Many of you have asked what does a typical day look like for when I’m doing ministry here at Transforma? Well I’m about to answer that question. Here’s a quick glance into what our ministry looks like this month.
During the week we have daily or weekly chores that have to be done before 7:00am since classes start at 8am and women start showing up around 7:45am. Honestly, we have been to doing a final run threw and making sure all the chores have been done around 7:30am. Which means we have to start getting up around 6am or earlier if you choose to shower in the morning. Also, you need to have eaten breakfast before the women start arriving and all the breakfast dishes need to be washed, dried and put away before the women start arriving. Classes normally last from 8am until noon. There is a coffee break around 9/10. Part of our morning chores aside from cleaning the house is to brew the coffee and lay out snacks for the women. They bring some snacks with them to share during the break and Transforma also provides some “cookies” as well. We brew a lot of coffee but we rarely waste any coffee. Costa Ricans love their coffee and most of my team are coffee people as well. Most of the women are single moms which means they bring their children with them to class and we watch the kids so the moms can pay attention in class. We normally have about 20 kids ages ranging from 8months to 9 years old. So there’s a lot of energy and enthusiasm these kids have. Transforma also provides a snack for the kids as well. Normally its milk and “cookies”. On Mondays and Fridays my team and I go into the neighborhood and walk to some of the houses of the women that take classes at Transforma and talk with them on a more personal level. We typically bring some kind of food item to give to the family we’re visiting. It’s custom here to give your host a gift. Wednesdays are really busy at Transforma with multiple classes going on so we don’t do street ministry that day. Tuesdays and Thursdays are classes as well so we watch the kids. Also on Tuesdays there is a different ministry that some of had have grown to love. That ministry is Face of Justice. What is FOJ? They are a local housing that helps the government with teens girls and women who have been sex trafficked. The ages for these women range from 14-60. (There will be another separate blog about Face of Justice so if that peaked your interest stay tuned for more.) We normally have the afternoons to ourselves to decompress and talk about how we can improve the next day. What worked really well? What didn’t work? Why didn’t this work? Those sort of questions. In the 2.5 weeks that we’ve been here my outlook on ministry has shifted exponentially! Back in the States I was apart of kid ministry at my home church but honestly my heart wasn’t fully in it. I didn’t know how much value parents carried for us as we watch their children week in and week out until I came here and started watching kids daily. The moms freely pass off their children to complete strangers and they know that at Transforma their children are going to be loved and watched over with no fear of what might happen. Yes, there is a language barrier but that is nothing compared to the joy on the faces of these women who I have grown to love and care for. Their children’s eyes light up when they see one of my teammates or myself, depending on the child of course.
So that’s a glimpse of what a typical day of ministry looks like for my team this month. We help set up for classes, some do administration stuff, and we watch and love in the women and children that come for classes. We are the hands and feet of Jesus this month. I’ll be honest this month has been hard but oh so very rewarding! Stay tuned for another blog post shortly about FOJ.
Also I’m still fundraising and have a little over $2,500 left before I’m fully funded. I would love to be fully funded before September 30th which is the final deadline. So if you feel lead to donate and help keep me on the field growing and loving as God uses me plesse click the orange donate button on the top of the page. Thank you so much for your prayers and support this journey wouldn’t be possible without you.
