GOING HOME (:
A bittersweet end to a really really good last month. As I sat in the dark last night eating goldfish in my sweatpants that I probably wore for three days straight I wanted to express to you –
a. how this changed me
b. how god showed UP
c. how thankful I am to have been here
d. how this won’t end when I go home
- Romans 12:2, says “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you might discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect”.
- If you would’ve told me three months ago that this trip was gonna be so life changing for me I wouldn’t have believed you. How I thought it was gonna be and how it went were two completely different things. Through finding my relationship with Jesus, I found myself too. I finally started to understand why I felt the way I did for years, and why I always felt an emptiness. I found power in sharing my testimony, and am so happy it was used in a big way. I felt peace for the first time when it came to letting go, and a need to start over. I felt self fulfillment, a purpose moving forward, and a new love for the world around me. I felt heavy about things that weren’t for the good of the lord, and the want to really start living for him. It’s been one of the best and one of the most challenging parts of this trip. Truly it meant dying to myself and being okay with it. It meant losing friendships that maybe I’m growing out of. It meant being okay with being misunderstood, and not being able to explain it. But with that being said, he took me out of a place that I couldn’t get out of with my own strength. “he refreshes my soul. he guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake” psalms 23:3
- Costa Rica was easily the coolest month of my life. The biggest disaster of a month, the worst, but something I will always miss. We started out this month in the pitch black jungle at 2am, and to sum it up 2 people ate the ground on our first night, my suitcase wheel completely shattered, we probably cried, and it was the first time we got to step in our five star cabin that got luxuries of a toilet that didn’t work, a toilet that overflowed, snake skin, and power that went out basically just when we needed it. We got the privilege to meet Janet (nansters), Khurry, and Nella. They were taking over leading us while Max was in the states (runs this ministry). Khurry (former world racer), Nella (graduate of teen challenge, pro tortilla maker), and Nansters (grandma, max’s dad). the next morning we got to tour around campus, and see what this ministry is about! to begin, we were in the JUNGLE and when I say jungle we were living in the middle of a tourist spot. I will never forget when we all were covered in sweat and paint walking to lunch and dear tourist kevin screamed at us and took a picture asking if we knew what arkansas was:) our walk every morning was long, and there were lots of monkeys, toucans, and sometimes snakes. on campus there is the chocolate factor, which is how this ministry is self sustainable and can make money. the men in the rehab program can work here when they reach a certain point in the program, to learn how to make it, work, sell it, and make profits! the opposite way is dorkus, which is the new women with kids rehab center that we built up and got to open:) And then Max’s house where we spent lots of time playing games, eating too much hot sauce, and taking naps on the floor. The first week we took an hour and a half drive to a place called the Nest. The Nest is focused on a safe place for women who have been trafficked, and it is in the works as well. We went on two Nest trips in our time in Costa, and the first one was the most memorable. We took a boat over the river, and started one of the funniest but worst days of my life. They told us this manual labor day was gonna be hard and we laughed, and shouldn’t have! To put it in a couple sentences, we carried metal roofing and wood planks through a jungle then up a mountain on top of our heads. Kaelyn said (as she’s sobbing) “I think my skull is cracking” and I think that sums it up! Us girls and the men moved a whole tree over a river (we did nothing but be in the way). And as miserable as it was, we have never been closer! And this ministry as intense as it was, was doing something so huge that we were SO happy to have been apart of. This is an all womens ministry that will continue to be a safe and welcoming spot for them, that gives education to their kids, meals, and a hope for a better life. Continuing, ministry here really is saving lives, and i am so incredibly thankful that i was apart of something so huge. i got the privilege to be involved in a ministry called teen challenge, which is a rehabilitation center located all over the world, focused on drug addicts, alcoholics, people on the streets, and bringing them to jesus. here, it is a year long program that’s intensive, but gives them a year free of costs, a place to stay, food, community, work experience and opportunity, and lots of bible knowledge. at the beginning of getting here, we did lots of manual labor at dorkus. dorkus is the new womens teen challenge center that is being built, bringing these women with addictions and kids, off the streets and into a safe place. there is a such a huge need for this, as a huge population of them here have been abused, been trafficked, and have been working in prostitution. we got to be here for the opening, and I am so excited for the future of this! we have spent most of our time at the mens center playing games with them, worshipping with them, and getting to work with some of them! we were really intentional about showing them what it meant to be sisters, brothers, and friends. this center specifically has been going for years, and has many graduates that are leaders now:) everyone at teen challenge is on their own individual walk. as you finish months and gain that knowledge and responsibility, they can go out and start ministering to others with selling chocolate (jungle campus), doing manual labor, and eventually being able to do a mission trip too!! and how they get to this program is the really cool part. a week ago we got on a 5 hr bus ride to san jose, which to put in perspective is a huge hotspot for drug abuse, homelessness, and prostitution. we got to walk the streets both nights from about 10pm to 2-3am. we got to not only share our stories and learn theirs, but share a greater hope with the gospel and with these centers. these streets are dark and they’re hard, but those are the exact people who need to be reached. what we experienced, and who we got to meet wasn’t an accident. these exact people needed it. if they wanted to change their life, we gave them the opportunity to meet us at the bus stop. we were on the bus with 7 men ready to break that addiction, and find that good. they are going into a new year, letting that past go, and choosing what fulfills. i have so much love and compassion for everyone i have gotten to meet, everyone’s story that is so extremely important, and for the lives that are currently changing. and as i get to the end, i am thankful for these three months and what i’m taking home with me.
- so thank you so much for supporting me to get here, and for following along with me! thank you for reading about the amazing things that he is doing in places around the world. but even though he did amazing things here, he does amazing things everywhere we are. going home I don’t want to ever lose sight of this trip, but take it with me everywhere. something that’s hard for me was finding purpose in things that are temporary. for me, meeting and connecting, then leaving sucked. but what I learned is the importance of loving with your whole heart, and going all in. truly if goodbyes are hard then you’re doing it right. thank you to my amazing team who became my bestest friends on this trip. thank you for the hospitality and love that was given everywhere we went. thank you jesus for showing me the good and the purpose in a hopeless world.
“above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins” 1 Peter 4:8
bye bye blog thank u for a fun chapter
