God's Love is at Work

I can't believe how fast my trip has gone. I only have a week left in Shiroles and I'll be home in less than two weeks. I have loved living here and experiencing a slower paced way of life; working hard and spending lots of time with friends and family. I have loved living in a culture where the main priority is relationships, rather than busyness or tasks that need to be completed as the main priority. 

I have enjoyed getting to know my host family and being absolutely blessed by their friendship and how they take care of us. 

I've very much enjoyed living life with them. Going to church with them, going to a birthday party, a funeral, their bible school classes, swimming in the river with them and just hanging out at home, playing Uno, chatting and watching tv together. 

I have learned so much while being here, but I've also been wondering if we have made any lasting impact on the people around us. I've been wrestling with this question during the past week or so. 

In a letter that I got from home from my grampa, there was something he said that was really encouraging. He said, "Plant the seed. You might never see the fruit, but the seed is planted. The Holy Spirit will do the rest." This was a huge comfort to me. 

As I thought about what my grampa wrote, I was reminded of 1 Corinthians 3:6-8 where Paul says,

"I planted, Apollos watered, but God gives the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor." 

Sometimes we plant the seed and other times we water the seed. This does not guarantee us that we will see the fruit of this seed. There is much growth that happens under ground before the seed sprouts, matures and bears fruit. This is true for people as well. God could be doing a great work in a person's heart, but we may not see the fruit of it. This doesn't mean that nothing is happening, but rather that growth is happening under the surface, in the heart and soul. 

This is comforting to remember, especially on short term missions trip, where we aren't necessarily going to see what impact we have on the people around us. This is something that I've been thinking a lot about recently and has become a great comfort to me. Because even though I may not see how we are impacting the community around us, I know that I can trust God.

Psalm 71:5 says,

"For you, O Lord, are my hope,

my trust, O LORD, from my youth."

I can trust Him that He is at work. And I know He is at work in me. As well as hearing the stories of the families that have been hosting us, I know without a doubt that God is very active in this community. It has been such an honour to be able to see a little glimpse of what God has been doing in these people's lives. Many lives have been changed by God's grace and power. And I know that we've made a difference in our host families. The relationships that we have them make that evident. 

Even though there is a difference in culture, language and world view, God is the same God and His love transcends all of these differences. Because we are all His children, and He loves us all with a furious, jealous love. And it's God's love that is at work in all of us, if we allow Him. 

A Thankful Heart is a Happy Heart

(I am thankful for the rain and how it cools everything off... Even if it floods like crazy! Haha) 

I've been thinking a lot about thankfulness over the past week or so. What I think it incredible is that something so simple could be so powerful. 

I looked up the word "thanksgiving" in a concordance and there were a whole pile of verses, but these were some of the ones that stood out to me: 

Ephesians 5:4, "Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving."

Philippians 4:6, "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God."

Colossians 2:6-7, "Therefore as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving."

It is clear that living with a thankful heart is very important. It's important in what we say, and in how we pray and in how we walk as a Christian. I think it's safe to say that in everything that we do, whether word, thought or deed, we should do so out of thanksgiving. When we give thanks to God, we put our attention on God and all that He has done for us and is doing for us. It helps to give us a right perspective. Once we start looking for what we can be thankful for, we start to see more of how God is providing for us in the day to day things. Things that if we're not looking for them, can be easily over looked. 

I also looked up the word "thanks" in the concordance and was given many reasons throughout the Bible to give thanks to God. Here are a few: 

1 Chronicles 16:34, "Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever!"

1 Corinthians 15:57, "But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."

Ephesians 5:20, "Giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ"

Colossians 3:17, "And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him."

Sometimes I catch my thoughts drifting to worries or to things that have made me upset and it is so easy to just sit in that place. But what lifts our eyes from our inconvenient or uncomfortable situation is thankfulness. Fixing our eyes on Jesus with a thankful heart produces in us joy. That's what I want in my heart! Joy in abundance. 

Vida Abundante

"Still waiting for anything but now." This is a lyric from a Stellar Kart song that has come to mind this week. I think that this kind of thinking can plague our minds if we're not careful. Always waiting, always striving for what comes next. Always trying to get to the side that has the greener grass. "Always waiting for tomorrow" as the songs goes. Unfortunately I find that I am guilty of this a lot of the time. In the months leading up to this trip, I couldn't wait for it. I thought about it a lot and just wanted to fast forward those months so I could go to Costa Rica. I found it hard to be content where I was and hard to live in the moment. Now that I am here, in Costa Rica, I find that when I have time to think, my thoughts often drift to the future. I think about what it's going to be like when I get home, I think about seeing my friends again and finding a job and starting school. I think about all the good things that I get to go back home to. 

Thinking about the future in and of itself is not bad, but when it consumes your thoughts and mentally takes you out of the present, then I think it can be bad. 

And so, I am faced with a choice. Everyday I need to choose to be in the moment. It comes back to choosing to be intentional; I need to chose to live in the present and keep my mind in the present. The time for me to go home will come soon enough and living here is a once in a life time deal. And honestly, I love it here in Shiroles. I love the way of life and the people. I love the food and the community. So why is it so hard to live in the present? I think because from a very early age we (in North America) are conditioned to never be satisfied. Just watch tv for a few minutes and you will see commercial after commercial of products that claim to make your life better, more fun or easier if only you buy the product. We live in a nation of materialism and consumerism. Where abundance and extravagance is always better. (I am speaking in general terms, I know not everyone thinks like this, but this is what I see that is largely portrayed through media) This is where North America largely differs from rural Costa Rica. 

I have learned so much through living here. I've gained a new perspective on what it means to live in abundance and to live in the moment. 

At first glance you probably wouldn't say that the people in Shiroles live in abundance. Most houses are small and simple, built out of cement or wood, with a tin roof. The main street is very small with only a police office, a grocery story, a book store (that has no books... I'm not sure what they sell) and a small restaurant.

Yet once you spend time here, in the community and with a family, you will see that they aren't lacking. Rather that they do live in abundance, just not how North America would define abundance. There is not an abundance of money, or stores, or shopping, or electronics, etc. There is an abundance of something much greater. Here in Shiroles the people live in an abundance of genuine relationships and community. There is also an abundance of joy and faith. They may have less things, but they have an abundance of what truly matters. They live with intentionality. They're not in a rush, constantly running and busy, so they take the time to stop to talk to friends when they're walking somewhere. Time spent with family is a high priority. I have also seen an abundance in faith here among the Christians in Shiroles. God has been working here in great ways and it is incredible to see how He has been working in individual lives as well as in the community as a whole. I know I have a lot to learn from this community. To be content with what I have and where I am at. To be intentional in my friendships and to not allow busyness to drive me.

Living here has given me a lot to think about. 

Let My Life Be the Proof

(This is my little 8 year old host brother)

I think now I'm starting to understand more about the idea of "living your mission." It made sense to me when we talked about it in training and I understood it on an intellectual level, but I hadn't experienced it before, so I didn't know how it felt or what it looked like practically. 

Earlier this week I was thinking about our time here and what we've done and it didn't seem like we were doing a whole lot. We had just been living with host families and helping at the school with yard work and in the kitchen and the chocolate factory with cleaning the foyer because the factory part was closed all week. We haven't done kids programs or building projects, which are activities you would normally associate with missions trips. So, I found myself asking the question, what is the purpose of our group being here? And, what is my purpose in being here? 

In one of my previous blog posts I ended with this statement: 

"So instead of asking "What will I do?" now I'm asking "How will I live?"" 

I was reminded that we are here to live. And the "what" that we are doing is not as important as "how" we are doing it. 

As Paul says, 

"If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don't love, I'm nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate. If I speak God's Word with power, revealing all His mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, "Jump," and it jumps, but I don't love, I'm nothing. If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don't love, I've gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I'm bankrupt without love." (1 Corinthians 13:1-7 The Message) 

God continues to bring this passage to my attention again and again and again. The more I read it, the more it sinks in. Love is the lifeline of Christianity. Without love, our churches, our organizations, our bible studies are nothing. Without love I am bankrupt, no matter what I do, what I say, or what I believe. 

This is why we need God to work in us and through us, because He is love (1Jn 4:8) and apart from Christ we can do nothing. (Jn15:5) We need Him working in us and through us to complete that which He has called us to, because apart from Him I can do nothing. 

So, Why is my group here? 

To allow God to work in us and through us; to love others, to listen, to learn and to be open to His work. 

We are here to share and experience life with the people in Shiroles. To experience God in the daily things like doing chores, helping our host mom make supper, and playing with our host siblings. We are here to love and to learn. We are here to live our mission.