Hey friends! A little update… I’ve been away for 5 days serving in the community of Namu Wökir (found in the jungle of Costa Rica). Team Mosaic, half of the boys’ team (Elijah, Josten, Nick), my squad leader Philip, and Claire from team Jubilee all collided and became team “Josaigo”.
We camped out in the local church for 4 nights where we did a variety of things for ministry. These 5 days were FULL so I’m going to take you through day by day as well as share a super sweet thing I learned upon leaving.
Wednesday(Day 1): We all packed our bags and headed out for the journey. Rasta (our ministry host) drove us an hour by bus until we reached a river. We were greeted with lots of rain and a cute little blue boat where we hopped on and crossed the river. We all made it across and then jumped into the back of a cargo truck that drove us 30 minutes more into the jungle. We made it to our stop where we then walked about 20 minutes in the rain crossing over 3 bridges…Talk about adventure!! We made it to the church, settled in, and had lunch. That afternoon we all got together and spent some time praying and asking God what His heart was for our time in Namu Wökir. We had LOTS of vision laid out, not only for the community/church but for our team and our own individual hearts as well, which left me feeling reallyyyyyy excited for what was to come. After this, we had dinner, team time, and I was out like a light.
Thursday(Day 2): Over breakfast, we as a team planned out the rest of our ministry, as well as assigned tasks. We spent that morning writing cards, which was fun because they had to be translated from English to Spanish to BriBri (The community’s native language). When we finished, some of us prepared teachings, lessons, practiced for worship, or just hung out and had some sweet quality time with one another. We ate lunch, and then that afternoon we went out into the community to hand out the cards and invite families to the church services we were having. This was another day of adventure…the houses were deep in the jungle so we had to walk a bit (in the rain & mud) to get to them. The house visits were so sweet and so worth the adventure. We got back to the church, had “coffee time”, rested/cleaned up, and then had a church service. Philip spoke about what it means to enjoy/love God. For team time that night, we read the entire book of Revelation straight through…SO GOOD!!
Friday(Day 3): This was our manual Labor Day. We served the church that was hosting us by helping out with renovations that needed to be done. A group of us dug the land to eventually help expand the kitchen and the rest of us painted the outside of the church. This was the BEST manual Labor day I’ve ever been a part of. We as a team had some of the sweetest conversations. We deeply shared our hearts and had manyyyy belly laughs! We all stepped into a deeper level of vulnerability and the fruit from it was GOOD! My friend Hannah was able to paint the church’s name over the front doors and did an amazing job! God is moving through this church and it really was such an honor being able to serve it in this super small way! After we were finished, we had lunch, coffee time, and spent the rest of the afternoon hanging out and preparing. The quality conversations just kepttttt coming!! For team time we did feedback and ended the night in some worship.
Saturday(Day 4): Saturday morning we did kids ministry. A bunch of kiddos came and we played games, did crafts, and talked about Jesus! We ate lunch and that afternoon did youth ministry….a personal favorite! We played games, separated into 2 groups (boys and girls), and sat and talked about what it means to be the church as a woman/man. The girls asked us a bunch of questions and we were able to share our own personal journeys with this topic. Later that night we had a church service where I spoke on the Faithfulness of God. We spent our last night of team time processing through the past few months on the World Race…A good time!!
Sunday(Day 5): We woke up, had breakfast, and got ready for our last church service. Elijah brought a GOOD word. He spoke on Worth and explained how only the blood of Jesus and what He did on the cross can define our worth. After church, we ate lunch, finished packing, and got together to encourage/pray over the pastor and his wife…such a holy moment. We journeyed back, doing all the same things we did to get to the community, and waited for an hour on the side of the road for Rasta to pick us up with the bus.
One word to describe our time in the jungle…Abundant! I’m leaving with a full heart and lots of gratitude for what God has given me in this season. God showed up. He moved and is continuing to move in our departure. The vision He spoke over our time was planted, and from it an abundant harvest is coming.
If you remember from my last blog post, the words that God gave me for the month of April was “An abundant harvest “. As the month is coming to an end, I’ve been thinking a bit about how I’ve seen this word come to fusion. It wasn’t until the end of my time in the jungle that I actually gained a full picture of what this means.
In John 4:34-38, Jesus says to His disciples, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work. Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, then comes the harvest? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest. Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. For here the saying holds true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’ I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.”
If I have learned anything about being a missionary, I have learned that it’s not about me at all. I am continually left so humbled at the way Jesus works in all things. I get the privilege of being used by Him, but by no means is anything that I do actually me. I have seen an abundant harvest all around me, as well as within my own heart… seeds and growth that are now bearing delicious fruit. God is a perfect and very very good farmer. It’s an honor being His “hired hand”. Glory be to God, always!! The jungle story has a very special place in my heart as well as the people in it! 🙂
Isn’t it amazing that no matter where we are – whether home or abroad God can use us! So thankful you are allowing the Holy Spirit of God to make a difference in others’ lives through you. My prayer is that you continue ALL the days of your life – no matter where you are from day to day! I care about you!!!
I’m so glad you wrote a post on your time in the jungle because I was itching to know what you guys did while you were there. I love to hear updates on ministry and this was a really good update, Thanks!
kourt!!!!!!!!!!!! love this day by day breakdown, and the testimony of God’s goodness woven all throughout it.
Kourtney, I so enjoyed reading your blog. It’s obvious the joy and fullness of the Father’s love is in you. Pictures were awesome; thanks for sharing.