Meet Karina

She was trafficked from Nicaragua when she was 18 years old. The 300 dollars she was loaned and the promise of a better life ended in prostitution and debt she could never repay. After seven years of living a nightmare she broke free from her enslavement. Now at 27 she is a single mom to three beautiful children, trying to make it on her own.

A small group of Christians in Jaco followed the call of God to reach out to the poor. They started feeding the homeless and praying with them every Friday night in the central park. Karina, desperate for help and food for her family discovered this group and gladly received the food and prayer they offered. She began coming every week and soon after gave her life to the Lord. That was a year ago. Since then she has been faithfully attending Bible study and growing in her relationship with the Lord.

But she is a woman living life constantly on the brink of disaster and homelessness. The stress at times is unbearable. This is where the call to true religion hits very close to home.


“Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress…” ~James 1:27

If ever there were orphans and a widow in distress it is this precious family.

Violeta

Moises

Mateo

What is our response as the body of Christ?

With a fierce mother’s determination she walks the streets with her children trying to sell cologne, lottery tickets, clean houses, anything to earn money for her family. There is no space or time to learn any skills or improve herself to be able to get a better, steady job because all her energy is going towards trying to feed her family today.

This is a family at risk.

Would you pray about helping this family?

What we want to do is raise enough money to help her monthly with her rent and groceries, to give her a little breathing space, some time to secure a better job and get on her feet with confidence. What she wants more than anything is to be able to provide for her family herself and we want to help her be able to do this.

To make a donation through paypal, use the link below.

my new home (jaco christian surfers)

*thank you alex for taking these super professional pictures

Rice & Beans

When I was in high school we had a day where we only ate rice and beans to experience what it was like for "poor" people in the world who only could afford rice and beans.  It was such a hard day for everyone and all we could think of was the food that we were craving.
For the 3 months I was in San Jose we would often have have rice and beans for breakfast, lunch and dinner.  It's so funny to think that a few years ago I imagined how terrible living off rice and beans would be, and now it is what I eat.  Even better, is that I love rice and beans, and actually enjoying eating it for every meal!  Since I have been here in Jaco, I have only eaten rice and beans once or twice and I miss it so much.

Graduation!

This past week has been really exciting. Our school is officially done! It started off with a super fun graduation dinner with our school. We went out to a nice restaurant that overlooked all of San Jose, it was so pretty. It was a great night, but sad knowing that it was the end of this challenging/intense (but amazing) school.
 

Tuesday evening, I moved down to Jaco! It's a small beach town about two hours outside of San Jose where I will be living for at least the next 6 months. My new apartment consists of a mini kitchen with cabinets, stove, a sink and refridgerator. We also have a little loft with a mattress where I have made my home. Aimee is sleeping downstairs on a mattress, right next to our little bathroom. We also have air conditioning...which in Jaco is one of the biggest blessings ever. Now I just need to decorate so it feels a little more homey.

Outreach is just beginning. We've had a couple meetings so far just to talk about what I will be doing. I am working in a kindergarden class every morning. The property where I live has skate ministry, so I will be opening the skate ramp everyday so the kids can come and skate, play games and do crafts. Opportunities are continuing to open and I'm super excited! Now I just need to work a little harder on my Spanish =)

Furious Love

"Nothing can tear us from

The grip of His mighty love

We’ve only glimpsed, His vast affection

Heard whispers of, His heart and passion

It’s pouring down…

His love is deep, His love is wide

And it covers us

His love is fierce, His love is strong

It's furious

His love is sweet, His love is wild

And it's waking hearts to life

The Father loves and sends His son

The Son lays down His life for all

He lavishes His love upon us

He calls us now, His sons and daughters

He’s reaching out…

… and its waking hearts to life

He is waking hearts to life

He is waking hearts to life"

 We sang this song during worship last night and it made my heart overflow with thankfulness for Christ's deep, abounding and furious love for me. It has been such a special song to me throughout this school.

It gives me hope...no matter what happens...no matter how badly I screw up!

Love God - Love Others

Lately I have been seeing heaps of quotes by Mother Theresa on facebook and on my newest obsession Pinterest (check it out and follow me). I get so inspired each time I see one of these quotes and I am starting to look up to her so much. She gave up her entire life to love and minister to the needs of the poor and sick. She was humble, full of love and truly cared for others. She spoke up for justice and said she was "a little pencil in the hand of a writing God who is sending a love letter to the world." I admire the way she gave up her life for God. She let go of having material possessions, having a husband, or a nice house and a car. Instead, she devoted herself to love. This is a beautiful thing.

In this life we cannot do great things. We can only do small things with great love. - Mother Theresa

As I was thinking about this, I also remembered some more people who are showing others the same heart as Mother Teresa. In Philadelphia, PA, a man named Shane Claiborne started a community called the Simple Way. Last year I read a book called the Irresistible Revolution by Shane Claibourne (highly recommended!) and it totally changed my life. The Simple Way is a community of people living in the ghetto, who spend every day loving their neighbors, helping the poor and loving Jesus. They are also incredibly involved in social justice issues. They have an after school program for children in the neighborhood and are currently working on building a garden in their community. I would definitely recommend checking them out and the things they are doing!
If you would like to check out what they are doing: The Simple Way

Another person that I was reminded of is a guy named Brandt Russo. I learned about him last year through an article in Relevant Magazine. Brandt was leading a fairly normal life, lived in the States and loved Jesus...but he knew there was something more. So, he gave up everything that he had, purchased a bus and started driving around the States, living and helping the poor. He's lived on the streets for a year and has been jailed for trying to bring about justice. God has taken him on such an awesome journey and it's cool to read about. His mission is to love, to bridge the gap between the rich and poor and to meet the needs of the poor and neglected. He also began a t-shirt company called "Can't Ignore the Poor." The proceeds from his t-shirts go to help those in need.

If you would like to read more about Brandt's vision: Adopt-A-Jesus
Or to check out his T-shirt company: Can't Ignore the Poor

Love God...Love Others. That is whats it's all about

Abuse & Protection

This week was taught by Greg Burch, a missionary from California who has been working in Latin America for over 15 years. After a ministry of six years in Caracas, Venezuela among street-living and working children Greg is now dedicating his time to global research and advocacy on behalf of children at risk.  

We explored different kinds of child abuse

• Sexual Abuse
• Physical Abuse
• Spiritual Abuse
• Psychological Abuse
• Neglect 
• Emotional Neglect

He shared about what a Child Protection Policy is, and why it is so important to impliment one while working with kids.  These policies and procedures help create child-safe organizations. A strong policy will guide you in dealing with difficult situations. When there is a crisis it may be harder to think clearly. If you have a reliable policy you can react in an informed way and avoid accusations of a biased response. (positive or negative)  The truth is that people need accountability. I was challenged to make a child protection policy of my own for my time in Jaco. It was really good for me to sit down and think about this.

During his teaching, Greg shared with us a video from the Congo about “child witches.” If you have never heard of this, be forewarned…it is really intense stuff. Some evangelical churches in the congo are claiming that certain children are witches. When this happens, the children are basically thrown out onto the streets and left to die. The parents no longer want them because they are a “witch.” Then, the pastor of the church will have the parents pay for them to “exorcise” their child, which involves brutal beatings and things they could not even mention or show in the videos. After watching this video I felt sick. There is so much corruption in this world, even in the so-called “church.” It’s super overwhelming.

I have to remember that the change starts with me and each individual child and person. These are hard situations, but what I can do is begin with myself, my resources and focus on the people I am meeting here. The reality is that I will not be able to stop all injustice from happening everywhere in the world, but I can help change a few people’s lives in an amazing way. For that, I am insanely thankful.