Hello world, from the sunny and warmness that is Costa Rica! I have to admit, we're set up pretty sweetly this month. We have a small kitchen in the team house with stainless steel counters and bunk beds for everyone. I imagine that this will be the only time this year that I'll be using such words so I'm really trying to milk them. Also, I'm on the top bunk which has never happened in my life. New year, new challenges right? Haha. Initially I wanted to make a fuss (as a chubby nubby I reserved the right to the bottom bunk at every summer Bible camp I ever attended) but then I checked myself and it turns out that the bunk beds are not… that… tall. Hooray. Give your issues over to God and maybe it won't be as bad as you thought.
While we're in Costa Rica us four teams have been paired up with 6:8 Ministries, which works in the city of Alajuelita to see the prosperity of the neighbourhoods be brought to life. We attended a feeding centre for children in the Verbana barrio (neighbourhood) on Saturday. We had the extreme privilege of riding in the back of a cattle truck through the crazy streets of the city. We basically surfed there. As we walked through the winding and hilly community to notify the children of the meal awaiting them we had to be careful to avoid stepping in raw sewage. The kids made our hearts melt, especially the young boy who stood behind the screen door and said "Hola" to every single one of us as he proudly displayed his bowl of black beans. Their houses are made from whatever's available. Most of the residents are illegal immigrants and are unfortunately stuck there.
After an amazing Spanish church service and some quality playing time with kids, today was our first "real" ministry day. We walked a few blocks from our house to an abandoned coffee plantation to clean up trash. More than that though, our leader told us that it would be a lesson in futility. We would not even scratch the surface. And within a week the trash would be back. What the place really needs is a miracle. We prayed hard over that place as we walked through it and picked up, raked up, shovelled up trash. And shoes. Little shoes and business shoes. How did those get there? I wondered if those shoes could talk what they might say. Who lived in those shoes before they ended up there?
The worst part about this coffee plantation is that it has become home to evil acts. It's where the crackheads go to get their fix, where the girls go to sell their bodies for $5, and where hopelessness prevails. There is nothing good that happens in that plantation, but imagine if it was transformed. What if we took all of the darkness and secrets and evil and turned it into something beautiful? Something that could employ people, heal people, restore souls. It would take a miracle. A million dollars and a lot of paperwork. Will you do me a favour and say a prayer for 6:8 Ministries and the cafe tal property?
Do you know how I know that something good can happen there? Amidst all of the rubble I saw something incredible: bright, pink flowers blooming. They weren't invited there. Against all odds nature has the tenacity to grow regardless of its whereabouts. And against all odds God can make those souls blossom as well. If he can do it with a flower he can do it with people.
