Costa Rica was one of my favorite months on the Race so far. Some months, instead of splitting up to go to different ministries with our teams, a squad will spend a whole month together in one place. It’s called All Squad Month. This was one of the many reasons Costa Rica was so great.
After debriefing our first month on the field in Jaco, Costa Rica (which I’m convinced has the most beautiful coastline I’ve ever seen), our squad hopped on a few buses and made our way to a feeding/discipling center in Los Guidos, San Jose, Costa Rica headed up by Christian Light Foundation. Each of our teams were given a specific ministry for the month. Royal Covenant was assigned to the Sector 7 school in Los Guidos, the slum we were living in (also the most dangerous slum of San Jose). We were told that most missionaries had only ever been in there for a couple of hours to perform a skit and then leave. It was the most unreached school in the area.
On our first day of ministry, it was rainy and chilly. Our team walked to the school and decided to pray over it and thank The Lord for his favor. We prayed for the chance to be allowed into the school and even dreamed of building relationships with the teachers there. Little did we know, God was going to blow our minds by going above and beyond what we thought were big prayers.
Over those next three weeks, we were not only allowed into the school, but the staff and the students LOVED having us there! One teacher we built the strongest relationship with, Geovanny, found out that Brittany and I were artist and asked our team to paint games on the recess floor for the kids. Yes! A teacher to get to know AND a way to leave a little peace of joy with the kids!
On most weekdays, we would walk into the school around 7:45am and were greeted with smiling faces and little hands pulling us to come play Tag. After they went to class, we’d get started on our painting project. We painted hopscotch using numbers and days of the week, and the most adorable caterpillar to help the younger students learn their vowels. This project became a labor of love for us. It allowed us a reason to continually be allowed into the school, where we prayed over the building, got to know the teachers, and played with the kids. It also have our team plenty of time to get to know each other through life-talks over hours of painting.
On our last morning at the school, we finally got to reveal the finished project to the kids. It brought tears to our eyes to see their overwhelming joy! A little girl that had trouble walking was even taken out her wheelchair by her teacher to play hopscotch! The smile on her face was so contagious. We also got to bless the teachers and staff with little goodie bags filled with homemade cookies, coffee mugs, office supplies, and bibles.
What’s so cool about All Squad Month is that you get to hang out with everyone all the time. Every night we made dinner together, watched movies, had bible studies, practiced guitar and ukulele, and played endless amounts of card games. And we had the best Halloween party I’ve ever been to! (Also the only Halloween party I’ve ever been to. Haha)
God used our month in Los Guidos to build a stronger foundation in me and to begin to reveal the areas of my heart he wanted to heal next. I got to spend each morning with him, falling more in love with him and his word. He blessed me with so many moments of worship to lead me deeper into his presence. And I got to have conversations with friends where it was safe to begin to work out the deep questions I had and the places where I was reluctant to let The Lord into. I began to slowly open doors in my heart to Jesus that I had kept big “Keep Out!” signs on for so long. Little did I know, when Jesus says “I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me,” (Rev. 3:20) he doesn’t say how wide he’s waiting for us to open the door. And in Nicaragua, I’d learn just how lovingly persistent and faithful to his word Jesus is when we open up to him, even if it’s only just a little crack in the doorway.
FUNDRAISING UPDATE!
As of right now, you all have helped me raise $11,658! What?! That’s absolutely crazy! That leaves only $4,627 to be raised for me to be fully funded and for me to be able to stay on the field and finish this Race. Please join me in asking The Lord to continue to provide. Also, please prayerfully consider supporting me while I’m on the field. Anything from $5 to $500 helps! Thank you all SO much for all of your support, prayer, and encouragement! I’m so honored to be able to serve the nations around the world through your help.
