Costa Rica Week One !

Sunday, June 5•

Saturday came and went with no more answers, but we spent the morning in what’s called a Silent Sabbath, where we had no agenda but to meet with God individually, and we were asked not talk to one another until lunch time. Of everything our squad could have done, this felt the most beneficial. I sat on the edge of the basketball court for a while, having quiet time with Jesus, then took my time getting ready for the day. It was a sweet time in that way, but it was also nice having a valid excuse to put in headphones and not have to talk to anyone! We spent the afternoon in team time and brainstorming ministry ideas for Georgia, and it was a sweet day of rest. 

Today, Sunday, we had another slow morning while we got ready to visit a local bilingual church! It was a little church in Gainesville, Georgia, and we sang songs in English and Spanish, and the message was interpreted into English from Spanish as well. 

Singing “Tu eres santos,” or, “you are holy,” brought back the reality of our trip, and I felt so connected to the global Church that worships Jesus in every language. The church members were so kind and invited us back to the worship leaders house for a birthday party, and we happily accepted!

We’ve spent this evening playing soccer and eating ice cream cake with the family that leads the church, and it hasn’t felt like a moment has been wasted. 

All that to say, however, that we have tickets booked for Tuesday! No more details right now, but Costa Rica is in sight! 

Wednesday, June 8 •

we have made it to Costa Rica. 🙂 On Monday we spent the day preparing for our early morning flights, and we got to spend some time with the families that had just arrived on base for a family missions trip to Gainesville. They were so kind and blessed and anointed us for our trio the next morning. 

Tuesday was travel day, and it was a tough one for me. The actual travel was mostly smooth with only one need to sprint to catch the flight to our layover in JFK, where we waited for about 4 hours before flying from New York to San Jose, Costa Rica. However, this was one of the toughest days emotionally for me. The 24 of us have been together for a full week by this point, and the social and emotional exhaustion has been setting in. Thankfully, we stayed the night in San Jose in a hotel, and we had real beds!!! I’d never been so thankful to wake up not on the ground, and even have a bathroom door that shuts all way and doesn’t have any stalls. 

I’m writing today on Wednesday, our first day in the village outside of Nicoya that we are staying in. It’s a beautiful place with trees and mountains and water everywhere, and we are staying on the ground in the sanctuary of the church we are partnering with. The pastor Basil and his wife Ismar have already been so kind to us as we settle in today. 

Ministry will look like painting the church and some surrounding projects, kids ministry, some evangelism, and probably more! However, today when we arrived we learned there was no running water right now, which means no showers for a while and lots of sweat. 

Being here has already been incredible, but it’s already been hard. It’s hard to be without my bed, without my personal space, without feeling clean, and feeling ill-equipped because I don’t speak much Spanish on top of all those things. I just don’t feel myself, and it feels hard to have capacity to love and serve others when I feel uncomfortable with where I am and how I feel sticky and socially overwhelmed. 

I say all of that not to discredit what God has done or where I am, just to be authentic about that last couple days, and to see the place that I know God will bring me by the end of trip! We’re just beginning and I know that I know he will be faithful to provide everything I need to love others well from a place of being loved. 

I would appreciate prayers for patience with the language and for social energy while being in this big group! Love and miss you all 🙂 

Thursday, June 9 •

Today we went to town and saw huge iguanas. Huge. I bought ice cream and Costa Rican candy and a milkshake. I asked for mango, but she only had “naranja” and I was so excited that I knew it meant “orange” that I accepted it gladly. 

This afternoon I came home we had lunch in the HEAT of the day. We haven’t started ministry yet, which has been frustrating to me, but it started down pouring like crazy so we ran out to the soccer field and played in ankle deep water, drenched the entire time. We walked the quarter mile back to the church and realized that we could wash our hair in the rain water, it was coming down so hard. So we did. Then that evening we got cleaned up, had dinner, and spent the evening encouraging each other during team time. 

I won’t get into all the specifics because this blog is already astronomically long, but today I learned that ministry doesn’t happen in ministry hours. Ministry happens when a teammates starts to cry, or another gets overlooked in conversation. I still can’t wait to begin painting and VBS and everything else, but God is here. I am thankful for the God who sees how each of us is needed in a different way.