Trust: The Weakest Muscle

 

Hey friends,

I have been struggling with what to write. The last two attempts were so cold and task oriented and it just didn’t sit well with me. The support raising books seem to tell you to pester people and make sure you keep your financial needs at the forefront until you’re at 100%. I find that uncomfortable and awkward. We trust the Lord, the One who owns all the cattle on all the hills, to provide. He did this, He extended the invitation. We are simply saying yes. So please pray for me to keep my eyes on him and not on the ledger.

I’ve been fretting over our launch date: when will it be? How much longer? I often take it to a place of what did I miss, where was I supposed to be obedient, how did I mess up? And every time the Lord has been faithful to show us the purpose in the delay. Recently, we had another of those, though a bit sadder than before. Last week Chaz’ mom passed away. It was expected, even hoped for considering her quality of life. The relationship was complicated and so it’s required a bit more processing than the typical loss of one’s mother. Thank you for praying for him and his sister’s as they grieve. 

As Chaz shared in the last newsletter (and I apologize for taking so long to get this one done), we were fortunate to go to Costa Rica for 10 days late February! I didn’t know how much I needed it. As we prepared to travel, I found myself increasingly anxious about it. All of a sudden it started to get to me that we had never been any place hot, aside from 5 days in Quito last October. We had never been to this country that I had firmly committed to moving to with a permanent mindset. This would be home as long as Jesus lets us stay. With my first trip to Mongolia, at least Chaz had been there ahead of me. He knew his way around and I could rest in that, not so with Costa Rica.

My first morning in Mongolia I was greeted with the smell of bakery, right outside my window. That’s how Mongolia still smells in my mind. How was San Jose going to be? Would it be sweltering? Would it have a bad smell? Would we be able to connect with the team? Are we truly a good fit? The ages old “Did God really say…?”, trust is such a weak muscle. 

I can’t tell you enough how much we loved being there. Or how hard it was to leave. Such confirmation in the easy connection and community alignment within the team. We are so fortunate to be joining a team that truly loves each other well.

Highlights of the trip for me were obviously the community in our team, but also SLOTHS!! We toured the UCR campus where sometimes you might see a sloth just hanging out in a tree. They are not caged. They are given free reign on the campus and once in awhile visitors have seen them. Nacho made sure I kept my expectations low. As we went on campus we made our way to the wildlife refuge area, but were turned away by workers saying it was closed. We proceeded down another path and almost immediately saw one in a tree! It was pretty low to the ground and on the outside of it eating leaves. We stood and watched, took pictures and video, along with several other bystanders. Gosh they move slow and are much smaller than I expected. A couple other people with fancy cameras were nearby and asked if I’d like to see a mother and baby that were in another section of campus?  We immediately went with them and got to watch a mother and baby (way high up) as they moved around the canopy. It was pretty hard to pinpoint the baby except for every once in a while it would reach away from it’s momma and you’d see an arm waving in the air, so sweet! As we walked back to meet up with Osiris (Nacho’s wife), we came across ANOTHER one even higher in some pine trees! It was harder to see that one. And then we saw the first one had moved to a different lower tree to rest. I got closer pictures of that one. What a gift to see not one, but FOUR sloths in one visit!! 

Another highlight is learning one of the major ministries on the field is in need of a bookkeeper and were pretty happy to hear I have a background in this. Many have asked me if this is paid position, unfortunately no. We bring all our time and talents to the field as an offering. I actually started on the books while we were still there and have continued to take over fully in the past month. It’s a lot harder to do this from a distance and with the language barriers. I look forward to being there, relieving some of the burden from others on our team, and plugging in where we belong. I will also be assisting Chaz with the coffeeshop, maintaining those books and possibly helping with the field books in the future.

We are at approximately 50% of our monthly budget. With our Org that means those who have set up monthly donations through our donor site are meeting 50% of our budget. We are not able to purchase our tickets until we are at 100%. Another benefit of being boots on the ground for those 10 days is it gave us the opportunity to learn what a real living amount would be for our budget. I’m excited to say that though we originally thought it would cost $5,000/ month, we have discovered our budget need is actually about $2,750!!! 

We are still praying and seeking for the other 50% of the support God has planned for us. If you know of anyone who might be interested in investing in the work God is doing in Costa Rica, to reach the youth of Latin America, please let us know or give them our contact info. We would love to speak to or meet with anyone who is interested in hearing our adventure!!

Thank you for your prayers, your friendship, and your care!

With much love and great excitement!

Jean n Chaz