Day 3: Something is Different on Campus

It's unfathomable to me that today was our second day of ministry. It feels like it's been so full and like we've accomplished a lot already.

Today, we sent half of the team to the CDI and half to Campus. Sounds very "Costa Rica 2020," amiright?

I woke up early to make sure the CDI team got out ok. Izzy took Evan, Ben, and Mallory with her via Uber to help run the CDI. Word on the street is it went well. If you want more information about that, you'd hafta read Izzy's Blog (well worth it!). 

For the campus half of the team, we slept in some more and then got started. I made some eggs that looked  r o u g h ,  but weren't actually all that bad. We got organized and decided to take an Uber to campus, since we haven't learned the buses yet, and it's a bit of a hike on foot.

While waiting for the time with the students to start, we walked around campus. At Alexis' suggestion, we stopped in a good spot and prayed together for a while, then kept exploring. We ran into some Chi Alpha missionaries, which was exciting. I love Chi Alpha. I don't know much about the AG, but they have a lot of passion and a lot of desire to be led by the Spirit of God. And I dig that. Apparently, XA is trying to get started up on the UNA campus, which makes me deeply happy. The more a campus is saturated with the gospel and the body of Christ, the better. There has been such a change in the feel of the campus this year, I can't quite describe it, but basically I think God is moving in a powerful way!

So, right now in Costa Rica, the universities are participating in Juncas, which is basically the Olympics of random sporting events. We got to watch the ping-pong tournament - IT'S CALLED TABLE TENNIS! Oh, ahem, sorry, Table Tennis Tournament. It was so intense. The floor of a basketball court had been turned into four separated areas with a table in each. Two tables were the men's side and two tables were the women's side. There was so much yelling. If you weren't paying attention, you couldn't tell who was happy and who was sad, because people yelled with angry faces either way. 

The H2O team has been doing a Thursday event at noon, as a follow-up to H@ngout, called "The Well." Anyone who's interested in talking more about deeper spiritual things can come and participate in a group discussion. Today, the topic was "Fully Known & Fully Loved." It was really lovely to think about the implications of those two things in our lives. It was particularly poignant because our team had spent time together last night planning a devotional for the CDI, focused on the fact that God's love and goodness don't change, whether we see and understand or not. That reminder is a great encouragement and it's what our team (or at least our team leader) needed to hear.

Afterwards, we just hung out and talked and played coup and frisbee. I may or may not have hit my fiancée in the shin with a frisbee -.-

I got to have a good conversation with José about what it looked like for him to find and experience Jesus in his life. He loves scripture and we had really great conversation about how much he loves Jesus and how his faith and worship as a Catholic have been involved in him worshiping God.

Eventually, our team all came back together, and we went with Lagos and Ana Raquel to Pizza Hut (because the Pizza Hut in Costa Rica is just better). 

When we got back home, we had a short time of debrief and got to worship and pray together. I feel really blessed by God to get to experience community and worship and prayer and ministry with this team.

I also got to go for a walk with Alexis, which was lovely. Y'all, I can't tell you how much of a blessing it is to get to be here together. I love her so much and getting to serve together is better than anything I could have imagined.

I have a headache tonight, I think from the no caffeine. I'm such a baby about headaches. To anyone and everyone who gets them constantly and just deals with it: You have my undying respect. You are tougher than I. 

PRAYERS!

-for the students here to open their hearts to God's call

-for the believing students here to be filled with boldness, wisdom, and love

-for the UNA campus to be the site of a powerful move of God's Spirit

-for our team to continue to walk with God in everything we do

-for salvations!

-for the kids at the CDI to deeply absorb the love and lessons the church is sharing with them

-a special blessing for Lagos and Ana Raquel, we love them so much

Table Tennis (look at those moves!)

The Well (José in amarillo)

Alexis, Sheryl, and Andrea