Day 3: A Little Discouraged, but God Is Good to Me (and I got Taco Bell)

I made a mistake. The first thing I did today was tell Hugo that, though I wasn't going to work out with him today, I would tomorrow. So... this may be my last post since I might die from his workout regimen.

Still kicking it in Galatians, today was about the freedom and joy we get to experience as children of God. It is a super encouraging and beautiful picture, with a context of, "so stop trying to live like slaves in his house! Get over your rules and start operating from relationship!" Sheesh, Paul, just @ me why don't you?

Today started off really well! (does that mean it ended poorly?) I got a solid time with God, an excellent breakfast, and then we walked to the park and worshiped together. Worship was lovely; God spoke a lot of encouraging things, many in line with the joy and freedom I'm seeing in Galatians. We also got to listen to some birds being birds. Matthew knew things about the birds. I don't know things about the birds. Sorry to all my bird people. Sorry Ethan, I'm trying to take bird pictures, but they're so far away and refuse to come pose with me. I have asked, but to be fair, I asked in English. I'll try in Spanish tomorrow.

After worship, we walked to the bus and rode to a different bus and rode to Heredia. In Heredia, our first stop was at the future site of Duke's Texas BBQ - a restaurant that Carlos Gomez is helping start. Duke's will feature allegedly authentic Texas BBQ in a very strategic location. It is next to the mall and four different college campuses. The desire for Duke's is for it to pour the profits into different ministry initiatives and provide employment opportunities for students and for some of the people in Barrio Mexico that are having trouble finding jobs. There are some committed investors in this business, who understand and are excited about the vision for it to be a platform for sustainable change in people's lives here. We talked with Gomez about his plans, and then stayed at Duke's until lunch time.

Duke's isn't open yet, so we walked to the mall and ate there. As we ate, we got to have some good conversations with Alejandro and Jovany, and eventually Javier joined us. Javier is a recent graduate, connected to H@ngout. He is a really cool guy, but very shy and not very comfortable with English. We hung out at the mall for a while, both talking with him and just hanging out, waiting for the rain to stop.

Oh yeah! It rained today! Though I didn't get to use my swanky new rain jacket. The power actually went off in the mall while we were there, which was kinda crazy, but no one seemed phased.

Anyway, we eventually left the mall and walked to campus. Campus is closed down, and (after the recent COVID increase) doesn't seem likely to open back up soon. I cannot imagine how discouraging that must be for the church here. We had one semester on Zoom and I felt like I was going crazy. They've been plugging away over Zoom for over a year now, and it doesn't show signs of stopping soon. We stood outside the fenced-off campus, hands on the chain link, and prayed. We prayed for change, we prayed for connection, we prayed for hope. I wish we had stayed there all evening. I think it was a really important moment. I want to go back and pray more, but I'll pray here instead. Maybe you will too?

We walked from campus to a nearby park. The park has a lot of significance for those of us who have been here before. It's where we spend our first hours in Costa Rica 2 years, 2 months, and maybe 11 days ago. It's also where our campus team spent a lot of time last year. We sat and walked around the park for a little bit, continuing to talk with Javier and just spend time together. I got to have a good conversation, though one that left me sad. After some time in the park, Lagos bought us bus tickets and some empanadas (yum) and we headed back to San José. We walked back from the bus stop to the hotel and no one got run over, which is always good.

Lagos got us Taco Bell for dinner, which we ate at the tables in the hotel restaurant. The hotel owner has the staff bring us glasses and silverware. It was weirdly fancy feeling for Taco Bell, but it was fun. After dinner, Hugo, Matthew, and I walked around the park to pray and talk about how today felt while the ladies prayed and processed in their room. Now I am typing this sentence on my computer.

I think the reason I felt a little discouraged today is that, even while reading Galatians... and receiving multiple encouragements from God to relax and enjoy what He's doing... and believing that ministry is a slow-burning, deeply relational thing... I'm just really insecure about wanting to make sure this trip is as effective as it can be. Short-term missions are always a risk. Is it worth the time and money and change in rhythm for local workers? I believe the answer is, "it can be," and really want to make sure we do it right. So, spending time walking around the city and sitting in the mall with only two people joining us, can poke at those insecurities. And, more than that, I want my team to understand the value of their work here and that they are here for a reason.

But, I really do believe God was working today. And I am deeply grateful he gave me so much pre-day encouragement to chill out and just enjoy walking in step with him.

Ok, picture time: