Life + Ministry Update

Hey all!! Last Monday my squad and I made it safe and sound to our new home in Costa Rica! We are staying at a beautiful Adventures in Missions (AIM) base about a 20 minute bus ride from downtown San Josè. From the backyard, we have an unobstructed view of the mountains, which are almost always surrounded by fog in the mornings. You can always hear birds singing from their perch on the clotheslines in our backyard, and the sunsets here almost always leave the sky a beautiful cotton-candy pink. It’s rainy season here, and while it’s only rained one day so far, the weather overall is cool, even chilly sometimes, and mostly overcast. Because of how close we are to the equator, the sun rises here at 6 AM year-round, and it’s completely dark by 6 PM. This is nice because the early sunset makes all of us ready to go to bed by 9 or 10 every night, which allows us to get a good nights sleep even though we wake up between 5:30 and 6:30 every morning. While we do have normal showers (even though they are outdoors) and electricity (praise God), we have to wash our clothes by hand, which has been a learning curve for most of us, but isn’t as difficult as a lot of us thought it would be. The base also doesn’t have wifi, which means that to use our phones to post pictures or call home we have to walk about half a mile away into town to find a coffee shop that offers wifi. Not being able to use my phone most of the time has been something that I’ve really enjoyed, because it makes all of us be present with each other and really enjoy each other’s company. On our first adventure day, a lot of us headed out to the markets in Tres Rios, which are even more vibrant than usual because of Independence Day this Sunday. We’ve been thinking ahead to next week, and a lot of us are looking forward to going to the beach if the weather is nice. This country is beautiful, and we’re all already sad to have to leave at the end of these three months. 

The first two days that we were here were spent sitting in sessions where we learned about the culture, our host’s expectations for us, and taking a walking tour of the nearby community. There is a Walmart here within walking distance, and a McDonalds and a Starbucks where we can find semi-reliable wifi. 

On Thursday we started our ministry schedule! My team has the honor to work with an anti-sex trafficking group in the mornings. This organization is an outreach for active prostitutes between the ages of 30-80. Here in Costa Rica, prostitution isn’t illegal, but there are also no laws towards it making it legal. Since there are no regulations towards it, people come from many different countries to Costa Rica hoping to make a living this way. Although it is a huge industry here, it’s something that’s not talked about, and the ministry that we are working with is the only one in Costa Rica like it that aims at serving this forgotten subset of people. Most mornings, my team will be having coffee with these women, building relationships, and sharing a short devotional with them. On Thursday morning, half of our team lead a devotional about our identity in Christ while the other half of us went into the attic and sorted clothing donations that the organization receives. After the donations are sorted and washed, they are given to the women to sell as an opportunity to make money. On Friday nights from 8-midnight, we have a similar ministry where we go out with volunteers from Casa Agapè into downtown San Josè and do street ministry with the prostitutes who work there. We serve coffee, tea, and cookies out of a van, engage in conversation, and pray for these girls and their situation. My whole team and I were nervous for our first night of this ministry, but it turned out to be less scary than we thought it would be, as well as rewarding and eye-opening. On a much lighter note, on Friday mornings my team’s ministry is going to a Zumba class that’s just a short walk down the road. We went for the first time last Friday morning, and we all had a blast. The hope is that by regularly attending these classes, we will be able to build relationships with the women there, hopefully take them out to coffee, and eventually share the good news of the Gospel with them. Another ministry that my team has been given is working in a Nicaraguan refugee settlement in a community called Tirraces near where we are staying. Twice a week, we will be leading classes for the women in this community, most of whom have never been in a classroom setting before. Although it is a government outreach, there often aren’t enough people to teach classes, so they rely on volunteers like us to come up with our own ideas for classes and lead the teaching. We have ideas for English classes, art classes, dance classes, and even stretching classes. We want to create a space for these women to be able to relax and enjoy themselves, and where we can serve them and minister to them as the hands and feet of Jesus. I couldn’t be more thrilled with our ministry assignments, because I have always had a huge place in my heart for overlooked and discredited people groups, and now I have the privilege to pour into them and show them the love of Jesus every single day! How cool is that?

As this first week comes to a close, I want to thank each and every one of you who have supported me in any way, whether you wrote me a letter, supported me financially, or lifted me up in prayer. I wouldn’t be here serving the beautiful people of Costa Rica without you. I ask that you keep my squad in prayer as we head into our first week of full-time ministry, for good rest (5:30 AM comes early), for understanding hearts, and for willing spirits as we follow God’s leading in everything we do. Until next time!