Costa Rica…the first country I’ve been to outside of the US. It will probably always have a special place in my heart. God is already revealing so much to me, and we’ve not even been here a week yet.
I was living in my own little world in West Virginia. Of course God was there. He was in Point Pleasant with me, whispering His love for me while I’d drive to work, making His presence known at New Hope when the choir sang “In Christ Alone,” and showing Himself to me in the sunsets at Krodel Park after a 3 mile run.
But God is here too. I’m telling you guys…God. Is. Here.
Witnessing God’s presence in this new place is the biggest honor I’ve ever received.
We flew from Atlanta to San Hose on Wednesday evening. When we got there, we were picked up by a couple of vans. Our backpacks were stacked high on top of the van, and a ton of us piled in like sardines to drive to the place we would spend the night. We rode down a curvy, extremely bumpy road. Each pot hole we hit brought about a giggle from someone, and the giggle would ripple until all of us were laughing hysterically. With the windows down, it was easy to prevent car sickness and see some scenes from Costa Rica at night. The weather was amazing, and feeling the breeze from the window was very refreshing after the 4 hour plane ride.
I felt as though wonder and anticipation were oozing out of me as we rode in the van…not knowing exactly where we were going, but knowing that God had us in the palm of His hand. We rode for about 20 minutes until we arrived at the one-room church where we would spend the night. Once we got there, we were greeted by the sweetest people…the pastor of the church and his family. They only spoke Spanish, but body language and expressions go a long way, so I felt very connected to these people. After a long day of traveling, it was great to see the big smiles on their faces when we walked into the place we would lay our heads for the night.
We unpacked a couple of our things, laid out our sleeping pads on the floor, and hung out for about an hour. Before the pastor left for the evening, he wanted to have prayer with us. This was the first time I heard someone pray in a different language. All I can say is…WOW.
I don’t know what it was….but by the end of his prayer, tears were pouring down my face.
I understood a couple words such as “gracias” and the Spanish word for Father, but overall I had no idea what he was saying. But it was powerful. I can’t explain it to you guys. But it was incredible.
Maybe it was the realization that God is actually everywhere. Not just where I am, but literally everywhere. Every country in the world, He is there. And to get to witness that was incredible. We all know that God is everywhere, but to actually experience this was way different than just knowing.
Maybe it was the weakness I felt when I heard the prayer but couldn’t understand what it meant. This, as well as trying to read the posters on the wall, allowed me to feel the frustrations of my students back home when they are having trouble with reading. It is very hard and humbling to be in this position of not knowing the language that is used.
Maybe it was the love of my X-Squad that I felt in the church building. The feeling of community was so strong this evening. Yes the living conditions weren’t ideal, but I think that is what made it so beautiful and brought us closer for our first night on the race.
It’s probably a combination of all these feelings and facts, but regardless of why I felt such emotion during his prayer, it was an indescribable evening. The Holy Spirit’s presence was so strong in this place. It was hard for me to leave the next morning since I felt such a connection to the place and people there.
The people here are incredible. My team, Team Unsilenced, are in Jaco, Costa Rica for our ministry, and this place is incredible. I can’t wait to show you all the pictures and tell you more about it. It is only Day 4 of this 11 month journey, but I can already tell you that God is working here and opening my heart to so much beauty. I’m still in awe that this is the life I’m living. Thank you Jesus.
