Hello Everyone! 🙂
My squad finished our time in Nicaragua on July 16 and road on a Tica Bus to Costa Rica. One word I would use to describe our time in Nicaragua is “nourishing”. Our host at Reap Granada poured into us a lot and we got to grow closer as a squad. We stepped into learning more about being sons and daughters of the King. We learned about choosing to receive His love and share it each day. We learned more about prayer and fasting. We got to have a week of 24/7 prayer, where there was a prayer room and at least 2 people were in it praying over requests every hour. We got to continue to do activities with the community. We got to choose which activities to join. I joined in with prayer walking, serving food to people who work very hard to support their families by finding recyclable items, and hosting an event for the ladies who worked so hard to feed us each day. I’m thankful I got to be apart of these activities and connect with the beautiful people in Nicaragua. I love that God is working around the world and that we as children of God get to be apart of what He is doing wherever we are!
Now we are split up into different teams and in different parts of Costa Rica. My team is living in the mountains of Costa Rica, living and working in a garden. A local couple has started an organic garden in hopes of training other local pastors to do agriculture and help others be able to provide healthy food for their families. They have taught us a little about how to take care of the garden. In the garden I have learned about how good God is to provide us with all we need to nourish our bodies and provide all of the natural things to nourish the plants. I have also been learning about dependence on the Father and abiding in Him. I have been learning that we must rest and just be with the Gardener to grow and become who He intended us to be from the beginning. As we spend time with the Gardener and allow Him to pick off the dead leaves(which can feel painful in the moment), sometimes uproot us from soil that is not good for us, and give us the nutrients we need, we will grow and produce fruit. We can’t depend on ourselves and strive to make ourselves “good enough” or “better”. we must rest in the love and Presence of the Father and be surrendered to Him to work in and through us. Our striving can lead us to a place of exhaustion, comparison, pride, false identity, or burnout. The plants in themselves don’t really do anything that extravagant. It is the Gardener who is tending to them and taking care of them. A gardener loves his plants, spends time with them, and has plans for them to grow and bear beautiful fruit in unique ways. I’m learning our Father is the same way and He is faithful. We just simply need to live from a place of resting in Him and being rooted in Him.
“For Christ’s love compels us…” 2 Corinthians 4:14
I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in Me and I in Him produces much fruit, because you can do nothing without Me. John 15:5
Prayer Requests:
-continual unity among the team and squad
-pray our greatest desire would be for Jesus and that we would share His love everywhere we go
-pray for spiritual and physical health
-we will be going to Panama on August 12, so please pray for safe travels and guidance in the transition
-pray that the followers of Jesus in Costa Rica would continue to trust in God, grow in deep relationship with Him, and share His love. Pray that those who don’t know Him would come to be in deep relationship with Him.
** Thank you for your continual support and for reading this blog!! If there is any way I can be praying for you or if you have any questions about my journey, please let me know!:)**
