Costa Rica: Expectedly Unexpected

Wow it’s hard to believe this trip is over halfway gone.

For starters, let me tell you a little bit about where I was for the first five weeks of the summer. Jacó is a beach town with awesome food, shops and surf, but it’s better known as the Sodom and Gomorrah of Costa Rica. Prostitution, drugs and alcohol run rampant in the streets. While the views are beautiful, it’s easy to see the darkness that plagues this city.

Our ministry was mainly focused on painting murals in central park and on the hand washing stations scattered along the main road. Every time someone would stop to praise or thank us for our work we’d tell them, “We believe God sees this city as beautiful and we’re here to do our part and help others see it as beautiful too.”

Now I’ll be honest, this was not how I expected to spend my first month of ministry. There were so many days I struggled with feeling purposeless and unproductive. I found myself growing frustrated and burnt out. I had been through so much to get to this point and discovered the result I’d been waiting months and months for to be almost as difficult as the process that got me here.

I could go into the details as to why Costa Rica wasn’t my favorite life experience ever, but instead, let me tell you why it was worth it.

Our daily tasks didn’t include praying for or witnessing to people in the streets, but God opened those doors and provided perfect opportunities.

Our main goal wasn’t to restore broken relationships and damaged trust within the community, but God allowed us to.

We may have set out to witness redemption happen within the city, but instead, we witnessed it within our own team.

So Costa Rica wasn’t what my team or I expected…but I think through everything we’ve all learned to expect God to move in unexpected ways.

Sometimes that means being pushed outside of our comfort zone. Sometimes that means choosing to walk in obedience every day, even when it doesn’t make sense. Sometimes that means being okay with plans falling apart and miscommunication and mistakes and even chaos.

I selfishly wish I had a ton of exciting stories to share with you about my time in Jacó, but the reality is, that’s not what God had in store for me and you know what, I’m thankful.

I had a moment of revelation during our last full week in Costa Rica. My team was debriefing for the day and I was distracted by the disorderly pile of shoes in the walkway. As I was grumbling to myself, the verse in Romans (and Isaiah) that says “how beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news” came to mind. As I pondered over that verse I began to think about how we, as bearers of the Holy Spirit, carry the light of Christ with us wherever we go. Finally, I realized, it doesn’t matter where I am or what job I’m doing, God is shining His light EXACTLY where He wants it in that moment.

Maybe that’s all God brought me here for, maybe that’s what all the waiting and anticipation was ultimately meant to teach me. I still don’t have the perfect answer, but God is gracious and has given me at least a little understanding and brought about at least a little growth.

So as my team and I settle into Antigua, Guatemala and our second month of ministry, I’ll be expecting the unexpected, and choosing to walk in obedience every day!