Recap

So much to catch up on….where do I begin? I’ll start with NIKO. Ha. Even just saying the word makes me chuckle in a “glad it’s over, but loved it” sort of way. One of the main parts of NIKO is going into it without knowing what’s to come, so I can’t really describe what it is. But here are the basics: It’s a 5 day camp in the jungle in Talamanca, Costa Rica. You are giving a packing list that includes things like hiking boots, a knife, bug spray, and waterproof bags for your belongings…and that DOESN’T include things like soap, deodorant, toothpaste, etc. :) It’s a tough week. I did it in my DTS, and had the chance to staff it for this DTS. Our students did great, amidst many difficult challenges.

Drinking some refreshing water from a tree branch we cut:

Max caught and killed this boa in the middle of the night when he heard it attacking his chickens...then leashed it and dragged it to our house in the morning to show us. (You can see a chicken not digested yet if you look closely)

Moving on…

After NIKO we went to Puerto Viejo for a week. This is a very small, touristy town right on the Caribbean. Beautiful place, beautiful people. We slept at a local church- here is a picture of all of our stuff strewn about:

Besides being involved in a few church services where we did dramas and gave testimonies, we did some other awesome and different ministries.

Twice, we headed to a basketball court to play soccer/basketball on the beach with the locals. We got to know several of them and continued hanging out with them through the week. We brought ice tea to give out and also paused the games a couple times to do dramas and give testimonies. The students really took charge and were so open in sharing and listening to the people they met.

One of the basketball players watching a drama:

Also, there is a coffee/chocolate/ice cream shop called Caribeans, owned by a couple from the states. They run the shop and build relationships with the locals and tourists, providing a friendly and community focused environment. It was cool to hear their story and to be involved in their ministry. On the last day of our time there, we set up a free bike wash/ free prayer/ free hugs booth in front of the coffee shop. So much fun! Afterwards we had an acoustic concert right on the beach, where many of the people we had met during the week came to enjoy.

At Caribeans:

Free Hugs!

Free bike wash!

One day we created little gifts with some snacks and an encouraging bible verse and went around to about 25 shops to distribute them. It’s so funny to see the reaction on people’s faces when you tell them, “Hey we have a gift for you”. They’re like “Huh?” Totally confused. And we just told them we wanted to thank them for having a place for the tourists and locals, for working hard for the community, etc. That we wanted to just give them a small token of thanks and bless them with prayer. Each business owner was so surprised and thankful.

Another ministry we did was at a bar one night. The whole town is a huge, drunken party basically, each night after 10 pm. So about 8 of us girls went to “Ladies Night” at one of the bars. Not to throw bibles at the girls, just to talk and encourage them. We were able to have conversations with several girls and hear some of their stories. I know God was working in even those simple conversations. I chatted with the bartender for a bit, which was interesting. He laughed in confusion when I turned down his offer for free tequila shots. I told him “No thanks, we’re just here to dance.” And it was interesting: as I sat at the bar and observed the guys working, I saw something cool. A few of our girls were salsa dancing with each other and having fun…and the guys watching had such funny looks on their faces. They weren’t looking the girls up and down, they were just watching with intent curiosity. Like they had never seen such innocence and genuine fun in a girl dancing. I think all they’ve ever seen is drunken girls dancing super seductively, “dropping it like it’s hot” and such. I truly believe God was speaking something to their hearts in those few minutes. Seeing how we were still having fun without being wasted and feeding off the attention of guys.

There is also a place in Puerto Viejo called the Concrete Jungle. It’s a skate park run by a couple missionaries from the states. It’s a beautiful skate park literally surrounded by the jungle. Some of us girls went to a women’s bible study/gathering one night. We hung out with the women and their kids and tie dyed shirts. Very fun. It’s so encouraging to see committed ministries already taking place and get to know the stories of how they came to be.

The water turned off a few days during our stay at the church- so here is our handy dandy "Tippy Tap." It's a hand washing station, soap and all (Pull the strings to tilt the jug, water comes out the carved holes):

And here's me, safely inside my Bug Bivy (thanks to Mistylena). LOTS of mosquitos here, I was very thankful to at least escape them while sleeping:

Overall, a very successful week. I’m loving outreach so far! We are in San Jose til Monday morning when we head North to Nicoya, Costa Rica. We’ll be there til the end of the month. Thanks for your prayers!!