What Does A Day In Costa Rica On Royal Servants Look Like?

“There’s No Typical Day”

Every day in Costa Rica varies. We serve each other in different ways. It rains at different times every day. We eat something new each evening. There is no typical day on this team. However, we do follow a schedule. As a leadership team, we have a plan for the day to follow, but as things go in Costa Rica, and when the Lord is at work, it doesn’t always go as we plan.

Here is what we did today, Tuesday, July 9, 2019:

7:00 am

The team wakes up, and the cook crew reports to the kitchen. Breakfast is served by Rayna’s HANDS group (Hannah N., Mercy, Anthony, Arianna). HANDS groups live out the wisdom the Lord has given us as we serve our team and community. We start each meal with arms around each other, praising the Lord and with a prayer. Breakfast today is oatmeal, local bread with Nutella, local mangoes, and of course local coffee with sugar (Cachi is surrounded by coffee fields). After dish clean-up, the students work on their memory verses while the staff has a daily morning meeting.

10:00 am

For 1 hour every single day this summer, the staff and students read the Word of God. Today’s readings are Proverbs 9, Ecclesiastes 9, Psalm 119:129-144, and page 9 of their disciple-making journal. HEART groups then meet and share and discuss what God was teaching them during their quiet time. HEART groups focus on growing in their faith. Once HEART group ends, the team breaks into HANDS groups for morning activities. Today, Natalie’s group (Nathan H., Meg, Izzy, and Emily) has laundry, Alyssa’s group (Nathan B., Nhaya, Hannah L., Nate M.) gets some internet time to reach out to family, and Rayna’s HANDS group goes to “serve Cachi”. This is a time each day when a part of our team goes out into the community and serves in any way they can.

12:30 pm

Lunch is a delicious spread of leftovers, served by Alyssa’s group, with Hannah L. sweeping up afterward. We load the buses at Noon (accompanied by our Tico friends who do ministry with us) and head to Paraiso. On the way, we have a quick 20-minute Culture and Heritage stop, visiting the first church planted in Costa Rica by the Spaniards. Once we arrived in Paraiso, the team spread out and invited locals to our performance.

1:15 pm

We start with dance, followed by the Tico’s puppet show, and then we end with our drama. Our team members disperse and boldly share their faith and how God has changed their lives.

3:00 pm

We walk across the street and into a gym to play Futsal (an indoor soccer game with a smaller ‘court/field’, a smaller and heavier ball, and 5 on-5 players). The guys play first for 25-minute halves, followed by the girl’s game at 4:00 pm. After the exciting competition (our teams even scored a few goals!), Alyssa shares her testimony, and our friend Jeff translates for her. It was a great experience to hear her personal story shared with Ticos in Paraiso.

6:00 pm

We return to the church for a delicious Costa Rican dinner of rice, black beans, tomatoes/cucumbers, and a stew of potatoes, beef, and carrots, served by Natalie’s group. We end the day with worship, debriefing our quiet time and the day of ministry, and a teaching on “Jesus is Really God”.

8:00 pm

The team showers.

10:00 pm

The goodnight song is sung.

This is of course only a snapshot of what we get to do in Costa Rica, but I hope you enjoyed this unique look into what our day looked like. Buenas Noches from Costa Rica!

Rainer Powell

Costa Rica Trip Leader