To the next ones,
Oh man, welcome to the sweetest couple months of your life thus far. Welcome to Puerto Viejo. yes, welcome to beautiful beaches close-by and plantains 3 times a day, Beyond that though, welcome to kind people and full hearts.
When you get here, you won’t know what to expect. You’ll wonder how the Lord blessed you with this and you’ll find out quickly mosquitos have no mercy. Welcome to squadmates getting dengue and to scab covered legs from scratching bug bites too hard.
Maybe the cuts aren’t from bugs, though. It could be from walking a mile up a mountain in the rain through the jungle with giant pieces of wood just so you can build a house for a man who needed help. Or maybe it’s from the days spent cutting down jungle with machetes just to make a soccer field for the community. Welcome to hard ministry days that show you more and more how much God loves His people.
Some days will be hard. Some days you might get frustrated that you never played soccer and now have to play against a real Costa Rican team. Some days you’ll get frustrated over the fact that everything is different, so much so that you don’t even know how to simply wash a car. You’ll actually end up learning that it’s fun to do things you didn’t know how to do. Welcome to growth by the minute.
It’s all okay though, because nothing feels better than taking a cold shower at the end of the day before dinner prep. Welcome to waving to lizards in the shower and dancing and talking about everything under the sun over the sound of frying yucca chips.
After you wash you dishes, you might find yourself playing endless games of Uno or drinking tea with the base staff until bedtime. Maybe sometimes you’ll learning to breakdance or you’ll share your essential oils will all your friends. Welcome to conversations through google translate with your new best friends.
Maybe you’ll grow to love the youth that faithfully show up to the soccer field every Tuesday. I hope and pray you do. Maybe you’ll stand with Angelica for an awkward amount of time trying to remember how to say a simple Spanish phrase. Maybe you’ll love your 6 days in a close-by village more, though. Your heart might jump when the little girls show up to the church when you’re journaling just so they can hang out. Maybe you’ll lay in bed hearing giggles followed by “gringas” coming from the room next door, where the girls from the youth camp are sleeping. Maybe you’ll find yourself sitting in plastic chairs with a woman that you just met. You’ll talk to her about how you love it here but turn your head away when you see her send her son to get coffee and arepa ingredients for her new friends. Maybe, just maybe, you walk 2 miles to town so you can see your friend who works at the fruit stand, or maybe the friend who makes jewelry for a living. Welcome to bad Spanish but being met with love and kindness anyways. Welcome to dancing through worship in an indigenous community.
You might get scared when driving the bus to Bambu. Don’t worry, Rasta knows what he’s doing. You won’t flip off the mountain, just remember to pray. You might even end up falling asleep after a couple rides. Welcome to the best ministry host, an old bus, and blasting karaoke on the way home.
You probably won’t write a lot of blogs. You’ll feel a little bit bad, but there’s always things to do! Welcome to parties for the smallest celebration. Welcome to siesta time spent walking to the ceviche stand getting the best bagged ice cream. Welcome to a lot of laughter and writing blogs to blasting Spanish Christian rap in the background.
You’ll spend some mornings practicing testimonies and skits with your team just in case you need to do it at any time. And then, after all that preparing, one day you’ll have to. On the side of the road. Scary. Welcome to the Lord speaking through breaking out of comfort zones. Welcome to thanking the Lord for what you didn’t think would work, like being able to share the gospel with a man who saw your skit.
Let me tell you, friends, most mornings that its raining you will not want to get up. You’ll snooze your alarm until the howler monkeys are screaming too loud but then you’ll walk downstairs to see Kisha teaching some of your squad how to salsa dance. You’ll cheer extra loud on Tuesdays and Thursdays because thats Gallo pinto day. And get ready for empanada night. Welcome to thanking the Lord for howler monkeys, constant rain, and Jordys yummy pinto.
I can go on forever. I could tell you about the SuperNegro market and the sweet employees there. I could tell you about how the Lord speaks in little random moments, like when the motor stops working on your boat ride home. I could tell you about sweet sabbaths spent at the beach with new friends or I could tell you about doing all sorts of ministry. Hard ministry, confusing ministry, fun ministry, fruitful ministry. I could tell you how I saw God in all of it or I could tell you about screaming “POR EL REINO” to the squad to remind them that everything is for the advancement of the kingdom. I could tell you about sitting in a room for hours editing an advertisement video for your host. I could even tell you about the awkward conversations during evangelism. Maybe I could tell you about the 14 year old boy who your host mentors. I could laugh while explaining how he learns different English phrases everyday but his favorite is, “did he take a shower?” But, I don’t know if you’d get it. I don’t know if you’d see how God meets people here in this jungle. My friend, I guess you’ll have to see for yourself. But either way, welcome. Welcome to Puerto Viejo. Treat it well, it’ll take a chunk of your heart.
Much love,
A girl whose heart is staying behind
