This morning started off very hot as the team dove into a devotional about fretting. Together, we meditated on Psalm 37 and talked about how God is a God who provides for his faithful ones and we need to continue to trust in Him not only during this trip, but should be a constant theme throughout our lives.
We enjoyed huevos rancheros with rice & beans and toast with butter for breakfast. While I’ve never had so much rice and beans in my life and for so many meals in a row, but it has been muy delicioso! Every morning, we have also had the opportunity to enjoy incredible Costa Rican coffee. Most of the team may be slightly addicted to it!
Our team along with Pastor Rommel, Fio, Carolina, Valeria, Michelle, and Jimena (who is also a student from a local high school studying English as well as Mandarin Chinese!) lathered on our sunscreen and bug spray to prepare for the day’s work ahead of us.
We met a team from a local church in Pijije, some other members from Mundo de Fe Church, and children from the houses surrounding a local field to do a spring clean-up. This field was very much overgrown with weeds and filled with trash. We spent the entire morning picking up broken plastic chairs, branches strewn throughout the field, old disintegrating newspapers, and different types of plastic scraps. The team had the opportunity to use a machete, hacking away at the tall weeds. Something I meditated on while we spent the morning and afternoon cleaning the field is this idea that sin. Like the trash ruining this field, sin ruins ours hearts and needs to be removed. Some trash was easy to spot, other pieces of garbage were hidden, some fragments had disintegrated and caused rotting, while others when you removed the top layer, revealed even more debris underneath. Like this field, we need Jesus to come and clean us. We need the help of the Spirit to take a weed whacker to our overgrown, unmaintained fields. We need to invite Jesus to come breathe life into our hearts and remove the sin that plagues us, piece by piece. Jesus is willing and has done the hard work of cleaning out all the gunk from our hearts and lives. How amazing is that?
The weather fluctuated between “not-too bad” heat to exceedingly hot and humid. There were times when rain seemed impending, but praise God for moving the rain to allow the team to keep working on the field. It was cool to see the progress the group made in clearing the field in such a short amount of time. In the early afternoon, we marked out the borders of the playing field and everyone joined in a game of soccer.
For dinner, Nathan and Charles prepared creamy egg drop soup with corn and seafood fried rice, respectively, for the team and for our host family. We were excited to be able to share a little bit of our Chinese culture with them. Post dinner, Emily, Pamela, and I had the opportunity to share our testimonies, which were translated by Michelle, Diana, and Jimena.
Please pray for those prone the bug bites, many of our legs are covered in red itchy spots. Please be praying for our VBS preparations for Saturday and Sunday. May He enable His little children who will hear His word, to receive the word with joy. Please pray for boldness to share the gospel during beach evangelism tomorrow. Please be praying for hearts to be softened, for eyes that can see. Please pray for Nicaragua, who is experiencing a civil war right now. May God meet the daily needs of those who call upon His name and that he would make firm their steps. Many are without work in this war torn country. Pray that God would give Mundo de Fe Church in Liberia the wisdom to know how to assist their neighboring country.
In Him,
Cynthia