Jesus, rasta, and chicken pasta: january ministry!

(I know it is March, but as our time comes to a close here in Costa Rica I wanted to post monthly updates on what day to day ministry has looked like here (through the eyes of other squad-mates as well)! Next is February)

In a tiny corner of the Costa Rican jungle, the sound of Spanish Hillsong Young and Free could be heard. Strobe lights flashed on banana leaves as a bunch of teens and tweens jumped around like frying plantain chips. That’s right. Squad F had just wrapped up a Youth Retreat for the middle and high school students of Puerto Viejo. 

 

We made bracelets. We worshiped! We shared our testimonies. The two day retreat led by ourselves and our local leaders at YWAM was a success. Thanks God! 

 

Here’s a quick rewind of F Squad’s ministry for the month of January!

 

Earlier that week, our squad did sports ministry in an Indigenous village that YWAM had not reached out to before! Kids, teens, and adults alike came from their homes to play soccer with us in the pouring rain, on a muddy field, surrounded by misty green mountains. Rasta, our friendly local YWAM boss, was screaming “VAMOS EQUIPO” the entire time. We were able to go back weekly to keep building relationships with this community. 

 

A few days before that, Squad F evangelized in the streets of another indigenous town called Bri Bri. The people of Bri Bri speak their own language mixed with Spanish, and communication was difficult to say the least, but despite challenging language barriers, we were still able to have incredible conversations and see the Spirit move during our time there. 

 

 

Last week, we evangelized in the beach town of Puerto Viejo. Since this town has a big tourism industry, we’ve been able to talk with people from around the globe in both English and Spanish. What an incredible variety of stories and relationships that have come from evangelism here! Every racer has seen the Lord moving in one way or another. Who knew that God would send us all the way to Costa Rica to minister to Canadians, Americans, Germans, Panamanians, and Ticos all in the same place? 

 

 

The first week we had spent every day helping our YWAM base with projects to serve future YWAM students for years to come. 

 

Some of us painted the bathroom. 

 

Some helped Sammy with a compost home. We found a compost troll (aka Alex Nelson). 

 

 

And the rest helped clear foliage in the jungle to prepare for a new kitchen building and soccer field. We are now machete connoisseurs, and one of us even killed a poisonous snake with said machete! (Lookin’ at you, Rachel Gohener)

 

If we rewind even further, we’ll come to our sweet launch in Georgia and our long travel day to Costa Rica. It is a miracle that we are here and we’re not forgetting it. God has blessed us so much already, it is unreal. 

And, to top it off, in January 2021 F Squad got 100% FULLY FUNDED!!!

 

To continue supporting us on this Kingdom filled Journey, please be in prayer! Here’s some things you can help us out by praying over 🙂

Pray for the hearts of all the people we’ve gotten to share the Jesus with. That the Lord will move in their hearts, that they will encounter the truth and that they would make the choice to step into the Kingdom.  

Pray that the Lord will continue to reveal to us what He is doing in the world and in our own hearts.

Pray for endurance and joy in obedience. 

Pray for our leadership here:

Rasta and Elsy: our patient and passionate YWAM leaders who hail from Columbia.

Steven, Sammy, Connor, Jordy, and Kisha: the kindest YWAM staff ever. We laugh with them endlessly over Spanish/English mistranslations.

Kenz, Milly, and Aaron: our fearless and wise squad leaders. They are truly heroes. 

Kyndal: our squad mentor who was just able to visit us here and loves us so well from the US. 

 

Thank you all so much for your prayers and support! We love and miss you all!

 

Sincerely,

Squad F!