“Amiga”

Where do I begin? My first three weeks in Jaco, Costa Rica have been anything but boring. I have seen, done, and learned so much, and I continue to see, do, and learn more amazing things every second I’m here!! I saw the ocean for the first time! I have met some truly beautiful and wonderful people in my team and in Jaco itself. And I have been able to become a part of a family of other Godly students who have such huge hearts for the Lord and it is so incredibly inspiring!

Here is a little bit about what it is that we do on a weekly basis . . . 

Sunday’s we serve at Horizon Church in the mornings, working with the children’s ministries, where we get to teach local children about the good news of Jesus Christ. After church we clean up the base and (depending on which team we are on) go grocery shopping for (18 people) for the week, which is definitely an experience in itself. 

Monday’s are adventure days, where our squad can go out and explore parts of Costa Rica (I will expand more on this in my next blog post). 

Tuesday’s to Friday’s are ministry days where we do ministry at the Ocean’s Edge Base or in other locations around Jaco from 9-5 each day. 

Saturday’s are sabbath days. These days are the days that we rest, refresh, and reset for the next coming week and are often spent taking naps, drinking Costa Rican coffee, going to the beach (and potentially surfing), or simply relaxing with the rest of the squadmates. 

The first week of the trip we mostly were doing a lot of service projects around the Oceans Edge Property. The second and third weeks though were a bit different, as we started doing projects around the Jaco community, which included painting Central Park and playing with some of the local children at another small park in the area. 

Caption: Painting a mural at the Central Park

While there were many amazing ministry moments from the first, second & third week, there was one particular moment from the second week that I would like to share now. 

One day a small group of us went to the smaller local park to help watch over the children of other missionaries that were there with us. During that day local children who were too little to be in school came to the park to play and the small group of us that were there were able to interact with them.

Caption: Hanging out with some of the local kids at a small park in Jaco

Before I continue with this story, I need to write a bit about a member of our Squad. Her name is Hannah Burkholder, and she pursues God with so much passion that she has inspired me to pursue God even further and deeper than I ever have before. I have never ever met another person my age who knows the Bible like they know their favorite songs. This is how Hannah is. Hannah quotes scripture and encourages the team everyday through the scriptures she quotes, and she is one of the main characters of the short story I want to share with you all. 

During that day Hannah was able to talk and interact with many of the non-school aged little girls that were there. She isn’t fluent in Spanish but she definitely knows a bit of the language and she was able to share the good news of the Gospel to two of the little girls that were there and it was incredible to watch. Hannah was also able to make a special connection with a little girl whose name for this story (for the sake of her and her family’s privacy) will be Maria. 

Maria and Hannah talked for a bit and then Maria disappeared for a short period of time. Then in the afternoon when school aged children had started to come to the park, Maria returned. When she returned she immediately ran towards Hannah. She ran towards Hannah, her arms spread wide open, and yelled “Amiga!” 

At that moment a picture appeared in my mind. There was God standing in heaven, with his arms spread wide, greeting his children with a happy “Amiga!” “Amigo!”“Friend!” 

I thought to myself this is how God will greet us when we get to heaven. Then I thought what a beautiful moment with the Lord that that will be! 

We have had the privilege to interact with so many people and share the gospel with so many of those that we have interacted with. It’s incredible to watch and be a part of and I can’t wait to see what other interactions we will have with other members of the community here in Jaco during the rest of our time here!