costa rica
my team, here in costa rica, is partnering with a ministry ran by a woman name Bella Flores. she runs a large feeding program in the slum area. for 22 years she has made sure that the children in this slum are fed. because if she doesn’t do it, then there isn’t a lot of say as to when the kids will eat. she’s an amazing lady. like the grandmother of the area-she reminds me of my grandma, taking care of everyone she sees. 🙂
this is the ministry we will be doing for the rest of the Race. about a week-ish ago however, my team & two other teams, spent 6 days in the jungle.
jungle week was hands down my favorite week of the Race. i don’t know how to explain the jungle without just simply using the word jungle. it was the literal jungle. like tarzan ropes & poison dart frogs & GREEN & shacks as houses & fruit everywhere & humidity(SWEAT.) oh it was great.
on our way there, the bus drove a solid hour into the jungle and dropped us off when it couldn’t take us any farther & then a truck picked us up and took us to the base we stayed at. there were bats & a dog we named Gordito & sometimes running water-the high life. and when we’d go out for ministry, Hernon (the cutest old man ever), would drive us as far as his truck would take us and then we’d walk the rest of the way. we walked a minimum of 3 hours in the jungle per day. & the jungle is nowhere near flat. by about day 4, our bodies were finally getting used to jungle life.
what we did this week was similar but different everyday. on the first night there, we were told we were running the entire church service. so we did the best we could & then at the end, Diego (our host), brought the house down in a solid 10 minutes and people jumped and praised and worshipped God. diego is amazing. a complete goofball but when it comes to Jesus, he is all seriousness. it’s beautiful.
the second day we had our first house visit of the week. house visit entails a full ride church service in the home of an indigenous family in the absolute middle of nowhere jungle town. so we’d get dropped off by the truck and then start hiking, passing nothing but trees and fruit until at the very end of the dirt jungle road, we’d find a house made of boards with animals and vegetation surrounding it on all sides. we’d be greeted with a sweet Holy kiss from the family and then all 28 of us would introduce ourselves & sing and worship to God & then share testimony & whatever else the Lord puts on our hearts & then we’d pray over all the family members.
house visits are so crucial here because the fact that these people live in the boondocks and a trek to church is miles away and people don’t drive in the jungle. so us coming to them is how they receive fellowship and partake in edifying the church.
skip to day three. at this point diego had been hyping up this waterfall we were going to go visit. so we trek though the jungle once again. but this time it isn’t like dirt road jungle, it’s actual rain forest in the flesh of the jungle type of hike. so about an hour later we end up at this creek/lagoon type thing and diego says “arrived.” we were kind of confused and then diego explained that the 30 ft waterfall was taken out by a landslide last year. LOL. but the lagoon was FUN. we cliff jumped and slid down a natural water slide and did flips all morning. and then when we were finished we hiked all the way back through the jungle. on our way home we did two house visits. at one we held baby kittens and rode a pig, at the other we ate cacao fruits.
that night, or the night after i don’t remember, we did a night house visit. it was just down the street from the base and we worshipped and prayed and shared testimony. the man who lived there was a single dad with two unbiological daughters whom he loved so much. they were so kind and welcoming.
the funny thing about this whole week is that we’d go in to these places ready to bless whoever lives there but ending up getting blessed more than we could expect BY them.
and then the next day we got dropped off by the church and walked to this area with a soccer field and some of the church members were there and i was confused why we were going to have church with the church members on the soccer field when we could do it in the church right up the hill we just practically rolled down but boy oh boy was i off. we just met at the soccer field. next thing i know, we are 45 minutes into the jungle on our way to a house occupied by one man. we sit in a circle and start worshipping and dancing and praising Jesus. and then the pastor brings down the entire jungle with THE word of God. stories i had heard and known but with a whole new fresh perspective on them. A JUNGLE PERSPECTIVE. i was so moved. i sat in literal amazement. like where the heck am i right now?? how the heck did i get here?? am i even alive is this really happening??
then on the last day, diego had dropped a bomb on us in the middle of the week saying we were going to go prayer walking on our last day at 3am and to get ready. so the last day comes and we all roll out of bed at 3am with our rain boots on and diego lists off multiple things that we are to pray for and that whoever is praying is to be at the front of the group. and we pray until we get to the creek (about a mile). so that’s what we did and then when we got to the creek we got in a circle and worshipped God and prayed some more. then diego took over in spanish and just poured out his heart in passionate prayer to God. i have no clue what he said but my heart was so filled as he was praying. he is a goofball but when it comes to his Jesus, it’s just wow.
then funny thing haha after he finished praying he shared with us that he was going to visit and evangelize to a witch doctor in the area in 2 weeks. keep in mind: it is 3AM IN THE MIDDLE OF THE JUNGLE and diego grants this as THE time to share about a witch doctor. soooo the witch doctor lives a 2 days walk away in this indigenous area. at the beginning of this week my whole self would say “why would you do that?” that’s so far and dangerous but by this point the Lord had really opened my eyes to the fact that Jesus did this and more. fervently and without an ounce of complaint. i can’t walk an hour into the jungle and pray for someone who has little access to anything without complaining that it’s hot and that i’m tired.
Jesus reminded me how He goes after the one. how He leaves the 99 to go find the 1. this witch doctor is the 1. these people we trekked to were the 1’s. God allowed us to see a glimpse into the way He works this week by allowing us to be Jesus. by sending us out to get the 1.
so diego goes and visits this witch doctor at the end of this week. please keep him in your prayers. please keep the witch doctor in your prayers. revival is coming. God bless diego. a man willing and passionate to go get the 1 because he is aware of how Jesus chased after him when he was the 1.
oh man i could go on and on about the jungle. i adored jungle life. it rejuvenated me. if we were to finish the Race there i’d be a crazy person by the time i got home. i was in my element. after we left we went to the caribbean ocean (what the heck am i saying. i don’t know how i ended up getting to live this life) and at the ocean, Christian, one of the boys, decides that now is the time to get baptized. and he got baptized in THE CARIBBEAN OCEAN. i seriously don’t know what i’m doing. this is absurd.
that’s all i have. an extremely eventful yet restful week. pray for the jungle! xoxo
