Faithful in the Rain and in the Waiting

Waiting

Psalm 130:5-6

⁵ I wait for the Lord, my soul waits,

and in his word I hope;

⁶ my soul waits for the Lord

more than watchmen for the morning,

more than watchmen for the morning.

Thursday, we started the day as we often do: breakfast, quiet time, small group discussion, and laundry. After lunch, we boarded our bus and went to a neighboring community to do street evangelism in their public square. The square is flanked by a big Catholic church on one side and shops, restaurants, and a bank on the other side. There is a beautiful playground for kids and a big paved square for gatherings, concerts, or futsal. When we arrived, the community had either just finished having an event or was setting up for one. A pair of large tents covered much of the square. The day was deeply overcast, and rain loomed; so, we set up our games and set down our gear under the bigger of the two tents. We broke into groups to invite people from the community to join us in the park. But, by the time our groups returned, it was raining. Within a few minutes, it was pouring. So, we waited. We waited for the rain to stop. A few people, also waiting under the tent for the rain to stop, joined us for games. We had a couple of gospel conversations as we waited. But, the rain did not stop. The day felt like a wash. We had hoped for much more ministry. On our way home, we stopped at a local coffee farm for a tour and the opportunity to buy some locally grown and roasted coffee. This is by far the best souvenir that Costa Rica has to offer.

On Friday, we woke up to rain. We had breakfast, quiet time, and small group discussion. We ate lunch. We prayed for good weather, and we waited. After lunch, we boarded our bus to minister in Cartago, the largest neighboring city. Cartago is always an exciting day. By God’s grace, the weather cleared as we arrived. Our first stop was at Costa Rica’s only Basilica, where we learned a bit about the history of Catholicism in Costa Rica. From there, we hustled over the city square, which is always full of people. We performed puppets, dance, and drama. The energy from the crowd and the weeks of practice really seemed to impact the team. Each group had their best performance of the summer in Cartago. The puppets were full of energy and were beautifully in sync. Dancers, Parker and Colton, finished their performance with perfectly timed front tucks, and Tristan, who represents Jesus in our drama, gave a particularly impassioned performance. Everyone was able to have a gospel conversation with their groups. It was great.

From the square, we took a short walk to a soccer field where our team played a local club team in a very competitive game of soccer. Despite the final score being 5-2, a loss for us, we had a great time in what was a very close game until late into the second half. Elliot scored our second goal on a penalty kick in the second half. Summer Staff, Katelyn, had a beautiful shot that just missed, bouncing off the crossbar. At the end of the game, we shook hands with the opposing team and then performed our gospel drama. One of our Costa Rican interpreters shared the gospel with the group and Pastor Alfonso prayed with them. It was a sweet way to end a great day.

Our drive back took longer because of Friday night traffic. After waiting in traffic, we arrived back at the church to a delicious meal prepared by our Costa Rica hosts. After dinner, we had much needed showers and finished our memory verse testing. Tired from the day, Annika led us in a few worship songs before finishing the evening, as we always do, with prayers of thankfulness and the doxology. 

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Most years, we minister in Cartago during our first week in Costa Rica, but we had a schedule conflict and had to wait until the end of our second week. It was very much worth the wait. We have had to wait on the LORD much this summer. Rain has interrupted our schedule a number of times. But in waiting and trusting, when the skies have cleared and we have been able to do our ministry, it has been richly rewarding.

Psalm 40:1-3

¹ I waited patiently for the Lord;

he inclined to me and heard my cry.

² He drew me up from the pit of destruction,

out of the miry bog,

and set my feet upon a rock,

making my steps secure.

³ He put a new song in my mouth,

a song of praise to our God.

Many will see and fear,

and put their trust in the Lord.

Matt Swanson

Costa Rica Trip Leader

July 13 2024