Being Present

Doing ministry in Costa Rica this month has been really good. My ministry hosts Rosita and Tony, are the sweetest, kindest people. I love the way they love the Lord. I love the way Rosita loves the Holy Spirit and Father God’s presence. Just seeing and hearing her always praising the Lord in every situation gives me so much joy. It is so inspiring to witness her joy and light in the midst of pain and uncertainty. My team and I were able to witness this firsthand during their first church service we attended. She was dancing and worshipping, then she suddenly fell back and broke her arm. For the entire time until the ambulance came, she was still praising the Lord. Other times, when her church members, friends or people she didn’t even know needed guidance, direction or healing, she takes the time to press in and love on them where they are at. She disciples, encourages, and prays for them and then praises the Lord for his goodness. It is such an honor to be able to listen to Tony and see his heart shine every time we read scriptures (our devotional) before each meal. He would give us context and share how those scriptures may relate to us and his heart behind the Word of God. He would sometimes ask us to list off benefits, advice, or other things based upon we just read. It is cool to see his face light up every time we talk about who we are in Jesus. Tony has been greatly healed in the past, so he always remind us of God’s goodness through in his facial expressions. God you are so good! 

For our ministry this month, we have been doing a lot of “behind-the-scenes work”. During the first week we been here, we had the opportunity to wrap Christmas gifts for children in poor neighborhoods. We wrapped over 360 gifts in 2 days! It is exciting to know that although this was very tedious work, the joy in the children’s faces once they get to open the gifts would be priceless. It was nice to be able to bless over 360 children. 

We also spent time at our ministry hosts’ farm. We did so much manual labor such as carrying planks of wood, tilling the ground, planting a variety types of vegetables, pulling up weeds around plants of corn, and painting tires with our names on them to make the farm look nice. We also got the chance to make fertilizer. We met 2 guys in their 20’s and another older gentleman who were helping us with the manual labor. They immediately became family to us and we loved on them as they shared their hearts with us. The farm will eventually be a place to train people to become missionaries. While the people are on the farm, they will learn all about sustainability and cultivating the land as well as deepening their understanding of who God is and who He is calling them to. I loved being able to bless the land and the appearance of the farm.

When we were not at the farm, we had opportunities with kids events, teens and young adults at risk and preaching at church on Sundays. We had the privilege to lead kids events at a home where the woman in charge would host events for children in her area. These children are experiencing traumatic obstacles in their lives from verbal, emotional, physical or sexual abuse, neglect, or other hardships in their lives. The woman hosts events for these children to share God’s love and hope and to prevent them from being on the streets. The children loves and respects her so much. We had the amazing opportunity to lead 2 events there. The first one was sharing what worship is and how God gives us gifts to worship him. It was so precious to see kids draws gifts that they received from God.  They drew pictures such as guitars, playing “futbol” (soccer), their family, the Bible, and their own bodies as a gift. The second lesson was teaching on the armour of God and connecting it to the David and Goliath story. The kids were very engaged pretending to put on the armour of God and then using it to take down “Goliath” with a marshmallow where the children would take turns being David and Goliath. It was so fun and enjoyable to see the kids have fun with the lesson.

My team also had opportunities to preach on Sundays and to share our testimonies with teens/young adults at risk. 3 of my teammates took turns giving messages at church. It was so cool to hear stories from church members of how the messages really touched their hearts! During worship in all 3 church services, I had the honor to dance! It was such an amazing experience to usher in God’s presence and dance with the Holy Spirit. It was even more special because I wasn’t allowed to dance during church in Guatemala or Honduras! 

Myself and 2 other girls shared our stories to the teens and young adults at risk. These youth either have or had addictions with drugs, alcohol, depression or struggling in other areas… We were able to bless them with our testimonies and prayed for them or have Q and A sessions afterwards. As I was preparing my message, I decided to share my thoughts with Rosita and Tony since it was feedback for me in Honduras to share with my ministry host my thoughts before I would teach something. Turns out, they really enjoyed the message and the activation afterwards. They gave me really great advice such as to focus on my testimony, be conscientious of the youth’s background with addictions, and that most of the youth haven’t accepted their lives to Christ. I took what they told me to heart. Before I left them, Tony asked if they could pray for me and my message for Saturday. They prayed that what I am sharing is very powerful and definitely needed for the youth, for the Holy Spirit to speak through me – not having to worry what I am going to share, for the youth’s hearts and minds to be open to receive, and that it would be a transformational night. God thank you for using Rosita and Tony to bless me. It was such a blessing and I feel so good knowing that they trust me and give me full permission to share and do whatever the Holy Spirit leads me to.

On the night that I spoke, I shared my story of getting hit by a truck as I was walking in 2013, and how it impacted me. I then talked about the youth’s identity in Christ, the name that God gave me, and what I have done to fulfill it so far. At the end of my message, I did a salvation call and an activation where everyone received a paper and marker and asked the Lord to give them a name for themselves (How God sees them). It was really cool seeing people accept or recommit their lives to Jesus and everyone (including my teammates) draw or write whatever the Lord told them. After time past, some of the youth shared the name that God gave them. It was such a precious night! Knowing that the teens and young adults were able to hear God’s voice for the first time brought me so much joy. The names the youth and my teammates received really touched their hearts. During our first youth event, I prayed twice for one young man to hear God’s voice, and nothing happened. As soon as he came into the room on the day of my message, I immediately started interceding for him because I wanted him so badly to encounter the Father’s love through His voice. During the activation, it was really encouraging to see him hear from God! He even shared his drawing with us! After the activation, the teens and young adults shared with my team of how grateful they are to have us come and teach them. They loved our stories and they shared how we made a huge impact in their lives! Thank you Jesus for allowing us to have that opportunity to love on your sons and daughters!

While being here, I had amazing opportunities to see God’s healing power at work! At the farm on Nov. 3rd, I prayed for the older gentleman. He needed healing in his kidneys and/or a way to get surgery to get new kidneys in the future. He told me he has no pain in his body currently. Yay Jesus for that. But because his kidneys were not functioning correctly, his legs were swelling. So I prayed and blessed his body. It was a sweet moment. He told me thank you. Right before I prayed, he asked if I was a nurse because I asked him questions of what was going on in his body. I told him no, I just love to pray for people and to see miracles happen in their lives! On Nov, 10th the older gentleman called me over to him and he showed me his legs and feet. The swelling went down so much!!! Praise God for your healing!!!!

The same night that Rosita and Tony prayed for me for my message for Saturday, I asked them if I can pray and bless them. They said “sure”! I prayed a blessing prayer and for more of the Holy Spirit to move through them and touch people’s lives through them and some more good stuff. I also prayed for Rosita’s arm for a speedy recovery and healing. Rosita started tearing up. Then Rosita asked for prayer for her brain. The doctor scanned her brain recently and they found these weird spots. She has a check up appointment to analyze those scans later that week. She wanted prayer for healing, so I prayed for complete healing on her brain and God’s healing power to come. So 4 days later…Rosita sent me this message telling me that she got good news…”Good news! The Lord heard your prayers! The specialist doctor said that the damage shown in my brain on the MRI is old and not important. I’ll be fine.” Thank you Jesus for your healing power and healing Rosita! She currently has no pain from the arm and now she can have a peace of mind about her brain.

Being present and serving this ministry with an open heart and open hands has been an amazing blessing. To love on these people as God’s chosen ones and be a light is truly an honor.