From roughly Nov 6- Dec 6 my squad and I stayed in Jaco Costa Rica. Jaco was a tourist magnet, and everywhere you looked you could see colorful shops and restaurants, surfers, and beautiful beaches. Beneath all of the beauty though you could see poverty, prostitution, and drug abuse on every corner.
During our time there my squad mainly worked with light post painting. Teams of us would go out everyday with paint kits and paint light posts and murals around the city. Not only would this ministry literally brighten up the city with pictures, but every single time we would go out we would meet the homeless community and build relationships while painting, or the sex workers on the street would pick up paint brushes and paint alongside us.
The very first week Gap I was in Jaco there was a homeless ministry event for 3 days in the city. Anyone was welcome and they would be fed hot meals, have places to exchange old clothing for new, and to take a shower. There was also a place to share stories of their lives with the people there, make art, and play games like soccer or checkers.
Walking into the event was overwhelming to say the least. It was the first time I realized what a language barrier looked like in action. Anyone I tried to speak to or build a relationship with spoke solely Spanish and discouragement hit pretty quick. After a couple hours of being there I met a man named Luis. He was very quiet and respectful. He would listen to every testimony shared with unwavering attention and had the face of someone who was full of wisdom and kindness. Right off the bat I knew that he was someone who I would want to know. I wanted to hear all his stories and wisdom. My Spanish was awful, and our conversations started off stunted and awkward. I was heavily relying on Google Translate. Luis would laugh at my broken Spanish and try his best to respond in a way that I could understand. I learned that he used to be a welder but since there were no jobs available Louis ended up on the streets for the past 5-6 years. Once he ended up on the streets, drugs soon came into the picture. He has family in San Jose Costa Rica who he goes to see every couple of years, and he is very good at checkers.
Sitting at a table with him a couple of my squad mates, we were telling him some of our favorite Bible verses and showing them to him in the Spanish Bible. When we tried to show the verses to Luis he motioned to his eyes and insinuated that he couldn’t read the written words. I don’t know if it was because he never learned or had a problem with his eyesight I never asked. So we had a friend read it out loud for us. We ask him if he had a favorite verse and he flipped to a Psalm, and when I tried to read it out in my broken Spanish, Luis began to recite them from memory for us.
The organization hosting the event was allowing the people attending a chance to go to rehab if they remained sober for the full 3 day event. Louis had appeared at the event fully sober and begging to go, but he was told he had to wait at least a day or two. When hearing that I realized just how much I wanted Louis to go the rehab facility. And I left that day praying hard. I prayed that God would do all he could to make sure the Louis gets on that bus to San Jose. I begged and begged. But I also had to come to The Lord with the humility in saying that if it was not in His timing for this to happen for Louis right now then so be it. That even if I went back the next day and Louis wasn’t sober anymore and didn’t have a ticket, I would still love just as hard as the day before.
Flash forward to the next day of ministry. After arriving back at the event Louis finds me and tries to explain something to me in Spanish l. I’m trying my hardest to understand him but just cannot. Usually this is where he would laugh it off and opt for more basic convo starters, but instead Louis left and found a translated to explain to me that he had been accepted into rehab! He was so so proud, and so was I. It was my exact prayer answered.
Later that evening I was out in a group of people to lead worship for the attendees while they ate dinner. We had a guitar player, a picked out set list and we’re ready to go. It wasn’t much different than the other nights.
All was going according to plan until the event host Maria explained to us that a few of the guys would like to sing some songs for us. Of course we said yes that was perfect, expecting maybe one or two party type songs and then still time for our worship set. So Maria pulls out a huge speaker with a microphone attacked to it and a group of 5 or 6 grown men come up and sing worship songs kareoke style. Describing it as amazing doesn’t even begin to cover it. My team helped hold the phone for them so they could see the lyrics, and these guys just closed their eyes and sang, slapping each other on the backs and patting heads when they thought the other did a good job. Louis was fearless, and sang at least half the songs boldly and loudly. And when he would go sit down and take a break he would be back up on the stage after 10 seconds, raising his hands and dancing. It was beautiful. The set “worship team” didn’t get to sing that night, and instead watched raw and real worship from men who had every reason to run away and refuse to sing praise about anything. We saw God move in a random basketball court amongst a group of men we would probably never see again in our lives. And I left that night not being able to wipe the smile from my face.
Meeting Louis was a blessing I will always remember. He showed me what simple kindness looks like in action, and what true worship looked like. I learned what it looked like to accept The Father’s plan over my own wants and desires, and learned that His desires will become my desires.
