Tuesday, December 14
No, I am not back in Mississippi for the holidays. I am
actually in Costa Rica 6,000 feet up in the mountains on top of Volcan Irazu.
For the past week my team and I have been outside San Jose, the capital of
Costa Rica, staying at the home of our ministry contacts Jacob and
Courtenay. This month of ministry
is unique for us because unlike past months, we are not staying in the same
place for the entirety of December, or even doing the same ministry for that
matter. This week we have come alongside Jacob and Courtenay’s ministry, which
is based on discipleship. They came from South Carolina a little over two years ago after feeling led to
“go”. Jacob had previously been to Costa Rica, and after Courtenay’s first
visit, they made the decision. With three children, they picked up their lives
and moved, knowing no Spanish. They spent two semesters in language school, and
have since been on their own . . only being supported by the organization
Global Outreach and local churches back in South Carolina. During the week
Jacob leads twelve Bible Studies in homes throughout the surrounding community.
Their hopes are to empower the “Tico” people into eventually taking ownership
of the community’s spiritual growth, meaning they would like to see them leading
their own Bible studies and eventually starting a church. Their focus is to
shed light upon the lies of the Catholocism, which is so prevalent in this
area. Instead of works alone, they preach grace.
8For it is by grace you
have been saved, through faith-and this not from yourselves,it is the gift of God- 9not by works,so
that no one can boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9)

in the community and visited a local orphanage. The orphanage is run by a husband and wife who takes in kids as their own, not for adoption. They currently have 36 in the home of all ages. Other than that, we have had large amounts of time to sit
at home. Yes, sit at home with my new family. You may be as shocked as I
was that this is what we’ve been doing on the World Race. This week I have
taught home school to Jacob and Courtenay’s three children, planted in the
garden, fished for my own dinner, cooked and baked, watched numerous Christmas
movies, played card games, sang to Christmas carols, kept warm with tons of
coffee, hot chocolate, and Chai tea, and have learned to function while
constantly in my sleeping bag. Sounds like the holidays to me, just a little
more cold than I am used to in the South. This week has taught us truly to have
no expectations when it comes to what we will be doing this year. Yeah, I know
the World Race preaches at us to have no expectations, but some things you just
don’t think you would be doing on the race. I have to be honest and say I have
been struggling this week thinking we aren’t doing enough. However, we
are doing exactly what our contacts wanted us to do. When discussing this with
Courtenay, she told me I had know idea what a blessing we have just been to
their family alone. As North Americans here, they have no community, and we
have been that for them. We have been friends for their children, and even
babysat so the parents could have a date night. To our surprise we came at a time when
Jacob needed more time to contemplate some upcoming Bible studies, and just
needed a break. We were a blessing to someone who I felt was completely
spoiling us, and I never would have guessed it.
“In repentance and
rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength..” (Isaiah 30:15)
We are celebrating Christmas today as a family, when we’ll
be exchanging gifts (Bible verses) with one another, eating Christmas lunch
along with decorative Christmas cookies, and probably watching the same
Christmas movies (Elf and The Grinch) on repeat. My team and I have been so
blessed this week and have grown so much both individually, and as a team. This
week was exactly what we needed and we didn’t even know it. I have learned to
trust God’s calling on our lives, to sit and be still every now and then, to
not take His blessings for granted, and to put more focus on enjoying the team
He has given me. The unity we have gained this week makes me really excited to
go into the next ministry for this month. Although we are stronger, we yearn to
be more unified and are continuously working on this. Tomorrow we will be leaving
for Jaco Beach, which is on the West coast of Costa Rica. All we know is that
we are working with a Surf Ministry there. I can only imagine how this month
will continue to demolish any expectations I may have, and am excited to see
what this entails.
Check back to see exactly how that turns out!