A New Wick

Jacó has been so sweet to us.

My team and I are growing so much together. Through worship, prayer, and obedience. God is bringing to us new waters to walk across and new journeys to embark. One new journey for me has consisted of my twentieth year. Yesterday was that “fresh start” that I had been waiting for. A new decade that began with an overflow of love and joy, doing what I love the most. I learned new things, like surfing and that our new friend Mel makes a bomb pineapple cake, while Carly’s impeccable amount of talent can flow through a simple birthday card and print. My team is so sweet and welcomed me into this year with open arms and a greater knowledge of God’s picture of community.

Ahhh… The Lord has done so much already and this is only the beginning.

Community isn’t the only thing that He has been pouring into us. He is teaching us all how to push past these false-selves of ours by throwing away our masks and reaching into a deep sea of connection with one another. With each other, we talk about the tough spots that we often don’t like to discuss with ourselves. We dig into our faults, our worries, our bruises, and our scars. We gather together every day and are honest with each other. We encourage one another and are even truthful about the critical things. At first, it was something that we secretly feared. Now? We see how much transparency helps, even when it consists of criticism. It’s so beautiful.

We stepped onto Ocean’s Edge’s platform, unsure of what to expect. We knew that Ocean’s Edge began with the dream of reaching out to the surfing community. We knew that we’d be working with children and helping local artisans live missionally. We knew the long list of other ministries that we’d be working with. We knew that there was a need that rested in the hearts of the people of Costa Rica. We knew that we all were in a season of growth together. We knew that in a few short days, we became a family. But we didn’t know that Jesus would be burning such a rapid fire in Jacó, already.

I started noticing this wick’s flame when we practiced listening prayer on our second day.

Ohhh, listening prayer.. I struggled with this because of this little piece of myself that I like to hold on to, called “self-doubt”. Sometimes when God wants me to hear His sweet voice, I doubt it. I realized this during training camp. We were sitting with each other in a circle and one person would get tapped. Whatever we felt that the Lord was speaking to us, would be for that person. Everything said was so accurate and left a small mark on each person. It was incredible, but I remember sitting there and doubting this voice that I heard. I was supposed to tell my friend that God showed me a key. It didn’t make sense to me, I suppose, so I put it off. I prayed for a confirmation and I got it. Kelsee, a team member of mine, saw a door opening. It was as if God said, “See? Just act on my words when I tell you to.”

He always correct me in the gentlest of ways.

So, there we were in another circle of prayer, before we headed out to pray over Jacó. I saw us praying over an older woman sitting down. She had a disability of some sort. Yet again, I didn’t trust myself with this. I kept quiet about it. Kelsee always seems to carry words of confirmation for me, though. She went up to me and proceeded to say that the Lord laid me on her heart and she saw an arrow, along with that. I didn’t fully understand it, at first. Carly, our team leader, said for us to invite someone that was trying to sell us something to church. With that one I said, “Okay, God, I can trust that.”

We walked to a coffee shop in town and I saw a woman standing on the corner across the street.

“That’s her.”

Boy, did I wrestle God on this one. I denied it, a lot. I was with Kelsee, Kyle, and Justin. Kelsee looked at me and said, “Look! There’s an arrow. I wonder if that’s it.” I didn’t say much, but directly underneath that arrow was the woman that the Lord had laid on my heart. We walked down and across the street to talk with a tour guide that Kyle had talked with before about a tour on one of our free days. His name was Michael Angelo. We invited him to church on Friday and he eagarly agreed to go. He was so excited to go and that Friday, we saw him at church. He told us he was going to take his family, next week! What Carly told us was confirmed through that. But as we talked with him, I saw the woman looking at me as she sat on a bench down the street. She had her cane next to her and her purse on her lap. She was waiting for something. I told Kelsee about what I saw and that I thought we should go talk with her. We went down and I spoke to her in very broken Spanish. In this moment, God showed me that He broke those language barriers that seem almost impossible to climb. Her name was Gladys and she sold accessories for a living, right in front of that bench. That small space was her everything. It was what provided for her and it was her home. However, she knew the Ultimate Provider. She knew God. She loved Him and you could tell by the beauty of her smile when those cheekbones lifted and her eyes fluttered. She knew true joy. She said she was waiting on her pastor to come get her and she allowed us to pray with her as she sat on that bench, fulfilling what I once thought was false. She squeezed my hand so tightly as she prayed over us, simultaneously; then, she released it and hugged me. Before she got up to get into the car that was waiting on the side of the street for her, she said to come back and see her again.

I think that on that day, the Lord gave me a sweet new friend for the next three months.

Through Gladys, He showed me that it’s okay to trust myself and break my walls of doubt that I put in the space between my head and my heart.

The next day, He showed me the need in Jacó.

That prostitution is a thing. A big thing.

I was in a pre-natal center that the pastor’s wife of our new church, Sarah, owned. We were waiting on her next client and she spoke about the victims of prostitution that come into her business. She said that she has had mothers that give their young daughters away, in order to care for their family. These children end up pregnant and it’s Sarah’s job to ensure that they care for these new babies. Many girls are either prostitutes or their boyfriends leave them once they get them pregnant. They aren’t required to pay child-support here, so these girls are left afraid and alone. Abortion may be banned, but that doesn’t stop them from trying. Sarah has a dream to end this and the Lord is working through her so much. She told us stories of this and how club owners are the dealers of it all. Every night, they give away girls to random men and get a large portion of the money.
You can walk on the street and tell which girls are giving such a large piece of theirselves, in order to survive. But, friends, God is so much bigger than this. With prayer and people willing to stand up against this, He can do anything.

Just as He can end prostitution, He can end poverty. We sent a few team members to feed the homeless, the other day. The rest of us stayed back and prayed while they loved on them. We prayed for hearts to be changed, and that’s what God did. They came back and shared how several people gave their lives to Christ, that night.

This is what it’s all about. Changing lives for Christ. Seeing shattered pieces restored and anew. This dream is beating in God’s heart for Jacó.

Jacó began as a place that no one advised to go to. With the prostitution, poverty, and addiction, it was pronounced “unsafe”. But Ocean’s Edge’s owner, Hannah, disregarded those negative voices and ventured to Jaco. Now? People cherish Jaco and a foundation of hope is creeping into place that once deemed hopeless. The locals immediately gave thanks to the church for this. Even if they didn’t follow God, they knew it was Him. They allow us to go into the community and teach children about Jesus, while providing for their families with food and school supplies. This is because they know and have seen the change that God has made through things as simple as this. The Lord is doing so much here, and I can see the love that He has for this place.

I pray that through these testimonies that are given these next three months, your hearts start to burn for Jacó, as well.

I ask that you pray for us, for Ocean’s Edge, and for the heart strings that will be pulled these next three months. I ask that you pray for new testimonies and new ministries to being through this. I ask that you pray for further connections to be made between us and the locals. Above all else, I ask that you pray for God’s vision for Jaco to be fulfilled.
I want to thank you all for allowing me to share this journey with you and engaging in what the Lord is doing in Costa Rica.

Until next time!