Pittsburg Nazarene – July 1
Hola Family and Friends,
Yesterday we left the Score Villa at 7:15 and traveled to a public school and held a VBS with Kindergarten students. What an experience to be able to share the love of Jesus Christ in a PUBLIC school! Our group taught a song to the children and then Pastor Kyle shared the story of Shadrach, Meshac, and Abednigo and Noah with the help of our interrpreter, Debbie and members of our group acting out the story. We were able to spend time with the children, playing, sharing more songs, stories, and coloring activity. It was amazing how we were accepted and how open the staff and children were to our being with them. What had a great impact on all of us was that even with the language barrier we were able to share Christ with these students.
In the afternoon we traveled to the property that Score is purchasing in order to build a new facility to be able to build their ministry here in Costa Rica. What a vision this ministry has! They are stepping out in faith with this project and are prayerfully seeking His leading in their ministry.
The rest of the afternoon was spent shopping for the homeless and putting together sack meals to be handed out later in the evening. After supper we traveled to inner city San Jose and passed out the sack meals and tracts to homeless people. We were safe, but this was definately an experience that put all of us out of our comfort zone. We were able to pass out approximately 125 meals.
Our day ended with group devotions. This is such a special part of all mission trips as the share time is so meaningful.
Today has been a great day, but once again our group was stretched in new areas. We began our day by shopping for food to take to families that live in an area that is referred to as “The Hole.” We had heard from other groups that this was going to be quite an experience and it was. We went into an area in Costa Rica that is unlike any place that most of us have ever been. We were joined by a local pastor that has a unique ministry ministering to the families that live in this area. We arrived at the place where we were to meet these families and they literally live in a hole. We walked down what seemed to be several hundred steps that have been carved or placed into the sides of this incline to a community of homes built of sheet metal, mud, boards, and cardboard. These families live in conditions that most of us have only read about and seen on the news of other places in the world. What was the most amazing part of this entire experience was in meeting the families that this pastor ministers to and seeing the joy in their lives. We discovered women and children that have the love and hope that living for Christ brings. They were truly amazing families and shared their testimonies with us. We went there to “help” them and we came away with their having had a great impact on each of us. It is difficult to put into words what this experience did for each one of us. Hopefully, we will be able to better share with each of you when we get home how much visiting these homes and these families touched our hearts. Please pray for our new friends as many of them will be baptized on Sunday, Julu 19th. What a testimony these people have.
This afternoon we passed out tracts again in San Jose, this was different from Monday since we walked in the rain.
Our day ended with devotions with so many sharing how visiting the families that live in “The Hole” has given each of us a new perspective in how God works in the lives of each and every one of us.
It is difficult to share every detail with you in these brief update opportunities. We will look forward to being able to share all our pictures and experiences with all of you when we return home. We have a big day planned for tomorrow and know that you are praying for us; thanks for keeping us in your prayers!
Lots of Love and Prayers,
First Church of the Nazarene (Pittsburg, KS)
