Homes of Hope was one of the coolest things I’ve ever been a part of. The people that worked with Homes of Hope were really kind, awesome people and I enjoyed working with them very much. When we first started building this house, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect, but let me tell you, it was insane! Imagine 19 high school students and five adults having little to no experience with building a house or anything relating to that subject. I had little hope, but sure enough, God worked in us and enabled us to build that house in three days! It was amazing to actually be able to see God’s Hand at work and to take part in it! I still cannot get over this experience. Everything that happened was amazing. We were able to work alongside the family we were building the house for. We really bonded with this family even with the language barrier! We walked to the local market (Mercado) with their kids and it was so awesome communicating with these kids through the Spanish we knew and the English they knew. I’ll never forget when the house was finished and we gave this family the keys to their new house, the reaction of the family, the community, and the team. We had watched this family go from having the least to having the most in their community and it was very powerful. The moment they walked in that door, I don’t think anyone was able to hold back their emotions. Almost the whole group was in tears for this family. The hope we gave this family was such a great feeling, and what made it even better, was the fact that we did it in the name of Jesus. That’s what made this experience so fantastic.
Living at the YWAM base was an awesome experience, and interacting with the students and staff that were living there was even better! The base was a very cool building. It had high ceilings, a store, dormitory style bunking, and no hot water! The showers there were really cold. The warmest shower I ever took there was probably about “Luke Warm”, maybe even a little colder than that. Although the showers were terrible, getting to hang out with and talk to the students and staff there was awesome! The students doing D.T.S. (Discipleship Training School), are some of the most godly and amazing people. There were so fun to talk to! Between the 20 or so students there, I believe 13 countries were represented. They had some stories to tell! This one night, a few friends and I spent about twenty minutes in prayer with this student named Scott who was from Australia. This guy had amazing faith! It was so cool getting to know him. Another night, during worship, I was standing in the row in front of some of the D.T.S. students, and this one guy named Peter was getting so into this one song, and it touched my heart how much this guy was being moved by a song about his Savior. Although Peter was an amazing Christian guy, he was hilarious! His whole personality was just so funny. Also, we had some really great theological discussions with this guy Eric, who was just visiting some friends and helping out at the base a little. He was a seminary student, currently on a break from school, just going from place to place serving God. Another guy we met, who was part of the staff, named Trooper, was an amazing guy and had completely given his life to the Lord. He was going from country to country, place to place just serving God, giving Him his all. He was such an amazing influence. I remember something he said to another team member, he said “Home is where the heart is, and my heart is with Jesus, so I’ll go wherever He wants me to be.” That quote moved me in a way I cannot explain. He has totally surrendered himself to God, and it was evident in his lifestyle. Another cool person on staff we got to meet was a man named Giovanny (and his awesome wife and kids!). Giovanny pretty much ran the Homes of Hope organization there. He was such an awesome guy. He had totally given himself to the ministry of Homes of Hope and was living solely on faith alone. Money was tight and he didn’t even care. He was building homes for everyone else, when he didn’t even have one himself! He lived at the base. That was his place of residence. One night, I just talked with Giovanny and his wife Gretel for about an hour and a half. Between the Spanish I knew and the English they knew, we managed to make it work, and I got to hear their story. It was so amazing talking to them even though there was a language barrier. He was just such a fun guy and he and his wife really loved Jesus. I also became close with one of the guys that worked with Homes of Hope named Pedro. Pedro and I would have long conversations in Spanish and whenever I didn’t understand him, I would make some smart remark in Spanish and we would both laugh, it was fun. One of the coolest things about the base though, was that I could feel God’s presence there. God was clearly at work in San Jose, Costa Rica. His Hand was there and He was using this group of people to do His ordained work. Another cool thing was, pretty much every night, we would get a group of us together and just have deep theological talks. We would seriously sit down and systematically and exegetically study the Word of God together. It was so awesome! We developed such amazing unity from this and I will never forget all that happened at the base. I thank God for my experiences there.
Some of the other various ministries we were able to get involved with were really cool. There was this one, called Metro Ministries. It was these two women who drive around the poorest areas of San Jose, and put on an outdoor VBS (Vacation Bible School). It was so cool, because some of the kids had participated with it before and the kids that were new to it loved it just as much! It was like the “Ice Cream Truck for Jesus”! Another ministry that I really enjoyed was called Freedom Street Ministries. This group went into the darkest areas of San Jose, and just prayed and shared the gospel. Most of the time, they would go to one of the biggest brothels in San Jose, and just pray right outside of it. They would pray with the prostitutes, the johns, and the pimps. They literally went into the most seemingly “god-forsaken” areas, and brought the "visible" presence of God to them! We were able to participate in this ministry by going down to the park right near the largest brothel in all of San Jose, one of the most dangerous areas of San Jose, and just pray and lead worship. It was amazing! Everything was so spirit-filled, it was phenomenal. People would stop and stare at us like we were freaks, but amazingly enough, none of us were ashamed of the gospel we were sharing! It was one of the highlights of my trip. Also, while we were praying and singing praises, at different times, two people walked up to us expressing that they felt God’s presence with us that night in the park! The cool part was that one of them had been praying about starting a youth group at his church, and he felt that this was God’s sign that he should do it, and he had us all pray over him. It was so amazing! I felt God’s presence throughout the whole trip, and it was life-changing.
So, in those ten days, we built a house, met and interacted with some amazing Christian people, bonded and developed unity within the team, and took part in other ministries that were changing Costa Rica for Christ. I’d have to say, it truly was one of the greatest experiences I have ever had. I will never forget that trip, the things we did there, and the people we met there.
IMPORTANT: Although we made it home safe, there are still hundreds, if not thousands who are living in Costa Rica who don’t have the luxury of coming to the United States and living in safe towns and safe homes with a bed to sleep in every night. I ask that you please keep these people and these ministries in your prayers. We really saw the power of prayer when were there, and we got home safely because of it, but they still need to remain in our prayers. Thank you for your support!
