Unbelizeable

What a beautiful end to one of the most transformative summers of my life. Belize was absolutely incredible; and God faithfully answered my prayers by delivering a week full of so much joy and laughter. I partnered with Jenn, a summer staff “alumn,” who worked in Costa Rica the last two summers. I was really excited to work with Jenn who I had heard about all summer from those in the community who had absolutely adored her; and it’s obvious why. Jenn is incredibly gifted; she has the ability to balance both organization and leadership with relationship building and spiritual development. When the Lord binds leadership together it’s clear how much it can define the entire experience. I like to say Jenn and I were soulmates from the start; and to say I loved working with her would be a complete understatement. I felt so blessed all week to get to lead with Jenn, it’s amazing how she makes everyone just fall in love with her. Throughout the week our leadership team would have dance-party breaks (we made up our own move of course), pillow-talks, and even a team fast to re-focus on prayer. With that said, I really hope one day I get the opportunity to lead another team with her!

Not only was the Lord faithful to bring an amazing partner to lead with, but He delivered an incredible group to lead. Our group of 15 adults from Indiana brought me so much joy and laughter throughout the week. I don’t think I’ve ever had so much fun with a team and every single person was filled with so much charm and wit. I always say each team has some kind of gift or passion that is seen throughout the week, and with this team it was definitely their strength and hard-work. I was so impressed with their ability to just go-go-go and by the end of Thursday morning we had completely finished the construction project for the week. Belize was an awesome community to work with; and for the first time, I felt like we were actually working under the local church. La Familia de Dios is a network of 32 churches around Belmopan that work together to reach the community for Christ. The church body rises up to basically host the short-term mission teams that have come through Experience Mission to meet the need for a particular church. It was a beautiful experience to feel like I was working UNDER the local church, under their vision, under the local workers, under the local pastors; rather than feeling as though I was the boss or the one responsible since I was the one with the resources. It was so refreshing and I think it just re-iterated to me how important it is for short-term missions to work underneath an ongoing ministry and seek direction from local pastors.

There are too many memories from this week, I could go on and on; but all I can say is that I feel truly truly happy that I had the opportunity to go to Belize and lead this team. Jenn and I talked often about the plans of the Lord, how every moment of every day has a specific plan for His Kingdom. We waste our lives believing the lie that this life is about us and our desires and our motivations. Even as Christians, we somehow begin to think we have it all figured out or that we are worthy to pass judgment on others. For me, God continues to bring me back again and again to humble brokenness. After reflecting on this summer, I will openly admit that I failed time and time again; that at times I fell short in loving people; that I allowed myself to be overcome with worries and tasks; that I listened to the lies of the Devil who told me I couldn’t do it anymore. But even through all these failures, I can proclaim strength in God’s Name and that’s the most incredible part about Christianity. It’s not about getting all we want, or feeling happy all the time, or buying our way to heaven – it’s so so so much more. It’s freedom. It’s joy much deeper than feelings. It’s a mercy that is woken up to each morning. It’s a love that’s unexplainable. It’s eyes that see the darkness of the world and a heart that burns wanting others to know truth – to know life. If you want the truth it’s this: I’m a total mess-up. I still struggle with perfectionism and getting caught up in trying to please man. I still lust after materialism and want what others have. I still succumb to complete selfishness, mood swings, and want for control.

But the Lord brings good news.

He reminds me that I am not a victim to this world, that I have found victory in Christ. Each morning, I am encouraed that it is not about what I can or cannot do, but what HE can do. I am strengthened in my weaknesses. I find purpose and life in His Name. For so long I was a dead-man walking, I thought I had it all figured out, I placed God in a box and let Him support me in whatever I happened to choose for myself, I treated others with little concern for love or grace. Now, if there is one thing I know – it's that ALL people need the Lord to know life. Not just in the third world or inner city or middle of the jungle – but everywhere: within your family, in your workforce, right next door, literally all around you. So what are you living for; for money or “success;” for a God who serves YOUR plans; for that future Christian man or woman? We hear it all the time in the church, that reiterated Bible verse – go and be disciples of nations. We are the Lord’s disciples and we are living in every nation. Are we “going”? More importantly, are we “being”? We are fighting a battle that has already been won; but how many will be on the losing side, how many are our very closest friends and family? All deserve victory in Christ- because without it we’re dead.

Thank you for praying and supporting me throughout this incredibly challenging and stretching summer. Without the power of prayer and words of encouragement from back home I know the attacks of the Devil would have been felt that much stronger. Please continue to pray for the communities in Talamanca, Costa Rica and Belmopan, Belize – both have passion-filled, strong churches that I know the Lord will use for the salvation of many. Pray for both Pastor Indalecio and Pastor Nelson who are stretched beyond belief as leaders of their congregations. Please pray for Experience Mission staff who will continue to partner with communities and work alongside them to empower local churches and give them hope and vision for the future. Please pray for Susie, Roberto, and Jenn as they all return home and enter into the next season that the Lord has for them and continue to take up their cross and follow Him. Finally, pray for your own lives – your neighborhood, your church, your family, your closest friends, this is our mission field. 

Bitter Sweet End

So here I am, back in San Jose and thinking how I may never see the incredible people of Shiroles again (of course God's plans reign, so who knows!). Whatever happens in the future, I feel so blessed to get to look back on this summer and find a time filled with incredible memories, relationships, and an overwhelming amount of joy and love. I will never, ever forget all of our incredible "community partners," who were so much more like family. Sara and Victor, our community parents, were our backbones the entire summer. There were many times that I would go to Sara crying and she would hold and comfort me, or times that we would all work together with community problems or logistics. They are true examples of the image of Christ. Pastor Indalecio's devotion and testimony inspired me to give my all for Christ - and to follow in complete obedience when He gives a specific calling. I have hope for the future of Jonathan & Giselle as the new leaders of Iglesia Cristiano de Dios, I know their servant-heartedness and persistence will reach the community for Christ. For everyone else, all the cooks and workers, kids, and youth of the community - the culture of Talamanca, the lifestyle of the Bribri, the darkness that still exists and the need for revival; all will continue to be in my daily prayers. 

I was so encouraged this week by our myriad of people and teams from Florida, Michigan, Kansas, and Israel! Throughout the week our teams continued work on the church bathrooms, working on the inside stalls and outside wall stucco, we will be leaving the community with very little left to complete the project. We also saw a lot of progress in our work with the home of Pastor Jonathan who hopes to complete this home construction project and use his bigger home to start up a ministry to host mission groups and pastors. With just Roberto and I the week had a very different dynamic! Without that third person there to sway decisions or form clicks, we came together in all of our decisions; and even though our responsibilities doubled there was joy and peace throughout the week. We began placing prayer more at the forefront of our daily schedules and used evenings to really debrief within our leadership and within our personal lives. Through our leader debrief, I was able to open up more about my dad who passed away when I was 16. Through the growth I’ve had this summer I feel I was able to be more vulnerable as I shared my testimony with the groups – my father having a seizure and taking care of him until he passed away, partying in high school and losing myself in the world, and the depression that I experienced in different seasons through college. Roberto has lost both of his parents and I know the Lord partnered us together this summer for a reason – it’s been encouraging for me to share and be open and vulnerable about my past and how God has so graciously delivered me and restored my life.

I was also very encouraged by our team who wrote me sweet notes and bought me small gifts of appreciation throughout the week; it was the words of affirmation that I desperately needed to keep going! It was fun getting to lead kids club, though it definitely stretched my patience – “Sarah. Sarah. Sarah” J What was the most impactful for me this week though was the opportunity we got to stretch our outreach ministry beyond kids club. The Lord had placed it on my heart this summer to try and reach out to the youth of the community where there is the most prevalent darkness of drugs, alcohol, depression, and witchcraft. It’s a difficult age group to reach out to – most want nothing to do with the church. We attempted to throw a last minute movie night last week, but kids ended up coming and mostly just running around. This week I knew I wanted to get the word out right. So we created fliers and passed them out to teenagers we saw walking, the two main pulperias let me post up the paper on their doors, and Roberto made an announcement after the community men’s soccer game. We began praying for this outreach; that it would plant a seed in the youth or at least transform their negative attitude toward the church. We began popping popcorn, filling cups with powerade, and setting up the projector and banks for a movie night under the stars. When I settled into one of the pews, I was shocked when I looked around and saw anywhere from 60 – 70 young people from the community. Underneath their Bob Marley dress, slumped postures, and “I don’t care” attitudes – I saw the beauty of God’s creation and hope for the future generation of those in Shiroles. It may have been a small step, but I was so grateful that our prayers had been answered and that so many had come to fellowship with us. On Thursday, we decided to do a prayer walk a little bit different than the first. This time, Pastor took us to four different homes and people who he knew had specific needs throughout the community. We stopped at the home of a young woman who had left the church and had fallen back into drinking, a burnt-out female pastor who leads an outside church covered by a large black tarp further up the mountain, Pastor’s father who is reaching old-age and struggling with illness, and a tabernacle in Monte Cion where Pastor Indalecio envisions leading worship services in the future. As we stood in this wooden sanctuary we began singing worship a cappella and praying all at once, all the while the Lord brought a striking thunder as background music for this time of covering the community with prayer – how great is Our God!

So now, I’m left waiting to leave for my plane for Belize at 10 tonight. Roberto left earlier and I just still cannot believe that our time in Costa Rica is officially over! I decided last week that I would take each day one at a time, and that I wanted to cherish my last week in Talamanca instead of getting my head stuck in Belize or school. Now that I am officially done with this week, I am so pumped for Belize! I started talking to Mauricio, our partner at the hostel in San Jose, and he started going on and on about a trip he made to Belize. Please be praying for me as I venture there on my own and jump into this new community to lead a team! Even though I’ll be in a new place I know that the Lord will give me wisdom and strength to connect the community with our teams. 

Goodbye to Threes Company

Week five marked the last week of working with our entire leadership team. It was bitter sweet doing things for the last time with Susie. The community threw her a big dinner, with a small bonfire, and a tres leches cake to celebrate her last night.

We hosted Cumberland Fellowship of Tennessee and they were an extremely flexible and understanding group – you could tell that they just got it. In everything they did they wanted to empower the local church and support the local pastors and members, recognizing that they were the ones who would reach the community for Christ. Of course, the week started off with a little dilemma. On our way to San Jose, our bus got stuck in the middle of nowhere when the streets were closed from flooding. After waiting four hours at a standstill, we cautiously crossed a flooded road, only to stop at a nearby gas station for the night. After spending the night on the public bus, we woke up the next morning only to find out that we would be stranded for most of the morning. Every single route to San Jose was closed off, mostly because of the unpredictability of the mountain roads and the danger of possible landslides. The roads opened up right in time for us to race to the airport to meet our team; but after evaluating the situation and learning that the roads near Shiroles were still closed we decided it was best to stay the night in San Jose. So, we arrived in Shiroles early Monday morning and took our team around the community and to the river for a quick swim. It was unfortunate that we missed a day, but if there was any team that could have handled it, it was the team from Cumberland Fellowship. Our team of 14 was a mix of college students and adults; they had a huge heart for children’s ministry, and were all extremely hard working. Our team continued work on the church bathrooms; we finished the top blocks of border and began spreading cement to form a smooth outside wall. We also continued work on the computer classroom of the local school where we created wooden forms to poor cement on the outside walls. What most teams complete in five full days, our team this week completed in three half days.

With their passion for children’s ministry and their experience with local children’s outreach, our team felt especially drawn to the kids of the community. The entire team decided to participate in kid’s club each afternoon. We also had a community movie night with a huge wall projector, and were able to continue outreach to the kids and to the youth of the community who are a little more difficult to reach. On Friday afternoon, our team decided to use the morning for a special outreach . We threw a huge field day at our host church and had an entire morning of relay races, crafts, popcorn and lemonade, and pump up jams. Our team put their imagination to work and created an array of games with random items lying around the house: everything from work boots, to water bottles, to pieces of scrap wood. 

 On Thursday night, our team joined Pastor Indalecio’s church for a worship service. Susie and Blake led songs in both Spanish and English and two college students from the team shared their testimonies. In Talamanca, the Bribri often see white people and assume that they are from a life of affluence and ease. It was beautiful to hear the blunt testimonies of both Cody and Erin. It was the first time both of them shared their testimony, which was a surprise to me because they were so direct and vulnerable – holding nothing back and talking directly about their past of alcoholism, drugs, sexual immorality, and teenage pregnancy. Sam, the youth pastor, talked about how God’s plan unveiled that night when people from the community began crying while our team shared their stories. The issues in the testimonies are issues that are very prevalent in the community. As I looked out into the congregation, I could see how the Holy Spirit was moving in everyone’s hearts. The young girl next to me cried as she wrapped her arms around her little girl. I loved being able to witness it all. This is how we can reach the Bribri – humbly admitting our similar weaknesses and proclaiming how God can conquer them all. We don’t have it all together. We may be materially affluent – but there are still so many who are spiritually dead. We all look different, we have different ways of doing things, we speak a different language, and even believe in different things; but there is one thing that every single person has in common on this Earth: we are all under the horrible darkness of the world and tempted by the wickedness of our flesh – and we all desperately need the salvation of Christ. That’s what this is all about. It’s not about making buildings that will one day crumble, it’s not about singing songs or delivering messages, it’s not even about any service or love that we can offer – it’s about the fall of man, and the need for life that is only found in our Lord, Jesus Christ.

Now, this week is what I like to call our “finale” week here in Costa Rica. It is now just Roberto and I, and this week I will be taking on most of Susie’s responsibilities with kids club and evening worship. We are hosting 17 people: a group of 7 from Florida (they sing Gospel and I’m really excited), a young couple from a college in Kansas, a group of 7 from Michigan, and Danielle – a girl who was allowed to come alone as a special mission trip before she serves in the Israeli army. I KNOW the Lord has some awesome things in store for this last team and our last week in Costa Rica. It is such a bitter sweet end to a beautiful summer in Talamanca. It’s hard to imagine that this week will consist of many “lasts”: our last time grocery shopping, our last time telling facts of the cloud and rain forests, our last time going to the river, so on and so forth. Please be praying for Roberto and me as we handle this week on our own. Pray that we find strength in God and direction and guidance in every word and step that we take.