My team arrived in San Bosco, a rural area outside of the city Siquierres, last Thursday to spend this next month on a farm. The Mighty River’s eco-farm consists of a large sustainable eco-garden and a dairy farm that sells milk, cheese, ice cream, etc. At the end of the property is the lodge where we my team is staying, as well as a smaller unfinished house behind the lodge. When it is finished, the purpose of this smaller house is to provide shelter for single mother’s to raise their children in a safe environment.
The Lord has blessed us with an amazing balance of work and rest. We’ve helped mix and pour out concrete for the small house on our property and do some needed yard work, but we’ve also had extensive time to explore the farm and meet the people who live in this community.
I think its somewhat of an expectation coming into the World Race that every month ministry is going to be going out all day, everyday, meeting new people, sharing the gospel with them, showing them Christ’s love by serving them. I am sure this is true for many teams this month. But our team’s ministry looks a little bit different.
Down the street lives three Americans and one native Costa Rican that tend to the eco-garden. When we aren’t working, we go over to their house or invite them over to ours just to spend time with one another. We eat together, play games together, cut down fruit together, laugh together, and have real conversations about life together. Each one has such a different story to share, a different walk of life, a different perspective.
This may not be exactly what we had in mind for this month, but I think it is such a blessing. It has changed my perspective on what one may think is typical “ministry.” The Lord has handed us an opportunity to love on some American people that live in this community. We can just be present in their lives for the next month, loving and serving each other. Ministry can be as simple as a few people living life together.
So this is my life now.
This is a thought that has come into my head multiple times daily since arriving in Costa Rica.
This life is simple, but it’s real.
