Just a little update on the past week and what’s ahead…
This week we left the orphanage in Nicaragua on Monday night and took the ferry to the mainland where we stayed at a church overnight before heading on a bus to Costa Rica the next day. Monday afternoon we had a little party with the kids and staff at CICRIN complete with dance performances and a piñata. There were teary goodbyes and a lot of hugs. It was sad to leave everyone there, but I am also really looking forward to these next two months.
This week we are at debrief, which is a time to step away from ministry for a few days to be together as a team to process and relax a little bit. We are in Jaco Beach, Costa Rica at a really cool surf hostel just decompressing and spending time together. Our field mentor, Katie (she’s awesome + brought her husband and little baby girl along with her, so cute), is here from Georgia checking in with us and encouraging us. We have had some great team times together this week with worship, teaching from Katie, as well as general silliness and shenanigans.
We are right next to the Pacific Ocean and have been having so much fun at the beach, pool, exploring the town, and getting to make our own meals with food from a pretty Americanized grocery store (very exciting). We even paid to get air conditioning in our rooms as well as laundry service (is this real life?). We are feeling really thankful for this time to be refreshed, recharge our batteries and take a deep breath. Getting to experience a glimpse of Jaco Beach this week has made us excited to spend our final month of the race back here when we partner with a ministry called Ocean’s Edge in April.
Tomorrow we head out to San Jose where we will participate in the Awakening conference with other world race teams and missionaries in the area. After a few days at the conference we will begin our second month of ministry at the Adventures in Missions base in San Jose. It’s been a great week of reflection and gratitude for what has been so far, time to transition focus toward what is ahead, and now I’m getting excited as we anticipate what is to come next! Now, I’m going to head back to the pool (:
