At the beginning of Costa Rica, my team along with 2 others packed up most of our things and headed 7 hours to the edge of Costa Rica right by Panama in the middle of a jungle (literally) called Talamanca for the week. The ministry we worked with was called OM. I experienced church unlike any other here.
This is what days look like, every morning we would gather together and have devotion at 8 AM, where someone would share what God is teaching them, or something to encourage us, we would end with worship and praying together.
After breakfast we put on some rain boots and head out to do house visits, this is what house was it looked like..
Hiking miles and miles up steep hills, down mountains, through mud and rivers deep deep into the jungle to the furthest houses in the rain forest, sometimes you think you’re in the deepest part of the jungle but then you keep going deeper and deeper. After getting to talking to the people that live at the houses they explained that in order for them to go to church or a clinic or anywhere they have to walk miles and miles, But what was so cool is that we were able to bring church to them.
We would gather in the small home or outside on the ground where we got to speak life into the families, encourage and read scripture, we got to know them and their hearts what they’re going through and prayed big prayers over the family.
One house we went to, it was a family, the dad works in the jungle cutting bananas down hours and hours, the mom stays home to watch the kids. They had an 18 year old son, named Ector. He was 18 but looked 5 years old, he had a disability. He spends his life laying in his bed, he’s lifeless. While we were talking to the family, I heard coughing in the house and asked who it was, it was Ector, I asked if we could go in and pray over him, when we walked in the room my heart just broke. This small child will probably never move from his bed and his family Can’t go to church because it’s so far and they can’t leave Ector alone, and if he needs to go to a clinic, they don’t just have a car to get in. They have to carry him and walk miles and hours to the clinic….
When we first walked in the room, Ector was just laying their no emotion or anything BUT after we prayed he started smiling the biggest Smile and moving around. The joy of the Lord was definitely in Ector & I cant wait to meet him in heaven, I can’t wait to dance freely with him. After praying I got to encourage his father, and tell him how incredible he is, how big of a heart he has, and how proud the Lord is of Him. He got ready eyed… he was so thankful. I couldn’t imagine how hard that has to be.
At the end of the week we hiked to the furthest house in the jungle it was a man who lived all by himself in the middle of deepest part of the jungle. He told us that his family never comes to visit him and getting around anywhere is really hard for him because for the past few months his knew has been in awful pain so getting around and working has been difficult. When he lifted his pants up it was so swollen and red We were able to lay hands on him and pray healing over him. when we finish we asked him how it felt and he said the pain was completely gone he started moving it around and he said he hadn’t been able to do that in a while. He was HEALED!!! Y’all God is a healing God!!
Being in the jungle away from everything taught me so much, you don’t need a building or preacher or a huge worship band and lights to have a church- just go. Just go to people and encourage them, speak life and joy into them, pray big prayers, and love then where their at. It says in Matthew where two or more are gathered in His name, Jesus is there also.
And because of how much we walked, and found out how far they walk just to get to church, made me so much more thankful to have a car where I can drive 20 minutes to my church in air conditioning and live life with amazing people by my side.
I slept with bats, walked miles and miles, took freezing showers, got bit by ants, had allergy attacks but that didn’t even matter because we got to bring Jesus to the unreached. Continue to pray for Talamanca, there is a witch and witch doctor who live in that village, pray that their hearts will be softened to know and hear the good news from OM ministries. God is at work in that community!!
This was the best week of my race for-sure.
