We are back in Costa Rica! After a month and a half in Colombia Nicholas and I made it home. We spent most of that month and a half in Santa Marta working on a farm and spending time with the neighbors. There is so much to say but I don't know where or how to start so I guess I'll just point out the highlights of the whole trip in general.
I can honestly say that my favorite moments were those with Sam and Nicholas. The nights we'd be in the hostels laughing really hard or having really deep conversations. Reading the bible and praying together. Seeing nicholas and Sam get excited every time we prayed for someone to be healed. The faces and reactions of the people we encountered after they got healed were priceless. I'll never forget the reaction of one guy that we prayed for while in Panama. His name was Julio, he had knee problems and it was hurting him. After we prayed for him he looked at us with a very serious look on his face and said, "what did you do to me?" He was so surprised. Of course that opened a door for us to be able to tell him that we didn't do anything, it was all God.
Some other times I'll never forget are the times we got to spend with the Ulloa family, getting to know them and become a part of their family. I saw God change us and bring us to new places with Him. We learned how to face problems and challenges and not run from them; to trust and lean more on God than on our own strengths or those of the people around us. We grew in confidence and boldness. The amount and diversity of people we met and got to share with was big. We met so many different types of people, some a little stranger than others. We even had some people run away from us when we approached them.
I could go on and on about how we've changed/grown and how God spoke to us or how we were challenged and how we faced our challenges but in the end it all comes to this: We fell more in love with our Father in Heaven. He is what made this trip happen. He's the one who gave us the strength to keep going and the motivation to never give up. He's the one who provided for us, guided us and protected us. He's the one that never left us and never stopped speaking to us.
There are four things that I grew in a lot on this trip. Four things that God has really brought me to realize and understand in a deeper level. Four things I had to practice daily while I was out there.
1. I learned how to be truly patient with lots of love and joy.
2. I learned to receive peace from God. A peace I've never felt before. A peace that comes when everything around you and in you says you should be worried and scared. A peace where God says, "everything is gonna be alright, it doesn't matter how bad things turn out, I'm still taking care of you."
3. I also learned to forgive and the importance of forgiveness. I not only learned to forgive others but I learned to forgive myself. It's easy to put yourself down and blame things on yourself when everything goes wrong but what good does that do? We shouldn't focus on our mistakes but on how we respond to them.
4. Most of all I learned to really trust God. No matter how scary things seem or how wrong things seem to be going, He's always right by our side and He's always in control.
Some people have asked me if I think the trip was a success. Yes, I believe with all my heart that it was a success. When God first told me about this trip the goal wasn't to get the world "saved" the goal was to get closer to God. My heart from the beginning was to see my team and I changed and grown at the end. To see us draw nearer to God and to fall more in love with Him than ever before. God is faithful and He finishes what He starts.
Now comes the big question: what are you gonna do now? After all that I've gone through and experienced, what am I gonna do? Well, to answer that question, I don't know... I have no idea what I'm gonna do now. I don't know what I'll be doing a month from now. I don't really even know what I will be doing tomorrow. All I know is that at this moment I'm in Costa Rica waiting on and seeking God in all of this. What does He have for me? For my future? It turns into a big question mark when I think of what my plans and Gods plans for my life could be. It's a big mystery for me. Now, the next question: will I be going back to Colombia? Yes. I don't know when, but I do know that I will be back and hopefully sooner than later.
Thank you so much to all of you for your prayers, support, encouragement and love. May God bless you and be with each one of you. I love you all!
Chrystel
