Quick update for you all.
Ministry has been good this week. There hasn’t been anything really different from the norm. This past Sunday was the 2-week mark for me. I’ve been to Kenya for missions’ trips before, but for 2 weeks at a time. This is 9 months long. I was having a really hard time on Sunday, missing home a lot and feeling lonely. I called my mom and talked to her for about a half-hour. It was hard to hang up, but I had to go to a session already planned. That night was just rough.
The next day was better. I talked to a couple friends about it, and they encouraged me to keep going. “It’s good that I’ve been missing home because that means I have something good there,” they said. It was good to cry. By the way, thank you to everyone who prayed for me that evening! I don’t know what my mom said on Facebook, but she said a ton of prayers came heading towards me, and I couldn’t be more grateful. Just knowing that so many care about me really shows me how much God loves me if He put my name on so many people’s hearts. That’s also one thing that I’ve asked the Lord – to show me how He loves me. I believe that was one of His ways to reveal to me how He cares for me using people.
Anyway, I went to the clinic today (Wednesday, Sept 26th), and I now have the beginning stages of a sinus infection. The doctor gave me some Zyrtec and nose spray, so I’ll be taking that for the next week or so. I’m yet another racer to get sick during our time in Costa Rica, so please pray that no one else will get sick and those that are will get better quickly. I had to take a day off from ministry because I had to go to the clinic, so I stayed at the base all day. That was really boring. I like to stay home, but being here, I hate staying cooped up. I found that out last Sunday. I wanted to take a Sabbath day like Jodie had mentioned, but I wanted out by the afternoon. I didn’t have anyone to go with because nearly everyone was already out doing something. Anyway, I’m doing something this weekend. I don’t know if it’ll be hiking the volcano or seeing the waterfalls, but I’m doing something.
I’m really blessed to be doing this. I feel like the Lord is going to change a lot in me while I’m gone. I know I’ve said that before, but He’s done a lot. I’ve heard Him say that He’s going to heal a lot of pain that I’ve held on to, some I didn’t even know. It’s been a slow process, but if I need to leave home for 9 months for Him to speak to me clearly, then so be it.
Will y’all please pray that I make it through this transition? This week has been really rough on me, so it would really help if y’all prayed for that specifically. I’m still trying to find what can make me happy while I’m away from home. Will you also pray that I connect with my team more? It’s been difficult opening up to them because I’ve only been with them for 2-3 weeks now. Thank you so much for all that you’ve done!
Here are some pictures!
This is a portion of our communal area. What you see is a chalk wall where we can right whatever we want. Right now, it’s used for announcements, verse of the day, and anything else.
This is our communal/dining room
This is our back patio where we also hang out. Luba’s learning how to play the guitar. She’s doing really well!
This is our clothes’ washing station. There are 3 sinks total. Around the corner are 3 bathroom stalls, 2 sinks, and 3 shower stalls.
This is our backyard and the view we see everyday. To the right are the clotheslines we use to dry our clothes.
That’s all for now! See you guys next week!
