Our team arrived safely on the morning of Decenber 6th and settled into the YWAM base in Heredia. The base is tucked away up in the hills above town on several beautiful acres. It's definitely very peaceful here.
(A view of the main building at YWAM Heredia)
Church Ministry:
Our ministry started right away on Sunday, Two teammates and I got to lead worship for a church service and another one of our students shared a testimony. They were very welcoming and appreciative, It was great to be a part of their community for the morning. I also met a Costa Rican woman there who lived in San Francisco for several years as well as Walnut Creek - the city near and dear to my heart and a place I called home for almost a year. That was an amusing highlight for me. What a small world eh!
Prayer & Evangelism:
On Monday we went out for what was called "The Amazing Prayer Race". We went throughout the city meeting people and learning about life in Costa Rica and Heredia. After getting to know people a little we asked if we could pray for them, and most of them said yes! People seem to be generally more open here than back in the States, We even got to meet the police chief and pray for him after he told us about the issues that face the public and the police department in Heredia, I was really surprised by his openness to talk and how much he welcomed prayer. He said we were welcomed back anytime.
Homeless Ministry:
On Tuesday we got to work with a homeless feeding ministry, which seemed to to be the highlight of the week for most of our team. Most of the men living on the streets suffer with addiction, and many of them have been shamed away from their families and don't receive love or support from them. I met a man who had been in an alcoholic treatment facility that his family was paying for, but because of extremely poor treatment there, he had recently taken to the streets, He asked if I would pray for him, and after a couple of minutes of prayer through a translator, he said that he felt totally at peace. He had been very anxious and unsettled lately, but in that moment, he felt peace. God is so good! All of the men were incredibly thankful for our service, and we enjoyed a time of getting to know them and praying for them. It was a very special time and a blessing to our team.
Serving The Base:
Our last type of ministry while staying at YWAM Heredia was serving the base directly. The base sits on about seven acres of rural land and has gardens, an aquaponics system, and several types of farm animals. Our team really enjoyed working at the base, which included everything from landscaping to milking the goats. Their base takes a lot of work to maintain and they were very thankful that we were able to help out for a couple days.
(The right path leads back to a garden and the horse/goat pens. In the middle are two aquaponics systems.)
One Last Highlight:
During our second week in Heredia we continued to evangelize in one of the cities central parks, I met a man who was handing out fliers for his business, which was selling plots of land for burial. I began to ask him about his life and it turned out that he was a Christian. He immigrated to Costa Rica from Columbia ten years ago and now has a wife and two small children. He admitted that he hadn't been going to church as much as he would like to because he was so busy with work. I was able to pray for him for a few minutes and afterwards he said that he felt on fire and very refreshed. He was so thankful. I could tell that he was truly blessed by our encounter. He said it was just what he had needed. It can be really scary and awkward to walk up to strangers and try to spark a spiritual conversation (especially in a non-native language), but sometimes you can end up totally blessing someone. And even if somebody doesn't receive you well, you can still plant seeds of truth and encouragement that may grow later on. God is good and faithful. If we love Him, we are commanded to love others, not by our own strength, but by His strength. His grace is sufficient for us.
Stay tuned. I can't wait to share about the following week of our trip!
Much love,
- Trevor
