It’s just another evening in Jaco, Costa Rica. Beach goers are packing up their coolers and watching the sunset over the ocean. Tourists and vacationers are stopping in souvenir shops and choosing a place to eat dinner. College students will be arriving soon to see what shenanigans Spring Break 2019 holds.
Meanwhile, at Ocean’s Edge, a ministry dedicated to their partnership with the City of Jaco to do Kingdom work, a squad of World Racers are preparing to go prayer walking in the Jaco Walk area of the city. The squad is given instructions, caution to what they might see and experience, and a curfew when to be back at the house. Prayer walking in a touristy area seems innocent enough yet in a few hours there is a darkness that will enter the City of Jaco.
The squad breaks up into smaller groups and ours ends up being a team of six – Liv, Bri, Sage, Codi, Katie, and myself. Before leaving for the Jaco Walk area, our team decides to go to a hotel notorious for prostitution. Katie shares the idea to walk and pray around the hotel like the Walls of Jericho. The group agrees and heads to the strip.
The six of us walk with determination to the hotel. The streets are busy with commotion yet we remain silent and focused. We arrive at the hotel and after praying around the hotel two times, Bri feels led to go inside the building. She tries to get in through the garage but is immediately stopped by the tenant. I mention to Bri the entrance by the casino and bar area. The group cautiously heads in that direction.
There is a group of four men walking into the hotel at the same time we arrive at the entrance. We try to act like we belong when clearly we do not. I look back at Bri to ask if we are going in and she shakes her head yes. There is a boldness I feel yet anxious of what we will see. And even though it is uncomfortable, we press on and speed walk through the casino to get to the bar and pool area.
Upon arrival in the pool area, we see mostly women. Since prostitution is legal in Jaco, it doesn’t take long to understand what the expectations are for both the men and women who are here. As we walk past a line of women, we smile and say hello. Our team finds a rail to lean against to gather our thoughts and decide what to do next. Some of us prayer walk around the pool. We do this several times. People in the bar area begin to notice us. We can even overhear jokes that we are there to exercise. After one more lap we join the rest of the group back at the railing by the bar. Our group continues to pray for the men and women we see.
Tonight though, the prayers are different. The Holy Spirit doesn’t have us pray bold prayers but unconventional prayers. I ask God over and over again that business will be slow at least for tonight. That hotel room keys won’t work and cars won’t start. I pray for upset stomachs and headaches. Liv is standing next to me praying that the pool in the bar area will one day be used for baptisms. Prayers that the men and women in this hotel will some day know their worth and their identity in God are prayers that are also asked.
We stay at the railing by the bar until it’s time to leave in order to make curfew. We leave as swiftly as we came.
“For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” John 3:17
