Whenever people think of going on a missions trip, they think of going to an orphanage in the middle of nowhere, or building houses from scratch. That isn’t exactly what ministry looked like in Jaco. What we did in Jaco was different from the average trip. Even though it wasn’t always what we expected to be doing, it was so incredible. We served all over the town and got to meet so many amazing people. Here are some of the locations where we served over the past few weeks.
Central Park
Central Park was my personal favorite ministry location. It is located exactly as it sounds, right in the center of the long strip of restaurants and stores in Jaco. There is a beautiful fountain, a large amphitheater type stage, and a fun playground for the kids. Surrounding the entire park is a huge concrete wall. The dream that Hannah saw for the wall was a colorful mural filled with all types of animals. One side was filled with sea animals, another filled with jungle animals like macaws and sloths. By the time we arrived at the park, the wall had already been painted with a layer of white and the animals were almost completely drawn out. The hardest part was done before we arrived. The 11n11 team scrubbed the walls clean for days, drew all of the animals, and even started to dot the drawings with paint as a color guide. My job painting the wall was really fun for me, but not so much for others. Along the top of the wall was a thin black line and the bottom had a black line that was about 3-4 inches wide. My job for a few days was to paint that black line as straight as possible, while others painted the pretty scenes. Once that line was finished, my job switched to outlining everything that was already painted. For about a week, I scoured the wall for anything that I could outline. The time I spent working on the mural was some of my most cherished times in all of Jaco. You would be surprised at all the amazing conversations you can have while painting a wall. The wall provided me with so many opportunities to get to know people that I probably wouldn’t have had the chance to get to know otherwise. That is where I got to know my closest friend at Ocean’s Edge, and was able to grow in my relationships with so many other friends. We didn’t get to finish the mural all the way, but I know that the next group will make it look fantastic.
La Municipalidad
We went to the Municipalidad de Garabito’s (or the Muni, as we called it) recycling center for about a week. It turns out that the City of Jaco does recycle, however it’s more like people recycle along with throwing away their garbage at the same time. When we go to the Muni, there were mountains of huge bags full of recycling/garbage that needed to be sorted. The group was definitely a little shocked at first, but we got straight to work. We created an assembly line to separate everything in to different bags but it went awry very quickly. People started throwing bottles and old containers all over the place. We were getting hit by all sorts of flying liquids due to lids not being screwed on tight enough. Please dump out everything before you recycle. There was a bucket for these miscellaneous liquids that was filled with everything from yogurt, bleach, Coke, and shampoo. One fateful day, that bucket was accidentally knocked over. Right onto my open toed sandals. As Cat would say, innncredible. Hearing this story, you might think that this sounds like the worst time ever. On the contrary, however. We blasted music and danced everyday. One day, a worker there named Marvin started blaring music and cracking up whenever we would start dancing. I will say, that Muni bus home each day was such a fun way to end the day.
Horizon Church
Horizon was the church that we attended while we were in Jaco. The ministry we did there looked different each week. We usually served on Wednesday and Thursday nights. I never went on Thursdays, but that was the youth group night. Everyone loved going to the youth groups. They got to play with the middle school and high school kids, form relationships with them, and worship God with them. My experience at Horizon was a little different. On Wednesdays, there was an Emotionally Healthy class that required childcare. The first night I got to refill the coffee for the upstairs and downstairs groups. The next few weeks were a little different. I was one of the babysitters. Anyone who knows me, knows that was definitely not my top choice. While I watched the 4-6 year olds run around screaming for three hours, I had great opportunities to get to know those that I babysat with. After the kids were picked up, we did get the chance to setup for the next church service. Each time we finished at the church was an adventure too. We had to Uber back to the base, but there were only a few so it was a great game of who can get the Uber first and who had to hail a taxi.
INVU
INVU Park was the Semester’s baby, similar to how Central Park was 11n11’s baby. We went to scope out this park about halfway through our time in Jaco, and we were all surprised by the state of it. Avery had told us that back when she was here for her Semester’s trip, it was a beautiful place filled with joy and kids 24/7. When we got there, trash littered the ground, weeds had grown all over the playground and soccer field, and there was just an overall dark feeling at the entrance. The first visit, we simply walked around the park and prayed over the area. We claimed it as a holy space where God was going to be welcomed and move. Days were spent picking up trash, pulling weeds and scrubbing the walls. After it was finally cleaned up, the walls were prepped and drawn on just like at Central Park. Our final days in Jaco were spent painting the murals. Similar to 11n11, we didn’t finish the walls before we left but I know the next squad will make it look amazing. The other side of ministry at INVU was the time spent with the kids. The neighborhood kids would come to the park to play with some of our group. Kendra was their favorite by far. A kid would come up to you and just keep asking “Donde esta Kendra? Donde esta Kendra?” The joy on their faces when they saw her coming over to play. Once we started painting, the kids would grab brushes and start painting the big spots. If they weren’t painting, they were crushing us in soccer, or hitting each other with their balloon swords, thanks to Bryce.
Ocean’s Edge
My other favorite ministry spot was right at the base. I was always so excited when I got to stay at OE and work on something there. Jobs varied everyday, and even every hour. One day, I thought I was staying to help build a roof and balcony, and I ended up reupholstering a couch for four hours. While doing ministry at Ocean’s Edge, it would sound like we were just serving Hannah. However, we did so much more than that. There were two handymen who came to work on the roof, Franklin and Orlando. We got to serve them as they worked on the construction projects. Another way we got to serve was with key organization. Baylee did it more than I did, but for a few days we sorted out every random key that had been acquired throughout the years at the base. We created three master key sets for Hannah, Averie, and April. The final people we got to serve at Ocean’s Edge was the incoming group. Usually the group that is leaving does a super deep clean of the base and preps it for the next group of missionaries. We did this, but also got to welcome in the new group. Our bus broke down right in front leaving us stranded for a few hours. The new Gap Year squad arrived while we were waiting and we got to welcome them to their new home. They got filled in on all of the insider tips and tricks, like the best places to sit for a nice breeze and we even told them about our pet lizard who lives in the Castle.
Ministry doesn’t just have to be running a VBS or hard physical labor. Sometimes it can be painting a mural, or babysitting so the parents can attend a class. The ministry locations in Jaco all had their challenges, but each one was an absolute joy to serve at.
