Impact
The past month in Costa Rica
Our trip to Costa Rica was filled with great ministry and adventure. It is so hard to sum up what we saw God accomplished during our time there serving with giveDIGNITY, but here we go.
Our first week was all about relationships.
The jungle village, the people there are craving for a pastor or missionary. We shared meals, worshiped together, prayed for each other, completed construction projects and were invited into their homes. Raphael, an indigenous Indian invited us to hike through the mountains and over rivers 2.5 hours away to his families land. We were the first Americans to be on his families land and we were able to bring them some needed supplies and pray with him and his wife.
Sean Fay, connected with God in such an impactful way that he was able to quit smoking and as of today still hasn’t smoked. Sean is also deciphering a call to return and minister to the people in the jungle village.
Misty Tomosieski, bitterly lost her iPhone, but the sweet part was the relief of distraction from social media & technology. With that out of the way she was able to be fully present to connect with everyone on the team, many new friends & our Lord. Misty hopes to return to work with giveDIGNITY for a summer after high school.
Karie Loar, had been a foreign exchange student in Costa Rica 25 years ago. She had reconnected with her host family in 2009 after 20 years of being out of touch. We were blessed to stay with them for several nights in San Jose. The uncle of the host family holds a high position in the Costa Rican government and is interested in learning more about giveDIGNITY and their impact on the people of his country. Also, the aunt of the host family owns a large sausage company and is interested in giving job interviews to people who complete giveDIGNITY’s bible based job training program.
Our Second Week
The Power of Prayer
Our second week can be summed up by the power of prayer. There were three instances where we prayed and God answered immediately.Seth Sears, the director of giveDIGNITY had kidney stones really bad. So bad he was vomiting from the pain. After twelve hours of constant pain Sean and I decided to go by the Sears house and pray for him. We prayed for peace, healing and time to rest. Then within 30 minutes he went to the bathroom and then fell asleep on his bed. When he woke up he felt completely better.Kacey Brown, a high school girl from Young Life had chills, vomiting and diarrhea and she wasn’t getting any better and we were about to travel 3.5 hours through the mountainous jungle. Again, we gathered in her room and prayed for a fast recovery and it was granted. An hour later she was pack up and in the van ready for our next journey.The Van, fondly named Beast, was taking us to the Beach for a little rest, fun and time to process our missions trip. We were about 2 hours from the city and 1 hour from the beach, basically in the middle of the jungle and I was driving, as I had been the entire trip. When all of a sudden while driving up a hill the van lost almost all power, and the check engine light came on. I shifted into 3rd gear and nothing, shifted into 2nd and nothing, then into 1st and we slowly crawled up this little hill at less then 1 mph. So, I shouted out “someone PRAY”. Sean began to pray aloud and everyone prayed with him. As soon as we all said, “Amen” the check engine light turned off and the van launched forward up the rest of the hill and we never had a problem with it again.
Thank you for your support
Thank you all for your prayers and support though out our Costa Rican adventure. It was encouraging to hear from so many of you during our time there. The Gospel was lived and shared during these two weeks more then I thought possible. Many lives were changed for the better both Costa Ricans and people on our teams. Lastly, The impact is continuing as I keep hearing stories, lessons and future plans among those who were on this adventure with us.
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