While being here in sweet sweet Costa Rica, my team and I spend most of our time with children. About 4 days out of the week we get to hang out with children all day and get to be a part of 3 different ministries each week. On Tuesdays, we help out at a local development center/rec. center in a community near by. On Wednesday and Thursday mornings we go into another community and minister to children there. Then finally on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday afternoons we partner alongside Metro Ministries and help them with their ministry. Our weeks are FULL of children’s ministry. Its not easy, but Jesus is all over the communities we go into whether we see it or not. It’s discouraging sometimes to not see the fruit instantly when ministering to children but I have to remind myself that maybe I was just called to plant it. Maybe I was just called to throw the dirt for the seed to be planted. The fruit might not come until 4, 13, or 21 years down the road and that’s okay. The Lord is teaching me that the planting is important. The planting is crucial so that the fruit can produce.
Each ministry that we are apart of looks different in so many ways. On Tuesdays we partner with a development/rec. center in a local community and help them. We teach classes, help with conversational English, and spend time with children from the community. In the mornings, we teach an art class and a gardening class along with a theatre class. In the afternoon we help people in the community with their English and desire to learn it by having conversations with them. Towards the end of our time there, we hang out with children that come in from the community.
On Wednesday and Thursday mornings we go into another community and minister to the kids there. This community is tough. This community has come from some really rough places and has overcome so much. I’m thankful that we get the opportunity to go and to love on the people there, despite the circumstances they are surrounded by. Children come in and out of a center in the middle of the community to get fed and play together. We play with them and teach them about Jesus and His love through stories in the Bible. We play games based on the stories and do crafts together that they can tangibly have from the story. The love of Jesus is all over this community and I see Him through His children. It is beautiful!
Lastly, on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday afternoons we go to Metro Ministries and partner alongside them with whatever they need. Metro is a children’s ministry that has been in Costa Rica for about 10 years now. They go into communities where churches have offered a space for them and create an atmosphere of fun for the children who live there and present The Gospel in a way that they can understand. I kind of compare it to VBS….it’s so much fun. We play games with the children for about an hour and then go inside for program. We sing songs with hand motions, read a Bible story with actors to act it out, memorize Bible verses, do crafts, eat snacks at the end, and just have fun while learning about Jesus. I love being able to partner alongside Metro and serve them with whatever they need. I love the children in these communities and their hearts.
So there is a brief look at ministry in Costa Rica for my team and I. It’s crazy to think we only have a little over a month left here. Time is flying by! Thank you for praying for me while on this journey! I feel so supported and loved. I’m so grateful.
