Clear Skies, Bright Eyes

Upon returning to the La Fortuna area from Media Queso, I changed quickly and headed to practice with the girls’ soccer team. In my four months away, I had continued in communication with the coach, Esteban, as well as some of the girls. Esteban was diligent in providing me with updates on the girls each step of the way, each message filling a piece of my heart in knowing that they were still working hard, while being instilled with qualities that transcend the world of soccer. As it became clear that God was giving us the pieces to organize and run these soccer camps, Esteban and I began to talk about what this could look like. With excitement, Esteban continued to reassure me that he and the girls were on board and were willing to help with anything we needed in facilitating soccer camps and he helped me in suggesting various locations to reach out with this common love language of soccer. We also discussed the opportunity for he or one of the girls to share a piece of their testimony to encourage these kids beyond the realm of soccer, and just as in Media Queso, connecting the relationships we were forming to our faith and the true reason for our visit. It is truly amazing how God goes before and behind us, laying out each piece of the puzzle. My heart was full with the vision of this local soccer team bonding with the team coming from the States, while serving the local kids and sharing the love and message of Jesus through the joy and fun of soccer. What could be better, right? As a little foresight into this story, this whole soccer camp thing was a guinea pig trial, so the image I just painted wasn’t exactly how it played out, BUT there was surely beauty in each step of the way. Esteban ended practice that night with a reminder to the girls about the camps that we would be running and requesting their help when available. 

After a good night of rest and some final preparations the next day, we headed down to the airport to greet our team flying in from North Carolina. A few minutes after midnight, they found their way out of the airport where Jeff and I were eagerly waiting to greet them. Of course, Tori was the first one I saw, and the only, until I got a long overdue hug! I was then able to meet and greet the other five members of the team, before loading up the vans, handing out some snacks and waters for the ride, and hitting the road to La Fortuna. We arrived at Camp Casi Cielo around three in the morning, so everyone filed off to their cabins with a brief orientation and a reminder not to flush the toilet paper down the toilet (a good thing to know if you travel to Costa Rica!). 

The majority of the next day was dedicated to fellowship within the team. After a morning filled with camp orientation, team bonding, a visit to the local farmer’s market, some free time to read through the first day’s devotional, and a cook-out down by the river, we made our way to a location with some WiFi. Once again, God had perfectly placed another piece of the puzzle. During my year in North Carolina, God had crossed my path with a man named Roy, and to make a long story short, I now know both Roy, and his wife Donna as dear friends. This couple carries so much wisdom, among much else, and have truly committed their lives to our Lord and His call for them to teach. For a few months now, Donna, Roy, and myself have been meeting via video calls and what seemed to start as discipleship, has developed into so much more, including an incredible friendship. I am frequently reminded of how perfectly God crossed our paths and as the trip was approaching, I felt as though Donna and Roy had a place on this team too. On the team’s first full day in Costa Rica, we were able to gather around the computer and spend some time with Donna and Roy fellowshipping, praying, and being encouraged through their words. This time with Donna and Roy was such an amazing kick-start to our spiritual walk as a team in the week together, as it was a conversation frequently revisited in our daily devotionals and discussions. We were able to spend the evening orienting the team to town and relaxing in the river, before enjoying our first dinner at the camp prepared by our amazing cooks, likely containing some form of beans and rice. We spent the rest of the evening discussing the first devotional, which focused on opening our hearts to what God had for each of us throughout the week, being reminded that we were all there for a purpose. With this devotional, I was also able to share something that I had recently heard. The pastor at my church back home shared that he was listening to a different source, and the following question was posed: “If you had to describe Jesus in one word, what word would you use?”. One man responded, “Relaxed.” Relaxed?! I have always imagined Jesus running around trying to keep up with all of our missteps, orchestrating our next steps, or trying to keep our fire burning, so to speak. The word “relaxed” had never even crossed my mind, let alone, be my only word to describe Him. However, the more I stepped back and read about Jesus in scripture, the more I understood that man’s answer. Jesus is the definition of relaxed and that can be seen time and time again in scripture, as well as in our daily walks with Him. I shared this experience with the team in hopes that it would encourage each of us to simply slow down and be with God throughout the week. 

In reflecting on the March trip, one of the main things I felt pulled to enhance was the team’s prayer life together. We had prayed together at meal times and surrounding the devotional discussions, but a lot of our prayer time seemed to be on our own. Personally, I saw God answering prayer in the details every single day, so on this trip, I was encouraged to share these prayers and praises as a team; to watch God answer these prayers together and energize us through our praise to Him. In March, myself or someone on the team would share a short story that associated with the day’s devotional after breakfast in the morning. However, on this trip, we took that time to share in a “popcorn prayer” as a team before jumping in the van and facing whatever He had next for us. This change, although it may sound small, was immense. We watched God answer prayer, such as four dry days to work on Martha’s house (remember, this is the middle of the rainy season), and we felt the energy run through our circle as we thanked God for each opportunity to love on others and so much more. Praying in the morning also seemed to encourage and remind us to pause to pray elsewhere, such as in the van on the way to a soccer camp or with Martha and her family before starting the days project on the house. Words can’t describe the moments that Martha led us in prayer standing in the middle of her home, joined hand-in-hand with she and her family; absolutely overwhelming. Among all else, taking this time to pray together in the morning, reminded us to slow down and be present with the Lord throughout the day, just as we had discussed in the first devotional. 

Saturday morning, the team woke up refreshed from the lack of sleep on the previous night and ready to jump into our first soccer camp. Per usual, in an attempt to keep this story short, I’ll summarize in saying that the first two soccer camps were the definition of guinea pig trials. We anticipated the first camp to be our largest based on location and the advertising we had done by hanging flyers throughout the town a few days before the team arrived…wrong! Lesson number one: advertising and schedules in the United States work much differently than in Costa Rica. Later in the week, we had much more success in taking flyers door to door within an hour of the camp start time. The second day we showed up to a field occupied by a full morning of scheduled soccer games… strike two. Lesson number two: sometimes God’s plan is different than the itinerary. Almost immediately, we, as a team, knew we were supposed to be somewhere else that day. After some thought and prayer, we decided to head to Jaurri, the village in which Martha’s home is located. The group of us that were involved in the soccer side of things jumped out of the van at the soccer field as the others continued onto Martha’s house. With some personal door-to-door invitations, thirty kids joined us for a few hours of soccer, even playing straight through a brief downpour. A good friend of ours, Alison, was able to join our team that day and gladly jumped on the opportunity to share her testimony with this group, as well as facilitate interaction between our team and the many new faces. The part of the team that went to Martha’s house was able to install her toilet and begin the relationship building process with the family, simply through the smiles on their faces. It surely wasn’t our plan A, but without a doubt, it was God’s plan for us on that very day. We wrapped up the weekend by attending a service at Rompiendo Limitus as a team and then heading into town for dinner. In three short days together, this team was forming an incredible bond which was so evident through the many bouts of genuine laughter coming from our table that night. 

The bulk of our work and busiest of days began bright and early on Monday morning. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday were all structured very similarly in that our team would wake up, enjoy breakfast together after a quiet time, gather for prayer, and then jump in the van on the road to Martha’s house. We would work at the house from roughly nine in the morning until noon, before stopping to eat lunch prepared by Sandra, a friend of ours from Juarri. Around one, we would head back down to the house and then myself and whoever was helping with soccer camps for the day, would jump in the van and head towards that day’s location, with a pit-stop to pick up some of the soccer girls and Esteban. The team at Martha’s wrapped things up around four-thirty on most days and the soccer camps were typically done by five. We would all reconvene back at Camp Casi Cielo with a little time to relax and clean up before dinner, which was followed by our daily devotional discussion. Yes, it was a very busy stretch of days, no matter which location you were in! On Thursday, we took the day to recuperate and regather as a team with a little free day, which consisted of an ATV tour in the morning and local hot springs at night. Feeling a little rejuvenated, our team woke up Friday morning ready to tie up the loose ends at Martha’s house and I had the opportunity to play with the girls’ soccer team one last time before heading back to the States. 

Now that you have the big picture of our time throughout the week and I’ve actually been somewhat successful in making it a short story, let me jump back and point out some of the details that can’t be overlooked in all of this. First of all, Martha’s house. By the end of our time on Friday, Martha’s home had a completely new electrical circuit, with greater power that was also grounded, so they will likely not be left without power for months in the case of a storm. The house now stands with a brand new hole-less tin roof, tested by the rain, as well as a newly installed toilet and utility sink.

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The opportunity to serve Martha and her family, and not only see the results of these completed projects, but to see it through the lens of the relationships we had built with the family, is just simply overwhelming. I can’t even put words to these relationships other than to say that in the first days, the kids wouldn’t even peek at us from behind their mom’s leg and on the last day they wanted to jump in the van with us. In coming and going so frequently with the soccer camps, I was able to see the house project from a whole different perspective. Yes, I was involved and helped where I could when I was on site, but similar to my experience in March, I had the opportunity to step back and see how perfectly God had put every single detail together yet again. The work we were able to complete as a team would not have been possible had we been missing one single person from the equation. On the last day, after playing in the game with the soccer girls, I returned to the work site as the team was still hard at work. I had the opportunity to sit with Martha and her daughter, and simply fellowship. They asked me about each member of our team, such as what they did and about their families in the states. They inquired about who had been to Costa Rica in the past and who they may have the opportunity to see again. They sincerely wanted to know each person and were so eager to hear every detail. As our time came to an end, we gave Martha a card to thank she and the family for their hospitality, including cake and ice cream that they were ecstatic to share. Martha responded with great thanks, and as Jeff and I translated for the team, she revealed for the first time that she had been having dreams of Americans coming to help her with her home for the past four years; wow. 

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As I mentioned, the soccer camps were a guinea pig trial. We ranged from two kids to thirty-five kids at the camps. Each morning, as a part of our popcorn prayer, we would pray that God would bring whichever kids needed to be loved on a little extra that day, and we trust that that is exactly what happened. Even with the great variation in numbers, I saw the camps as a great success. There are so many things that we learned to carry forward, such as how to advertise and which activities the kids enjoy the most, and there is certainly great potential in using soccer to bring kids together for a greater purpose. For me personally, these soccer camps highlighted something else too; the soccer girls. There were a few days that I went to the soccer camps alone and the rest of our team remained at Martha’s to work for the afternoon. The girls’ and Esteban were so faithful in joining me day after day, even in knowing we may only be working with a few kids. Not only were they physically present, but their true joy shined through to be a part of what we were doing together in their own community. They helped in walking door to door, setting up the camp, breaking the language barrier, and just being involved with the kids that showed up. It was so amazing to see how well they responded and how diligent they were in facilitating these camps. Through this time together, I was also able to continue in building relationships with the girls, while work on my Spanish. Just as in Media Queso, with the boys coming along my side to work, this showed me their acceptance of me onto their team; into their community.  

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Friday night, our last night at the camp, we built a little camp fire and circled around for our closing devotional discussion. Throughout the week, we had looked at how God so freely extends His grace, mercy, and love to us. He chases us with His mercy, hands out grace without chains, and lavishes us with His love. We talked about how God calls us to Him and gives us everything we need to live a godly life. We reflected on our purpose to live as a reflection of the grace, mercy, and love exemplified in Jesus and about how God can use the ordinary in extraordinary ways. On Friday night, we closed by discussing the great commission and what this would look like in returning back to our respective homes, with the lens of what we had learned throughout the week, both through the devotionals and our experiences. Tori pulled out her guitar and closed the night with a song of worship. Smiles of genuine fellowship surrounded the final sparks of fire as the night grew dark.

Another trip had come and gone, but once again, God’s presence couldn’t go unnoticed in every single detail. In the end, hearts were changed, relationships were made, and love was given freely.