Ok, now it is time to fill you in on how my debrief went.
The way debrief typically works for a semesters trip is this: halfway through the trip your squad is taken to a location other than your ministry location for a few days and your squad’s mentor joins you during this time.
What actually went down looked a little different. We had planned to leave for debrief after leaving Jaco one month into our trip. But plans change, and we ended up debriefing a week early (Feb. 20th instead of 27th). This means we actually debriefed in Jaco (although at a hostel rather than our ministry base). Then we returned to our ministry base the following Wednesday in order to finish out our ministry time as planned. We would just leave for our next location straight from Jaco on March 4th.
So what exactly is debrief? Basically, it is a time to take a step back from the whirlwind of ministry in order to evaluate what has been going on and what needs to be improved in order for the rest of the trip to prove more fruitful. It also provides some much needed rest and downtime before thrusting the squad into a new ministry location.
We had several really good discussions about how communication has been working within our teams and how our squad has been doing as a whole. We also had some time set aside for devos and worship. We also got to spend some one-on-one time with our mentor, Hailey, just as a further way to address any concerns we might have had about our experience thus far.
All in all, it was really great to just have some down time. To be able to transition between locations and just take a moment to rest in the Lord. And, since we were in the same location that we had been in all along, debrief actually ended up giving us more time to revisit any connections in the community we had already made, whether that meant inviting people to any of our outings or even just making a coffee appointment. We also got to spend a lot of time talking with the other people staying at our hostel. We also were able to attend Horizon that Sunday. Have I mentioned yet that I love this church?? (If you haven’t already, you can check out their website here: https://www.horizonjaco.org/)
An example of an unexpected ministry opportunity came as we were worshipping on the beach as a squad right in front of our hostel. As we all sat in our circle and sang, a woman came up and joined us. She sang with us and stayed with us throughout the rest of our session. Even as we transitioned into our activities, like naming things we were thankful for so far on the trip, she stayed with us and joined in. In fact, she actually named us as something she was thankful for. She had noticed us as she was walking and said she could tell we were Christians before she was even close enough to hear the lyrics we sang because she could sense the presence of God in and around us. Like, what?? How awesome is that! Let me tell you, we all felt super encouraged. (As a side note, I am noticing that beach worship seems to be quite the ministry tool.)
Anyway, since debrief marks transition to a next location, you may be wondering about our next location. While we don’t know much yet, I can tell you that it is in Nandayure, Nicoya (still in Costa Rica), and that the plan is to stay there for the rest of our two months. While Jaco is a rather international, tourist-y location, this next location will be more rural. In Jaco you can pay with US dollars, and pretty much anyone you speak to can respond in English. But I think this next location will provide us with more of an opportunity to really dive into the local culture, which I am both pumped and nervous about. The plan is to stay on mattresses on the floor of the local church and basically help out with whatever they need (I think painting, building a kitchen/wall, and evangelism/VBS/worship are all on the table). The name of the church, by the way, is Iglesia Monte de Sion del Evangelio Cuadrangular (whew).
Oh yeah. One more thing. Cell service and wifi are definitely not expected in this location, meaning I will probably be going dark for the next two months. But fear not! We can still use our Sabbath and adventure days to travel, which means I should have access to wifi at least once a week. In other words, I should still be able to occasionally update you guys with a blog here and there 😉
Love you guys!
