Take Up Your Wood Plank

We have officially been in Costa Rica for a week now. Let me start by saying God’s creation is truly something else here in the middle of the jungle. I’ve seen capuchin and howler monkeys, a coral snake, a sloth, bats, scorpions and some friendly horses all right around our cabin. We are staying and working with a ministry called Teen Challenge near the Limon and Puerto Viejo area. Teen Challenge is a Christian rehab program for recovering addicts of all ages and there are thousands of programs across the world. The program here in Costa Rica teaches its participants how to make and sell fresh chocolate from the cacao plants, how to do concrete and construction work and other skills that build the foundation for future independence.

I can confidently say that this ministry is very important and very special. Right now our main form of ministry is manual labor. We have the beautiful privilege to do the finishing touches of painting, landscaping and other final steps to finish the new Women with Children’s center here for Teen Challenge. There is already a Men’s Center and a Women’s center, but the leader of the ministry here, Max, has found that women with children or who are pregnant on the streets need a separate area for their rehabilitation. The work is hard but so rewarding to know that we are contributing our labor to a home that will protect and raise up generations of women and children who know Christ. We are also working with The Nest Ministry (thenestcostarica.com). The Nest is located on the indigenous land of the Bri Bri tribe and is a shelter and program for the children in the community who have endured sexual abuse. James and Carina, the founders of the Nest, have the most beautiful story and their heart for the Bri Bri people is raw and passionate. I think it’s amazing how out of His love to bring His children back to Himself, God uses sinners like us to reach remote people groups from all over the world. Our team helped them move lots of construction materials across the river and up a large hill to the location of the Nest where houses are being built to shelter the children. This was the most physically demanding and humbling day of my life. There were a lot of times that I wanted to vomit or scream a very bad word (I did say some bad words). I hate being told to take a break but when my teammates convinced me to turn off my pride and just rest I broke down. I sat crying in a banana tree forest by myself staring at the massive sheets of metal roofing that I was to carry up a violently steep hill, wondering, “What the hell am I doing here?” I prayed fervently for strength, joy or anything just as long as it wasn’t my own. I came to the realization that operating out of my own love or joy or strength is just ugly. I’m still learning how to fully lay down my pride and just seek rest in the Lord but all I know is I want people to see a whole lot less of me and a whole lot more of Him. God graciously picked me up and carried me through the rest of that day. Our whole team went through some ups and downs but in the end we rallied together to complete the task set before us knowing our labor was not in vain. “Therefore my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain” 1 Corinthians 15:58. As we carried up planks of heavy, moist wood my leader, McKayla, referenced the verse where Jesus tells us to take up our crosses and follow him. This completely shifted my perspective. It’s not about me and it never was. As my shoulders felt like they could fall off and I had splinters and kept slipping in the mud I thought, if Jesus carried that cross for me I can carry this for Him and these children. Jesus carried that cross after being whipped, spit on and ridiculed by the exact people He was about to be crucified for. For me and for you. Our sin put Him on that cross. But Jesus still endured knowing that His death and resurrection would reconcile us back to the Father. McKayla also quoted this verse from Hebrews 12:2 which stuck with me that says, “…looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.” The job has already been completed by what Jesus did on that cross so we can live joyfully in the power of His resurrection now. I thank the Lord for humbling moments like these and teammates who bear with my the whole way. What a gift and privilege that I can serve Him and be apart of building up this ministry that will rescue so many children for the horrors of sexual abuse. Be praying for this ministry and their new projects.

The days that aren’t manual labor, we have the privilege of spending time with the men at the Teen Challenge men’s center called the Master’s Workshop. What a sweet time and God is so real. We get to spend Thursday nights eating and worshipping with them and Sundays we have church and lunch with them and spend the day talking and enjoying games. There are men there ranging from the ages of 19-65 and they are all such men of God. Listening to their testimonies it’s just so evident that God is moving. What else could cause a drug addict on the street to become so on fire for the Lord, filled with such biblical knowledge and such a heart to serve and give. Their love and joy and dependence on the Lord is admirable and fascinating to watch. This is the first rehab program I have seen that it’s patients want to stay and work at the facility because of the hope and joy that they have found there in the Lord. Not only have they been teaching me so much about God but they have also taught me how to play Dominoes and for that I will forever be grateful. 

This has been a hard week of being stripped of what I thought was my identity, but there have been countless beautiful moments that God has graciously given in the midst of a hard season. Whether it was getting to read at the beach after hard labor days or getting to jump in the river in Bri Bri, there’s abundant life even when you’re being broken down. 

Thank you for listening.