Hi everyone!!! It”s Cristina here reporting from Costa Rica. These past few weeks have been such an amazing experience, from playing with kids to visiting elders at a nursing home, God has been showing up in such miraculous ways throughout this trip. He is teaching me to be vulnerable with others and opening up my heart to the plans he has in store for me. This is important for me to take home, as I get to share all of the wonderful experiences and plans God has for me.
God started showing up on this trip from the very start. At training camp, we had to pray with someone that we had never talked to before. So I prayed with one of the girls that was participating in the Guatemala trip, and after we had finished praying she read me a verse that really hit home. Psalm 23:26 “My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever!”. I knew instantly that this was the Holy Spirit speaking through her, because this past year I have gone through many struggles including a car accident, depression, and not always making the most responsible decisions. This verse showed me that regardless of what I’m going through and the struggles I face, the Lord is with me and He is my strength.
Another thing God has revealed to me on this trip is the power of the Holy Spirit. We had a devotional one morning with the team, and we were doing an exercise where we passed around papers and wrote what the Holy Spirit compelled us to say, and we didn’t know who was going to receive the paper. The Holy Spirit spoke through me to write the word “air” on one of the papers we were passing around and I didn’t know what it meant, or who it was for, but I wrote “Air. God gave us air to breath and he will not let you suffocate in your sorrows.” The person who received this, actually had two brothers pass away from breathing issues. This just showed me how powerful the Holy Spirit is when we have faith and trust in him. I sometimes I have doubt and fear that it may not be the right thing to say but God knows what he is doing in each of our lives.
To conclude this, I wanted to share about the nursing home we visited for three days. We got to go visit for three days in a row, and it was so wonderful to build relationships with people and get to know them and their stories. I got to see these sweet people light up with joy, since a lot of their families don’t visit them very often or at all. I met this kind man named Alfredo who was so strong in his faith, after he had been through so much. He made me laugh and I just enjoyed spending time with him. This whole experience was so amazing and I will hold it close to my heart forever. I just want to leave you with this verse, Proverbs 3:5-6, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight.”
– Cristina Ferreira
