It has officially been 1 month since I packed up my things, said goodbye to the people I love and made my way to Jaco, Costa Rica to start my 3 month journey. I’m not sure exactly what I was expecting but this sure wasnt it.
These last couple weeks have been filled with so much love and community that it’s hard to even find words to write this. Since we have been here, we have been staying at Oceans Edge with an 11n11 group which I mentioned in my last blog and it was crazy to say the least. Sadly, a couple days ago we had to do the long dreaded goodbyes and wish them the best in Guatemala. Now that we went from 52 people to 17, the edge feels weird. Different. Kinda lonley. But, my team is slowly filling the space with more love& laughter& card games& dance parties& movie nights& deep conversations about if animals would talk which one would be the rudest… (obviously a guinea pig). My team continues to fill me with the knowledge I never knew I needed and getting to work next to them this last month has given me a true concept of brothers and sisters in Christ.
Now to the good stuff, what have we been doing exactly you may ask?
Drum roll please…..
DIGGING THROUGH TRASH!!!!! Okay, yes, that was dramatic. We have been going to Jaco’s recycling center and organizing everything that can be recycled into bags like clear plastic, colored plastic, card board, glass, jugs, pop cans, aluminum ect. After Covid, the recycling center lost funding and couldnt pay any workers to come and sort and it was very out of control. A lot of stuff that would have been recycled was being taken to the landfill because there was nobody to sort. After we got in the grove it kinda became a game to see who could spill the most unknown liquids on themselves. Mhm, you read that right. Every bottle that had any type of liquid had to be dumped into one bucket. By the end of the day the bucket is filled with lots of different things and of course, Bryce, spills the bucket EVERYWHERE!!!!!
Next, we have been paiting. Alot. When we first got to Jaco, we weren’t sure what we were getting ourselves into. But, God is so good because what he had planned surpassed what I could have ever thought. We started in Central Park and painted roughly a 120+ foot mural on the park wall. Which, brought us closer to the community then I think we all realized. We were becoming known as the “park people” and people started asking questions like why we were here and why we were helping. Which gave us the biggest oppurtunity to share the wonderful work of Jesus. We did this to taxi drivers and gelato workers and surfers… We then went to Invu park which is in a rougher part of Jaco and revamped the community park. Pulling weeds, fixing soccer goals, srubbing play sets, planting flowers, and painting 2 huge murals that can add alittle color to the community. The kids come and love watching us make their home alittle more homey. I look at my team and physically see us making a difference whether we see it or not. We are making Jaco aware that Jesus is here and he is extra loud.
We have also been doing beach cleanup!! Picture this… we are simply picking up trash on the beach and people notice. They come up and question why we are cleaning up their beach and we tell them because we WANT to. The look on these peoples faces when we are genuine with our answers is astonishing. One man asked me why I would travel all the way from the States to pick up trash. I told him this is why, I get to make a difference in the smallest way. I then proceeded to expain why I was traveling 3 months and shared my short testimony with him. I dont know if our conversation had any effect on him but even with the slightest chance that it did, I am happy.
Then, we started doing more work around our host, Hannah, property that we are staying at. Lots of digging up plants on her proptery and moving them to local parks, cutting down lots of palm trees, helping build a roof and deck, paiting walls, laying gravel, sewing couches and oh the dreaded keys… I’ll save that story for another blog… Lately I have been doing a lot of character building. The amount of cockroaches I have seen is scary. My goal by the end of this trip is to not jump a mile when one scurries past me.
As you can tell we have been pretty busy, but life is so beautiful and God is so good. My team and I have 1 more week in Jaco and then we move to a new destination… not sure exactly where yet, but I’ll let y’all know when I know hehe. Thank you to everyone who continues to pray for me and my team.
Until next time, Baylee!!
