Costa Rica was difficult at times, but also really good at times. Our squad battled with a lot of adversity from complacency, to internal problems within the squad, and even dealing with more people going home. Overall it was a very hard three months, but in my opinion it was worth all that God taught me and grew me in over that period of life. I was able to find a lot of freedom in myself that came as a result of the challenges I faced. Also, Costa Rica was absolutely beautiful and we had some pretty amazing adventures. I just wish it would have been a little less expensive. Anyways, here are some pictures of my favorite moments in Costa Rica.
At the beginning of our time in Costa Rica, our team and team Soul Warriors had to go Heredia for ten days to do ministry in their community. It was a small, but very friendly community and I enjoyed my time there very much. There we stayed at a church and the pastor lived there as well. He didn’t speak English, so Ben Taylor would have to translate for us everything that he would say and needed done each day.
Pastor Fernando had a cat that he said had no name and so Kayla started calling the cat Java Craig. I’m not sure why because I think the cat was a girl, but the name stuck.
Most mornings, me and Ben would get up around five and go for a walk to get coffee and sometimes breakfast because everyday was rice and beans for breakfast at the church. That morning, Tatyana and the pastor’s grandson joined us. Me and Ben discussed how even doing that was ministry.
Another ministry opportunity that we had was getting to go with the church to help out for a bit at a nursing home. We helped feed them and talked with them. At least we tried our best to talk in our broken Spanish. Ben was able to share some of his story and sing a song with them. This was a really sweet moment.
This is Teresa. Teresa is a member of the church we were at in Heredia. During our stay there, she knew that it was a bit tough for some of us to be away from home during Christmas. She decided that she wanted to open up her beach home to us and spend Christmas with her and her family there. We all packed up and took a trip to a beach in Puntarenas. There we got to spend Christmas Eve on the beach and have a bonfire worship service. On Christmas Day we got up and exchanged presents with team Soul Warriors and then got to go to the most amazing waterfall. It was such a cool experience and probably goes down as the best Christmas I’ve ever had. I am so thankful for Teresa and her family for the kindness and love they showed us.
After our time in Heredia, we came back to San Jose where we began our next ministry at a place called Project Abraham, which was basically a daycare center for kids. There we worked with a guy named Luis who was basically in charge of maintenance, groundskeeping, and any other handy work needed around the place. We helped him with whatever he needed that day and a lot of our work was very random things.
While at Project Abraham, we also worked on a second job site that they called phase two. This was a place they were constructing to be homes for single women or young women with kids and low income. It was to provide them with housing and the care they needed. We helped out doing construction with the crew wherever they needed our help.
In our free time Ben, Hannah Butkus, and I would sometimes skate around. Fun fact, I didn’t even know how to skate until Costa Rica.
Our squad got to get away from city life for a while for our mid-point debrief at a Christian camp called La Montana. There they had a lot of fun things like a lake with a water slide, trampoline, and rope swing. They also had a mud run as you can see. Our squad even got to go back for an Awakening, which is basically when more than one squad have routes that end up in the same location at some point. We were able to gather with several groups and have a really sweet few days of being able to encourage one another and worshiping the Father.
While in Costa Rica, we had the Rodda family stay with us and visit for a while. They were such an interesting family and they were so much fun to be around. One night I lost in a game of Jenga and one of the daughters, Stella, painted my fingernails as my punishment.
On one of our adventure days we were able to go to Irazu volcano. It was so much fun to explore and take pictures with friends. I also had a really cool opportunity to minister to our guide and pray over her.
One of the hardest things was having to say goodbye to Ben when he decided to leave Gap Year, but I plan to be seeing him again very soon!
Another really cool opportunity I had was to be able to shoot a video of some of the base staff in order to help them out and hopefully get more exposure for the base and how to help out in Costa Rica and their heart for it.
This was supposed to be a team picture, but I think this one with Sophi was much better.
I got the rest of my tattoo completed.
Another film project that I got to work on was at Alithenos’ ministries. At one in particular I met some of the sweetest kids and got to play with them. One even colored me a picture that I kept with me.
One final adventure was getting to go to the beach in Cahuita, Costa Rica with our base mentor Kevin. He is a really cool guy and spoke a lot of life into us as well as discipling really well. It was so great to get away for a while though and chill on the beach. We got to explore the jungle and see all sorts of wildlife including a sloth. I found coconuts and pulled them right from the tress to drink. The waves were massive and so much fun to just get tossed around by. Overall it was a really fun weekend even though I lost my wallet.
I hope you enjoyed getting a glimpse at what life was like for me in Costa Rica on the Race. It was a crazy three months that definitely shaped a lot of who I am today. Thank you all and God bless you!
