Location- Shiroles, Talamanca
Temperature- High of thirty five degrees low of twenty seven degrees.
Humidity- One Hundred Percent
Duration- Seven Nights.
Ministry- Teaching in the local churches everyday.
Ministry- Teaching in the local churches everyday.
After various bus rides and one off ministry opportunities we now found ourselves yet on another long bus ride, this time heading to the Caribbean side to a place called Shiroles.
After the nine hour bus ride we then got on a rather smaller bus to the final destination. Only to find the bus only sat about fifty people on it, but that definitely didn't stop everyone getting on. We found ourselves back to back, sweaty face to sweaty armpit, I guess you get the point. There was not a lot of room considering there was probably around ninety people on the bus. After forty minutes of driving 10kph on a bumpy road through water and jungle, then walking twenty minutes carrying all our gear we finally made it to our home for the next seven nights.
The primary reason we came to this location was to teach in the local churches in the area each day. We each had a different topic we were going to speak on and different days we were to do it. Speaking in churches was generally in the afternoon/evening so in the mornings we went from demolishing a playground so the local boys couldn't sit on it and get high, and cleaned and painted a pastors house!
Ruben was the first to speak on the monday night, after walking in the dark on a dirt road in the jungle for forty minutes to the church. He did such an incredible job preaching! His first time ever preaching and he did it in spanish. The congregation were all very encouraged and challenged by the words he spoke. So encouraged one of the men in the church invited us to come to his home for dinner during the week. Food is one thing our team would never ever turn down. Tuesday was the day for TJ and I to preach. After nearly an hours drive through a different area we arrived at the church only to find there was miscommunication with the church and they had been waiting an hour for us. Nevertheless they were waiting patiently with a sense of anticipation. I spoke first on 'The Reality Of The Cross.' Then TJ spoke on 'The Holy Spirit.' After we spoke TJ led everyone in a time of worship and invited the congregation up for prayer. Majority of the church were eager to receive prayer from us. By the end of it half the church was sleighed in the Holy Spirit, two were manifesting and one woman literally threw up! For myself that was the first time I had ever prayed for someone and seen such a huge impact of the Holy Spirit. I definately know I didn't do any of that! We were all overwhelmed by the strong sense of the Holy Spirit that afternoon. God is SO good.
After driving for ten minutes once being picked up, the truck broke down..
We found ourselves in the back of a pick up truck, outside, pitch black, literally couldn't see my hand help out in front of me (maybe something to do with the fact i wasn't wearing my glasses) we could hear animal sounds around us, in the middle of a jungle, on a narrow dirt road.
What do you do when you find yourself in a situation like this?
WORSHIP!
That seemed to be the only logical solution for us, little did we know we were going to be amazed whilst doing it. TJ pulled out his guitar and we just simply started to sing. Nothing fancy, just six different people, six different voices singing together with one guitar. We noticed fire flies started appearing only to my amazement as I had never seen fire flies before. The more we sang, the more they appeared. At one point we found ourselves in the middle of what looked like the sight of lit up christmas trees. I have never seen such a uniquely beautiful sight in my life, I think it's safe to say I have never seen anything like it before. Only to actually think how symbolic that short moment was, we were in a area that was one of the most spiritually dark areas we had been, but amongst it we would find little pockets of light. We would meet someone that loves Jesus with all they are and do all they can to share it. Just like the fire flies in the dark, amongst all the darkness there is always light.
After an hour waiting another pick up truck came to pick us up and dropped us off at the mans house who had invited us over for dinner. He just happened to own his own pizzeria! Excited to see us he invited us in and told us to make ourselves at home and gave us different things to do to help make the pizza and fresh drinks. That pizza was hands down the best pizza I have ever eaten in my life.
By the end of the week each of us had preached, whether it be for our first time or for our first time with a translator.
We had bathed in a river to clean ourselves, killed a chicken for dinner, cooked every meal over a fire resulting in constantly smelling like smoke, and hadn't seen our reflections all week. It was a time of highs and lows, a lot of tears and laughter as our team became closer and saw each other by far at our worst, but most of all, we all drew so much closer to God in the midst of it all.
One week in Shiroles, one of the best weeks of my life. Memories I will never forget. Who would have some of my favorite memories would be in a place like that! Something tells me I was made for this.
Until next time, until the next location.
God Bless.
