Costa Rica Recap: Update, I’m a Lumber-Jack Now

Hi friends! Month one on the race is in the books, so I think its time for a recap! I have simply come up with some questions below because our month looked so different every day. Costa Rica was one of my most favorite, but maybe I’ll say that every month… I sure hope so! The Lord met my team & I in so many ways this month & I can’t wait for you to hear all about it. So, let’s just jump right in!

What did our ministry site look like?

My team & I got the joy of being on a stunning farm for most of the month, in the middle of the Los Chiles jungle. I cannot begin to describe the beauty that was placed before us. Plants were everywhere, think the fullest trees & vines, that complimented the vibrant flowers, showing up so bold against the green. Life was so full & so evident in the nature, from the plants, to the monkeys waking us up in the mornings. It truly holds one of the most special places in my heart! Most of the ministry site was open to the outdoors, all but our bedroom, which was enclosed with walls. 

          Here is the front of our home on the farm, & the beautiful path we would walk everyday!

Where did you sleep?

Wow, we had a life of luxury in Costa Rica! I got the pleasure of sharing a bunkbed with my amazing friend Cassady. I took top bunk, she took the bottom. Team pinky promise turned into granny’s this month, most nights we were in bed by 9pm. We slept hard on those bunks! That is until some of the wooden slots holding our mattresses up started falling out, but thankfully that just happened to the bottom bunks! 

 I don’t actually have a photo of our sweet blue bunkbeds, but before the farm we went to the farm, we stayed in little church for a few days, so here was our sleeping situation. This was a funny story, you’ll have to ask me about it! 

What did we eat?

Our ministry hosts were so kind & cooked all of our meals. We greatly enjoyed our food experience in Costa Rica, maybe a little too much… We had beans & rice at almost every meal, as well as some form of green banana chip or fried plantain. When it would rain, we quickly learned to expect soup. We also had a good amount of eggs, & God even blessed us with pancakes a time or two! We also took some amazing lemonade breaks every morning around 10:30, & has cafecito think coffee hour around 3:30, which both typically involved cookies!

Here is a classic cafecito photo, this truly was one of the sweetest times each day!

What did ministry look like? 

Ministry looked very different most days. Most days we were on the farm doing manual labor, think chopping lots of wood a years worth to be exact, cleaning & painting tin for the new roof, chopping down various parts of the jungle with machetes, weeding the sweet potato patches, moving piles of random things from one place to another, chopping down coconut trees, moving rocks from one part of the road to the next, pulling nails out of anything & everything, or digging a casual 600 holes along the fence line. These days were long but so full of fun & laughter. Every Saturday we would take a break from the farm life & travel down to a new neighboring town. Here they would have groups of children coming to meet us for their weekly bible lesson & meal. We always had a few songs to either teach them, or awkwardly sing to them in English, while they watched with blank stares. Then we would typically teach them a verse, or our host would teach them a bible story. Then we would end with games & a meal! We also took one Saturday off of children’s ministry & hosted a women’s retreat at the farm. This was so beautiful & life giving. The Holy Spirit really met us & healed so much brokenness. Wow, thanks God! 

1.) Here we are stacking wood in the duck shed 2.) This is what are work area often looked like. Lots of projects happening all of the time. 3.) Here is my stunning team going to chop down a pathway in the jungle. 

What is a lesson learned in Costa Rica?

There are honestly so many great lessons, but I’ll just name one. A huge one for me was that Kingdom work looks so different everywhere you go. Sometimes building the Kingdom means chopping wood with an axe for days, & stacking it in a duck shed, so that future teams can have hot meals. It also looks like showing up to random events that you were not necessarily invited to, just to sing one more time. And sometimes it looks like washing the feet of a group of women who have felt less than love & seen all their lives. God’s love is big, & it’s in everyone of those things, even if they are uncomfy at times. We can choose to see the Kingdom in the task at hand, no matter how mundane, & when we choose in, it quickly turns into an adventure of limitless love! 

We lots of time bumping down the road, singing Disney songs in this trailer! Also, if you haven’t danced in a Costa Rica rainstorm, I would highly recommend you give it a shot!

What was my favorite & least favorite part of Costa Rica? 

Let’s begin with my struggle, that way we can end on a happy note! This may sound silly, but the ants & mosquitos were my least favorite thing in Costa Rica. I didn’t know ants could be so hurtful, & also I didn’t know there was a place where every ant bites. I’m for sure going to be asking God about that in heaven. My favorite thing is much harder to narrow down. I absolutely loved our ministry hosts, getting to know my team, the built in workout everyday brought, the jokes & laughter, the growth that being in constant newness brought, I loved it all! 

 Tony & Rosita hosted team pinky promise front on the left, then Mario & Will worked alongside us on the farm!