Week ONE:
The first week in Costa Rica has been long, hard and fulfilling. Being on the farm in Los Chiles is a whole new environment. Three days out of the week the team did construction and tore down the sanctuary that is on the property. The sanctuary is in a phase of being reconstructed due to the roof falling off. Therefore, the team worked on removing the bases which were wooden posts. Each wooden post was 200-300 pounds or more depending on how much water was at the base. Never would I have imagined doing work like this, but being here has exposed me to a whole new concert of hard work. While removing the post the termites were biting my ankles and the swarming of the bugs stretched me thin, but as a member of Las Costa Chicas (the team) that is empowered by God I was motivated to keep pushing. This work felt like suffering, but the kind the Bible talks about “suffer well”. With the help of 5 of the guys from the farm we accomplished so much. The vision the pastor has for the whole entire property is to rebuild the sanctuary and to have a missionary school.
One of the lessons that we had the privilege of teaching the children on Saturday in a church in la fortuna was about being a missionary. God calls us all to be missionaries. Yes I am in a foreign country and sharing God’s love with others but there are so many other forms of mission work. Mission work can be done in ones home town or country. It’s not just traveling to a new place. We all can be missionaries. The excitement on the children’s faces after learning of this was amazing. They were engaged with how the team facilitated activities such as worship, a skit, and a game.
Being in Costa Rica so far has had its up and downs because I am living under conditions I am not accustomed to at all, but even in the midst of it all I can confidently tell you all that God is doing a great work down here in the people and myself. One of my highlights of the week was seeing so many kids at the ministry event in la fortuna accept Christ into their lives. Second the heart of the people here has inspired me to value Christian community more. Family, friendships and relationships are what people down here truly value. As Americans we are taught to strive for independence and freedom in our lives. Here in Costa Rica life is done together and shared with one another which is a beautiful thing.
