Hey everyone! It’s March! Actually we’re well in to March, but being on the World Race, you easily lose track of time.
Last month my World Race squad (53 people) were together on a beautiful compound in Haiti. It was a blast getting to know everyone I’m traveling with, but then February came to an end, and we had to make our way to our next country: Costa Rica! We flew to Costa Rica and split up into our 8 teams of 6-7 people and said our goodbyes in the airport. This month is the first month every single one of our squad’s teams has been divided up in a country.
This month I find myself with my team in the middle of the jungle in Costa Rica at a ministry called “Fundación Resplandecer” or “Shining Foundation.” To be exact, we’re near the city of San Jorge on a farm. Yes a real, live, FARM! This farm includes geese, dogs, tons of bugs, lizards, huge crop fields, and greenery that stretches as far as the eye can see. Some times it feels like a dream. Some times it feel like we’re living a Latino version of the Swiss family Robinson. The ministry that owns the farm is run by a husband and wife, Tony and Rosita, and they are some of the sweetest people I’ve ever met. They are the only other people here besides our team. From time to time they have friends come over to work on the farm a little. For our ministry we work hard! We do lots of manual labor, we pick weeds, we harvest vegetables, we hack wood with machetes and we…sweat. A lot. One of the most incredible things about the ministry is that a large portion of their crops are donated to starving children in need in the area. Our hosts are so selfless and loving and it inspires me! Occasionally, we have been able to conduct a small VBS program for local churches to get a chance to meet and love on Costa Rican kids. It’s definitely difficult, but also a new change of pace for us that is good to experience.
The World Race so far has been awesome. I can feel myself growing and changing every day. It’s funny how, for me, this mission trip started with the idea of being able to love people across the world, which is still happening, but now I’m seeing that it is just as much about being slowly molded in to someone who is wholly and altogether changed for the better by God.
One of my favorite songs by the band Judah & the Lion has a chorus that says the following:
I’ve got this love in me
But it’s not just mine to keep
Like treasure that’s buried deep
I come alive
When I set it free
I love these words. Judah sings about how the act of giving the love he has inside of him, makes him come ALIVE. When I listened to that song the other day in my bed, after a long day of weed picking on this farm, I smiled and was filled with joy knowing that I am -living- those very words. I am not on The World Race to prove something to other people or to document my adventures with the coolest pictures. I am here because I want more! I’m here because I want to share the love that I’ve tasted and seen and THAT is living life to the fullest. I get to be a part of the greatest love story of all time. I am participating in the work of a God who can move mountains with ease. I have a love and a treasure in my heart that makes me new every day.
I am coming upon my next deadline for the World Race. By the beginning of April I need to have $11,000 dollars raised. I am at about $9,000 as of right now! That’s a lot of money to raise, but with God money is simply a number. If you so feel led to help me reach my goal, please do! There is a support button on the left side of this blog page. Please also consider sharing this blog and my story with others. I would love to continue the life changing adventure I am on. I can’t even being to imagine what else I’d be doing with my life right now other than this! There’s no place I’d rather be.
Much love,
Kevin
