I am in Chimurria, Costa Rica. But I might be in uncharted Chimurria territory…we’re decently far from civilization.
I have thus far:
> helped change a flat tire…it involved some broken tools and therefore went a little less than smoothly
> held a scorpion
> killed a scorpion with a machete
> killed a couple tarantulas with a machete
> macheted fields and parts of a jungle
> covered my hands in medical tape, bandaids, and duct tape because I hate getting blisters
> gotten quite a few blisters anyway
> had a TON of fire ants crawl up my pants and in my shoes and bite me
> picked ants out of my bread and then eat the bread without hesitation
If you haven’t figured it out, we’ve been doing a lot of manual labor here on the jungle farm. We’re prepping it to become more of a farm. That looks like getting up early, sharpening machetes, and using them to hack through weeds that are more like trees. We also use them to destroy things that are potentially hazardous for our health, such as tarantulas and scorpions and snakes. Yes, Phil killed a snake the other day. Our contact here, Tony, wants to start the kids’ rehab center in January. The kids will work in the fields and build character as they are given important responsibilities. They’ll learn what living in a family and a loving community looks like and find their place in it. Tony and his wife Rosita desperately want to change the trend of broken marriages and broken families here in Costa Rica.
The work is hard.
But at the end of the day, the results are great.
Our other responsibility is getting things ready for the christmas parties. They’ll be starting on the 20th and going on through the 24th. We’re praying that through music, games, and skits, we’ll be able to reach out to 1500 kids and their families. Each party will be anywhere from 2 to 4 hours long, we’ll have probably 2 parties a day – tiring? Yes. But worth it. Even if it’s one child who comes to know Jesus through it; totally worth it. Please be praying with us that God will use these parties in a big way. We could potentially be able to share the gospel with over a thousand kids and their families!
I still can’t believe that it’s Christmas time! It rains here and doesn’t snow, there are coconut trees and banana trees instead of the pine trees I’m used to back home, and instead of little squirrels jumping from tree to tree, we’ve got monkeys and toucans. But I know God has me here for a reason. Even though somedays the jungle farm work seems excessive, even though the parties seem a long way off and I’m nervous about leading christmas songs in spanish, and even though I get a little stir crazy from being stuck in one place for a week – God is good. He knows what He’s doing. We’re here and God will use us.
So. That’s that!
By the time you read this, I might be back in the jungle. Take care all! Feliz Navidad in case I don’t get internet before then!
