Friday, January 7, 2011

Sabbath


By Elsa Bermudez

The team left bright and early to spend our day of rest in the city of Manuel Antonio. Upon arrival, the team quickly changed and made their way down to the sandy beach. Some of us immediately immersed ourselves in the warm salt water, while others stayed on shore bathing in the afternoon sun. This was the perfect environment to soothe our sore muscles from the recent days of manual labor. Dinner was enjoyed at El Avion restaurant as God provided us with one of His most beautiful sunsets.


Today team members were able to enjoy various activities from an ATV tour, hiking through the national forest, to simply relaxing on the beach and soaking up some more of the sun’s rays. I personally chose, along with seven other team members, the ATV tour. At the beginning of the tour, our guide asked us the nature of our visit to Costa Rica. We told him that we were only in Manuel Antonio for the day and that we had been doing work in the cities of Los Guidos and La Carpio for the past week. He responded “Wow, those places are terrible, how could you go there?” We explained we were doing mission work, to which he responded with a half smile while shaking his head before continuing on with the tour. In the middle of the tour, we were treated to a little piece of heaven as were able to take a refreshing dip in an amazing waterfall nestled in the middle of the forest. As I was taking in the beauty of God’s creation from every direction, I simply asked out loud “how could anyone possibly question the existence of God?” His presence is made evident to us on a daily basis. It is not just in the beauty of His creation surrounding us that we all too often take for granted. More importantly, it is the look on a child’s face after being shown the immense love our heavenly Father has for them through the simple act of being hugged. It is the depth of gratitude seen in a mother’s eyes when she has been provided meals for her family when just moments before she wasn’t certain where her next meal would come from. It is working in sewage trenches and manually mixing cement while hearing the singing voices of young children working right there alongside you. That is God revealing Himself at His finest. “The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.” -Matthew 25:40


This time of Sabbath not only provided us with the rest many of us needed, but a time to reflect on the true work God is doing in each and everyone of us. Work that does not and will not end here. We are all being called to have faith and commitment in the work of Christ. The work is not generally glorious and it is almost never easy. It is the continual plowing of the fields through all seasons and that is exactly what is being done here in Costa Rica. Showing compassion to His people and providing a place for Christians to ripen to be able to bear more fruit for His Kingdom. So my answer to the tour guide is quite frankly “How could you possibly not?”


-Please continue to have us in prayer as we will spend our last day on the Finca tomorrow with the leadership team and saying goodbye is never easy.

-Also pray for traveling mercies as we are flying home tomorrow evening.

4 comments:

  1. Prayers are on their way to The Mighty One. Be blessed… all of you!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Wow. What a beautiful picture of God´s creation. Thanks for the post, Elsa.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Wow. Beautiful!!!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thanks Brad. It was a great opportunity to reflect on the past days of VBS, passing out the food bags, and give thanks for all that took place.

    ReplyDelete