Psalm 147

First of all I want to praise GOD for a safe and fun trip to Nicaragua last week. As a non-resident of Costa Rica it is a requirement to leave the country every 90 days for at least 72 hours (although we have been hearing different stories about that stipulation) in order to renew your passport. The Gammages, the Boulters, Anton and I all needed to leave the country in some way around the same time and we decided to make the trip together to Nicaragua. It certainly was an adventure and I would not use the word "smooth" to describe those travel days crossing the Costa Rican/Nicaraguan border, BUT, after two days enjoying the coastal city of San Juan del Sur we are all back in country safely with 90 more days to legally reside in Costa.

For good or for bad, those of you that know me well know how much I love organization and plans. Especially when I am in charge of something I want things it to go exactly according to my plan. Although (I think, or I hope!) I have gotten better and become more flexible here in this very laid back culture, I have been so humbled the past couple of days by my display of inflexibility. After much anticipation my parents and their group from my home church of RCC arrived on Monday. I think, to be brutally honest, that I really wanted to impress not only my parents but also everyone else on the team who is supporting me and constantly keeping me in prayer while I am here. Luckily, GOD knows exactly how to show me that I am not in charge and that it is only when we rely on his strength, his gifts, his power that we see incredible fruit from our actions. Whatever talents GOD has given me, He has given me in order to bring Him glory, not to edify myself. I think this verse in Psalms captures what I have been learning the past couple of days when I become blatantly aware of my inability to translate perfectly, be an ESL teacher, or organize a medical clinic. "GOD delights not in the strength of the horse, nor is his pleasure in the legs of man, but the LORD delights in those who fear him, and in those who hope in his steadfast love." (Psalm 147:10-11) When I read that I am so convicted! I don't want to end up looking back on my life and see a list of things that I did on my own accord; I want to be a person who loves and fears the LORD with all my heart and can look back and see a list of things I never could have done apart from GOD. That is what I have been thinking lately. Please continue to pray specifically for me to surrender my plans to GOD so that I can allow Him to be in charge. He is way more equipped than I am and things always turn out better than I could ever imagine when the plans of GOD, not of man, are fulfilled. GOD BLESS YOU ALL,

Becca

Divinely planned Coincidence

I have a quick, encouraging story to share that happened a couple of weeks ago during the Ministry Scavenger Hunt. The Scavenger Hunt is a list of ministry related tasks (buy lunch for a homeless person, deliver food to a family in need, pray for a senior citizen etc.) that the two teams strive to accomplish during the day.This are one of my favorite things to do because it encourages us to look for opportunities to be Christ that we otherwise might miss. This is a perfect example of how on any other day I would have passed up this opportunity.
The group saw an elderly woman sitting on her porch and began a conversation with her, asking her name, how old she was (ninety four, by the way!). As we were talking with her on her porch her Granddaughter, Cristina, came out and began telling us about her eighteen year old daughter, Nataly, who had been in a horrible accident in June. Cristina visits Nataly every day in the hospital as her daughter is slowly recuperating. We were able to pray with her that day and get her phone number to call her and check on Nataly. When the next team arrived Cristina took us to her house and told us more about her life and struggle with everything since the accident. Her faith is astounding and despite all that she is going to she continually thanks GOD for Nataly and the miracle that she is alive. The doctors predicted a month until Nataly would be able to return home but.... Nataly came home this Friday! Both Cristina and Nataly were at church on Sunday and I had the opportunity to finally meet Nataly. Please continue to pray for Nataly's recovery; She needs to gain a substantial amount of weight after being on a feeding tube for three months, her mental and physical capacity is just not what is was before the accident, and she still must go through extensive therapies. I feel so blessed to have been able to meet this family and I know that it is by no coincidence. I am so blown away by GOD's timing and his divine providence. He is so good! Thank you all for your prayers!

Stranger in a Strange Land

A few days ago I caught a glimpse of the world of Alajuelita to which I am still a foreigner. Although I have been here for over two months (not an eternity by the stretching of anyone’s imagination), feel comfortable in my routine, and am accustomed to many nuances of the Costa Rican culture, I remain so very naïve to the profundity of the evil present in Alajuelita. I cannot even begin to grasp with my feeble mind everything that occurs beyond all of the hurt and pain that is visible on the surface. I say all of this not in a spirit of discouragement but from a place of acknowledgement. GOD has chosen to reveal more of the struggles that occur here in Alajuelita and I have come face to face, again, with the fact that I am incapable of doing anything about it: the problems are too big, the hurts too all-encompassing, the mindsets too engrained. The only thing I can do is fight against it with prayer. Someone on this last team gave me a verse which has so encouraged me these last few days and I would like to share it with you. “Work for the peace and prosperity of the city where I sent you into exile. Pray to the LORD for it, for its welfare will determine your welfare” (Jeremiah 29:7). I am certain that GOD has called me to Alajuelita with purpose and I will continue to try to love when it is hard and to be the hands and feet of Christ but I am also commanded to pray for the welfare of the city in which I am placed. I can see that GOD is totally transforming Alajuelita; he is casting out demons, converting witches into Christians, restoring ex-prostitutes, saving crack heads from the chains of addiction, and healing the wounds of sexual abuse. But, these problems are SO prolific here that we as a staff and a church family need to be unified, dedicated in prayer and supplication for the welfare of Alajuelita. What is scary to think about for me, as well, is that I am capable of that very same evil apart from Christ. It is only through my life in Him that saves me from depravity. My desire is that GOD will continue to remind me that I must be committed in my prayers for this city because it needs Christ in the same way that I need Christ to save me from my own depraved and evil ways. Please join me in my prayers for Alajuelita, thank you.
Becca