This month we’ve been working with Christian Light Foundation in Los Guido, Costa Rica. We’re staying at the Finca which is the organization’s property in Los Guido. The Finca hosts a feeding centre that provides a hot meal to hundreds of kids in the community daily. Often it is the only hot meal that these children get that day.
This month is all squad month, which means that all 6 teams of I squad are together doing ministry and living. Three teams are going into local schools and working with the staff there. They are there to be a blessing to the schools and show God’s love to the students and staff. This means that they do whatever is needed of them on that day. The very fact that they’re invited into these schools is evidence that God is moving and working here in Los Guido! I can’t wait to hear more about what he’s doing in the schools daily!
My team is one of two teams that are doing ministry at the Finca itself. During feeding centre hours, we are hanging out with the kids who come and loving on them. Some days that means jumping rope until your arm feels like it’s going to detach, other days it’s getting covered in mud playing on a giant slip and slide or painting nails. Every day is different, but our only motive is to try to show Christ’s love to them by loving like Christ has loved us.
Lastly, the remaining team is the prayer team. Their focus is praying for I squad as we do ministry, prayer for the community, prayer for Christian Light Foundation, prayer, prayer, prayer! Sometimes they come along and do ministry alongside us, other times they stay back. It can look different every day.
Coming into this month, I had never heard of Los Guido. The more I found out the more anxious I began to feel and fear began to wrap its slimy hands around me once again. We were told that Los Guido is a dark place. It is the second most dangerous slum, where most of the 50 000 inhabitants are squatters, many of which are illegal immigrants. The streets have raw sewage, gun shots are heard at night, churches in San Jose refuse to partner with Christian Light Foundation because they say Los Guido is too dangerous, and many taxi drivers refuse to come here. Stories of the enemy’s grip on the area abound.
The first day we were here, we went for a walk around the area and I couldn’t imagine spending the next month here. I was going to be a wreck and completely drained from fear. It didn’t take long before the enemy started to attack either. Within days spiritual warfare was evident, coming in the form of dreams, illness, and exhaustion.
In all honesty, it was realizing that the enemy was attacking that gave me comfort and courage. It means that he is feeling threatened; when we step up, he points his missiles right at our faces.
All this is a chance for God to shine in victory and glory.
satan has been whispering two lies to me lately. One of which is that I don’t have authority against the darkness.
More and more God has been proving this wrong.
There’s scripture after scripture about how we are coheirs with Christ and share in his inheritance. One thing that came up that this means that we are sons and daughters of the king! As princesses and princes when we speak we speak from the throne. There is authority and resources that come when royalty speaks. We have access to this authority through Jesus.
In Matthew 16:19, it talks about how we have been given the keys to loose and bind things here on earth and heaven. Through Christ, we’re able to bind the powers of darkness, and at the same time loose and release God’s blessings to those around us.
I have heard story after story of the powers of darkness being brought down by the power that comes with God’s love.
The other lie is that prayer doesn’t do anything and is a sign of weakness.
God has beaten this lie to a pulp and then some!
One needs to look no further than the Finca itself. The Finca is covered in prayer daily, and Holy Spirit’s presence is so evident. As soon as you walk through the gates onto the property, the atmosphere changes. It’s a safe haven, a place of God’s peace and love. The difference is as stark and refreshing as walking from the hot humid outdoors to an air-conditioned room.
As we were facing this spiritual warfare, we took time and prayed over the Finca and where we were staying. It made a radical difference! God took my ounce of faith and my prayers and he helped my unbelief. He blew any expectations I had out of the water!
God’s love and his light is bursting from this place!
The more that we pray and ask for prayer the more his peace and love radiate! I no longer walk around in fear. I know that I’m on the winning side of this battle. satan’s a toothless caged lion making a whole lot of noise; he has no power over us!
I love the image from the novel “This Present Darkness”! When we pray we’re feeding huge warrior angels! We’re not alone in this fight!
Last night, I was looking out from the Finca onto the surrounding city. In the darkness, lights from each home began to burst forth. Some were stronger than others, but collectively they lit up the sky.
I think God’s light and glory can be like that; often it comes through small individual moments of his glory. It’s found in a child’s laughter as she’s chased by a gringo with a hula hoop, it’s found in the smile of a girl when she looks at her freshly painted fingernails, it’s found in the moment where an exchange of silly faces happens from across the room, the list goes on and on and on and on…
These moments where God’s glory is evident are surrounding us every day! I challenge you to see these beautiful God moments in your lives daily!
