Month 1 Costa Rica RECAP

Month 1: Costa Rica   

Where I was:

This month my squad was spread out in three different places in Costa Rica. My team was originally in Turrialba and then we ended up in Jaco at a ministry called Ocean’s Edge!!

Where I stayed:

• Hostel in San Jose

• We stayed on the floor in the children’s classroom of the church hosting us.

• Then most of us got COVID and quarantined like queens in a house up in the mountains, but still slept on the floor.

• We came back from quarantine to travel down to an indigenous camp.

• We stayed at this amazing ministry in Jaco called Oceans Edge.

• Finally, debrief at Room2Board in Jaco as well.

• Church in San Jose that was close to our bus stop.

 What type of ministry:

Before quarantine we started helping to make a patio for the church. We also would help clean the church. During quarantine we continued to worship everyday and pray over the city while getting to know each other. When we got back the next day we helped another church replace their gutter system because right now is the rainy season in Costa Rica and their church was flooding. Then we painted the room I was sleeping in from lime green and hot pink to semi yellow, royal blue, mint, lavender, and a dark blue. We ended up packing up with a church high school group from San Jose, whose kids wanted to collect food and supplies for the indigenous people due to the floods this year! They were absolutely amazing and I was honored to see these kids own their generosity. Lastly, we were sent for the last week to Jaco to help a ministry World Race adores to help prepare a renovation to their facility. We worked and sweated in the morning after devotionals and then street evangelized in the evening. Overall, I have loved meeting new people, practicing my Spanish, and growing closer with my amazing team!!

People I met:

• My favorite person I’ve met so far is little miss Judi (pronounced without the J). She would cook, sing in the kitchen, and pray with us almost every day. She loved bringing us to her house and seeing her little chickens. Please pray that she can find a job!!

• We also meet Josue who might be the most sentimental human I know that baked soooo much food and made us such special gifts as we left!

• Hugo drove us to and from the church the first and last time. He also helped us with building the gutter and painting!

Places visited:

We only ended up with one adventure day because of a lot of reasons, but it was decided that we would walk to a lake to swim in a pool. This was a 2 hour walk there with a bag of chips and tuna dip (if you know me, ya know that is not enough). The pool was so fun and relaxing. Then we walked to the lake and one of us saw a crocodile while the rest of us were looking at this big fuzzy caterpillar that looked like it had a bad hair day. Nobody knew what this was until we asked Judi and she explained it is a very instantly poisonous creature that requires immediate hospitalization. DO NOT TOUCH THE WILDLIFE!!

New Experiences:

• COLD showers!!

• I almost got hit by lighting 

• Quarantining in Costa Rica our first week in a big unfurnished house in the mountains.

• Jumping fully clothed in a river.

• Cutting hair
• Swimming in a pool right by a lake because that lake has alligators

How to pray for where I was and the ministries:

• Turrialba is recovering from this flood that broke bridges and flooded houses. Prayer for provisions of food, shelter, and faith. Judi and Hugo both are looking for jobs as well. 

• Jaco has broken ground on a new and amazing addition to their ministry. Also they have meetings with the government and multiple people to help improve the drug and homeless situations near their offices. They are trying to bring a rehab facility to Jaco so that more people could come. Also the known drug road is also a migratory path for the Macaws so the government is wanting to make conservation efforts on that road. 

Food: 

• RICE and BEANS!!

• Rice and tuna 

• Rice and lettuce

• Empanadas with Turrialba cheese oh and beans

• Dulce de Leche instead of caramel flavor

Here is a video my VERY talented teammate made: