The people we get to work with here in San Jose have made this a special place to be a part of. We have settled into a good routine of ministry days with Beth and Jherson, who we love, and we’ve developed a fun little schedule of different activities to do as a team at night like muscle Monday, hard topic Tuesday, worship Wednesday, thankful Thursday (slash talent show), and Friday fight night (which has yet to happen, but stay tuned on that one). It has also continued to be really great getting to know and learn from our base mentors, Kevin and Anna.
We did a few different things for ministry this week. One day we went to one of our ministry hosts’ houses and cleaned and organized all of their ministry supplies. They have a garage and shed filled with equipment for kids activities, medical supplies, music equipment, and odds and ends. Because of Conexion’s really busy schedule, the inside of Jherson’s house also needed some TLC. Beth and Jherson have shared with us how they have trouble resting and taking time for themselves because there is always more they can be doing with all of the people they help through their ministry work, so we are enjoying being able to take a little of the pressure off of them while we are here.
Another day we went to a medical container that Conexion uses each week to provide free healthcare to people in the community. It is a freight container turned into a fully functioning medical building donated by Texas A&M and it includes a dental chair, optical station, triage area, and lots of dividing curtains and storage cabinets. Our job that day was to clean out the container, paint the outside and touch up the inside, and sort through all the medical supplies and throw out expired things.
We also spent two days at two different schools putting on activities for the kids. We brought a bouncy house, trampoline, 9 square, parachute, obstacle course, hula hoop games, gaga ball and things like that for the kids to go through as stations. I usually am put in a station where I have to do a lot of explaining to the kids in Spanish, which is stretching for me but good. We went to one really nice school, and another school in a rough area of town with kids from some pretty difficult situations. These kids were pretty rambunctious but Jherson told us some of the kids’ stories which gave us a good perspective about how these kids really just need some extra love and attention. Jherson is also able to lead the kids in a prayer at the beginning and play Christian songs during the day because there aren’t the same rules here about talking about God in public schools. These days were really exhausting but also really fulfilling.
A little something that I think the Lord is teaching me right now a better understanding of righteousness. That word is used a lot in the Bible and for a long time I have associated it with being a really good person and doing all the right things to honor God. But in Romans I’m being reminded about how no one is righteous by their own accord, but we all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. It talks about how no one is declared righteous by the works of the law, but through the law we become conscious of our sin and how we can’t quite measure up. But the good news is that we are all justified freely by God’s grace through the redemption that comes through Jesus, because as death came through the sin of Adam, life comes through the death of Christ. I’m learning to see righteousness as a gift, along with the abundant provision of grace, and not something that we earn and work for. I think out of that understanding we are better equipped to do good works out of gratitude instead of striving.
This is already our final full week here in San Jose which is hard to believe! We are still really thankful to be here in Costa Rica and I’m looking forward to beginning a new week of ministry tomorrow. Thanks for continued prayers and support!
