God is a God full of surprises.
As we were flying into Costa Rica, I prayed and wonder what my last two months of the race would look like. Something new? Or same lessons that I need to revisit? Well, it is kind of both. We spent the first two days in the capital to adjust time change after living five months in Asia. But we got kicked out from the hostel due to some miscommunication, we prayed and made a quick decision and moved to a town called Quepos. It is a small touristy town but it wasn’t busy since it’s in low season. There are multiple beaches and a national park nearby. It’s slow pace and people carried surf boards smiled at you and were friendly to talk to. We found a small house that’s big enough (thanks to Walter for sleeping on the floor) for six of us and had a kitchen. This is the first time we stayed in a house instead of hostels or someone else’s place. God blessed us a prefect place where we lived as a family, my team (recently had a team change) got to spend a lot of time to get to pray, to know, to serve, to encourage each other. Plus I spent one of my best birthday with them.
During a Sunday afternoon we found a church during prayer walk. A church that was only 2 minutes away from our house. A man named Luis came to greet us. He said he saw us prayed for people couple days before, he regretted that he didn’t talk to us because he was too nervous to. It was totally God sent us to that church so we can meet Luis. Then we got involved in that church. We met a lot of members whom lived nearby. We met a group of Americans who moved to Costa Rica from their English service. That church was an open door for the community of Quepos. Through participating their ministry, we met moms who took their kids to school, we met children that played on the streets, we met the husbands/men that worked in the hotels, we met people from rehab center who worked at farmers market, we met people who worked at the burrito restaurant, supermarkets, shops……places we visited daily. We made a lot of friends! And they blessed us so much! A couple we met from church had a fine dining restaurant and they treated us a nice meal. The owner of our house gave us discount after finding out he also went to the same church. A young man from a fried chicken place gave me bag of BBQ wings after I became friend with him. A woman we met through bible study connected us with our next lodging place. We would run into our them when we went to town everyday and we would literally “run” and gave each other’s hugs. Their home became our home. Their community became our community. We weren’t visitors, we were their brother and sisters, friends, and neighbors.
It was like the early church, everyone brought what they had to share, and build each other up in Christ. The amount people we met in Quepos probably almost equaled to the people I have became friends with in all 9 months. Seriously, I would have to write 3 more blogs to tell every story with each individual. And that was only from two weeks! It was like God said “you have learned how to be intentional with people by now, here is the whole town of them.” Every country I had visited this year, there are always places I felt darkness because of the religions, prostitution, or many other things. Yet Quepos was the first town I feel completely peaceful to be in. I learned that God doesn’t always call us to the worst place to serve, sometimes He leads us to places full of freedom and lights.
What is the purpose of this post other than sharing my month in Costa Rica (and possibly secretly encourage you to visit Quepos)? Being in such amazing and joyful community, I realized this town is a reflection of God’s table. It is the feast that God prepares for us, a long white table full of our favorite foods, everyone feels they are truly being accepted, everyone enjoys the conversations and food, and it is the prefect family with God being our loving father. Well, this place isn’t only in heaven or Quepos. It is right where you are because God doesn’t stop for one second to invite us into His family. He sent His son to die for us so we can be in His family. He knows how we feel about ourselves and understands some will come and leave the table. He knows what situations and messes we are in. My only prayer for you is that you will allow God to lead you to a place where you can truly feel loved because you are a children of God.
