Encouraged, inspired and tired!

"The best investment we can make is in the life of someone."-Josh Harris

If you've never been on a missions trip, you may not be able to fully understand the mental exhaustion that comes with it. There isn't a moment in the day that you're not using our brains in new ways, with new emotions and to gain a new understanding. It typically has to be a conscious effort to set time aside to turn your brain off. On top of the mental exhaustion, this team has been working HARD for one full week now. Between the worksite twice a day and nightly VBS, they haven't even had a chance to go in the pool! We've had the past two days to find a little time to rest but I know they'll be needing prayers for extra strength this as we go into our last 3 days here.

Saturday was our ziplining day and it was absolutely perfect. I've had a lot on my mind and this was something that took zero planning, zero thought and released the endorphin's that I've been craving. It's been really neat being able to watch each individual on the team come out of their shells this week and it really showed at the zipline. Gustavo used to be the operations manager of the canopy so we brought him along as a guide for the day. He brought his daughter Ari, who is one of the most adorable kids I've ever met in my life. Tavo took the time to show us every tree and plant in the area and explain it's purpose while leading us through the 12 ziplines above the treetops. I believe the highest platform was 200 feet high and the longest zipline was over 2000 feet long and takes 25 seconds from beginning to end. That is one fast zipline! I remember the last time I was in CR and on a zipline, I had a slower pulley and found myself having to spin around to pull my self to the end of the line. On Saturday they must have dipped mine in grease before I started because I could not slow down!! I'd pull my hand down on the line and still sped as the guides gave me the "SLOW DOWN" signal before getting to the end. Each time I reached the end, the guides would laugh about how fast I was going and once my heart rate returned to a normal pace and the fear of knocking everybody off of the platform went away, I was laughing too! I was lucky enough to be directly behind Tavo and Ari in line and was able to hear his knowledge about what we were seeing in the jungle. Not to mention what a blessing it was to watch him and Ari interact! First of all, how incredible is it that Ari is 6 years old and goes ziplining through the rainforest with her dad? Secondly, he is a true man of God and I love seeing him guide her and shower her with love in everything they do. There's a lot of messed up parenting books and parenting styles in the world and it's neat to see Tavo and Andrea set such a good example for their kids.

For lunch we decided to go to a restaurant that's owned by a member of Radical Life Ministries. They have a full buffet and you can choose whatever you want + a drink for $5...total. I heard several people say that that was the best food they've had since they arrived last week! After lunch we came back to the villas to take a short break before going to the Youth group at 4:00 Our team has really bonded with the teens at Radical and they asked if we'd like to join them for their meeting, which meant they'd be at the church from 4:00-9:00 that afternoon/evening. As soon as I dropped the team off, I went back to make sandwiches for dinner and work on the lesson for the evening. Pamela asked if I'd teach the children's ministry lesson during the service and provided a 5 page lesson guide...in spanish. I know enough spanish to get by but to teach the kids about God's abundance and what it means to drink from His water was a serious challenge. I'd asked Josh that morning if he wanted to co-teach with me because the combination of our vocabulary would be better than either of us taking it on alone but we still had minimal time to plan.

When I got to the church, I really gave it up to God and said that if He really wanted me teaching the lesson I'd give it my all but had a feeling that the kids would leave thinking that I was trying to teach them about water... or swimming... or something entirely unrelated. I've formed a strong relationship with a girl, Paula, who is on the worship team and has a heart for the Lord. I (half) jokingly asked her if she wanted to be a teacher for the day and she was honored that I'd even ask her. We immediately started planning, getting the room ready and writing memory verses on the whiteboard. I can't even begin to explain how special it was not only to spend time with Paula but being able to talk to her about life. As I mentioned, I've had a lot on my mind and was having a tough day on Saturday and God really opened the door to talk with Paula about everything that's been going on. Only He could have planned it that she was going through some of the exact same things and we stayed in the locked childrens' ministry room talking for almost an hour. She's been a true angel and I feel like I've met my sister who I was separated from at birth. I had another moment of realization when I realized that I wanted to be in ministry with her forever and when I told her that, she said she'd go wherever God wanted her to be but has a heart for missions. She's grown up on this river with minimal money or resources and where many would find a way to be angry with God or lose faith, she's gained faith and an understanding that God will always provide. Paula changed my heart that evening and although she's many years younger than me, I look up to her in more ways than she'll ever know. Whenever we leave, the girls go to everybody and give gigantic hugs and kisses with pretend tears and a big dramatic show, followed by giggles and caio's. This night we left and when I hugged Paula, she said "you're my best friend." I've only ever heard her say a few words in English and they have a very thick accent, which made this even more special. This "ciao" had real tears and while my heart felt like it was filled to the seams, it also felt like it was breaking as I was walking away from my angel. I'm crying even writing about it now! Dawn, who witnessed the separation, said "that's really hard." I wasn't sure what she was referring to, and when I gave her a look of confusion she said, "giving away a piece of your heart like that." What a profound and undeniably true statement. You can talk about the unconditional love that comes with missions all day long but until you feel it you have no idea what an intense feeling it is to have to leave the people you've truly given your heart to, no matter where you are. When you come on a short term mission trip, whether it's been addressed as this or not, your sole purpose is to love. You discover a type of love that we don't always give or receive in the States. If it is discovered it may be protected or come with baggage, but hardly ever do we love without the fear of being hurt. In missions, it's a safe love and there's no reason to hold back because you're leaving at the end of the week. The hard part about such a love is the pain you feel when you have to leave and it happens each and every time.

When I left, Paula was trying to say something to me and I couldn't translate what she was saying so I had her write it down for me to translate later on. The letter translated to, "Do you want to know how much I love you? Count the stars and you will know the result. I love you so much that it is impossible to know because you can't count the stars." Wow.

Sunday was another day away from the worksite and Josh wanted to take the team to a waterfall. Gustavo said he knew of a waterfall that's off of the beaten path and said he'd join us with Andrea and their two girls. It was about a 40 minute drive, the last 20 minutes being all dirt roads and sooo worth it! We hiked for 20 minutes through unpaved trails to get to a hidden waterfall back in the jungle. There were three levels of pools within the waterfall and in order to get to them, we climbed the rocks on either side of the water. It just blows my mind to know that there's something so beautiful hidden deep in the middle of the jungle, waiting for people to find it. The second and third levels each had a perfectly scooped out pool with conveniently placed platforms for jumping. We spent the morning jumping off of the cliffs into the pools, having a pb&j picnic and climbing around God's creation. By the end of the day, I felt like I used to feel after a long summer day of playing when I was a kid. We played so hard it was hard to walk and open our eyes at the same time. After leaving there, Tavo took us to a beach on the way back where we played with sea spiders and tried to stay awake!

Today the team is back at the worksite, working on finishing the work on the house before we leave! VBS ended on Saturday night so they'll have some time this afternoon to rest. There are great things happening down here and we feel your prayers...keep them coming!

Blessings