Costa Rica began with a rejuvenating, week-long debrief in San Jose. During the week, we got our 3rd and final teams that we’ll have for the rest of the trip. The 7 members of my new team, “Swordfish on the Campfire,” are: Steph, Morgan, Ashley, Sydney, Theo, Ryan and myself. After debrief, we headed to Fundación Resplandecer, our ministry for the month. Our squad leader, Madison, joined us.
MINISTRY
After the 3-hour bus ride, our hosts, Tony and Rosita, met us with huge smiles and hugs. Immediately, they felt like family and we could tell that this month was going to be filled with lots of love. Tony and Rosita are planning to open a missionary school in February. We spent 3 days a week doing manual labor at the future school – building a fence, painting, etc. On Saturdays, we attended their “clubs” for at-risk children where there was singing, dancing, food, crafts, games and just lots of pure joy on the kids faces. We also got to a gospel message and many children committed or re-committed their lives to Jesus.
Church on Sundays was “lit”…as the kids say. We participated in enthusiastic dancing, preaching and testimonies. A couple times, they called people to the front who were in need of emotional or physical healing and we got to pray for them. This is where I saw some of the most dramatic healings I’ve seen so far. One lady walked to the front in obvious pain. She informed us that she needed to have knee surgery and could barely walk. Three of us laid hands on her to pray and she was completely overcome with emotion. I don’t know what else to say other than God healed her. She could fully bend down pain free. She was jumping up and down and danced away praising God. We all just stood there in awe. You can hear my teammate Ryan describe it here: https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=2335727046749667&id=100009371846987&fs=0&focus_composer=0
Tony and Rosita were some of the most genuine people I have ever met. So focused on bringing God’s kingdom to this earth. Before every meal, Tony would read a Bible verse, emphatically slam the Bible shut and then applause and jump up and down. For a 60-something year-old man, he truly had the heart of a child. Rosita had so much passion in her eyes. Even though she didn’t speak much English, she shared the love of God with us through her actions and in worship. During the month, we put together a fundraising video for them which I will post soon. They have the vision, energy and heart; they are only in need of resources to extend their reach into even more lives!
LIFE
I also want to touch on some cool things that happened on our “off time.” God wants to and DOES participate in all aspects of our lives if we let him!
One weekend we went to La Fortuna which is a volcano/rainforest tourist town. Another weekend we went to the oceanfront, “hippie town” of Montezuma. We stayed at hostels in or near town where we met Wendy, Juliet, Charlotte, Mark and lots of crazy Europeans. We met Santiago in La Fortuna. Turns out he is a local tour guide, but on his off day he graciously showed us around town to the best “local” breakfast place, a secret (free) waterfall that few people know about and a rope swing that Madison FINALLY went off. He made us his famous friend plantains for lunch and took us on a cool hike with volcano views, hanging bridges and another waterfall. At one point he knocked on a tree and a toucan popped its head out.
It was cool to socialize with them – sharing meals, music and stories from our respective travels. Lots of people are searching for something and I’m confident that Jesus can satisfy them all, however, there is no step-by-step, cure-all formula for this. It’s fun to just meet people and love them where they’re at. That’s all Jesus asks us to do in the Great Commandment.
One evening we got to go to a huge Music Festival that included a haunted house, food trucks, DJs, carnival rides and a full-blown rodeo. It was a lot like some festivals I’ve been to in the States. We went to another concert on a separate night. Going to these events, its cool to stay aware of your surroundings and see what God has for you there. Pray for Leidy – the father of her 3 children just left her for another woman. Pray for William – he has struggled with alcoholism for years and had been neglecting Jesus reaching out to him.
The first month as a new team was challenging and inspiring at the same time. We are definitely all going to learn a lot from each other. We had lots of hard questions come up, followed by hard searching the Bible for answers. Sometimes we come to a conclusion, sometimes we all agree, sometimes we may not, but I’m positive we will all grow closer to God together!
Right now we are in Panama City, Panama working with immigrants from India who have backgrounds in Eastern religion. A long way from the farm in Costa Rica for sure! More to come on Panama later…
LGB!!
#PlayGloria
