a pura vida goodbye

45 days have passed and my time in Costa Rica has come to an end. If we are being honest, there were so many things I had every intention of sharing as it happened yet here we are. Our days were busy and the days slipped away.

Its been a beautiful six weeks serving with our ministry, Ocean’s Edge. I’ve learned the value of laying down expectations and being interruptable. It can be hard and challenging but man it’s so sweet and so much better when we walk with open hands and ask God to interrupt us.

When I said yes to the World Race in the midst of Covid, I knew I would need to lay down the expectations that this year and this season would look like the ‘traditional race”. On the normal 11n11 World Race before the pandemic, we would’ve left Costa Rica three weeks ago.

As I sit here saying goodbye to the place we had the privilege to call home for almost 7 weeks, I’m thankful my expectations were not reality. 

I’m thankful that being here longer has caused me to slow down. It allowed me to not miss opportunities for relationships that needed more time to establish.

How sweet it is that we get to serve this entire year without any expectations. We get to walk into a country and ministry without knowing how long we get to serve there or where we may be off to next. We get to fully cherish each day and all the “extra” days we get in these places this year. 

So for that, I feel thankful.

 

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  As for the past six weeks, here’s a snapshot of our ministry in Jaco.

Central Park — A place that began with barren and graffiti walls waiting for a new life. A place where families bring their children to play. A place for community and transformation to take place. It was a place where families got to serve their community together. A place where the youth from the church was able to be a part of something bigger than themselves. A place where laughter, worship, and good conversations took place.

Invu Park — a little park hidden in the midst of a community. A place where children freely run around and play all day. A place where we became instant best friends. A anxiously awaited each day for us to come back to help clean, paint and most importantly play.

The forgotten park next door — A place locked up and abandoned. A place where our squad was able to breathe life back into, restoring it to a place where people can one day come play and hang out again. A place filled with scripture and murals pointing to our Father. A place that taught us how the Father can see past the weeds in our own lives and see the beauty.

 

 

The Municipality –– we got to serve alongside the environmental sector of the Muni and assist with their current cleanup campaign. During our beach cleanups, we were able to meet many sweet locals and tourists, pray over the beach and invite people to church. We served at the recycling center and just got to love the city and help mold that relationship between the Muni and our ministry host.

 

 

Horizon Church — I was so honored to serve with the church in their marketing and communication department. My squadmates, Kel and I, attended all events the church was holding from small group bible studies, weekly courses, youth groups, worship nights, children’s ministry, and of course church on Sunday. We got to use our passions for photography and videography to document the community of the church. Our squad was able to serve them in many ways during all these events: worship team, Sunday school, child care, setup/tear down the pregnancy center, youth group, and many more!

 

Check out the header video on the website to see one of my vid projects: https://www.horizonjaco.org/  

Business as Missions — A ministry through Oceans Edge to support and equip locals with business skills specifically in photography, videography, and social media. Our team was able to develop content and courses to enhance B.A.M. as Oceans Edge looks to continue expanding its ministry in Jaco. Check out the give love music video our squad made in partnership with Ocean’s Edge and REMAX Costa Rica.

 

 

Property Maintenance — Man, the property is preparing to undergo some awesome transformation as the Oceans Edge base begins expanding from a place to solely host missionaries and team to a self-sustaining ministry. They are planning to open a coffee shop and storefront on the property. They hope to not only serve the community but use this storefront as a training ground for local business owners and missionaries.

 

ATL and Street Ministry — Ask the Lord is exactly what it means, ask the Lord and do it. This time looked different for everyone, but my favorite was meeting and getting to love people on the streets. This sweet gentleman named Alexander has my team’s heart. He has the biggest smile and heart while making the most beautiful palm creations. It was so sweet to see how the Lord multiplied in abundance through our friendship with Alexander to help many of his friends. The palms above were a thank you gift from him to my team.

 

Mentorship —  Each team received a mentor from the church to meet with each week. I might be biased but we lucked out with the best. Maria is a woman of wisdom and strength. She opened her home to my team every Wednesday for fellowship, food, and laughter. She taught us how to make homemade empanadas…SO GOOD. What a sweet gift her family was to us!

 

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There are so many more sweet moments, memories, and adventures that happened in the past seven weeks. I’ll probably keep sharing some sweet mems from Costa Rica as we head off and get settled into our new ministries in……….

GUATEMALA!! 

My first two missions in college were to Guatemala and this country has my heart. I am super excited to be able to spend TWO MONTHS living, serving, and loving the community in Guat. I already know God is doing some big things there. All the deets on my specific ministry coming soon!!!

Praises & Prayers — Our squad has remained COVID free and all 47 of my squadmates just tested negative!! This means we can all enter safely into Guatemala. We continue to do daily health checks, wear masks outside our ‘bubble’ and follow all the guidelines of the communities and country we are in. Prayers as we fly to Guatemala tomorrow and split up our 7 teams among 6 different ministry locations.

See yall in Guat (:

 S/O to my teammates Bre and Kel for some of these awesome pics, they are so talented!!