Day 5: don't read this if you aren't in a praying mood...
I can feel my brain fading before I've even started, so this might be short. But I'm also prone to not making any communication short, so I guess we'll see.
Our team took an extra hour this morning before walking to campus so that we could rest a bit and have down time after the night before. As much as my heart was against the idea of doing an hour less of outreach, I know it was the right choice. Sustainability is so important; I've seen so much hurt come from people attempting to do good things unsustainably. If you aren't getting time with God, get time with God. Don't mistake Idleness for Rest. And pray that over people you know in ministry; pastors, friends, missionaries, etc. Ok, that's what I'm gonna say about that.
We got to campus today and dove right into conversations that the Ohio team had already started. (The Ohio people are lovely, though I feel pretty separate from them most of the time. We have our team structure and things and they have theirs. We've mostly invited each other in, but our schedules are in direct conflict now. But it's ok, we are here for the ticos, not the gringos.) I got to join a great conversation with a guy who came to H@ngout and who spent the afternoon and evening with the Ohio team. I really think he'll stick! After the conversations ended, we got ready for H@ngout, and then Katie and I hung out with a new friend and talked about philosophy and politics and religion and racism and all the things. It was quite lovely. The homie doesn't believe in God, but we'll see. Pray for his heart to be opened and for him to take spirituality seriously.
H@ngout went incredibly well. Lagos struck a great balance between a chill, pura vida hangout feel and engaging people spiritually. He had planned a skit to share the gospel, and he presented it with a perfect balance of taking the topic seriously while not taking himself too seriously - sincere, but not heavy. A lot of fantastic conversations happened afterwards and really good connections were forged. My prayer is that the students will continue to come each week and will have open hearts to God.
After H@ngout our team Ubered our way to San José, where we met up with Carlos and don Julio (Jovany was with us already). Carlos let us know the plan for the day (specifically seeking out conversations with refugees to understand their needs better) and we got started. I learned a lot about what is going on in Nicaragua today and it was pretty heavy. If you're into understanding that sort of stuff, look into it. Whether you are or not, stop reading for a minute and pray for the country of Nicaragua. Pray that war can be avoided, but pray that something changes soon.
Ok, so we learned a lot about Nicaragua and we learned that two of the people helping us had recently lost or found out about people close to them dying. It was hard to see them struggling to process grief while still staying committed to their mission and vision. My prayer is that God will comfort their hearts and they will allow themselves to be weak and seek rest and help processing.
I had a really long conversation today where it was just Katie and I talking to a tico guy over coffee without anyone to help with language. I was trying really, really hard to understand him, but I was only getting enough to understand the topic we were discussing and occasionally give feedback. He talked about a lot of hard things in his life and how his addiction to marijuana and occasionally crack had derailed his life, but he didn't know how to stop, so he was waiting for things to change. I think it was ok that I didn't understand, because what he really needed was to have someone take the time to pay attention to him. And that's what we did. Please pray that he would break free of the discouragement he feels and seize the opportunities before him.
We walked (and while walking, we got to bond more with one of the young ladies that is working for the church here full-time) to a restaurant and had dinner (it was SO good) and regrouped, then grabbed some pizzas and went to talk to some people that don Julio knew. The first group we sat and talked with had some discomfort and unfortunate things happen. One of our girls got hit on by a drunk guy and some unsavory characters were about, but some good conversation and connection happened and we moved on. We also made and brought hot chocolate to the second group, which was really nice and we enjoyed talking with them. Please pray for everyone we met tonight, that they would form good connections to the church and find freedom from the demons that plague them.
We came home and worshiped and debriefed and went to bed. Please pray for the team to get rest and for God to be our strength.
Something interesting in a lot of our conversations and interactions so far is that Costa Rica seems to be a country of broken young men. I have met and talked to so many young men, my age and younger, that have been derailed by bad choices and circumstances. Even in the campus, the guys we talked to all feel very lost and in need of good male role models. In the young men I've met (campus and streets), there's a pervasive lack of purpose and sense of self. It's like a whole generation of young men is waiting for a call on their lives to give them meaning. But what they don't know is that the call has already been put on them. God wants them. He loves and accepts them. He longs to heal them and tell them they have value. He has plans to make their lives count for something of great value...but they have to be willing to turn to him. Please pray for the young men of Costa Rica (and everywhere), that they would hear the call and turn to God.
Thanks!
Y'all something crazy happened today:
Our team took an extra hour this morning before walking to campus so that we could rest a bit and have down time after the night before. As much as my heart was against the idea of doing an hour less of outreach, I know it was the right choice. Sustainability is so important; I've seen so much hurt come from people attempting to do good things unsustainably. If you aren't getting time with God, get time with God. Don't mistake Idleness for Rest. And pray that over people you know in ministry; pastors, friends, missionaries, etc. Ok, that's what I'm gonna say about that.
We got to campus today and dove right into conversations that the Ohio team had already started. (The Ohio people are lovely, though I feel pretty separate from them most of the time. We have our team structure and things and they have theirs. We've mostly invited each other in, but our schedules are in direct conflict now. But it's ok, we are here for the ticos, not the gringos.) I got to join a great conversation with a guy who came to H@ngout and who spent the afternoon and evening with the Ohio team. I really think he'll stick! After the conversations ended, we got ready for H@ngout, and then Katie and I hung out with a new friend and talked about philosophy and politics and religion and racism and all the things. It was quite lovely. The homie doesn't believe in God, but we'll see. Pray for his heart to be opened and for him to take spirituality seriously.
H@ngout went incredibly well. Lagos struck a great balance between a chill, pura vida hangout feel and engaging people spiritually. He had planned a skit to share the gospel, and he presented it with a perfect balance of taking the topic seriously while not taking himself too seriously - sincere, but not heavy. A lot of fantastic conversations happened afterwards and really good connections were forged. My prayer is that the students will continue to come each week and will have open hearts to God.
After H@ngout our team Ubered our way to San José, where we met up with Carlos and don Julio (Jovany was with us already). Carlos let us know the plan for the day (specifically seeking out conversations with refugees to understand their needs better) and we got started. I learned a lot about what is going on in Nicaragua today and it was pretty heavy. If you're into understanding that sort of stuff, look into it. Whether you are or not, stop reading for a minute and pray for the country of Nicaragua. Pray that war can be avoided, but pray that something changes soon.
Ok, so we learned a lot about Nicaragua and we learned that two of the people helping us had recently lost or found out about people close to them dying. It was hard to see them struggling to process grief while still staying committed to their mission and vision. My prayer is that God will comfort their hearts and they will allow themselves to be weak and seek rest and help processing.
I had a really long conversation today where it was just Katie and I talking to a tico guy over coffee without anyone to help with language. I was trying really, really hard to understand him, but I was only getting enough to understand the topic we were discussing and occasionally give feedback. He talked about a lot of hard things in his life and how his addiction to marijuana and occasionally crack had derailed his life, but he didn't know how to stop, so he was waiting for things to change. I think it was ok that I didn't understand, because what he really needed was to have someone take the time to pay attention to him. And that's what we did. Please pray that he would break free of the discouragement he feels and seize the opportunities before him.
We walked (and while walking, we got to bond more with one of the young ladies that is working for the church here full-time) to a restaurant and had dinner (it was SO good) and regrouped, then grabbed some pizzas and went to talk to some people that don Julio knew. The first group we sat and talked with had some discomfort and unfortunate things happen. One of our girls got hit on by a drunk guy and some unsavory characters were about, but some good conversation and connection happened and we moved on. We also made and brought hot chocolate to the second group, which was really nice and we enjoyed talking with them. Please pray for everyone we met tonight, that they would form good connections to the church and find freedom from the demons that plague them.
We came home and worshiped and debriefed and went to bed. Please pray for the team to get rest and for God to be our strength.
Something interesting in a lot of our conversations and interactions so far is that Costa Rica seems to be a country of broken young men. I have met and talked to so many young men, my age and younger, that have been derailed by bad choices and circumstances. Even in the campus, the guys we talked to all feel very lost and in need of good male role models. In the young men I've met (campus and streets), there's a pervasive lack of purpose and sense of self. It's like a whole generation of young men is waiting for a call on their lives to give them meaning. But what they don't know is that the call has already been put on them. God wants them. He loves and accepts them. He longs to heal them and tell them they have value. He has plans to make their lives count for something of great value...but they have to be willing to turn to him. Please pray for the young men of Costa Rica (and everywhere), that they would hear the call and turn to God.
Thanks!
Y'all something crazy happened today:
Hector got a sunburn! :O He said his last one was 12 years ago.
Lifting y'all and all these things up!!!
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