hello friends, since i have neglected to blog about anything that has to do with ministry, i think this entire race, i thought i’d start now! this blog is going to be like a recap of what ministry has looked like since i started in costa rica.
ight, here we go!
month 1:
once we landed in costa, we had a few days off before we actually started our ministry, so we pretty much just chilled and got to know the place we’re staying and the surrounding area.
over the last 2 days, team YEET said “see ya later” to team after team until we were left alone at the base for one night (the most PEACEFUL night of this entire race…).
the next morning, we loaded up the base’s bus and headed off on our 5 hour bus ride to puntarenas. we drove over the mountain, saw some pretty beautiful sights, and hung our heads out the windows as we passed through some clouds. it was insane. the good kind.
when we arrived, we looked around at this village, terrabas, that we would call home for the next ten days. we were placed to sleep inside of our tents inside of what looked like a cell block. this concrete building was split into three, with one tin roof, barred windows, and one bucket outside of the gate that we locked each night that was full of human feces, a.k.a. the poop bucket.
each day we woke up around 6:00-6:30am to be ready and have had quiet times before 8:00am (maybe 7:00am? sorry, i don’t remember anymore. oops) breakfast. getting ready for the day or bed looked like:
- bucket showers – we showered with a typical bucket that we filled with water from the hose and squeezed into this tight, dark cement box with a loose wooden door that most times wouldn’t lock. i’m bald, so i don’t need a cup, but you’d typically get a cup to dump water onto your head to wash your hair. such fun.
- laundry – using one of the buckets from the bucket shower to cram your dirty clothes in, fill with water and soap, and then rinse them in the hose before hanging them on the clothes line outside of our prison cells.
after breakfast, around either 8:00am or 9:00am we would see what our host had for the day because nothing was set. so here’s what days looked like:
- game day!!!! – one day we hosted a game day at this field down the rocky “road” for all the kids of terrabas. we played games like “pato, pato, gonzo”, duck, duck, goose. games with a rope such as, jump rope, and tug-of-war.
- livin’ on some PRAYER – another day we prayer walked. out host and another lady took us all around the village, this lasted about three hours, and we were able to pray over families and individuals for different situations. one of my teammates, anna, even got to pray healing over a woman.
- SO. MUCH. BLUE. – we painted over the terribly painted, light blue walls of the inside of the church this bright, neon, bold, blue. thankfully the floors were new and pearly white, so it actually looked decent. much cleaner too. along with that, we painted the entire outside of their church kitchen which rested right outside of the church in its own tiny building. honestly i wouldn’t even consider it a kitchen. it’s treasures included a pot, a small stove, a hole in the counter with a pipe through the wall to make a faucet, and plates and spoons. the outside was chipped and worn white. we painted right over it with the same blue. the only things left white were the doors and the benches. the looks of it to us didn’t matter, though. the looks on the village people’s faces was everything; they loved it.
terrabas was honestly like training camp, but with ministry. it was a long ten days, but we had some fun days! for example:
- CHRISTMAS EVE !!!!! – we were fortunate enough to have this little store a seemingly long walk away from our prison cells that provided pancake mix and caramel sauce in a can! that night, my teammate, maeci, made our team pancakes and we exchanged the secret santa gifts we got before we left for terrabas. we laughed and there were tears from homesickness, but it was the sweetest time. we even watched some of the grinch off of my teammate, claire’s phone.
- CHASIN’ WATERFALLS – our host wanted us to see the waterfalls, so we hiked down to the high way where we followed the river until we were guided into the trees. the sound of the rushing river and the falling water from the falls, along with birds and wind rustling the trees was like music to my ears. the waterfalls were so tall, y’all. beautiful. then we went down to the river and sunbathed for a while. they kindly shared their tamales and juice. that was a good day.
- CHRISTMAS DAY, BABY!!!!! – WE WENT TO THE BEACH!!!!! playa ventana (windows beach) was about an hour and a half bus ride. our host and her husband tagged along to celebrate their anniversary. we spent about twelve total hours soaking up sun (sorry mom, i forgot sunscreen), and playing in the waves. it was the perfect day.
with all of this being said, terrabas was good. a long ten days and i wouldn’t have done any more than that, but it was good. definitely one i’ll never forget.
month 2 & 3:
so in malaysia my team worked with refugees from countries like myanmar, sri lanka, pakistan, and many more like that. the refugees there went to malaysia seeking hope and a new life. here, at our ministry called Renuevos (Christ for the City), it’s completely opposite for the nicaraguan refugees we’re working with here in costa rica. these refugees fled necaragua to costa rica, not to find hope, but because they didn’t have any choice. these families had lives and steady jobs, but because of the political situations in nicaragua, the were forced to flee to live in the biggest slums of costa rica. it’s heart breaking, really. i, personally, am not with the women that four of my teammates are able to pour into and love each day, but i, along with two other teammates, am with their children. nicaraguan, but born on costa rican soil. they come from pretty hard living situations and are barely getting by. i can’t imagine what the go through or what they see at home which is why we are there to love on them how Jesus loves all of his children, in the slums or not. it’s really hard because they’re really pretty naughty and the language barrier doesn’t help, but when they come to Renuevos they light up with joy. my days are long and draining. kids am i right? 😉 but honestly, i’m constantly tired from playing and handling these kiddos all day, four days a week. i never would’ve chosen to have kid’s ministry, but i knew the Father was like, “yo, you need to learn what it’s like to have child-like faith and how to love these kids that i love.” oof. that was a punch to the face and sometimes still is because it’s not easy. what i’ve learned from this ministry with these kids is:
- patience
- how to love those that are SO hard to love sometimes
- to see these kids how Jesus sees them
costa rica was full of challenges and hard times and i got sick of it real quick, but i’m blessed to have been apart of Renuevos and enjoy that what an honor and privilege it was. now that ministry is over and we’re moving on to ecuador, i’m sad to say goodbye to my kiddos. however, i’m very excited to move on to the next place and to seek what else He has in store.
