Adiós Costa Rica

After about six and a half weeks in Costa Rica we are out of here. We are about to head to Guatemala!! Woot Woot! I am expecting a huge change and excited to tell you all about Guatemala soon, but I first want to reflect on the first month and a half of our world race adventure spent in beautiful Costa Rica. It has been a major period of growth personally, in our teams, and in Jacó. At the end of each country I will try to sum up the experience in a way that lets you in and allows for me to reflect well. Enjoy!

What are some Highlights?

We were extremely blessed in Jaco. Our amazing host Hannah was so very great. We are all going to miss her so much. The hospitality and her heart for our squad was incredible. It is hard to pick out a few highlights because the entire time there was fantastic.

One of my favorite highlights from Jaco is Jorge! He lived just down the street so we would often see him whenever we would take a trip towards town. He was always such a joy to say “hola Jorge” to with a big wave, and he would return it with an “hola” or “pura vida” and his infectious smile.

Playing football at the church with some of the youth the first Sunday we got to attend church was a lot of fun. Although I did hit a kid in the head on accident when it went through his hands… But other than that, it allowed me to feel like a kid again and I certainly enjoyed it.

Worship was amazing. Both with just our squad at our base and at church.

For our team times we started switching off who would choose what we were going to do. Most of our team times are serious and filled with wonderful conversation, testimonies, and prayer. When it was Rachel’s team time, she chose to have a water gun battle. We ended up having it on our property and it was a very fun night trying to avoid people who weren’t on our team but trying to soak our team as much as we possibly could leading to buckets of water being poured on people.

Adventure Days were super fantastic to have once a week. Was helpful to see more of the area we were living in while also getting some rest on those days as well.

Also, I never really mentioned it before but about 2 or 3 weeks in to our time in Jaco we had nearly 20 more people join us on our property. They were on a semesters trip through the same organization we are going through (Adventures in Missions/World Race). They started their 3-month trip expecting to go to Nicaragua but had to audible to Costa Rica when things fell through. Another testimony to how amazing our host is.

And of course, being able to utilize my artistic capabilities for the kingdom was such a blessing that I was and am very thankful for.

The last highlight was our team leader Mack who got to be a part of our team for Costa Rica. She was such a blessing and really just became a part of our team. Her heart is insane for God and for His children. She is leaving to head back to the states for G42 today which is already really sad for our team and squad as a whole.

Some of the Ministry?

You have seen a lot of what we did with painting murals and walls around the town. We painted at three different parks. Two being the walls and one was the mural I got to do. Neither of the walls we got to see to completion although they were close, which is a bit sad.

We helped in the church. Members of the squad got to participate in worship. And many members helped with childcare and youth group.

We got time to do some ATL (Ask The Lord) where we would mostly walk around town interacting with people God would put in our path.

Members of our squad helped with Business as Missions where they created tutorial videos helping with I am not totally sure what.

There was a ton of clean up around the property that totally transformed the place.

What has been the Biggest Areas of Growth?

I have talked about the things that have been my largest area of growth already in past blogs. Mainly being my identity in Christ and walking in the freedom that Christ offers us. To add to that we learned a lot about spiritual warfare, and one of my favorite takeaways from that was learning to recognize when certain spirits from the enemy may be on me (Frustration, tiredness, impatience, anger, jealousy, etc.) and be able to take a step back and pray to replace those things with the fullness of God.

What I’ve Been Surprised by?

With the semesters squad coming in and our squad of 30+ already there it was very difficult to find time away from the group. I thrive around people but do still have an introverted side that was hard to please with the environment we were in. Looking forward to Guatemala being very different (More details to come in the next blog).

Wasn’t expecting to start off the race with the amount of comfort that we lived with. We didn’t have to use a whole lot of Spanish to get by. Other than it being very hot at night for sleeping, our living conditions were great too with lots of beds, showers, and kitchen areas.

Ministry looked different than many of us were really expecting. There wasn’t as much direct communication with locals as I think we were expecting but manual labor around town, or the property. We know we were doing what would best set up our ministry and host for the future and glad we could help them in the ways we did.

What God is Teaching Me Now?

I am still very much working through hearing God’s voice and learning to recognize it while also trusting that He is working in me and through me even if it doesn’t feel like it. I have had many people speak over me that I am in a season where I need to be patient for God to reveal Himself but also push into knowing Him more. So I am excited to take this very seriously heading into Guatemala. I want to be constantly asking God for more of Him, and fully expecting Him to provide it, but also embracing this season.

Prayer Request

Pray for God to continue to work in Jacó. It is a town that has seen a lot of transformation and we feel we landed there right in the middle of what God is doing there and that He will continue to work until He captures the town.

Now prayers as we go into Guatemala would be fantastic. For safe travel. For God to prepare our hearts for whatever may come our way.

Pictures of our property

I will holla at you from Guatemala!! Jesus loves you so much!

Much Love!

JD