Our second mission team - BWO - came for ten days (July 9-July 19) and I must say I miss them already. It was a group consisting of 30ish students and adults from all over the country. They say that, but really they were all from California. (Nah, jk.. maybe one was from Oklahoma ha). Dearest Lindsay Caddel, I thought of you everyday. Also, we had a group of translators come from San Jose to serve with us for free! (wow!! I miss ya'll and WILL visit soon!) I will say that the Lord knows what we need when we need it, and I needed college kids in my life for 10 days. Not only was this group full of servant hearts, but of life too. I'm telling you- giving your life away does something to the soul. And it was evident in our serving during the day and worshiping together in the evenings. I meet many brothers and sisters in Christ that will always be apart of my experience here in Jaco. If any of you are reading this: know you guys strengthened my heart greatly.... thanks for serving, playing soccer, shopping, eating, surfing, and loving Jesus with me! What a privilege to meet every one of you!
This team has been coming to Jaco for like 5 years now, so for some, Jaco holds a special spot in their hearts. Typically, they bring like a team of 200 people with them. Daniel and Sarah actually came to Costa Rica for the first time with BWO a few years back, and now the rest is history! They break the group up into 'mission teams'. This year we had three teams: a sports teams, a VBS team, and a Cosmo team. The sports team put on a 3 day soccer clinic and another 3 day surf clinic. The VBS had three hour slots in three locations around town. Finally, the Cosmo team went between the VBS and Sport sites and gave free hair cuts and pedicures/manicures. Also, on Friday night the Cosmo team gave free hand massages outside the park. The goal was to minister to prostitutes before or during their evening 'business'. I had the privilege to go out with this smaller team. That will be a whole other blog though, what an eye opening experience...
Daniel and I were able to put our brains together for the soccer camp and what a turn out! I think we had like 60ish kids one day. We held it at the Cancha (field) where we have church, in hopes that kids would want to continue coming and being discipled after the camp ended. Our purpose for the week was: To love God, to love others, and make disciples. Each day we had two main sessions, morning and afternoon. The morning session focused on practicing technical skills, then we broke off for lunch, and the evening session focused on playing small sided games. The kids LOVED this part of the day! We had old jerseys we gave them and split them all up into teams. Having a jersey is a huge deal for some kids. It costs money to play on a team down here, so most cant afford it. During each water break the mission team had the chance to share the gospel with them! The team did a great job and loved on the kids so well- regardless of the language. That was such a joy for me to see. I tell you, this group was full of troopers. Most of them surfed (hence Cali) and not a lot played soccer, but they were more than eager to help out and serve in any way. Not only that, after the camp was over, we got to hang out a few times and play small sided ourselves. One afternoon we put together a team and played some local guys-- that was sooo fun!
Here are some photos from the soccer clinic:
Our whole group
Some of the girls the last day
Where have I seen those jersey's before?!
Awards ceremony where we award this little boy named Juan a trophy for having the best attitude. He was so surprised and all the older kids were so proud for him!
The girls team-- YaY
The team presenting the Gospel the last day
The schedule for surf camp was the same. That was a whole new experience for me. The kids had a great time though and loved getting the chance to be helped up on a board! My favorite part about these three day was with this girl named Puala. Even though 11 she already has had an extremely hard life. Sarah told me she is like the best surfer for her age in all of Costa Rica. I don't think I have meet such cold and callous hearted girl like her. However, we all had the chance to love on her over the days- and "poco a poco" or little by little- I saw the Lord's love soften some of her hardness and darkness began to fade away. She actually began smiling and even rejoicing for other friends. I see her often around town, and I pray that the Lord will continue to water the seeds established by this team over this week with her.
Hang 10:
Learning how to stand up properly
The whole group
Puala
BWO, thank you for being obedient and stepping out on faith to come and serve for 10 days here in Jaco. As Pastor John said, you might feel like you only had a little to offer, but God- in our brokeness- will bless our obedience and action of faith. Know that your work here in the Lord was not in vain. Trust in the One who is in the business of changing hearts! You're missed greatly, and hopefully we can all meet again, if not in heaven!
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