It’s amazing to me how much love these ladies have. How much generosity and kindness they carry. How they show us Jesus in a different way everyday! They are simply women who are pure and genuine.
Our ministry this past month and a half has been in a little area in Costa Rica called La Carpio. La Carpio is a very poor area in which is populated by mostly refugees from Nicaragua. Because of the civil war and violent protests that are occurring in Nicaragua many have fled to Costa Rica for safety. Not all families, but quite a few families went from living comfortable lives in Nicaragua to now living in one of the poorest areas and literally having nothing.
It breaks my heart! It truly breaks my heart to sit on the little pink buses that drives us through La Carpio, look out the window, and see shack after shack. These little shack homes are made out of tin, metal, wood, and any other scraps of material all put together to make a house for protection. It breaks my heart to see men and boys go dumpster diving at the big garbage mound and also the little mounds of garbage that are just dumped out on the street day after day. It breaks my heart to see these people jump on the back of the garbage truck when their done shifting through one garbage pile so that they can then go dumpster diving in a different area. It breaks my heart to know that dumpster diving is how these people get their basic necessities. It breaks my heart to know that our garbage is their treasure; garbage is what they live off of. It breaks my heart to go to ministry and see how the children are in desperate need for love and attention. They have good mothers who love them, but they have gone through so much. These children have seen things that I haven’t and never will see. They are all good children to the core and I know that, but sometimes I can see how the pain in their lives have affected them in a negative way. Therefore, they make bad decisions and don’t act the best. My heart so longs to love them well though! My heart goes out to them!
The women are amazing though! Wow! These women are so so special! Admist the hardships, the pain, the responsibility of having several children at a young age, the fear, the danger, situations they have gone through, and all that they saw, they are still so brave. They are so brave, so loving, and still cling onto their faith in the Lord. It blows me away too! In the past, I’ve been homeless, but even in that I was so blessed. The Lord provided our basic necessities! But I never lived in the conditions that these women are living in. I’m able to emphasize with them because of my past, but most of these things that they have endured I haven’t. They literally left everything they had, a country that they loved, the rest of their family (sometimes these women left their older children and their husbands in order to seek safety in Costa Rica), their memories, their friends, their communities, what they love, their comfort, and so much more! They left it all, but somehow these women are so filled with joy. They somehow have the ability to love each other and us with all their hearts. They are somehow able to be filled with love, joy, and hope. They are somehow able to live out of overflow. There’s a couple of things in particular that I wanted to share with you. These are the things that have truly touched me.
One of the things that truly touched me was the necklace. Everyday my team and I plan activities for the women to do; things that they can just enjoy and feel like women without having to always take care of their kids. This day in particular we decided to teach the women this game called ‘ptaradactal’. They got super into it too! So many laughs were shared and some of us laughed so hard we cried. Afterwards, my teammates taught the women how to make earrings while I taught the teenage boys how to make friendship bracelets. They loved it! It was such a sweet time and to see the look of joy on their faces were priceless! Not long afterwards, one of the ladies pulled me aside. She grabbed my hand, put something in it, closed my hand, and told me it was a gift to me. I opened up my hand slowly to reveal a little gold necklace. My heart was overjoyed and I didn’t know how to react. I was so touched!! She proceeded to tell me that this necklace was something that she got in her country in Nicaragua. She wanted me to have it because she loved me and she always wanted me to remember her and my time here. She mentioned that now every time I wear this necklace it will remind me of the sweet memories we had; memories of playing games, making crafts, laughing, making jokes in Spanish, teaching English, doing yoga and dance, etc. I was so touched that I didn’t know how to begin to respond. Here I am doing what the Lord has called me to do and loving these women out of the purity of love in my heart and they would give me something so special to me. It just blows my mind! I told her thank you so much! I mentioned how important and meaningful this gift was to me! I said that her and the rest of the women are no longer just women to me, they are my friends. I reassured her that I will never forget them or the memories we have had. I will always love them and they will always find a special place in my heart. And that is the truth!
At the end of the day, on the bus ride back to our hostel I kept touching the necklace that hung from my neck. That’s when I realized something. That’s when I realized that this women didn’t just give me a necklace; she gave me a piece of her home. This woman who had nothing, but the stuff that she could carry and her five daughters, gave me something so meaningful to her. Day in and day out I listen to these women talk about their country in Spanish. I hear them talk about how much they love and miss it. I hear them mention how Nicaragua has a special place in their hearts. These women probably left so suddenly from their country that they probably only brought these necklaces and a few other things that they could carry with them to remind them of home. And even that she decided to give to me. She decided to give me the little piece of her home. It wasn’t just me either. She gave me and a couple of my other teammates a piece of gold jewelry from her country as well. What a gift! Oh how these women have so much love for us! They didn’t have to, but they did. They knew that in that United States we are blessed to have all that we have, yet they still decided to give us the little that they have! I’m just so so thankful!
Last week was another example as well. On Friday’s usually the dance lady comes to teach dance with the women. We help her out and participate in dancing too. Well, she didn’t end up coming that day and we decided to still do dance with the ladies. We showed them dances that we have in the United States like the cupid shuffle, footloose dance, swing dancing, etc. After we finished showing them some dances that we do in our country they put on Nicaraguan music and showed us how they dance. We all laughed at ourselves trying to learn some of their dances. They pulled us onto the wooden dance floor and danced with us. When we finished dancing they proceeded to show us the different kinds of music, dancing, and foods that they have in Nicaragua. Then that same day, one of the ladies come in with a big bowl of Nicaragua’s national dish. It was different for sure, but I liked it! Again, these women didn’t have to cook us their national food, or pull us onto the dance floor and teach us how to dance, or any of that. Yet, they did. They loved us enough to share not just a piece of their home, but a piece of their heart with us; a piece of their heart that is still so tender from leaving everything they have ever known behind. It was the sweetest thing and touched me so much! I was so thankful for getting to be apart of their home and seeing their hearts!! It was so beautiful, meaningful, and lovely!
This past month and a half in La Carpio has been such a sweet time and so fruitful. Even though, I’m there to love and disciple these women (since most of them know the Lord) I feel as if they disciple me just as much as I disciple them. They love me just as much as I love on them. They have a special place in their hearts for me just like I have for them. Most of all they love us so much that they give us a little piece of their home every single day in new ways. There’s nothing sweeter, more beautiful, and meaningful than that! I will never forget the piece of home, the love, and memories that they have shared with me. These women will forever be stored in a special place in my heart.
