As the adventure begins and the missions start God has already made a plan for our team that is unraveling day by day. God has put an amazing group of people together that I get to call family and share the next 3 months with. Everyone of us have different stories, some I know and others I’m so eager to find out.
First day in Costa Rica we jumped right into things by co partnering with a local church helping with homeless ministry. This was like nothing any of us had done before, this church brought over 800 local homeless people and gave them the opportunity to shower, get a hair cut, see a doctor and a dentist, eat and get saved by God. Our team split into groups helping in different areas, my group spent the morning greeting the homeless that we’re going to take showers, after Mary and I chose to wash the feet of the homeless.. I washed the feet of a woman named Hazel, that had been in prison for a while and was in a depressed state because no one had come to visit her while all the other prisoners had someone that came what seemed like all the time to her because she had no one. She felt unloved, denied and hopeless. Although we had a language barrier I prayed for her once I was done washing her feet asking God to make sure she knows she was never alone in prison, she’s still not alone and no matter where she has been or where she is now he’s accepting and forgives. I asked him to wreck her life with his love. When I looked up tears were streaming down her face. This meant more to me than it did to her to know that what I had said she felt and it was hope for her. John 1:9 says if we confess our sins God will forgive our sins and purify us of all unrighteousness. She thought after all the bad she has done he would not forgive her or accept her after that, she felt no one would accept her but God doesn’t just choose specific people to forgive, he forgives everyone. I could see the guilt in her eyes since she has sat down but after the prayer she had the eyes of hope.
I can’t wait for what else God has planned for me and the team!
