That’s the phrase that you hear and see all over Costa Rica. It means ”pure life.” While Costa Rica is a beautiful country, covered with green mountains and beautiful beaches, it is a nation filled with prostitution, orphans, drug addicts, and many broken and hurting people. My time spent in Costa Rica reminded me how pure life is only available through Jesus Christ.
Our experience in Costa Rica was a whirlwind. We were blessed to experience many different ministries and different ways the Lord is working here. We started off in Jaco, a smaller town on the beach. While in Jaco we painted a local church for a couple days and saw God provide the money for the paint through several different people. We also had the chance to visit a school and share the gospel with all the kids there.
From Jaco we travelled back to San Jose, the capital city, and joined up with many other ministries. The first night back there we partnered with YWAM and their street prayer ministry. That night we went down to a corner across the street from a brothel. Prostitution is legal in Costa Rica and “Hotel Del Rey” has embraced this industry. This was my first encounter with anything like this.
As I stood on the corner, I prayed for men going into the brothel, men on the street corner selling drugs, men high on drugs, homeless men and women, girls caught in prostitution (some of which are there because of sex trafficing), and for the nation of Costa Rica. I was so overwhelmed by the brokeness and hopelessness I saw. It was almost too much to handle as I made eye contact with one girl and whispered God bless you. The hopelessness in her eyes brought me to tears.
As I was standing on that corner I thought about how Jesus came for these people. I was reminded of Luke 5:31-32: Jesus answered them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” It dawned on me that Jesus would be hanging out with the people surrounding me. He would be right in the middle of that street corner telling them how much He loved him. I was challenged to think about my own life, and how so often I let fear get in the way of ministering to those that desperately need to know Jesus. I also thought about how I am no less of a sinner than the men and women in and around that brothel, yet I have a Savior who has forgiven my sins and given me hope, joy, and satisfaction beyond anything the world can give.
A few other ministries we were blessed to be a part of were joining with a children’s mobile ministry, visiting a government orphanage, planting trees in a park, running Sunday school classes, and finally visiting a handicap orphanage. At many of these places we got to jump in, play games with the kids, do skits, and share the gospel. The ministry that impacted me the most deeply from these was visiting the orphanage for handicap children.
Most of the kids at the orphanage had some form of neurologicial damage either from birth or from abuse by their parents. Many of them were abandoned at hospitals when their parents found out they weren’t “normal.” My heart broke here for the sweet kids that just wanted to be loved and held. I spent most of my time with a 6 month old baby named Ashley. The nurse told me that she probably wouldn’t live past 2 years old because of some heart, lung, and intestinal problems. It broke my heart knowing she would never grow up, but as I was sitting singing “Amazing Grace” to her while she was fed through a tube in her nose, I had a peace knowing that she will get to experience the Lord’s amazing grace and be in a better place!
Overall I came away from Costa Rica aware of the needs of this broken and hurting world. There are so many people who need to know the joy of the Lord, so many orphans that need to be held, so many addicts that need to know true satisfaction that comes from the Lord, and so many prostitutes who need to know their worth in the Lord. I’m overwhelmed by the fact that I can’t fix the problems of the world, but I’m thankful that the Lord trusts me and calls me to play a part in sharing Jesus with the world. My prayer is that all those who know the life changing love of Jesus will share the hope they have found with those around them…the world is crying out for this hope and the Pura Vida that comes only through knowing Jesus!
