(This is one of many incomplete blog postings that I finally posted on 1.11.11
So I just got back from two weeks in Costa Rica and Nicaragua on Tues, well Weds morning at 1:30 am. What an incredible time! The people that I went with are amazing individuals. Eleven of us from Joshua House/Vineyard Columbus left on June 15th and arrived the 30th. I only knew three individuals very well on the team before this trip. After two weeks everyone now feels like family.
It was truly amazing all the mishaps that we experienced down there: sickness, missed ferries, broken luggage racks, broken down vans (twice), scorpion bites, and flight delays in Atlanta (twice) just to name a few. Oh I almost forgot the 15 hour van ride to a location that was 7 hours away. But through it all we laughed, joked, smiled, drank horchata, prayed, cried, and worshiped together. A thought was shared at one of our last meetings that joy would be the strength of our team. This was the absolute truth. In the midst of difficulties, there was never a shortage of laughter, joking, and joy!
But it wouldn't be at all accurate to leave you with a sense that the trip was just difficult! All of those things listed above seem like small parts of our journey. For these two weeks, I experienced community and family with 10 other amazing people. To see their hearts for God and love for people was amazing. We all had our own strengths and made unique contributions to the team. Some were exceptionally hard workers, others made it impossible to be discouraged no matter what, some had smiles that lit up your day, while others you knew were constantly praying for the team. It was the body of Christ in action.
And man, we were active. In two weeks, we were able to play with little kids at an orphanage/school for a day, paint a Christian ministry that reached at risk kids, do yard work, lay brick for a medical clinic, paint schools, have a party for 250 kids and parents, pray with many individuals, including two who we know that God healed physically and emotionally. We formed community with the leaders of the Vineyard Palmares in Costa Rica. What an incredible group of individuals who are passionate about people meeting Jesus and furthering the kingdom of God through planting churches.
I could tell so many stories but let me leave with two things that I learned from this trip.
1. The Kingdom of God is best experienced and furthered in and through community.
- This was a lesson that I had been learning through the new community that I have met in Columbus since January, but this really solidified on this trip. What an amazing experience of acceptance and encouragement to be surrounded by people who you have not know for very long, but who have faith in you as an individual. It is great to know that the people that you are serving next to are truly committed to the mission of the kingdom but also committed to relationship with you. It makes any difficulty or experience not only bearable but enjoyable. This is truly the best way to understand what it is to be part of the family of God. This is also the best way to show the kingdom of God to others. Let me see the love that you have for each other. And when you are discouraged, you have a family that is there to support you and encourage you, reminding you of the reason that you are doing all of this!
2. The need for God is truly universal, the hope that he offers is universally relevant, and He is already at work throughout the world. On this trip, I felt that my eyes were open to the needs of a people who had very little on the island of Ometepe, Nicaragua. They were very poor, lived in cramped spaces, and had nothing of what we would comfort "comfort."
