A few weeks ago my team and I stayed with a missionary family in límon, Costa Rica. Their ministry sight is a bit more secluded in the jungle (seriously the coolest place ever). There’s one house where Pastor Max and his family stay and another right across from it where students come stay and learn about Jesus. Max disciples these men into being followers of Jesus while also being rehabilitated from drugs and alcohol. These guys love the Lord like crazy and are so passionate for him, it’s breathtaking. A lot of them come from very broken homes and pasts that were filled with drugs, alcohol, prison time, and more.
We got to eat meals with them, share & listen to testimonies, and try to talk to each other past the language barriers. Adding onto this, we got to evangelize for a few hours a day with a couple of the men that help out Max. Each time was such a cool encounter with the community we were around. People in Costa Rica love to be prayed over and are open to hear anything you have to share. A couple of my teammates, Kt and Presley, got to see a 9 year old girl come to Jesus and even invited a woman to come to pastor Max’s house for lunch. (A woman who used to be involved with witchcraft) We met with so many different families & learned more and more about their culture/lives. Max and his family created such a spiritual and inviting atmosphere. That week was filled with evangelism, testimonies, enlightening moments, flower picking, and a look at what it means to be a new creation.
A huge takeaway I had walking away from that place was a heart of compassion. I had compassion on the men that were being disciplined there. They are becoming men of God-being used by him even with all their brokenness in hand. That place and those people are a living and breathing testimony that anyone can be used by God and everybody is loved by God. Those men have looked death in the eye, have come from nothing, but are becoming everything because of Him. Max and his family are incredible and no doubt would I take an opportunity to step into that place again someday.
Something I forgot to add in the middle so I’m adding it right now-
One night I got to share my testimony as did one of the men, Diego, and it was a memorable night that has changed a lot for me. That was my second time sharing my full testimony in front of a group of people. I never thought I would share it with a bunch of men that come from such brokenness. However, they are not defined by it. They were so appreciate of my team and I being there. They made it known that they valued woman of God-I’ve never felt that valued as a woman before. Diego’s testimony was heavy but it’s another story that goes to show just how faithful he really is. I’ve spared many details of these men for the sake of humanity but these men’s lives are being turned around each day they are there. Jesus had compassion for them, saw them for who they really were, and picked them up-making them a new creation.
