So we are in month 4 now and I can’t believe it. Time is flying by and my team and I are already in Costa Rica!!!
So we are in a little town called Heredia and there is nothing around us except beautiful mountains and countrysides. My ministry looks a bit different each day right now. My team and I are sleeping at a church again for the next few weeks. For a couple hours each day we have been cleaning and painting different parts of the church, trying to brighten it up.
We spent one day on a mountain over looking the countryside, gardening and working on a greenhouse. This greenhouse is used as a place for people from other countries to come and learn how to garden properly. To make the most profit they can and the healthiest vegetable they can use too sustain.
One day this week we also went to a nursing home. The pastor of the church we are staying at, came and brought his family. There is a giant language barrier where we are in Costa Rica and the only person that can really help us to understand is our friend Ben who is on our squad (shout out to Ben for being our personal translator!!).
So walking into the nursing home I was really nervous. A feeling came over me and I felt like I couldn’t really breath. I just tried to breath slowly and let things happen. We sang a few songs while a friend played the guitar to get the room warmed up and to make the awkwardness fade away. Then it was time to start interacting and make conversation and I just froze. I was super anxious and was getting frustrated because I didn’t know where to start. I tried making small conversation with the Spanish I did know but the convos quickly ended. I tried to get one of our pastors granddaughters who was really shy to play tic-tax-toe but I was rejected. At that point I was super frustrated.
I talked to my leader about how I was feeling a bit and all she could say was “just step into the uncomfortableness”
In my mind I thought I was already doing that but I was wrong. I decided to take another step and try again. I would step out into the uncomfortable and the awkward.
Shortly after I was able to get 2 girls (pastors other granddaughters), Sophia (10) and Shay(9) to play a game of tic-tax-toe. It was a bit awkward at first because they spoke no English but soon softened up. We ended up painting nails, eating lunch and they taught me a few words in Spanish. I ended up spending most of the time we had left with them at the nursing home.
I think the coolest part was that when we got back to the church Sophia had to leave but I got to hang out with shay a bit longer. That afternoon we ended up making bracelets and just hanging out with each other. We took a walk to the fruit store, we played twister and at the end of the day I felt like I made a new friend. We couldn’t talk a whole lot but just hanging out with her was pretty cool and I learned a lot from her.
Thank you so much to everyone who has donated and is supporting me with encouragement!! Thank you for taking time to read my blogs!!
