Costa Rica was a blur! We served in 3 different ministries. The first 2 weeks we partnered with YWAM in Puerto Viejo. We literally lived in the jungle! Then we drove to the big city of San Jose to work with Transforma- a ministry targeted at transforming the lives of women in the community by equipping them with practical work skills and spiritual strength. Then we spent the final week at a camp called La Montaña helping with the different activities and working with the hospitality team to get rooms ready and meals served to everyone. So to say the least, we moved a lot and saw a lot. Before I share more, prior to all the ministry work we spent the start of the month at debrief in San Jose with the whole squad and we found out our new teams!! See the photo below for the details.
This is team Level Up! It was inspired by the song Level Up by Ciara. Not only is it a good dance song and we enjoy having fun with it, but the name also speaks to stepping up in how we walk out our faith, how we show love, and how we can choose to persevere forward in circumstances and in becoming who we already are because of Jesus. There are 2 girls from my first team (Ashley and Sharon) and 2 girls from the other co-ed team I shared a month with (Savanah and Amanda). The 2 girls that complete our team are Brynna and Jenny.
This is the YWAM base we stayed at in Puerto Viejo. It’s farther south, closer to Panama and we definitely felt it with the humidity.
We crossed the bridge over this river to get to our place.
Instead of sleeping inside where it stayed pretty hot at night, I opted to sleep on the deck in my tent. I’d fall asleep listening to sounds of the jungle. Most mornings you could hear the howler monkeys (eeekk!)
For ministry we helped with projects around the place. Here is a photo of me cutting wood to make signs for the property. We also helped put together a new classroom building, and we built and stained shelves for the bedrooms.
One day we went further into the jungle and teamed up with Teen Challenge- a ministry that works with men recovering from drug and alcohol addictions. To help them save up money when they’re nearing the end of their program, the men sell chocolate in town. Sooo we spent the day making homemade chocolate bars in the leader’s home! We roasted the cocoa beans for future batches, and mixed the chocolate until it was at the perfect temperature to put into the molds. Once in the mold, it was time for the fridge! We also spent lunch time with men and it was one of my favorite parts of our visit because we heard a couple of their stories of how God changed their lives while at Teen Challenge.
This is my teammate, Jenny! We rotated cooking shifts and we made empanadas one night. Not photographed: me frying the empanadas in a pan of oil trying not to burn myself haha!
Just your average day in the jungle- spotting a poisonous dart frog while moving wood!
A shot of downtown Puerto Viejo. It’s a popular beach location with a lot of small shops and restaurants we’d visit on the weekends.
The waterfront in Puerto Viejo.
Rasta (photographer) and Elsie (far right) were our hosts! We’re all standing in front of the bus we drove around town 🙂
This is at Transforma in San Jose. One of their values is hospitality and their place made us feel right at home because of that.
Here I am with some women we saw around the house for sessions and class. They were really gracious whenever I tried to use Spanish.
Here’s the whole gang! Vanessa is our host, she’s the one in red in the back. She’s an incredible woman with a tremendous vision for women to come out of poverty and live abundantly with God. She took us to meet and pray with women in the community. We also helped organize clothing donations and their sewing classroom. Our last full day there all the women came for a special event, and the Governor of Costa Rica came by because of all the amazing changes happening in the area and the work being done!
This is the water park at the lake at the La Montaña camp. I was stationed at the waterslide one afternoon as different groups staying the camp rotated the property. You can kind of see a covered bridge in the middle of the photo which leads back to the other side of camp.
One of our other jobs at La Montaña camp was serving meals. Here are some teammates taking it on with stride!
This last photo is a view from the bus ride from camp back to the city before making our way to Panama.
Story from the month:
Costa Rica is a beautiful place and I feel fortunate to have seen so many different parts and experience different types of ministries. God reminded me of the importance of trust in the midst of changing circumstances. I desired to be in one place and to get rooted into ministry, thinking more of an impact could be made if we stayed somewhere, but I needed to trust God wanted us right where we were.
Looking back now, I see a parallel to trusting my circumstances at home. At the time, I was interviewing for teaching positions and a lot was up the air. I felt conflicted trying to make a decision when I felt far away from the classroom and with a decent chunk of time left on the race.
My trust was tested on our travel day to La Montaña because we were pressed for time to arrive at the camp so I could make my online interview. I distinctly remember being on the bus after we barely made it to the bus station in our Uber with 5 min to spare… and I still questioned if I would get there in time because we had another transfer. Then I sensed God telling me through a thought that I will make it in time and that the interview will go well. So I spent the bus ride preparing and writing potential questions and my answers. Just like He told me, there was enough time for me to change and set-up for the interview when we arrived, and wouldn’t you know, the wifi was working too.
Then the next day I wrestled to check my email for news. I asked God what I should do after thinking through the idea of checking it now and possibly knowing, or waiting until Monday. Then big capital words flooded my mind: GO CHECK YOUR EMAIL. I followed the prompting and saw a job offer sitting in my inbox (jaw drop)!!! I ran back down the giant hill from the office and I celebrated with my team- it was a really sweet moment. And yet again, it’s another time I can add to the list of memories of God’s faithfulness and the necessity of putting my trust in Him first, because regardless of the outcome and circumstances I can rely on the consistency of His character.
These are some of my go-to verses in scripture when I think of trust:
Psalm 37:4-6 Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act.
As I read those verses again, it reminded me of my role to simply trust, and that truly trusting looks like wholeheartedly going to God FIRST and then he’ll align His plans in my life or even renew desires in my heart. Sometimes I notice that desires I once had go away and He replaces those with newer, better desires.
Delighting myself with God means spending time with Him and meditating on His goodness, beauty, and truth with reverence. Delighting myself with God is fun and exciting too- it’s adventurously expectant! As I spend time with Him, I come to know who I am- what gifts has He given me to use, my true worth and identity. He places desires in me to carry out in partnership with Him that look like dreams and passions, or exciting challenges that I sense Him urging me to take a step of faith into, like the world race 🙂
Or when my circumstances change, or something happens that doesn’t make logical sense to me, but in the bigger picture of God’s story of my life it’s for my good and His glory. As I grow closer in the likeness of Jesus, God’s desires become my desires.
And the story doesn’t end there! The job offered to me was at a different school than I anticipated, or rather, what I desired. Later on during camp I talked with God about the change of being in a different area, especially because it’s farther away from where I do Young Life and where I have relationships. I felt His presence in the form of peace and the desire of my heart shifting to being at this new school. He met me right where I was at and it’s one of my favorite things about the character of God- He gracefully guides me.
The way God uses our stories to be an encouragement to others is cool too! A few days later a former teammate from the squad shared about a recent disappointment and this story was an encouragement that God has good plans in store for us even when it’s not what we expect or desire at first.
“We have become His poetry, a re-created people that will fulfill the destiny he has given each of us, for we are joined to Jesus, the Anointed One. Even before we were born, God planned in advance our destiny and the good works we would do to fulfill it.” Ephesians 2:10 (The Passion Translation).
And for those of you back home wondering what position I’ll be taking next year in Issaquah…. I’ve accepted an ELL (English Language Learning) position at Apollo Elementary!!! I dearly love my Discovery community, so it was hard to face not returning, but I know that this is a good next step for me.
Peace and Love,
<3 Eva
