly use machetes.
We worked with David Aragon and his community to clean up a school, build a house for a minister and begin construction of a children’s feeding center. It was a month of manual labor and living with the whole squad to truly impact a community. We learned that God wanted us to be parents someday and even became godparents. Jay and I both formed very special relationships with David and his family. I also became super close friends with precious Nadia, a 9 year old who sings in the worship choir.
This blog is about Honduras.
A people who call themselves lencas, consider me tall and are hungry for the Lord.
A place where children shouted our names from mountain tops as we walk down the road and giggles followed us everywhere we went.
Children graduate sixth grade and begin working in the family coffee fields.
We spent our mornings teaching English and Bible in schools and our afternoons doing door-to-door evangelism. It was a month of living simply and filling the needs we saw. I learned to use the gifts that the Lord has given me and to not be selfish with them. My best friends were 6-year old Marvin, who always greeted me with a big hug and an even bigger smile and Gloria, one of the women that served us by cooking and cleaning while we were ministering.
Central America, I’ll miss your beautiful, brown skinned, genuine people. I’ll miss your diverse places. I’ll miss your very similar cultures. I’ll miss your food – though you think I’d be sick of rice, beans, eggs and tortillas for every meal by now. I’ll miss your language and knowing what’s going on around me. I’ve already mistakenly tried to speak Spanish to people in Miami, LA, Beijing, Bangkok and Chiang Mai. I’ll miss the familiarity of it all. Heading to Asia is so bittersweet for me with all the excitement of a vastly new culture on a continent I’ve never set foot on. I’ve spent the last week grieving the loss of you, Central America. Now, I’m ready to let you go so a Dios.
Numbers 6:24-26
I’ve been working on this blog for over a week, but took the time to actually grieve the losses as I wrote. Initially, I really struggled to be present but knew that God had called me to this place for such a time as this. So, I prayed every day for the Lord to give me a heart for the Thai people at the suggestion of our contact, Emmi….and it worked! I love these beautiful people and cannot wait to write about it!
