Costa Rica is a beautiful country and I can see why over 1.5 million people visit every year (although I did also witness the occasional tacky Christmas decorations and lights!!). Much of our few days in Costa Rica was spent resting and taking some time out on the coast. We got to park up on the beach and stay for free (us girls even dug our own latrine!) although three of my friends had quite a lot of their belongings stolen right from under our noses so we got to know the local police well. My favourite night was sleeping under the stars on the sand with some of my favourite team mates…simply stunning!
We did some random acts of kindness – mine was giving a chocolate bar with a note saying how special she was to God to a waitress called Alexandra who looked so down and harassed by customers. I loved seeing the complete transformation in her face when she gave me a huge smile! (She in turn then let me sit at the restaurant table for ages using the free wifi without eating anything!)
The most memorable day for me was returning to Playa Avellanas where I had been a month earlier remembering Dianne’s daughter in law, Rhiannon who drowned at sea. I never thought that I would return but when I realised how close by we were staying, I felt that it was right to return and pray for the family. It was also really helpful for me to go back and it allowed my friends and fellow team members to share in some of my experiences.
Before we went to the beach a number of us felt that God wanted us to meet and pray for Johan, the local teenager who had saved Dianne’s grandson Julian. So when we got to the beach I looked round and could not see him so I went for a walk and felt God say ‘I’ll bring Johan to you’. My response to that was ‘how are you going to do that?’ (oh me of little faith!) I carried on walking and praying and then when I got back to our spot I went and spoke to a couple of local teenagers who knew Johan and said he might be security on the car park. Johan was not working that day but Dennis was and when I explained to Dennis why we were at the beach, he said ‘give me 15 minutes’.
About 15 minutes later Johan appeared on the beach! (having been contacted by Dennis)– I gave him a big hug before realising that of course he did not have a clue who I was until I explained myself…thankfully he did not think I was a complete nutcase and seemed very touched that we had wanted to meet and pray for him! Johan said that he had not slept well in the first few weeks since the incident so we prayed that he would have peaceful sleep from now on and brought him a drink. We also listened to him recount his experience and we realised that he is an even bigger hero than I thought as he actually saw Rhiannon and Julian in trouble from the restaurant on the beach and went in after them. Johan also shared that he lost his own mother when he was about the same age as Julian. Truly a remarkable story in every way and a very remarkable young man.
Next stop: Panama, our last country in Central America.
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