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