February. Wow. What a month. This past month has grew me and taught me so much about the Father’s heart for His children.
It started superrrrr rainy and what can you expect from rainy season, but this time was a little different. It quickly became serious for some of the surrounding communities as houses were flooded. We spent a night in prayer for all of our neighbors and when the waters receded we got to help clean up. Hey, Samaritan’s Purse trained us well! There was one home we went to that seriously impacted me.
Rasta took us to this house to help clean up their yard because the storm knocked a few limbs down. There was also a lot of trash blown into their yard from the rain storm. As we started to clean we quickly realized this family has endured a lot more storms than just the rain. They had four little girls from the ages of 2 to 8 and a couple of my teammates entertained them, as I and a few others cleaned up empty bottles and found multiple needles. Just being there for the day, we had fleas crawling over every inch of our bodies. I was beginning to get so frustrated at the bugs and trash to the point where I almost forgot why we were there.
Then I heard a giggle from a little girl running around barefoot and playing with her toy I almost mistook for trash. This was these girls’ life. Their home. Then I remembered my why. Why did I choose this? Why did I choose a 9 month missions trip to who-knows-where instead of just starting college? It was never promised to be easy, yet I still said yes. Why? To bring hope. To bring love. To bring joy. To bring LIFE. All found in Jesus. Not saying there isn’t hope, love, or joy already in Costa Rica, but I get the chance to partner with the King of Kings and leave the 99 for the 1. The 1 little girl running around her yard barefoot. Her normal is fleas. Her normal is witnessing addiction. Her normal is so much different than a life we could ever imagine. And if I have the chance to show the love of Jesus to her through cleaning her yard and laughing with her… how could I say no? I pray she grows up to know the Lord soo deeply. I pray her family comes to know the Lord. I pray away any and all addictions in Jesus’ name.
We ate our sack lunches and spent the day with them. It was only the mom home and she was very reserved at first which is understandable. She was grateful for the help and company. Rasta has an on going relationship with this family and has continued bringing teams to them whether to invite the girls to a kids camp or have coffee with the mom. It really encourages me to know that when we leave, ministry doesn’t stop with us. Another team will come and continue to be lights to that family and to chase after the 1.
